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Shadow Saga #1
Shadow Dance
A gripping tale of heroism and valor
Novelist John Harrison has captured the feeling of adventure in this new novel set in a dark time. A prophecy cast from the dawn of time is coming to be fulfilled in a time when almost all hope of salvation is lost.
The lands are in chaos and everyone is trying to survive. The last queen was slain through treachery and decades have passed since there has been any form of solid rule in Cennicus. In the interim the races have split from one another and are amassing for a war that threatens to consume them all. This is a time of legends and need.
Somehow wrapped up in it all is one boy searching for his past and the keys to his future. Namir and his friends valiantly search out vestiges of his father’s past…a trek that may lead them into the very heart of darkness itself.
This is the first book of the Shadow Saga, a must read for any fantasy enthusiast. Join with us as we explore the darkness that is Cennicus.
Will they lead us to salvation?
Or deeper into the very darkness we seek to escape?
Novelist John Harrison has captured the feeling of adventure in this new novel set in a dark time. A prophecy cast from the dawn of time is coming to be fulfilled in a time when almost all hope of salvation is lost.
The lands are in chaos and everyone is trying to survive. The last queen was slain through treachery and decades have passed since there has been any form of solid rule in Cennicus. In the interim the races have split from one another and are amassing for a war that threatens to consume them all. This is a time of legends and need.
Somehow wrapped up in it all is one boy searching for his past and the keys to his future. Namir and his friends valiantly search out vestiges of his father’s past…a trek that may lead them into the very heart of darkness itself.
This is the first book of the Shadow Saga, a must read for any fantasy enthusiast. Join with us as we explore the darkness that is Cennicus.
Will they lead us to salvation?
Or deeper into the very darkness we seek to escape?
297 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 16, 2012
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
John Harrison
7 books21 followersJohn Harrison is a talented fiction writer that has the remarkable ability to convert even the most mundane occurrence into something fantastic, no matter the setting or environment. His writing, though not prolific, is not monogamous to any one genre.
He can regularly be seen watching events transpire around him with a thoughtful, and often playful, expression glued to his face.
All of his works can be found where ever fine books are sold, but may also be purchased online and in some of the seedier book dealers as well.
He has two series available for perusal and is working on several stand alone projects because an author cannot live off of the idolatry of a few series.
Current Works:
Fantasy Series Novel
Shadow Saga
Shadow Dance - Voted by Amazon as Best of the Month 5/2015
Shadow Play
Shadow Flight
Shadow Guard - Currently in the works
Poetry Series
Whispers Through the Veil
The Poetic Reality of Love and Loss - Voted by Amazon as Best of 2014
The Poetic Philosophy of Thoughts and Inspiration - Voted by Amazon as Best of the Month 5/2015
The Poetic Sounds of Lyrics and Stories
Feel free to follow him on:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/John-Harrison/e...
Twitter: @John_A_Harrison
Facebook: my author face book and Shadow Dance face book
He can regularly be seen watching events transpire around him with a thoughtful, and often playful, expression glued to his face.
All of his works can be found where ever fine books are sold, but may also be purchased online and in some of the seedier book dealers as well.
He has two series available for perusal and is working on several stand alone projects because an author cannot live off of the idolatry of a few series.
Current Works:
Fantasy Series Novel
Shadow Saga
Shadow Dance - Voted by Amazon as Best of the Month 5/2015
Shadow Play
Shadow Flight
Shadow Guard - Currently in the works
Poetry Series
Whispers Through the Veil
The Poetic Reality of Love and Loss - Voted by Amazon as Best of 2014
The Poetic Philosophy of Thoughts and Inspiration - Voted by Amazon as Best of the Month 5/2015
The Poetic Sounds of Lyrics and Stories
Feel free to follow him on:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/John-Harrison/e...
Twitter: @John_A_Harrison
Facebook: my author face book and Shadow Dance face book
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 28, 2015
The Good: The author jumps straight into the action with a secret mission, and then the loss of Namir's parents. Then we get caught up in the boy's struggle to see who will be the emissary of Ellstead (you have to admit, it has a really fun ring to it!) which seems to be a typical almost sibling rivalry-type thing, but escalates quickly (at least on one side of the struggle).
The book has fifty different subplots going at any given time, and all are woven so neatly throughout the main story line that although you are left thinking "What the.... where did this come from?!?!?" it isn't in a bad way, if you know what I mean. None of the story felt forced, or contrived, though at times it was confusing. The nice part about that confusion (which I personally enjoy, when done right) is that the author meticulously brought each subplot to a crescendo in close order, leading to a higher climax, then closed each open-ended subplot save one as he wrapped up the story. Nice play for keeping people interested in a sequel. Then he did something really sneaky, and in the epilogue reveals the ultimate of red herrings!
*Spoiler Alert*
Someone you thought was a good guy all along, appears to maybe be playing for the other team!
