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The Elder Empire: Shadow #1
Of Shadow and Sea
The Consultant’s Guild has served the Aurelian Empire for over a thousand years, working in the darkness to hunt dissension and eliminate traitors.
Now the Emperor is dead.
For Shera, an assassin in the employ of the Consultants, the Emperor’s death is the beginning of a nightmare. Powerful forces hunt the Heart of Nakothi, a cursed artifact that can raise a second Emperor…and corrupt him in the process.
But some desire power at any cost.
The Guild of Navigators, an infamous collection of swindlers and pirates, has been paid a fortune to secure the Heart. Their only lord is greed, their only loyalty to gold, and they would sell the Empire’s freedom for the promise of a quick coin.
In the shadows, a woman works to set the world free.
On the seas, a man seeks to raise a lunatic to lord over mankind.
Will you walk the shadows here with Shera? Or will you explore the seas with Calder, in the parallel novel "Of Sea and Shadow"?
Now the Emperor is dead.
For Shera, an assassin in the employ of the Consultants, the Emperor’s death is the beginning of a nightmare. Powerful forces hunt the Heart of Nakothi, a cursed artifact that can raise a second Emperor…and corrupt him in the process.
But some desire power at any cost.
The Guild of Navigators, an infamous collection of swindlers and pirates, has been paid a fortune to secure the Heart. Their only lord is greed, their only loyalty to gold, and they would sell the Empire’s freedom for the promise of a quick coin.
In the shadows, a woman works to set the world free.
On the seas, a man seeks to raise a lunatic to lord over mankind.
Will you walk the shadows here with Shera? Or will you explore the seas with Calder, in the parallel novel "Of Sea and Shadow"?
406 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 30, 2014
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4984 people want to read
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June 23, 2020
4.5/5 stars
An incredible start to an assassin high fantasy trilogy with a strong potential to be even better than Cradle.
Will Wight is mostly famous—and highly praised—for his Cradle series. It is quite likely that it’s by far his best-selling series, and that won’t be a surprise because it is truly an addictive and entertaining series to read with insanely positive average ratings on both Amazon and Goodreads. I have, however, always been equally fascinated by this parallel-trilogies of his, The Elder Empire: Sea and The Elder Empire: Shadow. It’s such an interesting concept to have a parallel series with different main protagonists that clash against each other, and I was curious to find out Wight’s execution of this concept. Now that I’ve read and was thoroughly impressed by Of Shadow and Sea, my curiosity has increased further.
Shera is a Gardener—the black ops, pure assassins, and the knives in the dark—of the Consultant’s Guild. The Consultant's Guild—previously and sometimes known as Am’haranai—is a guild specialized in mercenary spies and covert agents. In the Consultants Guild, there are five branches of Consultant: Shepherds, Architects, Masons, Gardener, and The Council of Architects. Shera’s role as a Gardener is to “remove weeds” by harvesting lives and obstacles using their Gardening Shears (dual-blades to harvest lives). The Consultant’s Guild has been a servant to the Aurelian Empire and the Emperor for over a thousand years, but the Emperor is dead now; the Emperor’s death sparks a horrible chain of events. The story in Of Shadow and Sea revolves around the hunt for the Heart of Nakothi, a cursed artifact that can raise a new Emperor; some forces want to use it and corrupt the Emperor to fit their purposes, Shera and the Consultant’s Guild seeks to prevent that from happening. To nail this story without sacrificing the characterizations, Wight juggles between two timelines. First, the flashback chapters that center on Shera’s past since she was 10 years old, and the second timeline is the present-day where Shera is 25 years old and already became a full-fledged Gardener. Although I did find some of the flashback chapters oddly placed in the second half of the novel, I must also admit that they enhanced my excitement to get back to the present day chapters without losing the intrigues of the secrets and character’s background contained in the past.
I found Shera to be a compelling character as an assassin; my interest in reading her story was immediately sparked from her first chapter, and it never lets up throughout the whole book. Due to her detached personality and difficulty for empathy, she fits her role as an assassin extraordinarily well. When I was reading this book, it hit me that I haven’t read a lot of epic fantasy series that has a competent assassin as the main character. Shera isn’t like Robin Hobb’s FitzChivalry Farseer (I LOVE Robin Hobb’s books and Fitz, but Fitz is probably the worst assassin I’ve ever come across in fiction), Shera truly has the talent for this role. Seriously, during the course of the novel, the only events guaranteed to piss her off is the lack of food or sleep; no judgment from me there. This doesn’t mean that she’s completely emotionless; we know from the narrative that something unknown has happened to her that transformed her into behaving that way, and because of this, every brief show of emotions she displayed fleshed out her character effectively. Plus, Shera’s relationships with her teammates—Meia and Lucan—and her Guild adds flavor to the story.
