Shadows in the Dark

by C.T. Tang

Cato Knight is an emissary of a nation called Onyra. He receives an assignment from the Council of Masters to investigate Doriva, a remote settlement at the edge of the realm, ruled by Saraki of the Sand. The so-called ‘Bandit King’ is said to have assembled an enormous army that could potentially threaten Onyra and the entire realm, but when Cato and his team arrive at the gates of Doriva, they discover that the settlement is abandoned. There is no one left in Doriva . . .

‘Shadows in the Dark’ tells a gripping story of pre-destined love, inherited scars, happy tears, and overwhelming darkness.

488 pages, Paperback

Published January 29, 2023

Reviews

[Liza van Zoelen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider myself very lucky, being able to be the first to have read this book.
I always find it really hard to write review of a book and I will do my best, but I can honestly say that this one is really awesome and I just couldn't put it down.

The story involves a variety of characters which each have their own characteristics, even though not everyone gets the same attention in the story, you get to know them throughout the book. It's a story filled with adventure, excitement, mystery, gods and goddesses, mystical powers and some humor and romance. Rich in dialogue and beautifully described landscapes, villages and cities. The writer knows how to capture the imagination, which for me made it easy to visualize the story in my mind. I could imagine the cities and villages the characters visited and almost hear the hustle and bustle of busy market streets.
You follow the protagonist and group along with their trials and tribulations, while they are on a quest for answers. But there's more then just that to the story and not everything is spelled out.
I don't really want to say much more about it other then, it's this writer's first book and you should definitely give it a try.

You can tell by the way it is written and thought out, that they writer has put allot of love, thought and work into this. The sentences flow with ease while reading and I think the flow of the story is just at the right pacing. Even though there is action in this story, you don't go from action scene to action scene and the writer leaves plenty moments of rest in the story. But I have to mention that these moments of ''rest'' are in no way dull. Everything that happens is connected to the story in some form or the other, but it doesn't overwhelm at all.

Okay, I'm rambling, please just go read it. I think it's a fantastic book, filled with lots of lovable characters, interesting story/lore and it definitely deserves a read through.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series and first book of this writer.
I read a lot of fantasy books and saw this book passing by on my socials so decided to try it out.
First of all the good things:
Interesting story with some nice characters. I really like the powers of the main character since it gives the writer some nice tools to mess around with.
Very good editing. One of my pet peeves is spelling and grammar errors in books I read. And I didn't find any.

Some points for improvement:
The pace was a bit choppy. Sometimes it went slow sometimes it went very fast. The slow and detailed parts weren't always interesting, but that has more to do with me liking stories that focus on one protagonist.
The magic could be a bit more fleshed out. It feels a bit superficial.

All together I will pick up the next book.

[Kevin Francis Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine debut, and the first book to kick off the Apotheosis series. Interesting worldbuilding, with a cool "magic"-system, where people draw upon their aura. A book with lots of lore, well thought-out history, characters and settings.
I love good dialogues, and this book gave me lots of those. Clever, witty interactions between the characters, and it really shows that the author put a lot of time in each and every page.
Can't wait for the rest of the series!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Loved it from start to end! From plot to characters and dialogue, a solid 5 out of 5!

[Rutuja Ramteke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently had the pleasure to read this book, the first impression from the cover and title was, I was extremely thrilled to pick it up and so I did!

The storyline revolves around Cato, a very interesting and well built character who lived in an orphanage (this adds more ot the story), firstly I thought the book would have like major grand settings and world building but it’s actually to me a story of exploration that Cato does, the book is divided into segments and the author takes the readers from one place to another but definitely very gradually as the book proceeds. I also liked how his

I enjoyed most part of it, but some parts felt slow especially when Cato meets different peoples like the grandmaster and they work on things together, I was expecting those parts to be more happening. The first part of the book is especially about Cato where, discovering himself and I mean it that this is the most darkest part of the book, this part brings in the peculiar loneliness, even the settings of the part one is like really lonely, so as a reader I actually imagined myself in the story with Cato and the loneliness lingered all over me.

What I really liked was, the author slowly builds the book and never rushes, but this also made me feel that the book is a bit stretchy, any fantasy lover would surely enjoy it especially if you like dark themes, fantasy elements and themes of self discovery and I don’t mean mental ones but actually physically going and discovering the land, the places we never heard of and walking into Cato’s shoes made me do that a lot.

The book follows a very good language, very clean with no errors but of course a beginner or someone who is not so good in english might need a dictionary every other chapter, I also found a lot of new and interesting words in the story.

The pace for me was slow, I like the slow world buildings, I definitely was expecting it to be bit faster as a lot of moves were not made even after a new chapter, but I must say the author is very good at storytelling, I was really engrossed and I loved his style.

Now, since the book takes place in a part or area I’m not aware, so I was really hoping a map at the beginning would been a great help for the readers to connect more and understand it better. I was hoping to see all of the places on a map, I still did that with my imagination.

Talking about imagination, the author’s imagination is really good, right from building characters and sketching them, he did a great job. I also loved how the book is not flooded with many characters even after being a lengthy book.

There is a lot of magical realism going in the story and honestly it’s greatly influenced by historical elements, but there is a dark vibe to the story throughout yet there are few moments that will make you laugh like the conversation between Cato and Rahziel from Malakhai part, the dialogues are so well written throughout.

I honestly had a very good time with the book and don’t regret picking it up, I truly enjoyed it, had fun and felt like entering a new place with Cato, other side characters like Maya, Master Amon, Raven, etc including the quick entry and quick exit characters were good too!

I will definitely recommend it, it’s a great one and I will pick the next one too, the only thing I didn’t like was, I felt some parts are dragged overall it’s an interesting read for sure!

Rating: 4⭐️

[Jithendra Jithu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadows in the Dark: Apotheosis Book One

By

C.T. Tang

Rating:5/5

Description:

Cato Knight is an emissary of a nation called Onyra. He receives an assignment from the Council of Masters to investigate Doriva, a remote settlement at the edge of the realm, ruled
by Saraki of the Sand. The so-called ‘Bandit King’ is said to have assembled an enormous army that could potentially threaten Onyra and the entire realm, but when Cato and his team arrive at the gates of Doriva, they discover that the settlement is abandoned.

There is no one left in Doriva . . .

‘Shadows in the Dark’ tells a gripping story of pre-destined love, inherited scars, happy tears, and overwhelming darkness.

Review:

👉Talking about the title of the book, the title of the book is really so interesting to read.

👉The cover is appealing and attractive as well.Writing style is appreciable.The protagonist of the story is Cato Knight who grew up in an orphanage called Knightsong Haven, located on the outskirts of the war-torn city of Moonshield, is an emissary of a nation called Onyra. Ever since he returned home from a diplomatic mission to Aespira, Onyra’s neighboring nation to the south, he kept seeing the twins in his dreams.
Soon he receives an assignment from the Council of Masters to investigate Doriva.
Doriva is a remote settlement at the edge of the realm. It is ruled by Saraki of the Sand and is called ‘Bandit King’. He is said to have assembled a giant army that could potentially threaten Onyra and the entire realm.Cato and his team arrive at the gates of Doriva. There they discovered that the settlement is abandoned and there is no one left in Doriva.To know further, hurry up and grab this fabulous book.

For complete read do order the book on @amazondotcom

For book link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BTBP...

Wow! What a book! I am in love with the book

👉I just loved reading the book ...

Happy reading!