We Shadows

Night's Dream #1

by Thomm Quackenbush

After a year of mourning a dead boyfriend, Shane Valentine wants a quiet first year at college. Instead, someone brutally stabs her.
Surprisingly, Shane wakes unharmed with memories of her murder and a significant problem: no one seems to know she exists. That is no one except her roommate, an accomplice to her murderer, and several supernatural creatures — whom she is startled to discover both exist and would prefer that she didn't. Their wish might be granted soon if she cannot find out who killed her, why, and how to stop the world from erasing her entirely.
On her side are an imperious daemon, a confused ghost, a dealer in drugs and memories, a Goth witch, and a nebbish occultist. Against her are the children of the gods, a shadowy cabal, and the totality of reality itself.

Genres: Fantasy

311 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Thomm Quackenbush is an author and teacher in the Hudson Valley. He has published four novels in his Night's Dream series (We Shadows, Danse Macabre, Artificial Gods, and Flies to Wanton Boys). He has sold jewelry in Renaissance England, confused as a mad scientist, filed away ten thousand books, and tried to educate the learning disabled, adjudicated, and gifted.

He is capable of crossing one eye, raising one eyebrow, and once accidentally groped a ghost. He finds that friends do not enjoy the extremes he goes to in order to research books, as these involve mortuaries and UFO support groups.

He is available for panels and talks about writing, aliens, mysteries, and murder. He is even available for panels on writing mysteries about murdering aliens.

Reviews

[Jill Swanson-Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I read from indie authors, the more sure I am that the real gems in the literary world are in no way connected to the big publishing houses. Thomm Quackenbush's, Night's Dream series is one of those gems. He has created a series that will pull it's reader to the underneath of it's pages and leave them enraptured in it's wake. Thomm's writing style is as unique as it is eloquent. This series exceeds expectations with it's remarkable world building and cast of characters. The author has a way of breathing life into these characters and the world they inhabit. I was definitely impressed by both the first and second book in this series.
We Shadows was an outstanding debut. I noticed little to no faults with it. Shane's character really stood out to me; as did her roommate, Roselyn. Her journey to find the truth is an epic one. The plot is extremely original and the way everything comes together through out the story makes it clear that the author put a lot of hard work into it's creation. I enjoyed the subtle references to other works of fiction. This book is a fun fantasy read but also full of underlying complexities.
I will definitely be recommending this series to all. It is well worth the read and will definitely not disappoint!

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall I love this book, the beginning reads a bit slow but it picks up and turns out to be awesome. I've read his latter books as well and I found them to be great, and smoother to read then this one (but who expects perfection from an author's first book?). But over all the plot is interesting and the characters are absolutely wonderful even if my favorite one doesn't have much page times. p.s Shane is a geeky girl quite unlike whoever the girl on the cover is supposed to be.

[Navya · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
The book We Shadows by Thomm Quakenbush is one of the most engaging books I’ve ever read. It is about a woman named Shane who, by the powers of magic world was sucked into an intriguing journey involving a set of interesting characters. As the story treads on it becomes more interesting. I am eagerly looking forward to reading the next two books.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book left me with many questions. The first question is what genre is this? I've never read a book like this before. It's outside the realms of any mainstream fantasy novels I've read. It's set in the real world, but not in a city. The system of magic is not clearly defined, but I imagine it will be in later books in the series.

Also, what happened happened? What was real, what was a dream, and what was possible delusion? I don't know. I think this is another topic that will be addressed in future books.

This skewed a little YA for my taste because the main characters are quite young, and their problems were very much young people problems. I can't recall the last time I read a book with so much french kissing, but I'm more annoyed by extremely graphic sex scenes so that is very fine.

I really enjoyed the fact that it was well outside the scope of familiar fantasy tropes. I am interested in seeing where these characters end up, since so much of the ending is ambiguous.

[Thomm Quackenbush]

I am thrilled to be getting this out to you soon. It is a vast improvement to have all the excised material back and the prose brushed up considerably.

