The Shadowhand Covenant

The Vengekeep Prophecies #2

by Brian Farrey

Trouble is brewing in the Five Provinces. Mysterious magical artifacts have gone missing from the royal vaults. Master thieves from a secret society known as the Shadowhands are disappearing. And without explanation, the High Laird has begun imprisoning the peaceful Sarosan people. Jaxter Grimjinx suspects all these things are connected, but he knows better than to get involved. Then a summons from the Shadowhands thrusts Jaxter right into the heart of the conspiracy.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Adventure, Mystery, Childrens, Magic, Fiction

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 22, 2013

About the author

Brian Farrey writes whatever pops into his head. Sometimes, it's books for children. Sometimes, it's books for adults. Sometimes, it's screenplays. He's never quite sure what will come out next but it's been quite a ride finding out.

Reviews

[Tommy Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved book 1 so much. I loved book 2 so much more. Even without having read book 3 yet, I recommend this series so hard. BTW, thankfully the series is finished and I don't have to wait for the last book, because after the end of book 2 that would just be torture.

Read these books. Seriously.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and very eagerly await book three.

I feel like I should say more. Jaxter Grimjinx whom we met in book one, The Vengekeep Prophecies, is back in another adventure. This time he's joined by (people) on a quest to figure out (disappearances) and I didn't actually see the ending coming so that was good. I feel like I don't want to give away spoilers especially since this is five months before the actual book release. Some of the content, like the racial persecution of an ethnic minority while other responsible parties avoid suspicion, may be complex for younger readers. However I don't feel like a readers enjoyment of this book would suffer from it. I also believe that exposure to these concepts may help a person's understanding of complex issues as they mature.

For example, when I first saw the Sound of Music I had no real understanding about the Nazis and the Anschluß. This did not stop me from enjoying the musical or from understanding that those gentlemen were the antagonists pursuing the von Trapps.

The back of the book suggests that the book is appropriate for Ages 8-12, Grades 3-7. I am a bit older than that and I would say that all ages should enjoy this story. I'm not very good at understanding the needs of younger readers but I feel that older readers should find charm and delight in the text, especially if they have read book one.

If you have read book one and you enjoyed it, I think you might like book two even more.

If you're not a tevrok that is.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give it 4-1/2 stars if I had the option, because it really is quite good. Perhaps not quite as fresh and compelling as the first book in this trilogy (and hence my reason for not going with a full 5 stars), but a fast-paced, fun-filled adventure in its own right. The beginning felt a bit disjointed in relation to the previous book, but the dots were all connected for me by the end. Looking forward to the third and final book. The characters are well developed and interesting, the story intricate, the setting rich in its details, and it's all crafted beautifully together. My children and I are thoroughly enjoying it.

[C.J. Milbrandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book picks up shortly after the events of Bk1, with Jaxter taking a break from his apprenticeship to attend his grandmother's funeral. Secret societies and thieving traditions. Mages and caravans. Daggers and drinking at dawn. Tree bag and bullies and bureaucratic nightmares.

Excellent continuation. Plotty twists. Pithy family sayins and pargoblin proverbs. And I adore Jaxter's snappy retorts whenever the pressure's on. This is a favorite series.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My older brother latched onto certain phrases growing up. "Cool," with drawled out "O's" lasted the longest, but a close second was, "numbnuts" - a phrase hurled at any warm being that he considered a dork. I've been overseas too long and dunno if kids still use that phrase, but it came to mind while reading the riot of made-up words that this author creates for his characters to use with each other. Jaxter Grimjinx's friends and family use phrases like "zoc," "tevrok," and "naff-nut," to name a few. The later reminded me of my irritating parrot-like brother prattling "numbnut" at me while growing up. Whatever your word of choice, you'll laugh your "naff-nuts" off in this sequel to the "Vengekeep Prophecies." Er... that sounds naughty. I'll leave the wordplay up to Brian Farrey. It's been a long day and my jet-lagged brain is still "naff-nutty"; side effects of a recent 14-hour-time-change-trip over the holidays. But seriously, I love this guy's writing. He's funny. He has good plot twists. The world building and magic are sound. The characters are engaging. The villains are complex. He's really quite talented and I can't wait for the next book to come out. If you liked this one, make sure you read book 1. It's terrific too.

The Shadowhands are master thieves that are so secretive no one knows who they are in the Five Provinces. The most complicated heists are attributed to them. Jaxter's family finds out that the Shadowhands have been disappearing and set out to solve the mystery. Meanwhile the High Laird has imprisoned the Sarosan people for no apparent reason causing turmoil in the Five Provinces. Jaxter gets mixed up in the politics as an apprentice to the Dowager who is the High Laird's sister. As clues reveal that the two issues are inexplicably linked, Jaxter works to solve the mystery that leads him on a quest involving monsters, magical-traps, friendships, and betrayals.

