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By Virtue Fall
During the Terror of the French Revolution, the Daughters of Lilith, a cult of female vampire assassins, makes noblewoman Adriana Dupré one of them. They later manipulate her into killing her ancestors and set her younger sister Dominique, now also a vampire, against her.
Adriana swore revenge.
The centuries passed, taking Adriana's bloody vengeance into the modern era. She encounters Dwyer Strathan, a dark sorcerer who poses as a Hollywood bad boy. He offers her a deal: if she retrieves the three mystical relics called the Vyntari shards for him, he will give her the information she needs to destroy the Daughters and redeem her sister.
The deal sends Adriana from the soulless glamor of Los Angeles to the seedy underworld and haunted forests of Berlin. She combats werewolves, a golem and the Knights of Vyntari, warrior sorcerers charged with the protection of the shards.
The knights challenge Adriana to consider what good has come from her violent path of vengeance. Might there be another way towards salvation? And is the redemption of her sister worth giving Strathan the power of the shards — the power to enslave the world?
“By Virtue Fall” is the first song in the “Shadowdance” urban fantasy saga.
Look into the shadows and see horror in action.
Adriana swore revenge.
The centuries passed, taking Adriana's bloody vengeance into the modern era. She encounters Dwyer Strathan, a dark sorcerer who poses as a Hollywood bad boy. He offers her a deal: if she retrieves the three mystical relics called the Vyntari shards for him, he will give her the information she needs to destroy the Daughters and redeem her sister.
The deal sends Adriana from the soulless glamor of Los Angeles to the seedy underworld and haunted forests of Berlin. She combats werewolves, a golem and the Knights of Vyntari, warrior sorcerers charged with the protection of the shards.
The knights challenge Adriana to consider what good has come from her violent path of vengeance. Might there be another way towards salvation? And is the redemption of her sister worth giving Strathan the power of the shards — the power to enslave the world?
“By Virtue Fall” is the first song in the “Shadowdance” urban fantasy saga.
Look into the shadows and see horror in action.
ebook
First published December 20, 2013
About the author
Mark Wooden
13 books31 followers"Two Sisters" author Mark Wooden was a quarterfinalist in the 2017 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Contest for "Fall to Grace," a short story from his "Shadowdance" urban fantasy saga.
The monster in his short horror film, "Where the Heart Bleeds," earned the approval of horror maestro Clive Barker. Mark is also a member of the Horror Writer's Association.
Mark's command of the horror genre combines with his love of James Bond-style action to create stories that explore loyalty, manipulation, revenge, and redemption.
His day job involves setting up video equipment for concerts and corporate events. Ask him about when he worked for Jimmy Buffett and literally ran into Harrison Ford.
Find Mark on Instagram, YouTube, Goodreads, and his website WriterMarkWooden.com.
The monster in his short horror film, "Where the Heart Bleeds," earned the approval of horror maestro Clive Barker. Mark is also a member of the Horror Writer's Association.
Mark's command of the horror genre combines with his love of James Bond-style action to create stories that explore loyalty, manipulation, revenge, and redemption.
His day job involves setting up video equipment for concerts and corporate events. Ask him about when he worked for Jimmy Buffett and literally ran into Harrison Ford.
Find Mark on Instagram, YouTube, Goodreads, and his website WriterMarkWooden.com.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 4, 2014
The introduction of characters in this fast paced ebook is intriguing. The author places you right in the heat of the moment during an epic fight or a violent slaying and presents you with not only a graphic scene but also who you will be following in that chapter. This page turner (so to speak) will keep you glued to your kindle first wondering where vampire and former assassin, Adriana, will take you. From Los Angeles to Berlin she is kicking ass and leading you on her path of vengeance. Then your riding in a van with two Knights of Vyntari chasing Adriana, charged with protecting the sacred shards she's Hell bent on retrieving. What a rush!
I give this well researched, action packed, and original ebook a 4 out of 5 stars. There are spelling issues and grammatical errors I came across. I didn't find that they hindered the progression of my interest in the story but they were a little distracting. Other than that very minor complaint I truly enjoyed reading By Virtue Fall! This author has a wonderful imagination and I like the way he mixed historical fiction into his modern day setting making his writing style unique for this genre.
