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4.0 

A Desert Torn Asunder

By Bradley P. Beaulieu
A Desert Torn Asunder by Bradley P. Beaulieu digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

The final book in The Song of the Shattered Sands series closes the epic fantasy saga in a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.

The plans of the desert gods are coming to fruition. Meryam, the deposed queen of Qaimir, hopes to raise the buried elder god, Ashael, an event that would bring ruin to the desert.

Çeda and Emre sail for their ancestral home to bring the traitor, Hamid, to justice. To their horror, they discover that the desert tribes have united under Hamid's banner. Their plan? A holy crusade to annihilate Sharakhai, a thing long sought by many in the tribes. In Sharakhai, meanwhile, the blood mage, Davud, examines the strange gateway between worlds, hoping to find a way to close it. And King Ihsan hunts for Meryam, but always finds himself two steps behind.

When Meryam raises Ashael, all know the end is near. Ashael means to journey to the land that was denied to him an age ago, no matter the cost to the desert. It now falls to Çeda and her unlikely assortment of allies to find a way to unite not only the desert tribes and the people of Sharakhai, but the city's invaders as well. Even if they do, stopping Ashael will cost them dearly, perhaps more than all are willing to pay.

25 Reviews

4.0
“4,5 ⭐️ Solid conclusion to an amazing series!! I can’t wait to read his next story The Dragons of Deepwood Fen!”
“A very satisfying ending to a very enjoyable series. It difficult to review the last book in a series without taking the previous books into account; how well were things wrapped up, how well was this character arc concluded? Therefore, this review will be a review of the series as a whole and how well this book concluded the story. What hit me several times while reading this book, was how long Ceda and co. had come since the first book and how much the story had grown in scale. The journey through the Shattered Sands have been an intriguing, complex and satisfying one. I’ll keep it short and focus on the main highlights and my main complaints What I liked: • Ceda, Emre, Davud and Ramahd While I struggled a bit with Emre and Davud at the beginning, I really enjoyed Ceda and Ramahd all the way through. Emre and Davud were characters who had to find their way whereas the other two just knew; they knew they had to step up and never seemed to doubt the path they were on. I view these 4 as the series’ main protagonist. It was easy to root for them and nothing came overly easy to them. I disliked that Ceda took a bit of a backseat position in the plot towards the end of the story but she came back with a vengeance in the last half of this book. • The Kings, Meryam and Hamid Moving on from the main protagonists to the main antagonists – really, the lesser Gods are the main antagonists but they weren’t all that present in the actual plot and these suckers did all their heavy lifting! King Ihsan was the last King standing and he was by far my favourite. He wasn’t a villain by the end, like Husamettin was. He and Nayyan were shown to ultimately be motivated by other things than power and I found it really touching how much they each gave up for the sake of their daughter. Meryam and Hamid were two intriguing and very self-serving villains. I think each met their end a bit too easily but there was also something poetic about especially Meryam’s end. I really enjoyed these two and how much trouble they gave our heroes. I actually liked Meryam, whereas I loved to hate Hamid. • The world and lore I mostly read European inspired fantasy and I’ve read a good deal of Asian inspired fantasy. This felt more Middle eastern to me which I loved – it had a whole other feel to it than what I’m used to reading. I enjoyed the inclusions of the Gods and the story behind the thirteenth tribe. Another thing I really enjoyed was how love and sexual relationships were depicted. There were characters who seemed to be in monogamous relationships liked Ihsan & Nayyan, Davud & Esmeray and Hamid & Darius – we had couples who were more polyamorous in nature like Ceda & Emre. We had male/male and female/female relationship which raised absolutely no eyebrows whatsoever. I really liked that and I loved how people romantic entanglement never caused any divide. What I disliked: • A bit too easy While I think Hamid and Meryam met their end in almost poetic manners, I still think it was a bit too easy. Ramahd has hunted Meryam though several books and never been able to get close enough and then in this, in the middle of all the chaos he is able to walk up to her and just kill her? And Hamid falls for the simplest trap out there and just gives up? I really wish they had more fight in them and I think they gave up a bit too easily. • Bit too many characters This is very much an epic fantasy and epic fantasy stories have a lot of characters – I know this. However, I feel this specific story had too many characters who got a decent amount of attention up until thy disappeared from the plot. Here I’m especially thinking of Brama and Anila. There were also characters like Willem who came out of nowhere, got way too much attention with little to no actual payoff. I still don’t get the point of his character, to be honest.”

About Bradley P. Beaulieu

Bradley P. Beaulieu is the author of the Lays of Anuskaya Trilogy and The Song of the Shattered Sands series, beginning with the acclaimed Twelve Kings in Sharakhai. His writing has garnered many accolades, including a Gemmell Morningstar Award nomination and the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Award.

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