Prophecy of Swords
To End A War
Nearly a thousand years ago a great warrior named Lachlan sought to unify his people, using the power of the Three Swords of Destiny. Before his victory, Lachlan was killed by his trusted friend, Allarun. Now, Allarun is still in power but haunted by dreams of Lachlan’s death curse: that Lachlan would return to avenge his death. Allarun’s decision is to destroy the very people Lachlan tried to unite.
Only two men have the power to stop the slaughter. Romarin, the last of a line of kings, and a half-blood mercenary named Shadowhelm. One may be destined to be Lachlan, but can they unlock the secret to Lachla’s power before Allarun kills them?
“Prophecy Of Swords is a remarkably rich fantasy that takes you into new realms of wonder and imagination. The battles and magic portrayed here full of excitement and intrigue. It’s hard to find a good fantasy that isn’t a rehash of all that has been done before, but Margaret H. Bonham has managed to break the mold and give readers something totally unique and different. A guaranteed winner.” — Laura J. Underwood, author of Ard Magister, Chronicles Of The Last War, and forthcoming Dragon’s Tongue and Wandering Lark
“In Prophecy Of Swords, Bonham has written an enjoyable and intriguing novel, filled with believable characters and a rich, satisfying plot. I look forward to the next book in the series with great anticipation.” — Karen E. Taylor, author of The Vampire Legacy series.
July 22nd, 2006 at 8:34 pm
I want to thank everyone who has been listening to Prophecy of Swords! We’ve hit over a thousand listeners now! Drop by my website at http://www.shadowhelm.net and join the Prophecy of Swords email discussion list!
Look for it and the upcoming sequel, Runestone of Teiwas, published by Yard Dog Press at http://www.yarddogpress.com. Look for the prequel, Lachlei, published by Dragon Moon Press, http://www.dragonmoonpress.com.
July 29th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
I can’t seem to get episode 19.
August 3rd, 2006 at 9:27 am
I’m really enjoying this story. However, there is a tremendous imbalance between the voice and music in this narration. Every time the music comes on, I have to turn the volume down significantly. There have been several occasions where I’ve had to jerk the headphones out because I could not reach the buttons soon enough.
Please, can this be fixed?
Heidi
August 6th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
To Heidi –
I got feedback on that, so later episodes got toned down! Don’t worry, it becomes much less loud. I will probably go back and reedit the sound when I’m done with the book.
Maggie
August 6th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
To AWB –
I know we’ve had some downtime with the site, try downloading again with your podcatcher. If you still can’t, do to the Prophecy webpage at Podiobooks and you should have all the episodes listed. Download episode 19 — there’s a link there. Let me know if that doesn’t work.
Maggie
August 6th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
One more thing, the Prophecy of Swords email list is online! To join, send an email to ProphecyOfSwords-subscribe@yahoogroups.com It’s a discussion list, so you can chat directly with me there.
August 8th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
Great, thanks.
Heidi
September 11th, 2006 at 3:38 am
Just curious why the music is always interupting the story, trying to get into story and every couple minutes music breaks in.
October 1st, 2006 at 2:48 pm
The music defines section breaks. Yes, I toned it down somewhere around episode 10 or so.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
We love fantasy swords and this book looks like a great read. Bonham has written some real good books in the past and I would expect this book to be another instant classic.
February 1st, 2007 at 10:17 pm
I think you need to speak up a little. The volume is a lot lower that the music and the “podiobooks.com” intro. Also, watch the hard “P” sounds and the whistling “S” sounds. Great story!
February 16th, 2007 at 5:05 am
I like the musical section breaks.
The story so far is great, I always look forward to the next episode.
February 24th, 2007 at 8:46 am
Hey everyone! This is the author. My nearly brand new computer went ten toes up a week ago and I had been out of town, so I’m working at restoring it. I promise I will sit down and read at least three chapters to make up for it.
Making the podiobook has been a learning experience for me, so I know that the first several chapters are a bit rough. I’ll probably go back and edit them when the book is done.
BTW, for those interested, the sequel, Runestone of Teiwas, will be released at Soonercon in June 2007 and will be available through Yard Dog Press, http://www.yarddogpress.com. I’ll have a special for those listeners interested in purchasing an advanced copy on my website when the computer thrash is done. In the meantime, hang tight and I should have my computer fixed in the next week or so.
Thanks for your patience and your good thoughts!
Maggie (M. H.) Bonham, author of Prophecy of Swords
March 6th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
The audio volume difference between the music and narration is significantly different, it’s very unpleasant.
I’ve also listened to many other pod cast books. A couple from podiobooks.com and some I got from itunes.com. This particular book has so much advertising junk at the beginning and end of each podcast file.. it’s nuts. It’s the only pod cast book that I actually fast foward through the first 5 minutes and ignore the last 3 minutes. That is almost half of the entire file! I know the authors need to push their stuff. But this is silly. I don’t even get the subconscious message because it’s so annoying I just skip it entirely. If it was just a minute or two.. like what Scott Sigler does on his pod cast books, I would probably listen to it. At least his pod books aren’t almsot 50% sales message.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:07 pm
i have to ask will the new book comming out in june of 2007 be able to be bought in audio form or will you be podcasting it yourself i really like prophecy alot in the podcast form and am willing to buy a audiobook version if available i have little time to read and listen to them at work which makes my day fly by with the awsomeness of the prophecy please respond when you can thanks and keep up with the excellent writing.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Hey Mike! I haven’t decided what to do with Runestone of Teiwas yet. I may podcast that or write a more podcast-friendly book in the vein of Prophecy of Swords. Haven’t decided yet.
And BTW, the computer is alive again, so you should be getting some more chapters soon if you haven’t already.
May 5th, 2007 at 4:35 am
Before I say anything else, let me say that I’m loving the story. I really like the idea of you publishing Runestone of Teiwas as a podcast novel. But I’m having trouble getting the 47th episode, and it appears that it doesn’t exist on the websites. Also, I’m getting edgy for some new episodes, and I’m eager to know when they will be available. Keep up the good writing.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:59 am
I love the story and have been eagerly awaiting new episodes. I must say the wait is getting terribly frustrating. Can we please have some more…..
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:36 am
For some reason, Chapter 47 isn’t appearing. You’ll be getting a bunch soon. I moved from Colorado to Montana and I’ve just gotten my office/studio back up. I PROMISE I will get the chapters out!
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:55 am
Hey everyone!
Thanks for being patient. Evidentally, Chapter 47 got swallowed up by the Net or AOL or whatever. It’s going up today. I edited Chapter 48, which will definitely come out next week.
A little more information: I recorded Chapters 49-55 today. I’ll be editing and processing those chapters for next week’s download. If I get enough edited, you may have as much as 5 chapters to listen to next week.
The good news is my desk and studio is live. Which means I’m shooting for August 1 to complete Prophecy of Swords. Several of you have asked about Runestone. At this point, I’ll be talking to my publisher to get the go-ahead. It’s pretty much my publisher’s call, but if you’ve enjoyed Prophecy and want to see Runestone of Teiwas go through Podiobooks, you might want to send a nice email to my publisher telling them something to that effect. (Buying a book won’t hurt either
For those of you who simply can’t wait, I’m still offering both signed books (Prophecy and Runestone) at $16 each — and if you buy both together, I throw in free shipping to the US. (For those in other countries, I’ll be happy to knock some postage off). The weblink is http://www.shadowhelm.net/runestoneofteiwas.html
Anyway, one thing is certain is that I’ll be recording Lachlei, the prequel to Prophecy of Swords sometime in the very near future.
Thanks for listening! You guys have been awesome!
June 6th, 2007 at 11:50 am
I am enjoying your story. How many chapters are in this book?
Thanks for making my work day go by faster.
June 15th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Hey Jen!
The book has 65 Chapters total. Just sent in three more to go up, so in the next couple of days, you’ll have chapters 49-51. I’ll try to get more edited.
BTW, let me know if the sound quality has improved any. An office with a closed door is pretty nice. Glad you’re enjoying the book.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:34 am
I’m enjoying this podiobook and really appreciate the author’s efforts, however, I have to say that the audio quality leaves a lot to be desired with frequent irregularities in the narration plus the individual podcast chapters are too short – making the authors comments at the beginning and end really annoying. If I wasn’t hooked on the story I would have dumped it for this reason.
Somewhere around, I think, chapter 15 a section appears to have been missed as the review at the start mentions shadowhelm making love in a dream to a woman – soul stealer or something, yet that wasn’t in the preceding chapter.
Despite this I reiterate, I’m enjoying this podiobook and look forward to the conclusion of it.
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:41 am
Thanks, Damian! I’ll take a look at it to see if something was missing. Could happen, you never know.