I give this well researched, action packed, and original ebook a 4 out of 5 stars. There are spelling issues and grammatical errors I came across. I didn't find that they hindered the progression of my interest in the story but they were a little distracting. Other than that very minor complaint I truly enjoyed reading By Virtue Fall! This author has a wonderful imagination and I like the way he mixed historical fiction into his modern day setting making his writing style unique for this genre.
August 15, 2014
First, I would like to thank the author Mark Wooden for giving me this book for an honest review. I really enjoyed reading this book, the story-line is great. The characters are well developed and written. The world building is very good. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this saga.
May 15, 2017
The description of By Virtue Fall: A Song of the Shadowdance by Mark Wyndel Wooden piqued my curiosity. Unforturnately, there were still many questions left unanswered when I finished the book. What is the Shadowdance? Why does Adriana Dupré feel the necessity for revenge and regret for doing so? Why does the sorcerer, Dwyer Strathan, need Adriana to collect the shards, two relics that would give him the power to destroy the world? Why are the Knights involved and why do they show mercy to Adriana? What is the game plan and how does the protagonist fit into it? This is the first book in the Shadowdance saga. Presumably, these questions will eventually be answered, but as a reader of this first novel, I felt cheated that nothing had been resolved.
There are many supernatural characters—vampires, werewolves, golems, socerers—but the story does not seem to belong to anyone.There is a lot of action, though, without good character development, the fighting seems gratuitous, almost as if Mr. Wooden included the battles just because he enjoyed writing them. For these reasons, I think By Virtue Fall would appeal more to the YA audience than to adults or to readers who enjoy a more developed sto
There are many supernatural characters—vampires, werewolves, golems, socerers—but the story does not seem to belong to anyone.There is a lot of action, though, without good character development, the fighting seems gratuitous, almost as if Mr. Wooden included the battles just because he enjoyed writing them. For these reasons, I think By Virtue Fall would appeal more to the YA audience than to adults or to readers who enjoy a more developed sto
February 21, 2017
By Virtue Fall is an action packed fantasy that doesn’t lose steam. We follow Adriana as she goes up against the Daughters of Lilith, her former cohorts, in an effort to try to save her sister, Dominique from them. In her effort to do so, Adriana joins forces with Dwyer Stratham, the head of the Order of Haroth….a group of sorcerers that practice dark magic. She is to get him Vyntari shards….relics that are very powerful and very important. If she gets them, Dwyer will give her information about her sister. Stress if. Adriana has to go up against the guardians of the shards, the Knights of Vyntari and the werewolves that she almost caused the extinction of.
***************************************
This book was action packed from the first page, when Makeda steals one of the Vyntari shards from a mystical temple that is shrouded on Mount Kanchenjunga, and doesn’t let up until the end. One of the reasons why I really liked this book. Sometimes, and I have said this in other posts, a girl just needs nonstop action in her book. I liked that there were different fighting styles shown (Japanese was the main one). The nerd in me cheered when Michael Freeman had a quarterstaff and used it while blind. I also liked the epic fight scenes. Every single one with Adriana was epic.
Now, the blood and gore in this book might be a little too much but it is needed. This book isn’t heart, flowers and happy endings. It is a book about revenge and revenge can be a little bloody if you are a vampire on a mission. Take for instance the killing of the international pop star. Talk about an image that is burned into your brain. That had to have been the goriest deaths in a book that I have read in a while.
Adriana took a while to grow on me but she did. During the course of the book, you could see her going from this heartless assassin to a vampire who wanted to make amends with those she hurt (even if they hated her and wanted her dead). She was so full of rage and I liked how she turned that rage into a finely honed weapon.
What I really liked was the way Adriana was turned into a vampire. Talk about a different way of doing it and again, refreshing to read. I actually like his way better than the usual way that vampires are spawned. Less chance of rogue vampires running around and the vampire population is kept under strict control.