Jaxter's character arc involves him contemplating whether or not he wants to be an apprentice to the Dowager. He does not love the assignments that he's been doing with her as of late and wants to focus on botany. This message might capture for some readers the frustration of having to take courses or learn subjects they could care less about. For me this message made me think of the jobs I have had that I didn't particularly like or the ones that had no future. At the end when the Dowager talked about Jaxter's initial enthusiasm as an apprentice and how it got lost, I thought about how that can happen in a job or life in general. It is important to not grow stagnant, embrace the uncertainties of the future, and continue to grow and learn as a person. Jaxter realizes this at the end of the story and matures as a result.

Jaxter is a kindred spirit. He's a clod. I have fallen down steps, walked into trees, fallen out of trees, dangled from chain-linked fences and have such a history of clod-dom that my empathy and joy in finding a character with the same traits is easy to understand. Jaxter makes me laugh out loud and not feel so alone in the world. Add him to my small, but beloved "Kingdom of Clods" secret character list. Except Jaxter is wiz-bang smart. I'm not. I'm just good at doing flips. Intentional or not. Jaxter doesn't have to be a super-duper athletic, because he has magical plants that heal him. The plants have the power to overcome magical elements in the Five Provinces and do much more than just heal. Farrey cleverly works them into the plot creating a believable fantasy world. I find myself looking forward to one of Jaxter's new plant concoctions meant to defeat a monster or magician. Good fun.

Language is a joy for Farrey and it shows from his witty, made-up ancient par-Goblin language such as, "Aeris vul heshla noressa laneer" which means "scratch the gold to find the tarnish"; to his creation of the poetic young warrior bard, Holm, who uses poorly-worded couplets in dire circumstances; to Jaxter's parents ironic comments that are the opposite of what you would normally tell your kid such as, "Don't worry, Son. It's just the feeling of innocence. It'll pass." Put in some interesting plot twists and unique magic and you have a story that's a blast. Farrey leaves readers with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Purr. Toss in a teaser at the end and you'll be "naff-nuts" for the next book.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is loads of fun, like the first one, the Vengekeep Prophecies. Since it ends on a hint of further problems, we can assume that Jaxter and his family and friends (or semi enemy in one case) are in for at least enough problems to take another book to complete. I enjoy the humor in this series, where the good guys are the thieves and the bad guys tend to be anyone else. The thieves are of course, loyal to their own and moral with their own. It is everyone else that has problems with their morality and ethics! I may add more another time. Bottom line, this was loads of fun, enough that I'll read the next one.

[wade · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rollicking young adult fantasy sure to grip the attention of the readers for which it is intended. It has friendship, adventures, chills and various nefarious characters and monsters that will be sure to grab the imagination of young teens. This is the second in a series but it was still entertaining as a stand alone book. Kids who enjoyed book one will be sure to enjoy this installment.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligent, adventurous, and exciting. This is the best fantasy series I have read since Harry Potter. the Grimjinx family is so likable (despite being thieves!) They live by a code of honor and are loving to each other as well. I would recommend this series to all fourth and fifth graders!

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Sentence Review: Sure, it's the second in a series, but it's still one of the best dang fantasies I read this year, and worth reading for the humor alone.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadowhand Covenant is the second and penultimate book in The Vengekeep Prophecies series written by Brian Farrey with illustrations by Brett Helquist. It centers on a loveable family of thieves – the Grimjinxes and their twelve-year-old son, Grimjinx, who is coming of age.

The narrative opens with classic Grimjinx shenanigans – a craftily narrated sham funeral, arranged to empty the mourners’ houses for easy thieving. Jaxter returns from his apprenticeship to join the mischief. However, soon after not-actually-dead Nanni reappears for supper, Jaxter, Ma and Da are summoned by the Shadowhands, who operate in total anonymity.

Jaxter is stunned to learn that Ma used to be one and chaos is afoot. Shadowhands are vanishing – five magical relics have been stolen from the High Laird, who's ordered an entire ethnic group, the Sarosans, arrested and imprisoned. Before Jaxter knows it, he and Maloch –his nemesis are kidnapped by Sarosans, led by a famous botanist whom Jaxter always idolized.

Making enemies-but-friends with two Sarosan kids, Jaxter and Maloch tumble their way through escapes, traps and fights with creepy monsters, while trying to untangle which adults committed which bad deed.

