Shadow

by Dave Duncan

Falsely accused of treason, Sald Harl, bodyguard to the Prince of Rantorra, must attempt a dangerous flight by great eagle in order to prove his innocence

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Originally from Scotland, Dave Duncan lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds were more satisfying than the real one, he published more than 60 novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical.

He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")

His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.

He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.

He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Vilius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Būtų gal ir nebloga knyga, bet nuo kokio trečdalio viskas tampa suvelta. Iš trijų Eridano išleistų Dave Duncan knygų ši patiko mažiausiai.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd forgotten how depressing the end of this 1987-era piece of SF is. It's Duncan's first or second book in what has become a very long and successful career, and I can definitely see elements of his "King's Blades" work in this. It's SF set on a planet that has regressed to a semi-medieval state, and there's some fascinating world-building in it involving how humans might manage to survive on a planet that doesn't rotate. Anyway, the particular society the book is set in has become dependent for most forms of transportation on the native "eagles," which are big enough for humans to ride on (especially small ones), and trainable. Young Sald Harl is a very talented skyman when he's drafted to be the bodyguard for life (or "Shadow") of the Crown Prince (there only two of these Shadows, one for the King and one for the Crown Prince). Then the prince's parents' past comes back to haunt him (and them), and Shadow winds up turning his society inside-out. This is not, I may say, a rosy picture of revolution etc. It's well-written, though. It makes me wonder what Duncan would've done if 1987 hadn't been practically the year that Fantasy started taking over the speculative fiction market.

[Tanner Hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be brief, I’m glad I read this story. I did not fall in love with it, tedious as it could be, but it did keep my attention and the central character of Sald Harl was admirable as he was placed into a situation where he could not truly win.

What will stick with me most is the ending. I will provide no major spoilers but it was a grim conclusion resulting in death for many. A melancholy finale to a story with few smiles. There were many terrible people in this world, with Sald acting as the lens to view a corrupted, crumbling society. I feel pity for none of them, save Sald. It wasn’t a flawless story altogether, but it was worth the read.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some scenes are lovely, especially between the master skyman Shadow and his eagle, Nail Biter. But such a grim and miserable ending for some humans. Not that they didn't deserve it, some of them. But yuck. For others, the ending is more promising. But this is not a feel-good book. Shadow himself is honorable, but there's no jolly fellowship of the stouthearted and true.

From an academic perspective, I enjoyed learning details about eagles. I also enjoyed trying to visualize this unnamed planet, where huge intelligent eagles carry the bird-brained humans who colonized aeons ago. I was intrigued by the idea of a planet that doesn't rotate, so one side always faces the sun, and the "terminator" is the dividing line, where night meets day. Are there any planets that don't rotate?

Some terminology wasn't included in the glossary at the end. Here's my own guesswork: A kiloday is how long it takes this planet to revolve around its sun, 1000 days, the equivalent of almost 3 Earth years. I guess a heckaday is 100 days. I could be wrong.

Several formatting glitches or typos in ebook.

Good narration.

I liked Duncan's Seventh Sword series better, as well as his Magic Casement series. They were more uplifting and heartwarming.

[Purity Anddeath · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just generally enjoyed & liked reading a lot of Dave Duncan's books.

This was no exception. Yes, a little weaker than others. No big important story to tell. A stand-alone. It was still a fast read even if it lost it's way at times, bogging down in some unimportant bits about jet streams.

At it's worst it was still 10x better than Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time "The green of the leaves was the type of green you might see in blades of grass. That same grass growing at the base of the tree, a tree made of bark. Bark so rich and dark you might confuse it for stained wood, like the table they had used to prepare tea hours earlier. The green blades of grass prickled up from the Earth like tiny swords. One might also call earth something like dirt or the ground. A fine mess of rocks, insect poop and plant debris we all find ourselves walking upon occasionally." kinda BS.