While it’s true that, for me, the story and characters are well-written, it was the world-building, magic system, and action sequences of this book that pleasantly surprised me more. I’ve talked about the Consultant’s Guild, its sub-branches, and Shera’s role as a Gardener, but there’s still so much more depth to the world-building and magic system here. And I’ve read only ONE book in these six books parallel series. Wight has provided plenty of sustenance for Readers to digest here; not only The Consultant’s Guild, we also have the Champion’s Guild, the Blackwatch, the Navigator’s Guild, and etc; each of them has their own respective sub-branches and specialties. Regarding abilities and magic, there’s Intent, the power of focused will that everyone possesses; when you use an object, you invest Intent into that object, and it makes the tool more effective with more usage. There’s also Soulbound that draws power from a Vessel—an awakened object, usually small, that provides the user with the abilities of an Elder or a Kameira. What’s an Elder? Let’s just say there are gigantic creatures to battle, too. I can’t possibly explain every single aspect of the world-building and magic system of this series without writing an essay; what I’ve mentioned so far have only scratched the surface, I haven’t even talked about the Reader, the sentient weapons, the monsters, and the island that’s seemingly made out of Elder’s body.
Of Shadow and Sea is also an action-packed novel; almost the entirety of the second-half—flashback excluded—were battle after battle. Wight combines the world-building, magic system, and action sequences into his story incredibly well. Calder—the main character in Of Sea and Shadow—and his crew did appear as Shera’s opposition, and I really want to know things from his perspective now. Based on my experience of reading Of Shadow and Sea alone, I’m already shocked that not many readers praised this parallel-trilogies more. The first and second books of both trilogies were published before the first book of Cradle came out; they deserve the attention of high fantasy readers. Of Shadow and Sea is a wonderfully crafted assassin fantasy. I have no idea how reading Of Shadow and Sea first will affect my experience of reading Of Sea and Shadow, I’m going to find out immediately. If you’ve started Of Sea and Shadow before reading this one, there’s a very good chance you’re going to have a different opinion than me. Personally speaking, I think this one is already on par with some of the best installments in Cradle, I can’t wait to find out how the rest of the trilogy will go.
You can order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.
An incredible start to an assassin high fantasy trilogy with a strong potential to be even better than Cradle.
Will Wight is mostly famous—and highly praised—for his Cradle series. It is quite likely that it’s by far his best-selling series, and that won’t be a surprise because it is truly an addictive and entertaining series to read with insanely positive average ratings on both Amazon and Goodreads. I have, however, always been equally fascinated by this parallel-trilogies of his, The Elder Empire: Sea and The Elder Empire: Shadow. It’s such an interesting concept to have a parallel series with different main protagonists that clash against each other, and I was curious to find out Wight’s execution of this concept. Now that I’ve read and was thoroughly impressed by Of Shadow and Sea, my curiosity has increased further.
“A Reader does not need the strength of a warrior, but the understanding of a poet.”
Shera is a Gardener—the black ops, pure assassins, and the knives in the dark—of the Consultant’s Guild. The Consultant's Guild—previously and sometimes known as Am’haranai—is a guild specialized in mercenary spies and covert agents. In the Consultants Guild, there are five branches of Consultant: Shepherds, Architects, Masons, Gardener, and The Council of Architects. Shera’s role as a Gardener is to “remove weeds” by harvesting lives and obstacles using their Gardening Shears (dual-blades to harvest lives). The Consultant’s Guild has been a servant to the Aurelian Empire and the Emperor for over a thousand years, but the Emperor is dead now; the Emperor’s death sparks a horrible chain of events. The story in Of Shadow and Sea revolves around the hunt for the Heart of Nakothi, a cursed artifact that can raise a new Emperor; some forces want to use it and corrupt the Emperor to fit their purposes, Shera and the Consultant’s Guild seeks to prevent that from happening. To nail this story without sacrificing the characterizations, Wight juggles between two timelines. First, the flashback chapters that center on Shera’s past since she was 10 years old, and the second timeline is the present-day where Shera is 25 years old and already became a full-fledged Gardener. Although I did find some of the flashback chapters oddly placed in the second half of the novel, I must also admit that they enhanced my excitement to get back to the present day chapters without losing the intrigues of the secrets and character’s background contained in the past.
“Everyone agrees that it would be better if we were more charitable, more virtuous, nicer to our fellow man. But we don’t change. We advance, we make discoveries, but the basic nature of humanity remains the same throughout the centuries.”