The Bad: As is common with fantasy, it took a bit of time getting all the different characters straight in my head. You get unusual names, some that are similar to the others, and a fast introduction, and it can be a bit difficult to keep everyone straight.
The author made a very strong effort at giving the "old" quality style to his writing without going all King James biblical Thee's and Thous EVERYWHERE, but on occasions the sentence structure was awkward and unwieldy. I never lost the meaning of the sentences (which frequently happens with a lot of indie writers), but it does cause the story to lose momentum. And about half-way through the book, the editing goes way down hill. (I suspect he got so caught up in his story, that he missed the errors, happens to me all the time!)
The Ugly: I had to pull out my dictionary on more than a few occasions. Now some of you may be thinking, "What, it is a crime to use big words in literature?!" Absolutely not! I am a big fan of educating my readers. I have quite a verbose vocabulary (even though I don't always use it.) and often enjoyed his rich use of words. But when I hit one that I did not actually know the meaning of, I realized a flaw in his writing. I could not use my exceptional context skills to grasp the meaning of the word! I really and absolutely had no idea what the word meant, and thereby what was happening in the scene. I had to go to the dictionary.
This is hard for authors, because you don't always know what words your audience will be familiar with and which words don't work. At the same time, you do not want to spend the whole book repeating things to give context clues to the definitions of words. Lazy authors will dumb down their work, so I applaud this author for not doing that, but this is a point where it probably would have helped to have beta readers for the age-range you are targeting.
And finally, there was a lot of repetition, without real need. Repetition is a great tool to authors, to drive home a point, to indicate significance, or even to display humor, or terror. But that was not the case in this story. There were several times where a character repeated a whole story to another group of characters without adding any significant details to the story. More annoyingly is when (and this was part of that unwieldy thing I mentioned earlier) in the same speech a character would rephrase what he or she just said. I'm really not sure if it was in an effort to give context clues to words, to make the wording more frilly (the Bible repeats itself alot, you know?) or what the deal was. I estimate nearly 1/4 of the book could be removed without detracting from the story at all. Another point where a good editor, or even proof reader would have helped clean this up.
Overall: The story has me completely intrigued, I am invested in figuring out the two plot hangers. Not so terribly invested in Namir (which is a bit of a shame, as he is the main character) but totally invested in finding out what happens to Hessa, Nurn and Halin. Kinda curious (and hopeful) to see what horrible fate Jaconis brings himself to, for being such a snot-nosed little booger.
The book has fifty different subplots going at any given time, and all are woven so neatly throughout the main story line that although you are left thinking "What the.... where did this come from?!?!?" it isn't in a bad way, if you know what I mean. None of the story felt forced, or contrived, though at times it was confusing. The nice part about that confusion (which I personally enjoy, when done right) is that the author meticulously brought each subplot to a crescendo in close order, leading to a higher climax, then closed each open-ended subplot save one as he wrapped up the story. Nice play for keeping people interested in a sequel. Then he did something really sneaky, and in the epilogue reveals the ultimate of red herrings!
*Spoiler Alert*
Someone you thought was a good guy all along, appears to maybe be playing for the other team!
The Bad: As is common with fantasy, it took a bit of time getting all the different characters straight in my head. You get unusual names, some that are similar to the others, and a fast introduction, and it can be a bit difficult to keep everyone straight.
The author made a very strong effort at giving the "old" quality style to his writing without going all King James biblical Thee's and Thous EVERYWHERE, but on occasions the sentence structure was awkward and unwieldy. I never lost the meaning of the sentences (which frequently happens with a lot of indie writers), but it does cause the story to lose momentum. And about half-way through the book, the editing goes way down hill. (I suspect he got so caught up in his story, that he missed the errors, happens to me all the time!)
The Ugly: I had to pull out my dictionary on more than a few occasions. Now some of you may be thinking, "What, it is a crime to use big words in literature?!" Absolutely not! I am a big fan of educating my readers. I have quite a verbose vocabulary (even though I don't always use it.) and often enjoyed his rich use of words. But when I hit one that I did not actually know the meaning of, I realized a flaw in his writing. I could not use my exceptional context skills to grasp the meaning of the word! I really and absolutely had no idea what the word meant, and thereby what was happening in the scene. I had to go to the dictionary.
This is hard for authors, because you don't always know what words your audience will be familiar with and which words don't work. At the same time, you do not want to spend the whole book repeating things to give context clues to the definitions of words. Lazy authors will dumb down their work, so I applaud this author for not doing that, but this is a point where it probably would have helped to have beta readers for the age-range you are targeting.
And finally, there was a lot of repetition, without real need. Repetition is a great tool to authors, to drive home a point, to indicate significance, or even to display humor, or terror. But that was not the case in this story. There were several times where a character repeated a whole story to another group of characters without adding any significant details to the story. More annoyingly is when (and this was part of that unwieldy thing I mentioned earlier) in the same speech a character would rephrase what he or she just said. I'm really not sure if it was in an effort to give context clues to words, to make the wording more frilly (the Bible repeats itself alot, you know?) or what the deal was. I estimate nearly 1/4 of the book could be removed without detracting from the story at all. Another point where a good editor, or even proof reader would have helped clean this up.