Another first for me was that the author hyperlinked main characters bios into the story. So, all I had to do was tap the name and it went right to the bio on the book’s website. I found that it was easier to do that (and not lose my place in my book) then to go looking for it. I have a Kindle Paperwhite and it can be a little difficult navigating at times. So to have that information at my fingertips was great!!!
The storylines were not resolved in this book and the book was ended in a way that it was left wide open for book 2.
How many stars will I give By Virtue Fall: 4
Why: An action packed book that features some kick ass vampires. I couldn’t stop reading it.
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age range: Adult
Why: Violence and language
**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**
***************************************
This book was action packed from the first page, when Makeda steals one of the Vyntari shards from a mystical temple that is shrouded on Mount Kanchenjunga, and doesn’t let up until the end. One of the reasons why I really liked this book. Sometimes, and I have said this in other posts, a girl just needs nonstop action in her book. I liked that there were different fighting styles shown (Japanese was the main one). The nerd in me cheered when Michael Freeman had a quarterstaff and used it while blind. I also liked the epic fight scenes. Every single one with Adriana was epic.
Now, the blood and gore in this book might be a little too much but it is needed. This book isn’t heart, flowers and happy endings. It is a book about revenge and revenge can be a little bloody if you are a vampire on a mission. Take for instance the killing of the international pop star. Talk about an image that is burned into your brain. That had to have been the goriest deaths in a book that I have read in a while.
Adriana took a while to grow on me but she did. During the course of the book, you could see her going from this heartless assassin to a vampire who wanted to make amends with those she hurt (even if they hated her and wanted her dead). She was so full of rage and I liked how she turned that rage into a finely honed weapon.
What I really liked was the way Adriana was turned into a vampire. Talk about a different way of doing it and again, refreshing to read. I actually like his way better than the usual way that vampires are spawned. Less chance of rogue vampires running around and the vampire population is kept under strict control.
Another first for me was that the author hyperlinked main characters bios into the story. So, all I had to do was tap the name and it went right to the bio on the book’s website. I found that it was easier to do that (and not lose my place in my book) then to go looking for it. I have a Kindle Paperwhite and it can be a little difficult navigating at times. So to have that information at my fingertips was great!!!
The storylines were not resolved in this book and the book was ended in a way that it was left wide open for book 2.
How many stars will I give By Virtue Fall: 4
Why: An action packed book that features some kick ass vampires. I couldn’t stop reading it.
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age range: Adult
Why: Violence and language
**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**
March 12, 2017
Okay first. This is not a Romance story. There is a lot of
violence in this book. But it is well thought-out is he wonderful
story-lines. It is told multiple points of view.
The main story follows a young woman Adriana who is turned into
a vampire during the age of Mozart. She literally knew him; she
was a sweet young woman. That is till she is taken by The
Daughters of Lilith, and trained to be an assassin. But she is so
tired of the leader lying to her. And she turns against them and
sets on a quest to get her revenge. Unfortunately for her there are
so many people after her. Even the good guys were after her
(The knights of Vyntari). But she needs to quit throwing a tantrum
and talk to the knights. They may be help to her. If she can see
beyond her rage.
Now before I ruin this for you I will leave off here. I hope
you enjoy this book as much as I did. If you do like this
book, please consider leaving a review. The Authors really like
it when you do; they value your opinions too.
violence in this book. But it is well thought-out is he wonderful
story-lines. It is told multiple points of view.
The main story follows a young woman Adriana who is turned into
a vampire during the age of Mozart. She literally knew him; she
was a sweet young woman. That is till she is taken by The
Daughters of Lilith, and trained to be an assassin. But she is so
tired of the leader lying to her. And she turns against them and
sets on a quest to get her revenge. Unfortunately for her there are
so many people after her. Even the good guys were after her
(The knights of Vyntari). But she needs to quit throwing a tantrum
and talk to the knights. They may be help to her. If she can see
beyond her rage.
Now before I ruin this for you I will leave off here. I hope
you enjoy this book as much as I did. If you do like this
book, please consider leaving a review. The Authors really like
it when you do; they value your opinions too.
