Review: The Shard Chronicles takes you on a twisting journey into the forming years of an upcoming hero.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 8, 2013
The Shard Chronicles is a story about the emergence of an upcoming hero. It's about his early years and the duality of a life where events both 'normal' and 'exceptional' take place.The Shard Chronicles is a journey that takes the reader deep into the personal life of our hero starting at the toddleryears all the way through to young manhood. It's a different kind of hero story that focuses not so much on the action or the enemy, but on the events and environment that drive our hero. What is a hero without something to lose? What is a hero without something to fight for? Where does a hero find his courage and his perseverance?  That's what Liam Taylor is exploring with The Shard Chronicles.What impressed me the most was the way that Liam Taylor adhered to the duality. Taking the reader so deeply into the 'normal' life of our hero that you could lose yourself in his life only to be whipped back into the plot giving the reader a sense of what it must be like for the main character to experience these events.With regard to character development, scene setting, scene transitioning, and overall writing style, Liam has woven a well thought out story which is nicely crafted and clearly written. The characters are warm and caring in this story where our hero is at a true disadvantage compared to his enemy. Hopefully, in the next book, we will learn more about the enemy, the elder mentor, and the inevitable conflict at hand.I'd recommend this book to anybody who likes a deep dive into the real life of a developing hero. It's a great book for any reader who wants to know what it takes to make a hero... and I suspect, it also eludes to just what can break our hero.  Where\what is Austin's 'Kryptonite'?