I’ve tried to shorten up the comments at the front and back as I went along. And hopefully, the roughness ironed out. What I’m planning on doing is cleaning up all the chapters once the book is done and rereleasing it on another feed as well.
Glad you’re enjoying the story.
August 17th, 2007 at 10:44 am
On the home stretch here! There are 65 Chapters in all and right now, I’m looking for questions from readers to answer in the last episode. So, if you have any questions about the book or the characters, or the writing process (or upcoming books), feel free to email me at shadowhelm1@aol.com and I’ll try my best to answer them in the last chapter.
Don’t forget to rate the book if you’ve enjoyed it!
September 11th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
My short review of Prophecy of Swords (I have listened to 61 out of 65 episodes now).
It’s a gripping fantasy tale of a man called Shadowhelm, and his role in a prophecy of lore about someone called the Lachlan.
It’s a tale about good and evil, and the Swords of Destiny.
The narration is good, though there sometimes are some rough edges in sound quality. And the story telling does get mixed with an instrumental score to differentiate between chapters or when the narration goes to another viewpoint. For me it wasn’t a bother, but some might have some objections to it.
A few episodes do seem to be a bit short, but most times the length is good, ranging between 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Great during commutes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story so far, and I look forward to the final battle.
If I had to give this story a grade, I’d give it an 8 out of 10.
If you like fantasy, and you like a good hero story, then this is a good suggestion for you to listen to.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Thanks MadJo!!!!
September 13th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I got to say that this is one of the best books I’ve listened to on podiobooks. Each episode is a good range of time. It has enough action to keep you interested, but not so much that you just get overwhelmed from it.
I would give this book a 8.5 out of 10. If you like fantasy books you would probably like this book too.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Thanks David!!!!
September 16th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I’ve had a bit of a love hate relationship with this podcast. The book has generally been enjoyable and I understand the learning curve of creating a podcast. I was glad to see the five minute ads pushing stuff go by the wayside, but then it was replaced by spelling out the email address, which was annoying, ironically the email address that consumes the last three minutes of every chapter is different than the one at the beginning.
Additionally I really feel the chapters are too short, if the chapters in the book are really so short, just combine two or three chapters together and call it an episode (seems to be common practice amongst podcasters). With the intro, the outro and the music in between a rather short thirteen minute mp3 might only have eight minutes of book in it, which actually caused a lot of confusion for me during the course of the book. So many names being introduced and family lineages, etc, etc I could only get eight minutes of info and then take a two week break and get another eight minutes of info so I was constantly losing the story.
On a lighter note though, I did enjoy the story. It was interesting and well thought out and for fantasy buffs it is a must. The author did get better over time, but there is still some room for more improvement. If she podcasts again I’ll be subscribing.
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Thanks Chris!
December 9th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
This book is great! Im on episode 4 and I am liking it a lot!
December 14th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Maggie Bonham can definitely write, this is a great story with a richly defined world populated by well-rounded and interesting characters. Sure, it carries a few of the standard fantasy tropes but they are well realised and all the better for that.
It has to be said though, that while she may be able to write she cannot read! The narration is poor at best and in places downright appalling. She offers little or no emotion, pacing is non-existent and the inflection nearly always in the wrong place. This coupled with musical breaks that are too loud, way too long and way too frequent really spoil the experience.
I paid my ten bucks ‘cos I think the story was worth it and I look forward to the next one, but Maggie, please, recognise your limitations and get someone else to read the next one, a drama student looking for exposure, anything, just don’t do it yourself – the stories are worth better than that.
December 15th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Thanks Robert. I’ll try to remember that when I have some money to put towards it.
December 15th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Thanks Jeffrey! We aim to please!
February 20th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Argh! I made a big comment and it got eaten by the internet!
Anyways, I just wanted to say i’m really enjoying the heck out of this book, and i’m looking forward to getting into others in the future! It’s good writing and a good adventure to go on!
That being said, I do have a couple of qualms with the book. Nothing big, just my opinions. But as someone else mentioned, very little emotion in the way of narration, and there are some spots where that’s a real drawback. So hey Maggie, if you ever wanted to try someone else out with narrating your stuff you could always drop me a line!
If i’ve got time I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot, just for kicks, no charge! I *was* a drama geek once upon a time after all, maybe I still have some of that in me still 
The really major issue I had though was that the introduction and closing chatting was just WAY too long in my opinion. There are times it gets up to and even exceeds 3 minutes before the book starts up, and nearly that much AFTER once in a while too, and it’s generally the same message each time with the occasional bit of news here and there. After the first few chapters I found myself reaching into my pocket every 10 minutes to fastforward my ipod past the intro music/chat so I could get back to the story. Maybe next time you could consider summarizing that stuff a bit? Or even just put the things you feel are necessary to say (legal stuff, asking for donations, blog site etc) into the description portion of the file where it is readable, and save the chatting portions for news and recaps and such! Then we can read it rather than hear it every time. I know I miss a lot of news updates in the intro and afterwards because i’m busy fastfowarding past it after hearing the same speech for so many chapters. The important info gets lost in it. Just suggestions.
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:54 am
Well, I decided to give this book a try after going past it one too many times. I am enjoying the story, but not the intros and closings. I do have issues with the sound quality as I feel I am constantly adjusting the volume of my mp3 player…..annoying. Also, I have to agree with some of the other reviewers, the comments are way way too long. I understand that for podcasters it can be difficult on the first try to get everything right….but around episode 8 I found that I’d had enough of the “self promotion”. Speaking for myself, when I like an author, I will search out all of their available material and purchase and listen/read without thinking twice. However, I don’t like to spend 7-8 minutes of each podcast episode listening to the same “advertisements” and only getting 5-8 minutes of story. It is discouraging to say the least and I almost gave up on the story for something that required less effort to listen to. But I am a trooper. I finish what I start, so I finished the story. Good work. Advice – Email Mur Lafferty and ask how she manages to make her many stories relatively enjoyable. Not perfect by any standards…but I don’t want to throw the mp3 player against the wall every 5-8 minutes with her stuff. Last thing…Next time around ditch the music. It eats up too much story. 65 episodes could have been 25 without the music and promotions. Otherwise good stuff.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:57 am
What a great story! The pace was good and my interest continued throughout. Some ingenious plotting – quite a few unexpected twists and turns. I was intrigued to hear Maggie expand on the world she has created at the end of her last episode. She’s obviously put a lot of thought into how her world operates. It’s made me keen to purchase the sequel. Thank you for a most diverting experience.
August 31st, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I am enjoying this book; however the sound quality is driving me nuts. The music is so loud and the narration is soft. I may not be able to finish the book. This podcast is not alone in this sound issue.
September 25th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Well, Thanks for this wonderfull post.
To be frank i have both postive and negative comments on this work. They have a good theme to come up with but the overall work seems not be worth on it. The drawback as always lies on the sound and also the original genre on swords.
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:35 am
Although I liked the story, I stopped listening to it after about 15 episodes.. A random episode is 17 minutes, of which the first 3 min. is music and commercials, and the last 3 min. same story.. In between you have to listen over and over to the same classical music (40 sec. each time) that is way to loud..
Very annoying!
July 27th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I waded through all episodes through an act of will power. The story, while good, is completely overshadowed by 30% of every chapter being non-value add music, intros and exits…5 minutes of a 15 minute episode is a bit much for non-value info. Another detriment to the story is the narration, just like some song writers can’t sing it seems that some authors can’t read aloud.
Some future work suggestions for Maggie:
Hire someone to read for you. Someone with skill at reading aloud.
Make sure that each session is longer than 10 minutes of story, 30 minutes is the sweet spot in my opinion.
Keep the intro, exit and interlude music to less than 10% of the session.
Don’t refer to the main character by his proper name in most every reference, Him, He, His, they…all perfectly acceptable and easy to follow…heck it was 3 chapters before I realized that the main character wasn’t named Shaol-him.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate the story. It was entertaining and well thought out, within the limits of dramatic writing of course. I believe I would have enjoyed reading it much more than I did listening to it.
October 1st, 2010 at 1:37 am
Wish you would have posted an other book. It was a great story and i wish it would just keep going. I agree with SOME sound remarks from above you could have a really great 5star audio book with a few simple changes.
March 1st, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Please…turn down the music…scared the hell out of me when i started to snooze with the headphones on.
March 14th, 2011 at 3:49 am
I only lasted to episode 17.
I wanted to go on as the story was getting really interesting. I just couldn’t listen any more; 1) the audio quality was so poor it was difficult to understand the script (too soft), 2) the music!!! AHHHHHH too loud , in the middle of the text. It blasted ears.
I am sorry to say this is the first audiobook in 4 years that I havent completed.
Please re-record it.