Skein of Shadows

Eberron: The Shard Axe #2

by Marsheila Rockwell

Praise for The Shard Axe by Marsheila “The action is quick, brutal, and author Marsheila Rockwell does a wonderful job painting believable characters in mythical situations that are just magical enough to still be grounded in some sort of realism. The Shard Axe  . . . is a must for any fan of Dungeons and Dragons novels, fantasy novels, or the MMO.” —MMOfallout.com"Sabira is a great fantasy noir action heroine, and her adventure had a lot of fun surprises and colorful characters. I'm happy to recommend it to others, especially fans of Eberron and DDO. It was a fun read and I look forward to further tales of the Shard Axe." --Sigfried Trent, DDOcast  “I enjoyed [The Shard Axe] very much. It was great to see references to various NPCs and situations. In particular I really liked a scene where the protagonist had to deal with acid-spewing traps in Stormreach’s sewers. It felt ‘like home.’ ”—Cordovan, myddo.com “Sabira d’Deneith is a fantastic character. She’s flawed and likable. . . .The beginning of the novel really throws you into things. It’s exciting, action-packed, and allows you to really get a grasp on what is going on.” —Read Between the Lines “This is a book to be devoured in one setting.  It is fast paced with bits of backstory dropped in at choice moments that flesh out Sabira’s story perfectly.  While I am not as familiar with Eberron as I am the Forgotten Realms, this book required no previous knowledge of the Eberron setting and can be enjoyed as a standalone novel.  The key element of the story is Sabira, to say that her methods are unorthodox and she is a “bit of a rule breaker” is an understatement but she has a fierce sense of duty that guides her actions.  So her prisoners are brought in a little worse for wear?  It is part of her charm…”—Stefan’s Bookshelf Created in conjunction with the latest update for the Dungeons & Dragons online game, this exciting adventure continues the story of Sabira from The Shard Axe, featuring an underground expedition in dark caverns, drow intrigue, powerful artifacts, and unrequited love.Read  If you are looking for more about Dungeons & Dragons Online search for, “The Shard Axe” by Marshiela Rockwell, a chilling mystery set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons Online.If you are looking for more kickass heroines, search for “Gauntlgrym” by R.A. Salvatore, featuring the alluring and powerful Dahlia Sin’Felle who squares off against the legendary Drizzt Do’Urden.If you are looking for more about drow, search for “Homeland” by R.A. Salvatore, the first book in the epic Legend of Drizzt. If you are looking for more fantasy mysteries, search for “The God Catcher” by Erin M. Evans about a woman who may be a dragon—or who may just be criminally insane. If you are looking for more epic fantasy series, search for “Twilight Falling” by Paul Kemp, about Erevis Cale, an assassin with a conscience. For more about Skein of Shadows, go to DungeonsandDragons.com

Genres: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell was born [redacted] years ago in America's Last, Best Place. A descendant of kings, pilgrims, Ojibwe hunters and possibly a witch or two, she spent the first few years of her life frolicking gleefully in a large backyard that is now part of one of the nation's largest Superfund sites. Perhaps that explains her early penchant for fantasy and horror - the first book she ever read (at the tender age of three) was Frank L. Baum's "Ozma of Oz."

Marcy sold her first short story to Marion Zimmer Bradley while in college and her first novel to Wizards of the Coast in 2005. She now lives in the desert in the shadow of an improbably green mountain and in odd moments stolen from her family and her writing, she can be found browsing eBay for Wonder Woman/Girl figures.

Reviews

[Abhinav · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read the full review over at my blog:

https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...

Shadowhawk reviews the second novel in the Shard Axe series, as author Marsheila Rockwell once again tackles the world of Eberron.

“A great adventure that is hard to put down, Skein of Shadows has to be one of the most endearing novels of the year.” ~Shadowhawk, The Founding Fields

Dungeons & Dragons is something I never got into as a kid. It was never as popular in India as Sega game consoles (or variants thereof), not even close. Might as well not have existed even! Moving to college didn’t help either, and I just didn’t have any interest in tabletop RPGs either. I preferred my RPGs in pixel form, Diablo and Knights of the Old Republic, to use a couple examples. And when I did dip into the larger D&D setting, it was through novels like the Dragonlance ones that I haven’t read in quite a while. These days I’m rectifying that oversight by digging deep into the associated novels, and Skein of Shadows happens to be one of the many that I’ve started that process with.

Skein of Shadows is about a Sentinel Marshal named Sabira of House Deneith and her adventures in bringing back her soon-to-be sister-in-law back safe and sound from the clutches of a mysterious enemy halfway across the world. In her quest, she is joined by a veritable mix of characters: a pair of ironforged dwarves (mechanical constructs), a dwarven engineer of sorts, a drow of the shadows, some hired swords and lots more.

The novel itself begins on quite a high and Marsheila totally pulls you in from the first few pages. Her prose is descriptive and evocative and it stays so throughout the novel, which made for a welcome change of pace to some of my more recent readings. With her writing, it is easy to visualise what the characters are doing and what the scene itself is, and what is happening. That is one of her strengths with this novel and she handles the narrative with far more deftness than many other fantasy authors I’ve read over the years. She is almost out there with the top leagues and if she continues to build on this, then she will be in those top leagues. They are just a hop away.

