Author: Gretchen Powell Fox
Series: Shattered Crown #1
Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Action
Publisher: Scarlett Press
Publication Date: Apr 07 2026
Edition: Ebook
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's |
Synopsis:
A Splintered Kingdom
An ancient grudge has kept humans and the magical races of Arcanis at odds for centuries. The Arcane Crucible, a legendary series of trials that occurs every 25 years, offers a chance for peace.
A Haunted Warrior
Elyria Lightbreaker, once a celebrated fae war hero, is a shadow of her former self. Drowning in grief after losing the man she loved to the previous Crucible, now she must rise to stop his sister from falling to the same fate.
A Vengeful Knight
Hardened by loss and fueled by hate, Cedric Thorne’s lifelong goal to conquer the Crucible on humanity’s behalf is finally within reach. The only problem? Getting through the trials alive means working with Elyria—the very fae he blames for his parents’ deaths.
An Unwinnable Challenge
With alliances fragile as spun glass and betrayal lurking at every turn, Elyria and Cedric must navigate deadly trials that test their strength, spirit, and magic… as well as their increasingly complex feelings for each other.
This is the Arcane Crucible.
An ancient grudge has kept humans and the magical races of Arcanis at odds for centuries. The Arcane Crucible, a legendary series of trials that occurs every 25 years, offers a chance for peace.
A Haunted Warrior
Elyria Lightbreaker, once a celebrated fae war hero, is a shadow of her former self. Drowning in grief after losing the man she loved to the previous Crucible, now she must rise to stop his sister from falling to the same fate.
A Vengeful Knight
Hardened by loss and fueled by hate, Cedric Thorne’s lifelong goal to conquer the Crucible on humanity’s behalf is finally within reach. The only problem? Getting through the trials alive means working with Elyria—the very fae he blames for his parents’ deaths.
An Unwinnable Challenge
With alliances fragile as spun glass and betrayal lurking at every turn, Elyria and Cedric must navigate deadly trials that test their strength, spirit, and magic… as well as their increasingly complex feelings for each other.
This is the Arcane Crucible.
I went into this book, honestly, with no expectations. It sounded fun, but it also sounded a little cliche. I've had a very rough few weeks and was looking for something fun to read. This book took me by surprise. I really enjoyed it.
It has a dual-POV, something I wish more fantasy romance/romantasy books would do. I like getting both perspectives. It did take me a while to warm up to Cedric as a character. He came across as pretty self-righteous a lot of the time. Didn't seem to notice the hypocrisy of the situation. Either forgetting or failing to realize that humans were the reason the world was shattered, even if the Fae Queen was the one to actually do the shattering. Yet he, along with all the other humans at the Crucible think they should have world-ending magical power. I am with Elyria, that nobody should have that power, because she's right. There's too many people on both sides of the conflict who would abuse it.
I might be over thinking it, but I really feel the timeline is really short in some aspects. 25 years between crucibles, isn't that long of a time-span, especially for the long-lived fae. Based on how the even the fae talked about the last one, it felt like more time should've passed. With the long lives of fae I didn't feel that 25 years should feel as long as it does to humans since time would feel different to them.
The challenges inside the crucible were really tense. While I was fairly certain that the main characters were going to make it out, I had no idea who else would. It is hard to tell a story like this and keep things tense for the characters with out giving away who lives and who dies. I am curious how many books this series will have, there is room for an epic tale, but so far there's only two that I know of.
This book, and the second book, are technically already out, but only as ebooks/audiobooks. I noticed that when I was getting the purchase links and I think this is an arc for the physical book.
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