What do you think?
Rate this book
Forgotten Realms: The Harpers #11
Curse of the Shadowmage
Mari Al'Marin and Caledan, the unlikely pair of heroes from The Crypt of the Shadowking, return to match wits against the revived legacy of the Shadowking, which threatens all of Faerun.
309 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1995
12 people are currently reading
644 people want to read
About the author
Mark Anthony
43 books190 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Mark Anthony learned to love both books and mountains during childhood summers spent in a Colorado ghost town.
Later he was trained as a paleoanthropologist but along the way grew interested in a different sort of human evolution—the symbolic progress reflected in myth and the literature of the fantastic. He undertook Beyond the Pale to explore the idea that reason and wonder need not exist in conflict.
Mark Anthony lives and writes in Colorado, where he is currently at work on his next writing project.
Also writes under Galen Beckett.
Mark Anthony learned to love both books and mountains during childhood summers spent in a Colorado ghost town.
Later he was trained as a paleoanthropologist but along the way grew interested in a different sort of human evolution—the symbolic progress reflected in myth and the literature of the fantastic. He undertook Beyond the Pale to explore the idea that reason and wonder need not exist in conflict.
Mark Anthony lives and writes in Colorado, where he is currently at work on his next writing project.
Also writes under Galen Beckett.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 16, 2023
I can't decide if it's better or worse that, in my ill-conceived Forgotten Realms novel publication order reading project, after a string of uniquely terrible books, including a libertarian screed and so, so many of Ed Greenwood's bombastic romantic fantasies, this one was simply bad in ordinary ways.
I didn't mind its predecessor, Crypt of the Shadowking, but this book was such a drag. Amateur writing but generally passable. It was impossible to give a damn for any characters, including the precocious child. The story was fine, but the plot was terrible. So many plot holes; every plot point raised multiple questions and the only option for continuing was to conciously choose to ignore them. The reward for continuing is you get to read multiple points lifted directly from Lord of the Rings, nonsensical shadow magic that gets to be whatever the writer felt like at the moment for dramatic purpose, irritating sudden rescues, a pair of useless characters who eat up page time calling each other fat or old but in fancy ways, and K'shon.
The Harpers "loose series" is, frankly, the worst. Every author has a completely different take on what the Harpers organization is, how it operates, what its values are. The back covers all describe it as, "the secret organization for Good [yes it's capitalized] in the Forgotten Realms fantasy world," but some editorial control over how it was expressed would have helped. This book's portrayal is my least favorite yet. Apparently it's in fact a fascist, rigidly militaristic organization, because when Mari refuses to carry out her assigned mission of murdering her partner and lover, she is sentenced to death.
The monster on the cover is kind of neat. Too bad nothing like it ever appeared in the book.
Coming up next in this series read is: a short story anthology featuring all of the same authors writing about the same characters as in their main series and the other anthologies, followed by another book by Mark Anthony again. Big sigh.
I didn't mind its predecessor, Crypt of the Shadowking, but this book was such a drag. Amateur writing but generally passable. It was impossible to give a damn for any characters, including the precocious child. The story was fine, but the plot was terrible. So many plot holes; every plot point raised multiple questions and the only option for continuing was to conciously choose to ignore them. The reward for continuing is you get to read multiple points lifted directly from Lord of the Rings, nonsensical shadow magic that gets to be whatever the writer felt like at the moment for dramatic purpose, irritating sudden rescues, a pair of useless characters who eat up page time calling each other fat or old but in fancy ways, and K'shon.
The Harpers "loose series" is, frankly, the worst. Every author has a completely different take on what the Harpers organization is, how it operates, what its values are. The back covers all describe it as, "the secret organization for Good [yes it's capitalized] in the Forgotten Realms fantasy world," but some editorial control over how it was expressed would have helped. This book's portrayal is my least favorite yet. Apparently it's in fact a fascist, rigidly militaristic organization, because when Mari refuses to carry out her assigned mission of murdering her partner and lover, she is sentenced to death.
His [the leader of the western branch of Harpers or whatever] voice became a growl. "Do you understand what this means, Al'maren? You will be branded a renegade. Every Harper will have the right to hunt you down and slay you. And by all the gods, they will be obliged to do it!"That's a great organization for GOOD you have there, in which if a member quits, they will be murdered, by agents of GOOD who are given no choice in the matter. For GOOD.
The monster on the cover is kind of neat. Too bad nothing like it ever appeared in the book.
Coming up next in this series read is: a short story anthology featuring all of the same authors writing about the same characters as in their main series and the other anthologies, followed by another book by Mark Anthony again. Big sigh.
January 12, 2015
This book is numbered 11 in the Harpers series (Forgotten Realms universe) but I chose to read it directly after number 6 because it is the direct sequel to that novel. This is a shared universe series, meaning many authors wrote novels in it so they can be read in almost any order. Most are stand-alone novels. But this one completes the story arc which began in number 6, Crypt of the Shadowking.
Caledan Caldorien, heir to the shadow magic from the first book is losing control of his own identity and actions. The fear is that he is becoming the new Shadowking. The Harpers cannot let such powerful evil come back into the world once again so must stop the transformation before it is complete. That leaves Caledan’s old adventuring friends in quite a predicament…to hunt down and kill him.
It’s a nice follow-up and a necessary one given the many unanswered questions in the first book. That first one was the author’s first published novel and he wrote some others before writing this one. His growth as an author shows and I felt the plot this time around was a little smoother, the pacing well done and more time spent on character development. We also get some good history on the original Shadowking and how he came to be. The story is complete this time so the next time I’m in the mood for some old fashioned sword & sorcery I will plan to go back and pick up with volume 7 of this series.
Caledan Caldorien, heir to the shadow magic from the first book is losing control of his own identity and actions. The fear is that he is becoming the new Shadowking. The Harpers cannot let such powerful evil come back into the world once again so must stop the transformation before it is complete. That leaves Caledan’s old adventuring friends in quite a predicament…to hunt down and kill him.
It’s a nice follow-up and a necessary one given the many unanswered questions in the first book. That first one was the author’s first published novel and he wrote some others before writing this one. His growth as an author shows and I felt the plot this time around was a little smoother, the pacing well done and more time spent on character development. We also get some good history on the original Shadowking and how he came to be. The story is complete this time so the next time I’m in the mood for some old fashioned sword & sorcery I will plan to go back and pick up with volume 7 of this series.
November 15, 2019
Better than the first Shadowmage novel. A better story, a bit more character involvement, and a quicker pace are on display here. It's quite dark for a Forgotten Realms novel too, almost Ravenloft like in its execution.
More like this, please.
More like this, please.
December 26, 2025
As always when reading books from this series, a premise is in order. This series consists of books written by different authors, with totally unrelated plots, and only a very tenuous connection concerning the background. Consequently, the quality of these books varies wildly, with most being mediocre, some quite good, and a few definitely terrible.
Unfortunately, this one is on the bad side. And that was a surprise, since I quite liked the one which this is a sequel, i.e., Crypt of the Shadowking. So when I started this book I expected to enjoy it as well, but I was terribly disappointed in the end.
Minor spoilers ahead.
Truth be told, it actually starts out nice. There is this shadow magic, and it is starting to corrupt Caledan Caldorien, unbeknownst to him, who might soon become the new supervilain of the Forgotten Realms - or at least of the books by this author. So his former friends join forces and try to find a way to restore him, while two other forces are trying to destroy him and accelerate the transition, respectively. Said like this, it might actually be a nice book, although nothing particularly exciting.
There are already several issues, of course. The characters are as flat as the surface of a lake on a lull day. Occasionally, the author tries to put some emotional involvement on the characters' part, but the author is completely incapable of that, and they come out as forced and grating with the general mood of the book.
About halfway through the book, its quality starts to plunge.
First off, I am not particularly fond of stories when things go forcibly well for the main characters. This is one of those. In the previous book, one of the main characters (Ferret Talondim) had died. Now we discover that he wasn't really dead, but had somehow found a way of saving himself and getting rich as hell. This strips away the (probably only) tragic element in the previous book, making it useless and bland, much like Wulfgar's death in The Legacy. Furthermore, in this book there are: the apparent death of a villain (K'shar), who actually didn't die and comes back to help the MCs (then dies again); the apparent death of another of the MCs (Morhion Gen'dahar), who actually didn't die and comes back at the end, safe and sound; the apparent death of the center of the plot (Caledan Caldorien), who actually didn't die but came out of his chrysalis unscather; and a very pathetic way of getting rid of Morgion's pact with Serafi. And they lived happily ever after, all the good guys in great shape and all the bad guys very dead.
The final part is what really ruins the plot. Defeating the Shadowstar and the power of the Shadowking by restoring the Valesong, which actually means unplugging three geysers so that they can make a sound that resonates with all the rest? Really? But more than that, what is the sense of saying that the Valesong is blatantly broken because some notes are missing? Really, the story might have been a bit better, if only the author hadn't put in some part about music that didn't really fit in.
I must also object to the way the author depicts the Harpers. Although it is true that sometimes there are individual members whose actions become questionable to say the least (I still remember the first Baldur's Gate video game), Belhuar Thantarth essentially becoming the villain, without even trying to think of a way to save Caledan instead of destroying him, really goes out of bounds.
Good thing that there's no more sequel to this book.
Unfortunately, this one is on the bad side. And that was a surprise, since I quite liked the one which this is a sequel, i.e., Crypt of the Shadowking. So when I started this book I expected to enjoy it as well, but I was terribly disappointed in the end.
Minor spoilers ahead.
Truth be told, it actually starts out nice. There is this shadow magic, and it is starting to corrupt Caledan Caldorien, unbeknownst to him, who might soon become the new supervilain of the Forgotten Realms - or at least of the books by this author. So his former friends join forces and try to find a way to restore him, while two other forces are trying to destroy him and accelerate the transition, respectively. Said like this, it might actually be a nice book, although nothing particularly exciting.
There are already several issues, of course. The characters are as flat as the surface of a lake on a lull day. Occasionally, the author tries to put some emotional involvement on the characters' part, but the author is completely incapable of that, and they come out as forced and grating with the general mood of the book.
About halfway through the book, its quality starts to plunge.
First off, I am not particularly fond of stories when things go forcibly well for the main characters. This is one of those. In the previous book, one of the main characters (Ferret Talondim) had died. Now we discover that he wasn't really dead, but had somehow found a way of saving himself and getting rich as hell. This strips away the (probably only) tragic element in the previous book, making it useless and bland, much like Wulfgar's death in The Legacy. Furthermore, in this book there are: the apparent death of a villain (K'shar), who actually didn't die and comes back to help the MCs (then dies again); the apparent death of another of the MCs (Morhion Gen'dahar), who actually didn't die and comes back at the end, safe and sound; the apparent death of the center of the plot (Caledan Caldorien), who actually didn't die but came out of his chrysalis unscather; and a very pathetic way of getting rid of Morgion's pact with Serafi. And they lived happily ever after, all the good guys in great shape and all the bad guys very dead.
The final part is what really ruins the plot. Defeating the Shadowstar and the power of the Shadowking by restoring the Valesong, which actually means unplugging three geysers so that they can make a sound that resonates with all the rest? Really? But more than that, what is the sense of saying that the Valesong is blatantly broken because some notes are missing? Really, the story might have been a bit better, if only the author hadn't put in some part about music that didn't really fit in.
I must also object to the way the author depicts the Harpers. Although it is true that sometimes there are individual members whose actions become questionable to say the least (I still remember the first Baldur's Gate video game), Belhuar Thantarth essentially becoming the villain, without even trying to think of a way to save Caledan instead of destroying him, really goes out of bounds.
Good thing that there's no more sequel to this book.
June 4, 2023
It would have taken very little for me to give this 3 stars.
The book is a monument of lost potential, potential the author has intentionally created only to tear it all down in the name of mediocrity, cheesy one-liners and an overall happy end no matter the cost to the story and the characters.
His urge to have every character enjoy a pay-off of their having been heroes at some point makes their every sacrifice and hardship void of meaning.
At some point in the novel I was even excited for implied criticism of the harpers and the justification of the sacrifices they demand of their agents, but no, it never actually comes to that much excitement.
The book is a monument of lost potential, potential the author has intentionally created only to tear it all down in the name of mediocrity, cheesy one-liners and an overall happy end no matter the cost to the story and the characters.
His urge to have every character enjoy a pay-off of their having been heroes at some point makes their every sacrifice and hardship void of meaning.
At some point in the novel I was even excited for implied criticism of the harpers and the justification of the sacrifices they demand of their agents, but no, it never actually comes to that much excitement.
July 7, 2017
I did (nor plan to) read the prequel, so I came into this cold without knowing the backplots. However this read well as a stand-alone, I was intrigued by the characters. The ending could have been much better. I felt the author could have planted seeds in the beginning so the "aha" moment made more sense. And, wow, the "really powerful but really dangerous" artifact in the end keep its power but loses it danger so now they can use it in the future without worry, how convenient!
March 19, 2020
Disappointing and cold, if fairly competent, followup to Caledan Caldorien's previous outing as he takes a backseat to plot device in favor of young Harper Mari Al'Marin, his former lover, as she seeks to redeem him from dark magic.
August 2, 2021
Nowhere near as good as the previous in his series; this one is full of tropes and unimaginative writing.
March 18, 2017
"...don't underestimate silliness,...It's a surprisingly good self-defense mechanism and a whole lot more fun than panicking."
June 8, 2009
This one was better than the first. The main character, Caldorian, is begining to transform into a new shadowking. In this tale, it is his friends, and son, who have to save him from himself. Some new characters and some old ones. All and all, a good Realms read.
July 24, 2009
I enjoy this writers style. He's very good at fleshing out his characters.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews