The Fragment of Water by Ben Hale

genre: young adult fantasy

The first thing we learn about Draeken is that when he was created, his magic was so powerful that it split him into five fragments: Fire, Shadow, Mind, Light and Water.  Each has their own strengths and weaknesses in a world that doesn't know it is about to be under attack.  The ancient race of Krey has found Lumenia - and its designs could bring nearly everyone on this magical planet to their knees.  With the Huntress as their trainer and companion, the fragments have been prepared for centuries to fight - but the Krey will prove to be the greatest foe they have have to face.  

Hale has created a vivid and complex world.  The fragments have unique abilities that make them excellent weapons and much of the story is battle and violence.  Each fight's twists and turns are guided somewhat by the abilities of whoever is fighting so that although I tend to be a bit bored by too much combat, the Fragments and their companions kept things interesting.  I like the strong females that work side by side with the Fragments and the ending definitely sets up a sequel without being an annoying cliffhanger, which I appreciate.

For me, though, this story is way too much telling.  The dialogue tended to feel dry and a bit obvious and I would've appreciated more editing.  I am a stickler for word choice and on many different occasions, words and phrases are repeated in a way that made me want to hand our author a thesaurus.  I can tell that the huge scope of this world and the story Hale is trying to tell are a long range, multi-book experience but I still feel like, as a reader, I deserve attention to detail.  The plot moved along fast enough that I don't feel I wasted my time but I don't think I'll be picking up the next book.