I found Shera to be a compelling character as an assassin; my interest in reading her story was immediately sparked from her first chapter, and it never lets up throughout the whole book. Due to her detached personality and difficulty for empathy, she fits her role as an assassin extraordinarily well. When I was reading this book, it hit me that I haven’t read a lot of epic fantasy series that has a competent assassin as the main character. Shera isn’t like Robin Hobb’s FitzChivalry Farseer (I LOVE Robin Hobb’s books and Fitz, but Fitz is probably the worst assassin I’ve ever come across in fiction), Shera truly has the talent for this role. Seriously, during the course of the novel, the only events guaranteed to piss her off is the lack of food or sleep; no judgment from me there. This doesn’t mean that she’s completely emotionless; we know from the narrative that something unknown has happened to her that transformed her into behaving that way, and because of this, every brief show of emotions she displayed fleshed out her character effectively. Plus, Shera’s relationships with her teammates—Meia and Lucan—and her Guild adds flavor to the story.
“I need you in a team because no one’s judgment is correct all of the time. Not even mine. We all need other eyes to see where we are blind.”
While it’s true that, for me, the story and characters are well-written, it was the world-building, magic system, and action sequences of this book that pleasantly surprised me more. I’ve talked about the Consultant’s Guild, its sub-branches, and Shera’s role as a Gardener, but there’s still so much more depth to the world-building and magic system here. And I’ve read only ONE book in these six books parallel series. Wight has provided plenty of sustenance for Readers to digest here; not only The Consultant’s Guild, we also have the Champion’s Guild, the Blackwatch, the Navigator’s Guild, and etc; each of them has their own respective sub-branches and specialties. Regarding abilities and magic, there’s Intent, the power of focused will that everyone possesses; when you use an object, you invest Intent into that object, and it makes the tool more effective with more usage. There’s also Soulbound that draws power from a Vessel—an awakened object, usually small, that provides the user with the abilities of an Elder or a Kameira. What’s an Elder? Let’s just say there are gigantic creatures to battle, too. I can’t possibly explain every single aspect of the world-building and magic system of this series without writing an essay; what I’ve mentioned so far have only scratched the surface, I haven’t even talked about the Reader, the sentient weapons, the monsters, and the island that’s seemingly made out of Elder’s body.
“Our skill is in the minds of our potential clients. The less they know about us, the more mysterious we are. The greater the mystery, the greater our imagined powers. We are strongest when we are unknown.”
Of Shadow and Sea is also an action-packed novel; almost the entirety of the second-half—flashback excluded—were battle after battle. Wight combines the world-building, magic system, and action sequences into his story incredibly well. Calder—the main character in Of Sea and Shadow—and his crew did appear as Shera’s opposition, and I really want to know things from his perspective now. Based on my experience of reading Of Shadow and Sea alone, I’m already shocked that not many readers praised this parallel-trilogies more. The first and second books of both trilogies were published before the first book of Cradle came out; they deserve the attention of high fantasy readers. Of Shadow and Sea is a wonderfully crafted assassin fantasy. I have no idea how reading Of Shadow and Sea first will affect my experience of reading Of Sea and Shadow, I’m going to find out immediately. If you’ve started Of Sea and Shadow before reading this one, there’s a very good chance you’re going to have a different opinion than me. Personally speaking, I think this one is already on par with some of the best installments in Cradle, I can’t wait to find out how the rest of the trilogy will go.
You can order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.
July 29, 2021
💀 DNF at 35%.
Because:
And also because:
July 4, 2023
The Aurelian Empire has shielded mankind for over a thousand years. They had one Emperor over that time period. He freed mankind from the threat of the Elders. Now the Emperor is dead and the Empire is splintering. There are some who would go to dangerous lengths to install a new Emperor. They seek the Heart of Nakothi to bind it to their new Emperor regardless of the risk. The Consultants stand against them. This ancient order predates the Empire and they stand against those who don't realize how dangerous the Heart of Nakothi can be.
I have just completed my first re-read of Of Shadow and Sea and I have to say my opinion of it has changed. It was the first book I read of The Elder Empire series the first time through and I struggled getting through it. I can still see the aspects I struggled with to some degree, but there is a lot I overlooked initially.
The main aspect I appreciated more on this re-read were the characters. I initially dismissed them as ordinary and uninteresting, but I don't feel that way now. Shera, Lucan, and Meia are a team of assassins (known as Gardeners) that trained together since they were young. They have a strong camaraderie and history with one another. Meia strives to be the best and is jealous of Shera. She will do anything to protect her team, The Consultants, and humanity. Lucan is a man of principle first and foremost. He thinks deeply and wants to know what he is doing is right. He's not quick to kill despite that being his job. The world is simple for Shera overall. She eats and sleeps. She protects those she cares for. She finds herself challenged by Lucan's beliefs and she cares for him more than anyone else.