The Shadowhand Covenant is written rather well. The narrative is rather flippant – especially when Jaxter is faced with danger. Through mayhem and twists and turns, Jaxter keeps a cheeky attitude with high-spirited fun with complexity and surprises. Farrey's story is gentle enough. However, well-meaning but worrisome romanticization of simple dark-skinned nomads somewhat undermines the explicit anti-racism that Farrey tries to instill in the narrative.

All in all, The Shadowhand Covenant is written rather well and a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series, which I plan to continue in the very near future.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when the mages were all safe from Kolo trying to explode them with the fire plants. My least favorite part was when the Sarosans, led by Kolo, were doing all sorts of things that were bad:poisoning Jaxter and Maloch so that they couldn't run away, using Jaxter's parents to convince him to get the magical fire before Kolo exploded the building, and being very drastic about how they were going to get the other Sarosans free.

[Taylor Ren’e Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the beginning... I was worried that this sequel was not going to be as good as the first one. I am happy to report that I was mistaken. The end was happily surprising and left a huge cliffhanger for the next one!

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is for the series as a whole. The first book stands alone well.

Great characters, amusing use of prophecy throughout the series. Sparks of humor. World feels both like young fantasy but also well lived.

Great for middle grade, or for adults who want lighter hearted fantasy.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this near-perfect series. I will be on the hunt for the third book.

[Diana Gagliardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love how these books work, great characters and depth.

Book 3!

Enjoy!

[Jennifer]

Cute series to read with a kid!

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaxter is off on another quest. He meets his hero.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadowhand Covenant is a standard “middle book,” in that it introduces a lot of new concepts, new plot mechanics, new characters, and new mysteries to carry over to the third book. The formula works well, but I still wish that people would do a little more to try and stretch the boundaries of the standard trilogy format.

In any case, The Shadowhand Covenant manages to keep a lot of the charm of The Vengekeep Prophecies, although the tone wasn’t quite the same. But I liked the intrigue and mystery and the lightning bolt of anticipation and realization that struck me when I figured out who the villain was. I was a little confused at the end with who-tricked-whom and who-knew-about-which-relics, but other than that the plot flowed nicely from the world set up in the first book (although I wish the first book had introduced more things like the Sarosans and the relics).

I liked Callie in the first book, so I’m not sure if benching Callie for most of the book was a good or bad decision. Good that we saw new characters, bad that an interesting character from the first book was sidelined. I didn’t actually notice her absence until near the end, but when I did notice it I missed her. Luckily, that’s when Farrey brings her back in.

Farrey’s been doing some interesting things with villains (having them not so obviously villainous at first), but also has an obviously villainous character who is undoubtedly going to be the biggest challenge that Jaxter & Friends face in the third book. It’s a little disappointing that he can’t also make the apparent Big Bad less obvious, but perhaps he will. I guess I’ll find out.

Overall, The Shadowhand Covenant, while pretty formulaic, is a deserving follow-up to The Vengekeep Prophecies, with much of the charm and only slightly less wit. The tone of the book is a little more serious, but that’s not really a bad thing. Despite some of the minor problems I found, I enjoyed the book a lot and am looking forward to reading the next.

[Aelvana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaxter Grimjinx has left the family business of thieving to be a botonist. Well, mostly. His current apprenticeship isn't working out too well, and the most powerful group of thieves, the Shadowhands, want to talk to him for some reason. Jaxter tumbles into the middle of conspiracy he never asked for---mysterious robberies, vanishing thieves, and far too much adventure for someone who tried to opt out.

It's been a while since I read the first book, but this one wasn't at all hard to get back into. Where the first book has Jaxter as a rogue among rogues, this one has him playing more to his botanical studies, and his familiarity with thievery gives a good background to some of what's going on.

I liked the bigger picture narrative, which draws back to encompass more of the bigger continent and government. (A little sad, though, that there is only one Aviard and he has about one sentence of page time.... but I have a huge weakness for winged beings that are NOT angels/demons.) And Jaxter is growing in his ability with plants, so he's got some nice tricks up his sleeve, but he's still maturing in his gifts.

The characters remain hysterical. Each chapter starts with a little witticism, like "Innocence is relative, but relatives are rarely innocent." Jaxter spends much of the book in close contact with his once-friend, then-enemy, now-maybe-friend Maloch, and Jaxter's habit of running off his mouth about Maloch in particular is good for a lot of laughter.

The story is quick, funny, and deepens the world nicely. I just picked up the third book and can't wait to see how it all turns out. I rate this book Recommended.