[Paul Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: Poor old Shane. Born with a boy’s name. Heart broken by a boy who killed himself. Hunted and harassed by other boys at her college. Life’s never going to be easy, but at least she is alive. For now. Supernatural forces move after her and around her, drawing her away from the mundane world, but never letting her leave. They play with her mind, her heart, her soul. Thankfully, there are those on her side, too. Those who refuse to give up on her, who refuse to forget her. Maybe, between them, they can put things right again.

It may be just my imagination, but it seems like the teenage girl/supernatural mix has now become its own distinct genre. A high percentage of review requests I receive are of this nature. I have to admit, it’s not my favourite genre. Yes, Buffy was exceptional, but that’s an exception. An exceptional exception.

With any story, there’s the good and the bad. And, if you’re lucky, the intriguing. There are, for example, things in this story I didn’t like. Mainly style-wise. The bouncing around of perspectives/focus within chapters, for example. Shane’s style of diary-writing is irritating. Girl (a character named “Girl”) is, at least initially, a vapid pain-in-the-arse (Phoebe-from-Friends with the dial turned up). The story kind of wanders around, with events happening but nothing really driving the overall focus.

Frustratingly, for me, picking the book up was a chore rather than a joy. But that’s me. And I want to stress something, the book and the story are not chores. The writing is not dense, nor is it painful. The dialogue is not awkward, stilted or unrealistic. The characters are not unbelievable. On the contrary, the writing style is rather pleasant. This is where the frustration comes in for me, on a purely personal level. The characters are believable, and easy to identify with. Their dialogue rings, for the most part, true. Emotions, motivations and actions are handled well.

Quackenbush has brought in a nice mix of existing mythology (and I will admit to some curiosity as to how exactly the two ravens found their way to their new mistress), whilst introducing some new touches (The Reaver, especially is an intriguing character, and again, I’m curious about the title’s history, as the character was nicely delivered), and playing around with some genre faithfuls (the meddling amateurs, the mysterious possible benefactors, and the like). Some could, perhaps, have been explained a little clearer and benefitted from a bit more time – particularly at the end.

It’s difficult to judge overall, as this is Book One of a series, but works as a standalone piece. As a standalone piece, though, it’s perhaps a little… I don’t know… disappointing, perhaps? Although, it may work much better as the introductory episode of the series. Worth reading? Sure. Shane, the lead character, and her assorted associates are a pleasant enough bunch. Roselyn, the best friend who refuses to give up on Shane (and her boyfriend, who is, to my mind, a bit of a tosser). Gideon, the mysterious pseudo-Obi Wan. Girl, who settled down to be less of a pain (I can’t stand characters – or people – that try to be hard to be eccentric, crazy, wild, or whatnot) – and has turned out to be one of those I’m more interested in. There’s a lot of nice little touches – the mysterious “Shane”, who decorates trees in ice, etc. And a lot of dead ends, which I hope to see resolved in the next books.

And the ending? Well… if there’s a series, can this really be an ending?

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
I have to be honest. I only kinda, sorta, maybe understand what just happened at the end of this book. It feels like things wrapped up, but I don't actually know what happened. Did she? Didn't she? Was she? Wasn't she? Will she? Won't she? (Ok, now I just sound a bit like Girl.) At best it's a loose conclusion, though it does conclude. Having said all of that, I quite enjoyed the ride. Quackenbush has developed some really interesting characters in this book. Some I know are poached from various mythologies, but they are all artfully integrated to create an engaging story.

The whole thing just felt a little shallow though. I don't necessarily mean that as a harsh criticism. The characters had enough depth, there weren't too many deep plot holes and dialogue flowed well, but for all of the philosophy spouted, decisions made and actions taken very little deep explanation was ever given. It all led to a feeling of gloss...like looking at a water colour where you can clearly see what the picture is despite the fact that the lines are all indistinct and often wobbly. As a result I regularly "only kinda, sorta, maybe understand what just happened."

Then there was Girl. She's was very Mad Hatter-like, speaking in enlightened gibberish and riddles...and just in case you don't immediately note the similarity she liked to quote Carroll and have random tea-parties too. Actually, now that I think about it, I kind of wish I had paid more attention throughout the book. I'd bet there are more than a few Alice in Wonderland references I didn't catch. Gideon's penchant for cards could be one. Hookas and 'who are you' type conversations abound. Yes, I've decided. There is a definite Alice in Wonderland feel to this book. Shane has lost her sense of self, just like little Alice.