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Duncan's series more than his standalones but I really got into this one. The ending was foreshadowed very well indeed, there was that "whoops" moment near the end where you could see how things were going to pan out in the next few seconds and the characters were seemingly oblivious. The birds were an interesting twist and the military structure typically well done, and overall the story was quick enough to keep my interest.

[Ingrida Lisauskiene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bandymas grįžti prie fantastikos skaitymų, deja, labai jau vidutiniškas. Žmonės pavergia erelių planetą, pačius paukščius, kuriuos išlaisvina, siekdami valdžios. Gana lėkštas siužetas, labai jau elementarūs veikėjai, be jokio "pipiriuko"

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating adaptation of language (spoiler you won't understand). I like that in the end the story did not go how I thought it was going, and all along it was that way too. He doesn't do standard tropes. Also I was intrigued by a land (planet) that always hs the sun in the same spot, near sunset because otherwise it would be too hot to live anywhere else. But there is the cold area just beside them where the light doesn't reach (the dark side) and it's too cold to live. So this planet must be like our moon, or maybe they are on a livable moon, where only one side sees the sun (what we call the dark side) and the other is dark. I wish he had done more with that. Anyway overall a great book. Good main character, good plot, believeable bad things that happen so the main character has to overcome them. And the eagles are cool.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently read the 'Seventh Sword' series of books by Dave Duncan, and really enjoyed them. I found this single-volume novel of his and thought I'd try it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with it. Dealing with a kingdom where men fly giant eagles, there is all sorts of court intrigue and back stabbing going on, and bastards galore. It just didn't float my boat. I like the author's use of language, but the book didn't hold my interest.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

Once again I take great pleasure in reading the writing of Dave Duncan. From A Man of his Word to Cursed to a Man Road through (?).

[Leon Aldrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Dave Duncan novel. And I became a huge fan. I haven't read all of his novels yet because I alternate authors and I'm afraid what will happen if I finish all of his work(s).

Don't let the book description: "Sald Harl would like nothing more than to soar on the wings of his noble eagle, but his youthful rides in the sky are cut short by an appointment to guard the prince. Sald watches his dreams of flight fade with his name and independence as he takes over his bodyguard duties. During a perilous journey to the edges of the kingdom a dark secret comes to life. Now the great Prince Shadow is accused of treason, and Sald must orchestrate a desperate plan of escape or he will lose the one thing he has been orderedto defend. His only option of freedom is a dangerous flight that no one has ever survived. Once again Sald hopes to feel the freedom of soaring though the air unshackled from servitude." - keep you from enjoying a grand novel and adding a prolific author to your staple of "to read" authors.

[Bea · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways the book is incredible. We mostly find in fantasy books the creatures like dragons, gryphons, phoenix or another mythical beings. Here we have an almost common eagles. well, not so common. They are big, dangerous and they can be ridden.
The story is raw, and I'm not talking about writting skills, has dark underline and even darker end, that I was surprised with. Well, it wasn't so much surprise what happened at the end, it was one of possibilities, but I was still surprised :)
It was quick read and satisfying, maybe even more than that.

[Aditya / · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story and the world were fantastic. The characters and their thoughts were very well executed. In all it was an excellent book. I have been describing it to people as a three-star book, but one of my favorite books ever. Towards the end it elevated itself to a four-star book. It is a memorable book and definitely one which people like adventure and a relatively high level of realism and detail can enjoy

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of intrigue, strong main character, interesting world, plot twists, and moral dilemmas with no easy solution. Great, fast paced story.

[Ron Judenberg]

to-read

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A-, people migrate, ride huge “eagles”. Good lite read. 3.5 stars?

[Ian McKinley]

An interesting consideration of the nature of slavery and the rule of law. I wasn't sure I would have given us the perspective of a particular character at the beginning of the book only to have that character's perspective disappear. The fate of that character also bothered me ... the author asks us to invest in the character via his narrative but then just casts the person aside. Still, I enjoyed the book.