See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still love the Grimjinx family and found Jaxter's adventures interesting, esp. the hints of some much greater troubles to come with all the references to the past and the Great Uprisings of which no recorded history was allowed to exist. Intriguing stuff.

I liked that Jaxter was having difficulties with the Duchess and was not too keen on what she had him studying. He had to step back and decide if that was a course he wished to pursue or if he wanted to leave his studies with her and find a new mentor. Their relationship was well done throughout.

I was really upset by the way Jaxter's ex-friend treated him. I cannot remember his name just now, but he beat him up in the last book and shoves/kicks/punches, etc. throughout this book and threatens more bodily violence. It seems like it is supposed to be read as more humorous than anything else. However, it is not funny or amusing. The way that he treats Jaxter is wrong and just because he is bigger and stronger should not give him the right to act like this. Ugh.

Lastly, I would like to see more of Aubrin in the next book!

[Jillian C.]

Jaxter's family is all thieves, one day they are summoned by the shadowhands. A son of one of the Shaodwhands tells them about his missing father. Jaxter's parents begin searching for the shadowhands, thieves who have gone missing. The High laird begins arresting peaceful Sarosans, accusing them of stealing his things. Jaxter and an enemy searching with his parents for the shadowhands. Then, the leader of the people kidnaps the search party, and demands that they steal him something from the castle, or he will blow it up. Jaxter finds a way to get him caught, and the leader is arrested. The leader was in the shadowhands, and actually stole one of the items. The Sarosans are saved, and the shadowhands, while they are still thieves, are released.

[Stas · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the author continues to treat me like an intelligent being till the very end, this book will be awesome. Currently - 29%

Being treated like an intelligent being feels so SO good!
Thank you author, for respecting my basic rights as a reader.

This was better than the first book, but it also gave me a bad bad feeling. Because trouble is brewing, and I don't what anyone to die! *insert a wail of despair*
I adore the Grimjinxes. So lovely a people.

And straight into book three...
Because I must!

P.S. This book is the best of the lot IMO.

[F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this free book from the goodreads-first-reads giveaway. It was a wonderful story of adventure for the 4 characters trying to figure out who stole the relics and why they were taken from the high laird. Although I hadn't read the first book, I felt it wasn't necessary since the storyline was well written. I was cheering Jax the whole way and was pleasantly surprised at Kolo's role. I look forward to the 3rd book and highly recommend this one.

[Zoe]

Just got the Uncorrected Proof version of this book. Looks really cool but I hadn't realized that it is the second in a series, so I'm not sure how quickly I'll be getting into it,(since I would now need to read and buy the first one first)or how much it really is on my 'to-read' shelf necessarily, but since you have to choose one of the 3 options in order to be able to write a review on it ... 'to read' was better than 'read' or 'currently reading'. (11/17/13)

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaxter and the rest of the Grimjinxes are back in this solidly satisfying sequel to The Vengekeep Prophecies. New characters are added - including the entertainingly unpoetic young warrior bard, Holm; and the history and social structure are added to the world building. My only grumble is that the climactic action is a bit of a damp squib as much of the action takes place off stage. Still, I'm in for the next book which is promised by the cliff hanger ending.

[Marci · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story-line and the voice and characterization were great. The main character, however, is starting to drive me a little nuts with how often he misses the blatantly obvious. Considering that he's portrayed as a very bright boy and has moments of Sherlock-Holmes-esque logic, I would have expected him to notice more of the things he so obviously missed. Still, I'm very intrigued with the plot as it's set up at the moment and will definitely be reading the third book when it comes out.

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like books about thieves, secret societies, and nefarious plots, you will probably like this book. If you like books about secret societies of thieves getting caught up in nefarious plots (and don't object to children's books for some strange reason) you will definitely like this book. Read The Vengekeep Prophecies though.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Jaxter, and he makes a great narrator. This storyline was great, and I love how Jaxter is so perceptive and funny- enough of a thief to sometimes act selfishly (but in ways that make me laugh) and yet enough not that he strikes a good balance between these two worlds that are colliding. The magic system is so interesting, and I really enjoyed the book. Fun stuff!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent adventure featuring Jaxter Grimjinx! This time his co-adventurers are Maloch, Reena, and Holm. I did miss his family and Callie, but I did grow to like the rest (yes, even Maloch). Some interesting twists and turns happen, and I very much look forward to reading the final book in the series. Such fun!

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jaxter returns to narrate a new adventure. When Jaxter and his parents receive a summons from the Shadowhand, he learns that several magical artifacts have recently been stolen. At the same time, several members of the Shadowhand have also disappeared.
A fun adventure with a little mystery to keep the reader turning the pages.