Quackenbush is a talented writer, without doubt. The dry, witty humour was worth reading the book for on its own. Shane, for example, very much reminded me of Rory from Gilmore Girls, though there isn't any real reason for me to make that comparison since the genre's are so very different. But there just aren't a lot of characters that could make grammar jokes funny, probably not many authors either.

[C.A. Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book based on the strength of the author's short story anthology "Find What You Love and Let It Kill You." I was not disappointed. This is a very enjoyable book, mostly because of Quackenbush's prose and wit. He has a extraordinary ability to mix metaphysical thought with wry humor.

However, this book is not quite as strong as his anthology. At times it can be confusing, as the plot gets lost in the meta-thought I mentioned above. There are several characters introduced at once, and sometimes the three boys that initiated Shane's troubles blend into each other. It was the compelling nature of the book and the author's voice that kept me moving through the confusing. It's not until about a third into the story that the plot become's firm and I understood (sort of) what was going on. Once the plot hit its stride, I breezed through, having trouble putting the book away. Gideon and Girl--two supernatural being that haunt Annandale College (presumably based on Bard College, in Annandale-On-Hudson, NY)-- are two of the most interesting characters I've had the pleasure to read.

The end of the book is at once satisfying and confusing. I'm pretty that I understand what happened, but there's a sliver of doubt in my mind. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It keeps me thinking about the story, even though I finished it two weeks ago.

Very few novels can do that.

If you can push through the confusing opening, I think that you'd enjoy this novel. I know that I did.

Note: The cover is very misleading. They sexualized Shane, who is about as plain and bookish as can be. Ignore the cover, read the book.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

We Shadows is the first book in the Night’s Dream Series.
If I had to sum this up in one sentence, it would be: You have to have quite the imagination to get into this one.
That being said, it was a very interesting book. Most of the time I didn’t know what was going on, so I am glad that it was only the first book. Hopefully the other two will do better to explain what was happening.
After a night of drinking, the main character, Shane, ends up in a crazy world where she doesn’t know if she is real or not. Dead or alive. Fact or Fiction.
She is in an in between state and only certain people can see her.
Mourning the loss of her boyfriend, she never really recovers from that sadness. He is always the first thing on her mind.
While trying to uncover the secrets of Eliot’s death and her own weird occurrences, she runs into some strange people along the way, though they will turn out to be what she really needs in the end.
A witch and a girl with no name.
With new found powers and strange people around her, Shane must try to figure out what is going on.
It all seems to come together at the end, but I suppose we will only really know after reading the last two.
2.5/5 stars. I don’t feel that there was ever really a take off point for this story. It all seemed to go at the same pace. I was confused much of the time, but through all of that, it was still intriguing.

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of us find trouble by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. For adolescent Shane, trouble happened because of her beloved boyfriend Ethan' s "six degrees of separation." It was the people he knew and she didn't that started her downward spiral. First Ethan, on a rare occasion without Shane, drowns--an apparent suicide. Then Shane enrolls at his alma mater, Annandale, and the three who know the most about Ethan' s passing decides she knows too much, and kill her. Rejuvenated by an interfering daemon, Shane passes from death into an invisible kind of life, visible only to her epileptic Wiccan roommate. Shane is determined to do what it takes to restore Ethan as well as herself.

[Babus Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shane's first boy forfend before college dies of accidental downing and when she starts college where he was a student she attracts the attention of unwelcome forces, is this linked to her late boyfriend, her roommate or is something else afoot?

Not an avid fantasy reader I found this novel harder to get into and with no knowledge of this fantasy world a little disconcerting as a unique lexicon seemed to be introduced without much description. I'm sure people who love fantasies will find this a more entertaining read then I did but I'm just not laid back enough to enjoy this book more.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

First let me state that I enjoyed reading this. We Shadows by Thomm Quakenbush is an interesting story about a woman named Shane who is first introduced being in a New York bar. She is next seen in a university dorm according to her diary entry, and from there the story keeps getting better. As it moves along a set of unique, interesting characters are introduced. As I kept reading on, this story kept getting better. So much so that I can't wait to find out what happens in part two and three of this so far remarkable series.