The Shattered World

A great fantasy book from the mid-80's that builds on an interesting premise: how do different peoples do on a planet that has been split into different fragments? For those wondering how the science works in this scenario, there is a Runestone for each fragment that takes care of things like gravity and atmosphere.

The chief characters are a thief, Beorn, who is under a lifetime spell of shape-changing into a bear. His latest mission is to steal a Runestone from the largest fragment, Darkhaven, for which he will gain his human-only life back. He was hired by Ardatha, a court wizard of another fragment, Oljaer, to retrieve this fragment in the hopes of re-joining the fragments. Another wizard, Pandrogas, is currently researching the show more history of this fragmented world in the library on the fragment of Darkhaven. Stranded on Darkhaven are a marquis and his wife, whose dragonship is being repaired due to their wreck onto this fragment during a storm.

The POV switches between each of the characters and each is well supplied with a backstory and motivation for their actions. And as a friend said who read it shortly after I first did, again, back in the 80's, each character thinks they are doing the right thing with their intentions and actions. Sort of a Neutral Good alignment for the Dungeons and Dragons players. No character is doing truly good, and no character is doing true evil; they are simply doing what they think best in their situation.

The world-building of the different fragments, along with the Abyss in which they own float in their own orbits, is quite well-done. And the conflicts that each character brings based on their actions are also believable. The sacrifices and choices each character makes are more adult than adolescent which made is a great read all these years later. And yet, for all the build-up, it's the ending that feels more than a bit rushed and incomplete. Still, it's a great book for all that, and has stood the test of time in its readability. show less

Normally, quest fantasies have the characters trying to save the village or region or their world. With multiple worlds orbiting each other, I found this fantasy novel that much more compelling. I look forward to reading the sequel, The Burning Realm.

I read this book many years ago --probably shortly after publication. All I really recall about it is the unique setting --a world which has been broken into fragments which various powers are seeking to control. The hero is a werebear thief who is blackmailed into trying to help one of the rival powers, a sorceress, in a struggle against a sorcerer.