The city of Laimrig once a mighty hub of commerce and a seat of power sinks into corruption and decay Slavers crime lords and corrupt officials hold sway while the ruling nobility wallow in decadence War rages beyond the borders while within rebellion simmers and sinister plots unfold Trilisean is an acrobat turned burglar Conn is a jaded former mercenary Against the background of deadly blades subtle schemes glittering treasures dark sorceries and fell servants of forgotten gods fate has thrown them together Fate has a sense of humor Broken Crossroads is a fast paced witty swashbuckling modern pulp fantasy adventure in the tradition of Fritz Leiber and Robert E Howard Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 Patrick LeClerc makes good use of his history degree by working as a paramedic for an ever changing parade of ambulance companies in the Northern suburbs of Boston When not writing he enjoys cooking fencing and making witty insightful remarks with career limiting candor. 
Broken CrossroadsI ve read plenty of fantasy books I my day The genre can be a game of hit and miss Generally it is When I picked this book up I was not in the least bit frightened that I would have an issue with the contents as Patrick Leclerc has been a safe bet for me in the past Not only does he write a fun story but he writes it well Broken Crossroads is the story of a couple of wayward characters a young female thief and an aging warrior meeting in an untoward situation which quickly turns convenient for the both of them As it would happen the warrior has decided to abandon the Free companies for a simpler life a life which isn t lived at the behest of greedy rulers Why wouldn t he take the company of a pretty lass and become her muscle in calculated jewel heists The story comes together employing amazing wit and sarcasm and the story never dulls At some point you begin to figure out that the two main characters really rather an easier lifestyle but every once in a while they each get wrapped up in their own complicated political missions not to mention they tend to spend enough that sooner or later they find themselves picking rich men s locks for loot again. I thought this book was amazing I ve never read a book like this The story isn t over told It isn t too serious either but it is very believable within the context of a fantasy genre book I loved it Plenty of magic Plenty of shenanigans Plenty of fun. com 2016 01 Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 Great sword and sorcery This was a fun fast paced sword and sorcery fantasy featuring the exploits of Trilisean an ex slave turned master thief who teams up with Conn a disenfranchised mercenary I really enjoyed these characters and how they earn each other s trust It s fairly light hearted but touches on themes of free will duty and friendship I loved the little twist at the end and the author left enough loose threads to keep me interested in what the pair will get up to next Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 Entertaining Sometimes felt a little choppy and there were a few typos but still a really fun story Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 Broken Crossroads is the first novel I have read that is written by Patrick Leclerc. Broken Crossroads is a story about a budding partnership between a thief who was a slave and acrobat with a fighter who was a rebel who became a soldier and deserter This story is about how they formed their partnership and their early jobs. Mr Leclerc creates two very engaging main characters as they come alive while the story unfolds The banter between the two characters is witty light and fun Overall the dialogue in this story is very entertaining and realistic. The author introduces some interesting side characters such as Sergeant Niath of the City Watch Fayl the fence Moread Fingers and Ioresh and I wanted to spend some time with them I like the way Mr LeClerc features the city of Laimrig which is where most of this story takes place Magic is in this story but only in patches and glimpses As interesting and engaging as the characters are in this story there were some things that diminished my enthusiasm for the story The first issue I have with this story is what I thought to be a couple of missed opportunities that could have made the story have of an impact The first instance is when the fighter makes the decision to stop fighting the war and to desert his comrade in arms There is his friend who tried to talk him out of his decision and another soldier confronts him a few moments later which escalates to a brief confrontation When I read the scene where he decides to become a deserter I became locked into the story and thought will be some real stakes and danger There are no consequences in the story of his decision to desert The second instance is when the thief and fighter travel to a temple to steal a rare and powerful magic item for a fence While they are in the temple after they have purloined the magic item and before they escape they encounter a golem type creature The creature revealed in his thoughts would stop at nothing to retrieve the powerful magic item and maybe that holds true while the thief and fighter are still in the temple It would have been compelling and possibly higher stakes if the golem type creature or another minion of the god who the temple was built to pursue the thief and fighter for stealing the magic item. The second issue I have with this story which is alluded to in previous couple of paragraphs and there are no real stakes in this story For example the fighter is engaged in several armed confrontations where he is fighting several people I thought the fighter was not in any real danger He does get wounded but they do not linger because the thief gives him something magical and gets better. The third issue I have with this story is the minor plot point of a slave a young woman vanishing from the baron who rules the city Finding the slave becomes the top priority for the City Watch and the sergeant ropes the thief and fighter into the search I thought there is telling than showing of this plot point While reading this part of the story I wanted to learn about this young woman I think if this part of the story was expanded to show the slave and the baron it would have added another interesting and compelling aspect to the story The plot point of the vanishing slave concludes at the end of this story and it appears what happens occurs off page. I will rate Broken Crossroads 3 stars Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 I have an