Overall: The story has me completely intrigued, I am invested in figuring out the two plot hangers. Not so terribly invested in Namir (which is a bit of a shame, as he is the main character) but totally invested in finding out what happens to Hessa, Nurn and Halin. Kinda curious (and hopeful) to see what horrible fate Jaconis brings himself to, for being such a snot-nosed little booger.
March 29, 2017
I really wanted to like this book. I have seen some great reviews for it but I just couldn't seem to get into it. I was about to DF this book but I did push through to read it all. Usually when I can't get into a book I just leave it and don't finish it but the good thing is I did manage to finish this book so that's why I'm giving it a 2 star rating and not a 1, because to be honest I really don't like giving books a 1 star rating!
To me the whole story was confusing, I felt myself drift off through reading it as it seemed boring and I couldn't understand what was happening in the story. I could not connect with any of the characters which was very disappointing. The only thing I did like was the way the author switched characters all the time which like some other people has said 'it gives it a movie-like feel'.
Also there were a few mistakes throughout the book with the whole editing, it was very poorly done and there was sometimes repetition of words that shouldn't be there.
I am very disappointed I didn't like the book but I still feel that it would be great for others to try 'I' just overall couldn't get into it!
To me the whole story was confusing, I felt myself drift off through reading it as it seemed boring and I couldn't understand what was happening in the story. I could not connect with any of the characters which was very disappointing. The only thing I did like was the way the author switched characters all the time which like some other people has said 'it gives it a movie-like feel'.
Also there were a few mistakes throughout the book with the whole editing, it was very poorly done and there was sometimes repetition of words that shouldn't be there.
I am very disappointed I didn't like the book but I still feel that it would be great for others to try 'I' just overall couldn't get into it!
March 9, 2013
This is a solidly written book. I love how the story shifts from person to person. It gives it a movie-like feel, its great. It left me wanting more though.
I typically hate cliffhangers, but this one was different. Although there are some loose ends that are not finished, Most of them are.
The thing I loved about it is the mystery. I found myself reading it over again because when I finished it the first time, my theories on where he was going with the story was shot.
Overall this is a wonderful book that almost everyone could enjoy. Go buy it if you want to have a great book to snuggle up with that has great character development and a well thought out story line and plot.
Two Thumbs Up and 5 Stars!
I typically hate cliffhangers, but this one was different. Although there are some loose ends that are not finished, Most of them are.
The thing I loved about it is the mystery. I found myself reading it over again because when I finished it the first time, my theories on where he was going with the story was shot.
Overall this is a wonderful book that almost everyone could enjoy. Go buy it if you want to have a great book to snuggle up with that has great character development and a well thought out story line and plot.
Two Thumbs Up and 5 Stars!
April 5, 2013
This is a well written book that utilizes excellent use of plot development, characterisation and is very fast paced. Without giving away any spoilers, the reader is left puzzled, wondering what happens next. Overall what jumps out at me the most was the writing style...it is well written and that's a compliment. I do recommend you buy this book!!
June 5, 2017
The beginning of the book was a little bit confusing due to it starts immediately with the actions, that is, a secret mission. As I read on, it became clear who is who and what this mission was about - for a young man, Namir, to find out the truth about who he really is and what his mission in life would be. The book narrates the study of Namir and a group of mostly friends, except from one young man named Jaconis, and their perilous adventures on their journey in order to establish commercial relationships with the city of Hornshir. They have to pass different dangerous situations, that are all related to some evil.
The plot is well developed, after the difficulties I had at the beginning to get into the story and the characters are well described, too. It is an enjoyable read that captured the reader's attention and curiosity.
The plot is well developed, after the difficulties I had at the beginning to get into the story and the characters are well described, too. It is an enjoyable read that captured the reader's attention and curiosity.
May 10, 2017
John Harrison takes us on a journey of a young man named Namir from the town of Ellsted. His journey takes us to Hornshire where he is leading an exposition for trade agreements and to bring attention to the festival that Ellsted is hosting. At least that's what the council of Ellsted believes. Namir has his own purpose for heading to Hornshire. But at every turn there are dangerous obstacles at every turn.
Shadow Dance is an OK book leaning towards good.
Shadow Dance is an OK book leaning towards good.
March 29, 2017
This is an amazing book, in the way it describes how Namir tries to find himself by finding out the past of his father.
It shifts so easily from character to character and the story itself was well written which made it a good book to immerse myself in. I honestly had hard time putting it down, with the gripping first story in the Shadow Saga.
I can't wait to read the rest in the series .
It shifts so easily from character to character and the story itself was well written which made it a good book to immerse myself in. I honestly had hard time putting it down, with the gripping first story in the Shadow Saga.
I can't wait to read the rest in the series .
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews