Saturday 18 January 2014

Shadowgod by Michael Cobley

The forces of good wrested a city back from the evil shadow kings but their overall situation is still very precarious. Just about the only thing in their favour is that the Shadow Kings who each contain part of the evil God seem to have no desire to reunite and instead are bickering among themselves.

This middle book in Cobley's Shadow Kings trilogy took me a long time to read. I struggled through the first half because there were so many confusing characters and plot threads. However about half way in it all clicked for me and I started to enjoy the book a lot more. The finale was a bit rushed in my opinion but overall I enjoyed it enough to convince me to look for the final book of the trilogy.

I cannot guess what the final book will bring however because book two has already tied up a lot of plot threads.

Thursday 2 January 2014

Shadow Kings by Michael Cobley

 A former Empire lies in ruins having been over run by barbarian hordes and the evil magic wielding acolytes that drive them on. This is no mere invasion however as the hordes have all but rooted out the entire religious and magical underpinnings of the old regime. The human strife is just a cover for a war between supernatural beings. A small band of rebel warriors and mages cling to some hope of restoring the Empire but what hope can they have when even their god is thoroughly outmatched.

I believe this was Cobley's first novel but it shows no lack of confidence and is very enjoyable. I did get confused at times because the author crams a lot of characters and their respective plot threads into one novel. Cobley's later Humanities Fire saga was even more confusing in this respect so it looks like this is a trait the author has no intention of outgrowing.