advanced review copy of this book hence I am posting this before its official release This is the kind of witty pacey neatly observed writing you come to expect from Patrick LeClerc whether with his urban fantasy or this traditional sword and sorcery fare There is great fun to be had in this book which is a series of linked stories really detailing the friendship of ex soldier Conn and wily thief Trilisean And it is a friendship which I rather liked However attractive each character is the story holds back from thrusting them at one another Instead they are colleagues who become friends and slowly as friendships do they change one another Having said that this is hardly an introspective book There are ancient jewels swordfights giant snake monsters and any number of booby trapped goodies just waiting for a careless thief Our thieves aren t careless They are great fun and I hope they will live to rob their way through many pages yet Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 Some days instead of sinking my teeth into a book the size of my thumb with a massive cup of tea I like to read a fun fast paced fantasy novel Still with a massive cup of tea Patrick LeClerc s Broken Crossroads the first book in his Knights of the Shadows series is a perfect book for that desire 1 Thoughts on the plotThis book follows two characters Trilisean a thief with the skills of an acrobat and the arrogance to match and Conn a former mercenary needing a new path in life Fate throws these two together in the broken down dirty crime ridden city of Laimrig when Trilisean needs some help on a job This book takes place in almost episodic segments with each chapter representing a full tale that then leads into the next segment It s like watching a television show where each episode is its own story but there is an overarching plot that you only get when you see the whole thing It was a different format than I usually see in a novel as it felt like a collection of short stories but I really did like it quite a bit The plot of each story was fun and easy to follow and once I got through the whole book I began to see connections between each scene and the whole story I really liked it. 2 Thoughts on the charactersThese two characters were just fun to read Trilisean was definitely on the arrogant side but she had the skill set to match Conn while also sure of his skills was snarky trending towards sarcastic The combination was humorous and worked perfectly for the story I do think that they were maybe a bit too skilled as all the difficulties they came across stumped their fellow thieves and fighters but were almost child s play for these two Granted they were well trained but it seemed almost too easy However for a book of this sort I don t think that this was a problem as the story was the important and the situations were never absolutely ridiculous in what they could do I especially enjoyed the banter between the characters When things got rough the banter got entertaining 3 Favourite partDefinitely the characters They really made this story what it is. 4 CritiqueI know this book is meant to be part of a series but the ending did not really indicate that there was to come I wouldn t suggest a cliff hanger ending not for this format or style but perhaps an epilogue with some scurrilous character preparing to cause trouble would have moved the reader to seek out the next book That s my only critique though The rest of the story was great fun. Overall I really enjoyed Broken Crossroads The story was fast and fun entertaining and every so slightly absurd without crossing into the realm of the ridiculous I think the characters were great and I had such fun reading this book A very good read Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 The Thief and the Mercenary After an unlikely meeting in a tavern well she did after try to Rob him first pair up together for a big heist that will get them rich The Thief and the run away Mercenary the unlikely duo great performance by Hank Hayden brings the whole book to life with his a range of character voices Fast pacing hilarious and action packed The characters and story are brilliant I will be checking out of the author s work cause that was such a fun read highly recommended Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 Rollicking pulpy fun. As Raymond E Feist once said a ripping yarn Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 Broken Crossroads follows the escapades of Trilisean and Conn in and around the run down city of Laimrig Their adventures are presented in an episodic format with a loose sense of progression from start to end. There s magic and otherworldly powers although not directly accessible by the main characters and I got a nice sense of the city its hazards and opportunities The threat of war is occasionally touched on as a background element and I d guess the sequel will develop it further. The style feels very much in the vein of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser minus the sex and it s fun to have characters who aren t virtuous although they still tend to end up doing the right thing. There s action aplenty and clever tricks I enjoyed finding out what the duo got up to That said I never really felt they were in serious danger or that there was much risk of things going very wrong and I didn t feel as immersed as I might have This might be because they were depicted rather distantly and we visited plenty of other characters heads in quick succession throughout the stories Also although there were plenty of injuries and deaths in combat details were glossed over Not that I m keen on gory descriptions but even with dead bodies lying around the aftermath of combat felt muted Still that fits the episodic approach where we know the characters will continue on their way and fight another day. Overall a well written and entertaining light read Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1 I m a big fan of LeClerc s previous two books and was lucky enough to snag an advanced reader copy of Broken Crossroads It s awesome It s a return to old school pulp sword and sorcery fantasy like Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and Lloyd Alexander s Prydain Chronicles but with a modern take on the genre Like all of LeClerc s works the characters are vibrant and the dialogue is clean and witty A great read for fans of LeClerc pulp fantasy and just great writing in general Broken Crossroads Knights of the Shadows 1
| Broken Crossroads (Knights of the Shadows, #1) By Patrick LeClerc |
| English |
| 224 |
| Kindle Edition |