Her characters are also interesting, whether they are major or minor characters. I haven’t read many novels with female protagonists although going by recent experience, I’d have to say that Sabira falls somewhere between Nathan Long’s Jane Carver and Tim Akers’ Eva Forge on the scale of “awesome and badass leading ladies”. She is tough, smart and has a no-nonsense, daggers-at-dawn (or close to!) attitude that I really liked. Marsheila really goes to great lengths to provide challenges for her over the course of the novel and none of those challenges fail at their intended purpose, one of which is to put her in the apparently unique situation of leading a warband of hired swords. It’s also easy to see that the author hasn’t made the journey easy for her in any way. Sabira, while she ultimately wins through all the obstacles put her way, still suffers aplenty in the form of doubts, nightmares and a certain lack of confidence.

She really gets put through a meat-grinder here.

[Tahlia Newland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skein of Shadows is a tight, fast-paced quest set in a world of dwarves, earth dwelling elves, wizards, living constructs, shifters, dragons, highly evolved spiders, and various classes of demons among others. The story follows Sabira, a human marshal with a magical sword, on a mission underground into Tarath Marad to find Tilde, her old flame, Ned’s sister, who is missing after going into the caves with thirty men. None of them came back.

Nevertheless, Sabira, like all heroes in traditional fantasy, is happy to take on ridiculous odds. She enters Tarath Marad with a small motley band of fighters that she picked up along the way, and it soon becomes clear that even if they manage to find Tilde, getting out again is extremely unlikely. People die, some retire wounded, but Sabira goes on, driven by the need to cleanse her conscience and repay her debt to his family after failing to prevent Ned’s death at some previous date.

Sabira’s main companions are a dwarf with a magical charm bracelet and a not entirely trustworthy guide. Their journey through the caverns has them battling human foes, creatures that are a kind of cross between spiders and humans, and murderous magical mushrooms. Added to this is a prophecy which, like all good prophecies, needs a bit of working out. The pieces only fall into place at the end of the book, just before the inevitable battle to the death with the evil queen(ish thing).

The end has a nice twist that left this reader happy and showed that Sabira had grown from her experience. It’s a well-written book, with strong well-rounded characters and a plot that keeps you reading—a great read for lovers of traditional fantasy. A touch of humour lightens the load of the terrible odds stacked against our heroes and stops the book imploding under its own weight like a lot of heavy fantasy.

The only difficulty I had with Skein of Shadows was the plethora of strange names thrown at the reader early in the book. Coupled with a dearth of description, I didn’t get a good feel for the setting until we got to the outpost at the entrance to the caverns. Plot wise, I also felt that Sabira found her ‘men’ too easily and that they were too willing to go into a place that was clearly a death trap. Do people (sentient machines and assorted creatures) really risk almost certain death for money and the thrill of adventure? In this book they do. Regardless, it’s a great book if you’re looking for action in an exotic setting. 5 stars.

[Melissa J. Katano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just read it.

If you've seen my previous review of Marsheila Rockwell's D&D novels, you know that I love them. Again, knowledge of D&D, D&D Online, or Eberron is not necessary, but it will add to your enjoyment.

This book picks up soon after The Shard Axe, and again features Marshall Sabira. It also brings back the dwarf, Greddark, from The Legacy of Wolves (so this time I'm telling you to read both books--The Shard Axe because then you'll pick up on all the allusions, and The Legacy of Wolves so you know what kind of dwarf Greddark is--but if you don't you won't be too lost…)

Again, Marsheila writes a novel full of betrayal, facing-down-your-inner-demons, love and redemption--but be warned…. the body count is high, and no one is safe. (But there are all sorts of twists and turns….and pleasant surprises to go along with the unpleasant ones…. ;-) )

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second time reading a book from Dungeons and Dragon's. I did enjoy the story and Sabira's adventure. I liked how much she cared for those soldier's she hired, and never wavered from her goal no matter what hardship occurred.

However, as I said this was only my second time reading a D&D book. While I never felt lost, I did feel like I was missing out on things. There were a lot of characters who made appearances and whose back story's were referenced, but as a new reader I was not affected.

I do recommend this book if you're already a D&D series fan, or if you're looking to begin reading a D&D series. If you're just looking for a fun quick read, starring a kick ass heroine and and don't mind feeling a bit left out I recommend this book as well.

[David Given Schwarm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcy writes very fun & fast paced novels. The world building she brings to the existing Eberron setting is really good and interesting. The highlight is like the inner dialog that the characters have while searching for motiviation in others--really fun to read.

This novel is the second adventure of the Shard Axe and continues where that left off with amazing intrigue, very nice characters, a wonderful trip to the Underdark, and lots of action.

Recommended to every Eberron fan, D&D Readers, and anyone looking for a fun fantasy read.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book, a great follow-up to The Shard Axe: Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited Novel. Keep the Eberron stories coming!

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun dungeon crawl of a D&D adventure novel. Great stuff.