Shadow Spinner: Collection 2: The Man with No Eyes

by Andrew Leon

Tiberius has always thought of himself as a normal 10-year-old boy. Maybe he's a little smarter than everyone else, but that's still normal. He's scared of shadows, but everyone's scared of something, right? His mother's completely paranoid and called the cops the one time, just one time, he went over to a friend's house after school, but, still, he's normal even if his mother is not. At least, that's what he thinks until the day his mother finally decides to tell him about his father, and she tells him things that convince him that one of them is crazy, and he's pretty sure it's not him. That is until the Man with No Eyes shows up and his father falls out of the sky.

In collection two, we get to see more of the plan that the Man with No Eyes has for Tib. And Michael, Tib's father, really does fall out of the sky. Will Tiberius escape the shadows of his mother's past?

Kindle Edition

About the author

The author has often been told that he does things the wrong way. For instance, he could walk before he could crawl. His parents were also informed that he went about reading the wrong way. Already reading before kindergarten, he went on to delve into texts about dinosaurs and astronomy by 1st grade as opposed to the regular story books everyone else was reading. At least one school counselor labeled him as "delayed" because of this. Of course, this happened at the same time he was winning the school reading contest.

After years of wanting to, he's finally writing books of his own.

Reviews

[Rusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Andrew Leon once said, I think, that this collection of his serialized novel, Shadow Spinner, was his favorite part of the novel. I'm not honestly sure he said that, maybe he did. But for whatever reason, I tend to agree with him. This is my favorite part of the larger novel, and is strong enough that it could almost stand on it's own as a long-ish short story.

I say almost though, it probably wouldn't make any sense on its own, without part one there to give the reader context. That's okay, though, because part one is also amazing. In fact, the first too collections together equal the first half of a rather amazing story regarding Tib and his ever growing troubles.

Of course, the author has done the added bonus of adding a novella to the end of this collection from Briane Pagel that includes characters from Leon's first novel, The House on the Corner. It takes his universe from that novel and takes it into a post-apocalyptic setting set when the children of that novel are quite old, and have gathered at the house to battle an ultimate evil. It's a truly astounding story, and together with Leon's story, the length is enough to warrant a purchase even if you don't have the first collection (which is too bad if you don't, because the story included at the end of collection 1 is one of my favorite short works I've read this year).

So, Pagel's entry at the end of this story is amazing in its own right. The quality of these pieces really is without parallel. I'm quite sad that these aren't much more popular than they are already. This deserves much more than it has received from the world.

[Ariel Hudnall · Rating 3 out of 5]

For this second collection of the previously serialized Shadow Spinner series, the author focuses on The Man With No Eyes, the Watcher, and Michael (Tib's father). Unfortunately, I can't give much more of a summary without giving spoilers, but I was sad to see my favorite character go, especially since I am finding the three characters mentioned previously a little flat overall. I also feel so bad for Tib's mother, and would really like to see more conclusion of conflict in every serial of this series. All of that, coupled with a jarring switch of POV, give this collection its 3-star rating.

The bulk of this collection is dominated by the addition of the novelette "Augurs of Distant Shadow" by Briane Pagel, a dark fiction based on Andrew Leon's "House on the Corner". The novelette takes up a whopping 67% of the Kindle file, and is a well-written, action-packed story. For the amount of space it takes up, I am surprised that the contributing author does not get a credit on the cover.

As far as the story goes, I was confused for most of the beginning, perhaps because I wasn't getting references to the parent work, but in the end, the storyline grew on me, and I was curious about what was going to happen. I would have liked to see the story far longer, so there could be more character development and reaction, but I understand space constraints.

[megHan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first part of the collection but it was NOTHING like this one. I mean, this was amazing. Tiberius really goes through some stuff. When his dad arrives ... then the shadows ... and the guy with no eyes ... and the creepy watcher guy ... and his mom ... and that stuff at the end ... oh.my.God. This is definitely a collection I must finish. Even though there was a part that made me sad.

Also, as with the first collection, there's an added bonus: a short story written by another author that is based on Andrew's The House on the Corner novel. This one has "Augurs of Distant Shadow" by Briane Pagel. It has vampires. Well, vampire type things. And no they don't shimmer.

[Bryan Pedas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was certainly my favorite of the collections, though that doesn't mean the others are bad. This is just outstanding. The Man with No Eyes is genuinely creepy, and has a darkness that's both mysterious and terrifying. We get the idea bad things are coming... They certainly are.

Also, the vampire story at the end by Briane Pagel was worth a read in itself.