March 8, 2017
By Virtue Fall by Mark Wooden is an action-laden urban fantasy; a dark version of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ only in this case the vampire is the hero.
Adrianna is a vampire assassin on a quest to avenge the death of her parents and the corruption of her younger sister. In order to achieve her goal, though, she must risk becoming as evil as the evil she seeks to defeat. An interesting story that combines elements of urban fantasy and history, replete with fight scenes that will appeal to cinema lovers, this book makes good escapist reading.
I received a free copy of this book. I give it a shade below four stars, rounded up.
Adrianna is a vampire assassin on a quest to avenge the death of her parents and the corruption of her younger sister. In order to achieve her goal, though, she must risk becoming as evil as the evil she seeks to defeat. An interesting story that combines elements of urban fantasy and history, replete with fight scenes that will appeal to cinema lovers, this book makes good escapist reading.
I received a free copy of this book. I give it a shade below four stars, rounded up.
November 8, 2014
Rating: 2
I won a copy of this book for an honest review. This will never effect how I like or rate a book.
It's always the strangest thing I find when you read a book and it makes you think back on other books and say, "You know, that book wasn't really that bad."
Now granted this book wasn't horrible but it had that effect on me once I finished it. I looked back on the last so many books I gave two's to and started to feel a bit bad. Not so bad that I'd go back and change the ratings of course. Though this just proves that the more books I read the more my opinion changes and I start letting go of lesser problems with a book and focusing more strongly on others.
So what was the problem with this one?
Mainly its characters. Or if we're going to get straight to the point; Adriana. I have to wonder if I was meant to feel nothing for her. At one point I thought for sure she would make a better robot than vampire. There was just nothing there. No real character. She had her motivation and nothing else mattered in her life. She was a killing machine but beyond that there was nothing to grasp onto, nothing to root for in her and no real personality either. I mean half of the fun of a book like this would of been a great and fun personality to go with such skills but sadly Adriana lacked much of any personality at all.
And if I would of had to read about her saying that famous line of hers one more time I'm not entirely sure I could of went on. As it was I forced myself to push through and finish this book just because I hate leaving books unfinished and wanted to give the book a just review. And you know what? I'm glad I did.
Most of the characters I didn't care about in the beginning but a few actually managed to get me on their side by the end of this. Okay maybe I wasn't so much on Strathan's side of things but I couldn't help liking his character all the same. He's the only one I liked fully from beginning to end.
I didn't mind Michael, he was interesting enough. By the end of it though Makeda came out shining and on top of them all.I really liked her by the end of this. Having to point out the obvious to a character who didn't have many brains through this whole thing. I'm surprised she stuck with her mission to recruit Adriana after everything but in the end it actually made me like her a bit more because of it.
We didn't get much time with Sahlu, but from what I seen I was liking him as well.
Gabriella on the other hand I had trouble standing after awhile. She sounded like someone who has been brainwashed by a cult and can't see sense and Michael trying to point that out to her made it even worse.
The plot was interesting enough, though it seemed a bit all over the place and not the easiest to understand. It felt like it needed a bit more smoothing out. I liked the interesting new takes on how a vampire could be created, the nature of werewolves, and the use of a warlocks magic. The book was also good at detail in the scenes. However it gets tiring when after telling about a location the next line is talking about how the character couldn't care what the scenery looks like. Yeah, that happened a few too many times. Still I have to say the book did have good descriptions even when it chose to add pointless things like that afterwards.
At the end of the day I can't say that I would pick up the sequel. The ending was interesting, I'll grant it that but with how much trouble I had getting through this first one I'm just not sure it would be worth it. Though I'd recommend it to fans of Urban Paranormal Fiction.
I won a copy of this book for an honest review. This will never effect how I like or rate a book.
It's always the strangest thing I find when you read a book and it makes you think back on other books and say, "You know, that book wasn't really that bad."
Now granted this book wasn't horrible but it had that effect on me once I finished it. I looked back on the last so many books I gave two's to and started to feel a bit bad. Not so bad that I'd go back and change the ratings of course. Though this just proves that the more books I read the more my opinion changes and I start letting go of lesser problems with a book and focusing more strongly on others.
So what was the problem with this one?
Mainly its characters. Or if we're going to get straight to the point; Adriana. I have to wonder if I was meant to feel nothing for her. At one point I thought for sure she would make a better robot than vampire. There was just nothing there. No real character. She had her motivation and nothing else mattered in her life. She was a killing machine but beyond that there was nothing to grasp onto, nothing to root for in her and no real personality either. I mean half of the fun of a book like this would of been a great and fun personality to go with such skills but sadly Adriana lacked much of any personality at all.
And if I would of had to read about her saying that famous line of hers one more time I'm not entirely sure I could of went on. As it was I forced myself to push through and finish this book just because I hate leaving books unfinished and wanted to give the book a just review. And you know what? I'm glad I did.
Most of the characters I didn't care about in the beginning but a few actually managed to get me on their side by the end of this. Okay maybe I wasn't so much on Strathan's side of things but I couldn't help liking his character all the same. He's the only one I liked fully from beginning to end.
I didn't mind Michael, he was interesting enough. By the end of it though Makeda came out shining and on top of them all.I really liked her by the end of this. Having to point out the obvious to a character who didn't have many brains through this whole thing. I'm surprised she stuck with her mission to recruit Adriana after everything but in the end it actually made me like her a bit more because of it.
We didn't get much time with Sahlu, but from what I seen I was liking him as well.
Gabriella on the other hand I had trouble standing after awhile. She sounded like someone who has been brainwashed by a cult and can't see sense and Michael trying to point that out to her made it even worse.
The plot was interesting enough, though it seemed a bit all over the place and not the easiest to understand. It felt like it needed a bit more smoothing out. I liked the interesting new takes on how a vampire could be created, the nature of werewolves, and the use of a warlocks magic. The book was also good at detail in the scenes. However it gets tiring when after telling about a location the next line is talking about how the character couldn't care what the scenery looks like. Yeah, that happened a few too many times. Still I have to say the book did have good descriptions even when it chose to add pointless things like that afterwards.
At the end of the day I can't say that I would pick up the sequel. The ending was interesting, I'll grant it that but with how much trouble I had getting through this first one I'm just not sure it would be worth it. Though I'd recommend it to fans of Urban Paranormal Fiction.
October 8, 2014
I have mixed feelings about this one. Really, I thought I would like it, because the beginning was more than enjoyable. But around half of the book, it started going round in circles and getting more and more boring, so much than 20% from the end I decided it was enough and skipped pages only to read the final lines, to know how all this ended.
I won’t write a summary myself because the one on the back cover is explicit enough. Actually, it even is a bit spoilery because it pretty much sums up the whole book. But for once I was glad the blurb gave out so much, because otherwise I would have quickly lost track of the storyline. Although action packed, the beginning is quite slow plotwise so it was a good thing I knew beforehand where the author wanted his story to lead, so that I didn’t feel lost.
The beginning was very interesting though! As I said before, I very much enjoyed the first half of the story. The mythology developed in this series is very interesting and diversified; you will find not only vampires but also sorcerers, werewolves, golems, etc. I also really liked the setting: it takes place in various places in the world, including France, Los Angeles, Berlin and others I forgot, but I found it really great that the story wasn’t set only in the US (not that I have anything against the US, don’t get me wrong, but almost all urban fantasy novels take place there). Also, the author mixes past and present very well, including supernatural bits in real historical events like the French Revolution or the Third Reich in Germany. It was very well done and I enjoyed that a lot.
The first half of the book is also where we get introduced to Adriana, the heroine, a ruthless vampire hungry for bloody vengeance. We get to know how she changes from the nice aristocratic girl with a love for music to this heartless creature. I didn’t like Adriana the vampire that much but I did really enjoy the flashbacks from her past.
So, what happened in the second half to make the story go so down? Well, around 40% Adriana finally makes this deal mentioned in the blurb and I thought: “awesome, now the real story is going to start!” But… no, it didn’t. Almost all this second half was about fighting, fighting, fighting and… did I mention fighting? Really, action is nice but not when it takes everything over plot development.
Also, I didn’t find many of the things that were mentioned in the blurb: the thing with Adriana’s sister seemed very important, while in the book the sister is barely mentioned. And Adriana’s meeting with the Knights of Vyntari only happens at the very end (when I had already started skipping pages). Really, what I’ll remember of the second half of this book is that Adriana fights all the time, and doesn’t mind injuring and killing people, even innocent people. That’s all.
So, in the end, I have to say I am very much disappointed with this one. The beginning was promising, but unfortunately the good first half doesn’t make up for the boring second half. This is where the plot should have developed and become even more interesting, but instead action took it all. I have an ARC of book two, but honestly, I don’t know if I will read it, given that I struggled so much to finish book one.
I recommend this book to you if: You like action (really really like it), and want to read a story with ruthless vampires.
I won’t write a summary myself because the one on the back cover is explicit enough. Actually, it even is a bit spoilery because it pretty much sums up the whole book. But for once I was glad the blurb gave out so much, because otherwise I would have quickly lost track of the storyline. Although action packed, the beginning is quite slow plotwise so it was a good thing I knew beforehand where the author wanted his story to lead, so that I didn’t feel lost.
The beginning was very interesting though! As I said before, I very much enjoyed the first half of the story. The mythology developed in this series is very interesting and diversified; you will find not only vampires but also sorcerers, werewolves, golems, etc. I also really liked the setting: it takes place in various places in the world, including France, Los Angeles, Berlin and others I forgot, but I found it really great that the story wasn’t set only in the US (not that I have anything against the US, don’t get me wrong, but almost all urban fantasy novels take place there). Also, the author mixes past and present very well, including supernatural bits in real historical events like the French Revolution or the Third Reich in Germany. It was very well done and I enjoyed that a lot.
The first half of the book is also where we get introduced to Adriana, the heroine, a ruthless vampire hungry for bloody vengeance. We get to know how she changes from the nice aristocratic girl with a love for music to this heartless creature. I didn’t like Adriana the vampire that much but I did really enjoy the flashbacks from her past.
So, what happened in the second half to make the story go so down? Well, around 40% Adriana finally makes this deal mentioned in the blurb and I thought: “awesome, now the real story is going to start!” But… no, it didn’t. Almost all this second half was about fighting, fighting, fighting and… did I mention fighting? Really, action is nice but not when it takes everything over plot development.
Also, I didn’t find many of the things that were mentioned in the blurb: the thing with Adriana’s sister seemed very important, while in the book the sister is barely mentioned. And Adriana’s meeting with the Knights of Vyntari only happens at the very end (when I had already started skipping pages). Really, what I’ll remember of the second half of this book is that Adriana fights all the time, and doesn’t mind injuring and killing people, even innocent people. That’s all.
So, in the end, I have to say I am very much disappointed with this one. The beginning was promising, but unfortunately the good first half doesn’t make up for the boring second half. This is where the plot should have developed and become even more interesting, but instead action took it all. I have an ARC of book two, but honestly, I don’t know if I will read it, given that I struggled so much to finish book one.
I recommend this book to you if: You like action (really really like it), and want to read a story with ruthless vampires.
October 28, 2014
As 'Vorlauf" on Amazon said, and I could not agree with more... "Mark's Shadowdance world is an inventive new take on the concept for anyone that loves vampire fantasy. He weaves his fantasy world of vampires, werewolves, holy warriors, and dark wizards into a modern and sexy setting." The action in Mark's book flows quickly and engagingly making for a real page turner, even for those that may not really be into this type of genre. Like "Vorlauf" I also can't wait to see the next book. - This was a wonderful GoodReads Win that was signed by the author and one that I will cherish. - Thanks Mark
October 3, 2014
Great fast paced book. Gets you right in to the action and is a nice new take on the vampire and werewolf's.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews