What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Shadow of the Skull
She survived. Her world didn't.
Fuala lives on a remote island filled with famine, natural disasters--and bloodthirsty monsters called duyvils that are separated from her village by a massive wall and kept in check by the powerful but unseen Island King. Her people have survived these threats by forming a close-knit society that values peace and service to one another, but Fuala's adventurous spirit and youthful rebelliousness occasionally threatens the delicate harmony of the village. In particular, she clashes with her uncle Asaya, the island shaman who is responsible for her upbringing, and with the proper Na'aisa, who is both a friend and rival. Only Fuala's devoted younger sister, Isii, whom she once rescued from a duyvil, sees the greatness in her.
Then, disaster strikes and the village elders offer Fuala as a bride to placate the Island King. Being selected is presented as an honor, but Fuala knows it is secretly a death sentence.
Salvation arrives unexpectedly when pale strangers from afar interrupt the ceremony.
They're not conquistadors, or slave traders, or colonizers. They're movie makers. And they've come to find the Island King, a fabled being known as Ka'ang. . .
When the outsiders provoke Ka'ang to violence, causing the destruction of the protective wall, the village, and her very way of life, Fuala vows to protect Isii from the monsters now free to roam the island and from the desperate survivors.
Inspired by the work of Edgar Wallace and Delos W. Lovelace, In the Shadow of the Skull delivers a thrilling new interpretation of the story of King Kong from the point of view of the native islanders.
Fuala lives on a remote island filled with famine, natural disasters--and bloodthirsty monsters called duyvils that are separated from her village by a massive wall and kept in check by the powerful but unseen Island King. Her people have survived these threats by forming a close-knit society that values peace and service to one another, but Fuala's adventurous spirit and youthful rebelliousness occasionally threatens the delicate harmony of the village. In particular, she clashes with her uncle Asaya, the island shaman who is responsible for her upbringing, and with the proper Na'aisa, who is both a friend and rival. Only Fuala's devoted younger sister, Isii, whom she once rescued from a duyvil, sees the greatness in her.
Then, disaster strikes and the village elders offer Fuala as a bride to placate the Island King. Being selected is presented as an honor, but Fuala knows it is secretly a death sentence.
Salvation arrives unexpectedly when pale strangers from afar interrupt the ceremony.
They're not conquistadors, or slave traders, or colonizers. They're movie makers. And they've come to find the Island King, a fabled being known as Ka'ang. . .
When the outsiders provoke Ka'ang to violence, causing the destruction of the protective wall, the village, and her very way of life, Fuala vows to protect Isii from the monsters now free to roam the island and from the desperate survivors.
Inspired by the work of Edgar Wallace and Delos W. Lovelace, In the Shadow of the Skull delivers a thrilling new interpretation of the story of King Kong from the point of view of the native islanders.
716 pages, Paperback
Published December 15, 2023
7 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 4, 2024
Amanda Desiree's epic-length novel, In the Shadow of the Skull, tells the story of King Kong from the perspective of the native people of Skull Island.
In the original King Kong, the natives were reduced to 1930s Hollywood stereotypical savages. In Amanda Desiree's novel, they are given an intricately-detailed culture and society. The first half of the book is essentially a coming-of-age story as the protagonist, Fuala, narrates her childhood and adolescence. We learn alongside her about her people as she goes through her people’s education and trials of becoming a woman. This takes up much of this very long novel and may test the patience of some readers, though I found it fascinating. The amount of time the novel spends developing the culture and characters makes the second half, when it all falls apart, all the more impactful.
The middle portion of the book chronicles the original Kong story, though it’s refreshing to see it taken from the native’s point of view. Dimension is suddenly given to the flat characters from the original work. Though fans of Kong won’t find the events in this section at all surprising, they’ll certainly get a kick out of seeing how closely the events match up.
The later third of the novel is where things get really dark as Fuala’s home falls into ruins. King Kong has long been looked at as a metaphor for Western Civilization’s colonialism of much of the rest of the world. The havoc played on the native people of Skull Island by the arrival of American and European men who steal their “King” is a reminder that this has happened all throughout the world over the past few centuries (minus the dinosaurs). While this metaphor is crystal clear, Amanda Desiree makes this a heart-pounding, thrilling ride and even threw in an homage to King Kong’s notorious lost spider-pit sequence!
If you’re a fan of Kong (and who isn’t!), this is a must-read though familiarity with the source material isn’t required.
In the original King Kong, the natives were reduced to 1930s Hollywood stereotypical savages. In Amanda Desiree's novel, they are given an intricately-detailed culture and society. The first half of the book is essentially a coming-of-age story as the protagonist, Fuala, narrates her childhood and adolescence. We learn alongside her about her people as she goes through her people’s education and trials of becoming a woman. This takes up much of this very long novel and may test the patience of some readers, though I found it fascinating. The amount of time the novel spends developing the culture and characters makes the second half, when it all falls apart, all the more impactful.
The middle portion of the book chronicles the original Kong story, though it’s refreshing to see it taken from the native’s point of view. Dimension is suddenly given to the flat characters from the original work. Though fans of Kong won’t find the events in this section at all surprising, they’ll certainly get a kick out of seeing how closely the events match up.
The later third of the novel is where things get really dark as Fuala’s home falls into ruins. King Kong has long been looked at as a metaphor for Western Civilization’s colonialism of much of the rest of the world. The havoc played on the native people of Skull Island by the arrival of American and European men who steal their “King” is a reminder that this has happened all throughout the world over the past few centuries (minus the dinosaurs). While this metaphor is crystal clear, Amanda Desiree makes this a heart-pounding, thrilling ride and even threw in an homage to King Kong’s notorious lost spider-pit sequence!
If you’re a fan of Kong (and who isn’t!), this is a must-read though familiarity with the source material isn’t required.
Displaying 1 of 1 review