The magic system and powers in the book are complex and intriguing. The core of the system is Intent and Reading. Every human invests Intent as they use an object. For instance a comb used regularly will actually grow better at being a comb because of the use and the Intent that has been invested in it. Humans can't help but invest their Intent in objects. Readers are able to read the history of objects and the Intent in them. They can be intentional in investing their Intent among other amazing things that are capable of. That's only the most rudimentary part of the powers in the series. There are also Champions and Soulbound which further the complexity of the magic system.
The story flips into the past at times showing Shera's youth and some aspects of how she has become who she is in the present. These are interesting as it fills in gaps about the characters along with providing perspective on the Emperor. I thought these were good overall.
Of Shadow and Sea is a good story and I'm glad I decided to re-read it. There were definitely aspects of the story I missed on my first read through.
My initial review
I have just completed my first re-read of Of Shadow and Sea and I have to say my opinion of it has changed. It was the first book I read of The Elder Empire series the first time through and I struggled getting through it. I can still see the aspects I struggled with to some degree, but there is a lot I overlooked initially.
The main aspect I appreciated more on this re-read were the characters. I initially dismissed them as ordinary and uninteresting, but I don't feel that way now. Shera, Lucan, and Meia are a team of assassins (known as Gardeners) that trained together since they were young. They have a strong camaraderie and history with one another. Meia strives to be the best and is jealous of Shera. She will do anything to protect her team, The Consultants, and humanity. Lucan is a man of principle first and foremost. He thinks deeply and wants to know what he is doing is right. He's not quick to kill despite that being his job. The world is simple for Shera overall. She eats and sleeps. She protects those she cares for. She finds herself challenged by Lucan's beliefs and she cares for him more than anyone else.
The magic system and powers in the book are complex and intriguing. The core of the system is Intent and Reading. Every human invests Intent as they use an object. For instance a comb used regularly will actually grow better at being a comb because of the use and the Intent that has been invested in it. Humans can't help but invest their Intent in objects. Readers are able to read the history of objects and the Intent in them. They can be intentional in investing their Intent among other amazing things that are capable of. That's only the most rudimentary part of the powers in the series. There are also Champions and Soulbound which further the complexity of the magic system.
The story flips into the past at times showing Shera's youth and some aspects of how she has become who she is in the present. These are interesting as it fills in gaps about the characters along with providing perspective on the Emperor. I thought these were good overall.
Of Shadow and Sea is a good story and I'm glad I decided to re-read it. There were definitely aspects of the story I missed on my first read through.
My initial review
September 28, 2016
Excellent read! I still liked the other first book in this series, "Of Sea and Shadow" better however this one was almost as good.
After the death of the emperor the guilds of the empire spilt into two factions: those that want a new emperor and those that want the empire to crumble. This book focuses on the ladder faction through the eyes of Shera, an assassin in the secretive Consultants guild.
In this book we get to know more about the emperor, which is quite interesting. Mostly we follow the detached life of Shera as she and Calder Martin fight for control of the eternal life giving Heart of Nakothi.
This series is awesome. Excellent world building, original magic system and demons, demons, demons! What are you waiting for?
Highly recommended.
After the death of the emperor the guilds of the empire spilt into two factions: those that want a new emperor and those that want the empire to crumble. This book focuses on the ladder faction through the eyes of Shera, an assassin in the secretive Consultants guild.
In this book we get to know more about the emperor, which is quite interesting. Mostly we follow the detached life of Shera as she and Calder Martin fight for control of the eternal life giving Heart of Nakothi.
This series is awesome. Excellent world building, original magic system and demons, demons, demons! What are you waiting for?
Highly recommended.
March 5, 2020
Mini-Review:
2.5 Stars for Narration by Emily Woo Zeller
4 Stars for Concepts
3.5 Stars for Characters, Setting
-2 Stars for Badly Timed Flashbacks, Stuttered Plot Progression
I love Cradle. A different series by Wight. I enjoy that series so much that I went on a hunt to listen to more of his work. Well, I want to read Traveler's Gate series but Wight did the narration and I did not enjoy the experience. When I found out that other books were coming out on Audible and they were narrated by Zeller & Baldree, I got really excited! I love the idea of showing two distinct POV's in companion trilogies. A fun way to explore a story on multiple layers. It was a no brainer. I enjoy Wight's ideas & how he puts them together. The narrators are good. The plot has signs of being a fun adventure. I bought both books. I should have loved this book but I didn't.
Normally, I enjoy listening to Zeller narrate but not this time.
- Narration was too dry, a little robotic at times and very detached.
- I thought the main character's name was Sarah. It turns out that her name is Shera.
- I listen to audio between 2.5-3x speed. I had to drop this one down to 2x and listen to a good chunk before I could speed it back up to 2.5x.
Intro was great! The setup for Shera was intriguing and caught my attention right from the get go. The Navigators, Emperor and side characters are cool, and I want more. Unfortunately, the story progression suffered from badly placed time jumps. The last half should have been more exciting than the intro but the jagged story progression killed the flow, and I stopped caring about what was happening.
I plan to read Of Sea and Shadow, and I will probably dig into the rest of this series when the other audiobooks are released. More than likely, the way Wight ends up connecting different elements together will be great. It's disappointing that I did not love this book but I hope to like the series as a whole.
2.5 Stars for Narration by Emily Woo Zeller
4 Stars for Concepts
3.5 Stars for Characters, Setting
-2 Stars for Badly Timed Flashbacks, Stuttered Plot Progression
I love Cradle. A different series by Wight. I enjoy that series so much that I went on a hunt to listen to more of his work. Well, I want to read Traveler's Gate series but Wight did the narration and I did not enjoy the experience. When I found out that other books were coming out on Audible and they were narrated by Zeller & Baldree, I got really excited! I love the idea of showing two distinct POV's in companion trilogies. A fun way to explore a story on multiple layers. It was a no brainer. I enjoy Wight's ideas & how he puts them together. The narrators are good. The plot has signs of being a fun adventure. I bought both books. I should have loved this book but I didn't.
Normally, I enjoy listening to Zeller narrate but not this time.
- Narration was too dry, a little robotic at times and very detached.
- I thought the main character's name was Sarah. It turns out that her name is Shera.
- I listen to audio between 2.5-3x speed. I had to drop this one down to 2x and listen to a good chunk before I could speed it back up to 2.5x.
Intro was great! The setup for Shera was intriguing and caught my attention right from the get go. The Navigators, Emperor and side characters are cool, and I want more. Unfortunately, the story progression suffered from badly placed time jumps. The last half should have been more exciting than the intro but the jagged story progression killed the flow, and I stopped caring about what was happening.
I plan to read Of Sea and Shadow, and I will probably dig into the rest of this series when the other audiobooks are released. More than likely, the way Wight ends up connecting different elements together will be great. It's disappointing that I did not love this book but I hope to like the series as a whole.
February 17, 2021
4.5*'s. Not sure if I like this ever so slightly better than the companion series because I can see all the tie ins or if it's because this is darker from the assassins side so I'll settle on both. :)
March 29, 2022
3 stars★★★☆☆
☞ Trigger warnings: **contains spoilers**.
Parallel Triolgies Reviews:
The The Elder Empire: Shadow reviews:
#1 Of Shadow and Sea★★★☆☆
#2 Of Darkness and Dawn: maybe. depends on how chaotic I'm feeling
#3 Of Killers and Kings: unsure, but currently uninterested.
The The Elder Empire: Sea reviews:
#1 Of Sea and Shadow: refuse to read
#2 Of Dawn and Darkness: refuse to read
#3 Of Kings and Killers: refuse to read
This was a weird book.
This book is the first book in the series The Elder Empire: Shadow. Interestingly the author wrote parallel trilogies, designed to be read together, following different main characters. In short this three book series follows Shera, an assassin and the parallel series follows Calder, a pirate. Both series follow the same plot. It's an interesting concept, but feels repetitive, unnecessary and it's just unfortunate for myself because I don't care about Calder at all.
What is this book about that excited the author so much, he essentially doubled it?
The death of the Emperor has left a power vacuum and the uncovering of a cursed artefact that could create another Emperor. Shera is an assassin working towards freeing the world from Emperors and seeking to destroy corruption, and Calder is the man looking for this cursed artefact that will earn him a fortune.
Shera was an interesting character, as she was entirely emotionless. The trauma of her childhood (which was a great introduction to the book) messed her up enough that as an adult, she would definitely be in the running to have multiple DSM-5 diagnoses. All she wanted to do was sleep and honestly same. Even with all this, her character didn't feel as fleshed out as I would have wanted. She had one friend (who I kind of hated) and her time training as an assassin was probably the most interesting part of this. If the story was more about training and not about saving the world than I would have rated this higher.
“There is something missing in you, even compared to the rest of us. You have been shattered, melted down, and reforged into a lost and broken image of the one who made you.”
The worst parts were anytime Calder, the other main character from the parallel/companion books showed up. I rolled my eyes at least 10 times. I only liked him at the big fight scene at the end. Maybe because he wasn't talking or doing anything annoying. Why is there a companion story following Calder? He is essentially one of the villains and he isn't even an interesting one. His motivation is greed and that's pretty shallow when everything is falling apart. What are you going to do with this future fortune when the world is ending?? He is too smart to be this ignorant. I refuse to even mention the wife. Ergh.
The worldbuilding, magic system and assassin school (including the assassin counsel) were the highlights of this book. It's what kept me going when I felt the story flagging. I was more partial to the flashbacks than usually, as I tend to find them unnecessary and slow the story down. I would continue the story if Shera develops a conscious and beats the living daylights out of Calder but I don't see either of that happening. I am undecided if the next books would be worth the effort. I will forget all about this book soon enough I think I'm okay with that.
"Death did what she wanted, when she wanted, and nothing could stop her."
Also I love magical swords. Gimme!!
"My sword says yes, but it’s a liar."
Would I recommend this book?
If you like Dark/Grim Fantasy, then I might recommend it. It really depends on your reading tastes. Generally, I wouldn't recommend it. It's not worth the hassle and fuss.
Will I re-read this book?
Nah.
Will I read the companion series?
Hard no.
Will I continue this series?
I have no idea if I'll continue this series. At the moment, no but maybe one day I'll pick it up. The future is unknown and the premise is interesting enough for me to be intrigued but not enough for me to currently be bothered going through with it.
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October 13, 2021
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Will Wight was an author introduced to me by Hamad (The Book Prescription). Funny enough he recommended the Cradle series, but I instead started The Elder Empire series. What makes the series worth the try, though, is its playfulness with style. The series is comprised of six books [1:1] each parallel to one another. Readers are given the choice to follow Shera an assassin moving beyond the shadows, or Calder a pirate threading the vastness of the sea. Moreover, we are also given the opportunity to go through their story on a straight line: reading one from the beginning to end then starting over again with the other; or, reading each beginning side-by-by. Curious, isn’t it? I might read the stories side-by-side. But who knows, I might change my mind. Anyway… Given my love for the shadows, of course, I chose to begin with Shera.
Of Shadow and Sea is such an intriguing novel with a powerful and compelling start. It instantly transported me to this dark and dingy world of killing traitors and stealing cursed artifacts. The concept was truly fascinating, but it wasn’t as unique as I expected it to be. If you’ve read enough manga or watched enough anime, you’d know that searching for cursed artifacts is extremely common in this type of story. We can have a safe assumption, then, that the author watches anime. However, that is not the point. The point lies with the execution of the story.
Jumping from two timelines, the novel follows the present and reminisces the past. It was anti-climatic at times, with poor placement and jagged transitions—dragging the entire story into an absolute chaos. Simplistic as it may be, it was distracting all throughout the next half of the novel.
Moreover, as much as I loved the characters in the beginning, they fell off as the story progresses. Especially our main character, Shera. I adored her at the start with her peculiar personality and loyalty, but she became bland later on. Her sleepy attitude really rubbed off and it took so much for me not to fall asleep myself.
The narration, similar to all that I’ve already said, began with such strength. I liked the distinction and tone Emily Woo Zeller did, but she became quite robotic towards the end. The entirety of it was like a thread that slowly overlaps one another and became a ball of knot that was hard to squeeze through.
I have such mixed thoughts for this novel. I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it to people. Most especially if they are interested in trying a book with this sort of setup. However, I do find the entirety of it too weak. The writing was definitely there but the execution was poorly done. Here’s to hoping the sequel gets better.
Will Wight was an author introduced to me by Hamad (The Book Prescription). Funny enough he recommended the Cradle series, but I instead started The Elder Empire series. What makes the series worth the try, though, is its playfulness with style. The series is comprised of six books [1:1] each parallel to one another. Readers are given the choice to follow Shera an assassin moving beyond the shadows, or Calder a pirate threading the vastness of the sea. Moreover, we are also given the opportunity to go through their story on a straight line: reading one from the beginning to end then starting over again with the other; or, reading each beginning side-by-by. Curious, isn’t it? I might read the stories side-by-side. But who knows, I might change my mind. Anyway… Given my love for the shadows, of course, I chose to begin with Shera.
Of Shadow and Sea is such an intriguing novel with a powerful and compelling start. It instantly transported me to this dark and dingy world of killing traitors and stealing cursed artifacts. The concept was truly fascinating, but it wasn’t as unique as I expected it to be. If you’ve read enough manga or watched enough anime, you’d know that searching for cursed artifacts is extremely common in this type of story. We can have a safe assumption, then, that the author watches anime. However, that is not the point. The point lies with the execution of the story.
Jumping from two timelines, the novel follows the present and reminisces the past. It was anti-climatic at times, with poor placement and jagged transitions—dragging the entire story into an absolute chaos. Simplistic as it may be, it was distracting all throughout the next half of the novel.
Moreover, as much as I loved the characters in the beginning, they fell off as the story progresses. Especially our main character, Shera. I adored her at the start with her peculiar personality and loyalty, but she became bland later on. Her sleepy attitude really rubbed off and it took so much for me not to fall asleep myself.
The narration, similar to all that I’ve already said, began with such strength. I liked the distinction and tone Emily Woo Zeller did, but she became quite robotic towards the end. The entirety of it was like a thread that slowly overlaps one another and became a ball of knot that was hard to squeeze through.
I have such mixed thoughts for this novel. I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it to people. Most especially if they are interested in trying a book with this sort of setup. However, I do find the entirety of it too weak. The writing was definitely there but the execution was poorly done. Here’s to hoping the sequel gets better.
January 3, 2019
I am not sure if I am reading these in proper order, but this book really felt like it was a sequel to book that explained all the world building stuff.
I have mixed feelings about this book. Universe its set in is interesting as are all Will Wights worlds, but I found characters and main story lacking in when compared to his other books.
Shera doesn't have a drive or a goal. Only things she brought up repeatedly is sleeping and freeing her lover from self-imposed prison. Meia on the other hand is far more interesting and investing intent and grafting chimera on oneself is something I would like to see explored more in later books. That brings me to overall information availability about the universe. All I got was rough shape of how things are, no context. Emperor died? Why does it matter? Did he do any actual ruling? How does it affect anything? I do not know. Same thing with return of the Elders. It supposed to be bad, but any actual consequences are unknown.
To summarise I really like world set up, its fauna and magic system. Characters are interesting, but that is due to world set up in a most part. I really like Shera approach to killing in her early years. Narrative of the story is oddly disconnected from the context of the world its happening in. However that could be caused by me starting with this book and not with Of Sea and Shadow.
PS. I did not noticed glossary at the end of the book. I helps a great deal with my issues with this book.
I have mixed feelings about this book. Universe its set in is interesting as are all Will Wights worlds, but I found characters and main story lacking in when compared to his other books.
Shera doesn't have a drive or a goal. Only things she brought up repeatedly is sleeping and freeing her lover from self-imposed prison. Meia on the other hand is far more interesting and investing intent and grafting chimera on oneself is something I would like to see explored more in later books. That brings me to overall information availability about the universe. All I got was rough shape of how things are, no context. Emperor died? Why does it matter? Did he do any actual ruling? How does it affect anything? I do not know. Same thing with return of the Elders. It supposed to be bad, but any actual consequences are unknown.
To summarise I really like world set up, its fauna and magic system. Characters are interesting, but that is due to world set up in a most part. I really like Shera approach to killing in her early years. Narrative of the story is oddly disconnected from the context of the world its happening in. However that could be caused by me starting with this book and not with Of Sea and Shadow.
PS. I did not noticed glossary at the end of the book. I helps a great deal with my issues with this book.
February 23, 2023
I can’t believe it took me a WHOLE SEMESTER to finish this (and my last semester as well! It should’ve been full of book associated memories and nostalgia!) oh well here we are so here’s my first review of the year (that started almoat two months ago).
So this was fun. This was EXTREMELY fun!
Here’s how it was: we follow one badass assassin mainly (and sometimes other equally badass equally cool characters) as she does assassin related activities in an empire held together by nothing but positive thinking and duct tape!
What made it even more fun is that this series and another series are set in the same world and happen simultaneously so this has great buddy read potential! And buddy read we did! My friend has the sailors and I got the assassins! (Gotta remember to include a jab in my caption about an invisible “you” only missing a friend to read this.)
I haven’t written a review at 6 AM in AGES!
Ok back to the fun buddy read potential that you’re missing out on! Asking “you know a max?” “You know a Bliss?” “You know a Mason- nvm that’s a title not a person” was unbelievably fun. We just kept looking for people we have in common just ANYONE to talk shit about! Oh and the big shared events! It’s like watching a show crossover except you’re two people watching from two different perspectives. So it’s not like watching a show. BUT THE BIG EVENTS WERE THE BEST TRUST ME!
I’ll go sleep now because I have one last final to prepare for (🎓)
So this was fun. This was EXTREMELY fun!
Here’s how it was: we follow one badass assassin mainly (and sometimes other equally badass equally cool characters) as she does assassin related activities in an empire held together by nothing but positive thinking and duct tape!
What made it even more fun is that this series and another series are set in the same world and happen simultaneously so this has great buddy read potential! And buddy read we did! My friend has the sailors and I got the assassins! (Gotta remember to include a jab in my caption about an invisible “you” only missing a friend to read this.)
I haven’t written a review at 6 AM in AGES!
Ok back to the fun buddy read potential that you’re missing out on! Asking “you know a max?” “You know a Bliss?” “You know a Mason- nvm that’s a title not a person” was unbelievably fun. We just kept looking for people we have in common just ANYONE to talk shit about! Oh and the big shared events! It’s like watching a show crossover except you’re two people watching from two different perspectives. So it’s not like watching a show. BUT THE BIG EVENTS WERE THE BEST TRUST ME!
I’ll go sleep now because I have one last final to prepare for (🎓)
September 23, 2021
3.5⭐ - Liked this half of the story a little better than the parallel novel, Of Sea and Shadow.
Maybe it's just my preference for assassin/spy/rogue types, but I had slightly more fun with Shera in the shadows. Reading the other parallel book first meant that I vaguely knew the order of big plot events, but it was still fun to get to know this new group of characters and their side of the story. The chapters shift between the past and present of the main character which also makes each story feel different.
Now to decide if I go back to the pirates for the first sequel or stick with Shera? Hmmm 🤔
Maybe it's just my preference for assassin/spy/rogue types, but I had slightly more fun with Shera in the shadows. Reading the other parallel book first meant that I vaguely knew the order of big plot events, but it was still fun to get to know this new group of characters and their side of the story. The chapters shift between the past and present of the main character which also makes each story feel different.
Now to decide if I go back to the pirates for the first sequel or stick with Shera? Hmmm 🤔
August 27, 2023
Good, but not great. I preferred the first book of the Sea trilogy over this one, but it adds to the universe and the central story in a meaningful way. It does show promises of improvement as the story develops further, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Rating: 3.75/5.
Detailed review to come shortly.
Rating: 3.75/5.
Detailed review to come shortly.
October 15, 2020
This was terrible
The MC of this book gravitates between being a uncaring sociopath who only loves to sleep to someone who cares deeply about her lover and friends. Her original personality seems to be the sociopath but she emulates what her friends would do or would like her to do in particular situations and then comes to decisions, no decision feels like truly her own, you could call this growth but it seemed like flimsy character with low depth to me. Oh and she becomes stronger, focused, better overall as a cold grips her heart and this is an on call power, which was quite frankly just terrible.
Other than the MC, the fighting scenes in this book are just terrible, there is no suspense you already know if the fight is important the Mc will win. A lot of stuff feels like it's been skipped, one moment mc is in the cabin of the ship, then she's throwing someone overboard right from the cabin qnd suddenly one person who was in the cabin is now outside, maybe it's bad editing, I don't know. A grown man is holding up a young girl up by the throat and she kicks him in the face and breaks his nose, when she shouldn't even have the reach to kick him in the face, even if she does she does not have leverage to generate enough force to put in the kicks all while she's being strangled. These are just some instances of awful fighting scenes.
The pace of the story is also quite slow. The MC of the other part of this book appears and gets his ass handed to so many times I don't even wanna read his story.
The MC of this book gravitates between being a uncaring sociopath who only loves to sleep to someone who cares deeply about her lover and friends. Her original personality seems to be the sociopath but she emulates what her friends would do or would like her to do in particular situations and then comes to decisions, no decision feels like truly her own, you could call this growth but it seemed like flimsy character with low depth to me. Oh and she becomes stronger, focused, better overall as a cold grips her heart and this is an on call power, which was quite frankly just terrible.
Other than the MC, the fighting scenes in this book are just terrible, there is no suspense you already know if the fight is important the Mc will win. A lot of stuff feels like it's been skipped, one moment mc is in the cabin of the ship, then she's throwing someone overboard right from the cabin qnd suddenly one person who was in the cabin is now outside, maybe it's bad editing, I don't know. A grown man is holding up a young girl up by the throat and she kicks him in the face and breaks his nose, when she shouldn't even have the reach to kick him in the face, even if she does she does not have leverage to generate enough force to put in the kicks all while she's being strangled. These are just some instances of awful fighting scenes.
The pace of the story is also quite slow. The MC of the other part of this book appears and gets his ass handed to so many times I don't even wanna read his story.
January 26, 2021
A big step down from Of Sea and Shadow, primarily because of Shera and Lucan, who are rather bland characters that are given major plot power-ups despite not earning them. It is frustrating to read about protagonists who win the day not through grit, determination, or cleverness, but because they are layered thick in plot armor.
Shera, a normal woman with some great training, is able to repeatedly defeat enemies far greater than her not through a clever plan or sacrifice, but really, because the plot said so. Some of the internal dialogue for Shera could've been replaced with, "and then Shera decided to win, and did so." Because that's more or less what happens several times.
Even more curious is how much the book spends emphasizing Shera's willingness to follow Lucan's strict moral code, only for both of them to conveniently abandon it through the one-two combo of awakening a bloodthirsty, evil, sentient magical blade and for Shera to kill someone she could've avoided with ease.
After reading Of Sea and Shadow I expected the secrets of the Consultants to be laid bare, to find out their greater plans and mysteries. I unfortunately didn't find what I was looking for.
Shera, a normal woman with some great training, is able to repeatedly defeat enemies far greater than her not through a clever plan or sacrifice, but really, because the plot said so. Some of the internal dialogue for Shera could've been replaced with, "and then Shera decided to win, and did so." Because that's more or less what happens several times.
Even more curious is how much the book spends emphasizing Shera's willingness to follow Lucan's strict moral code, only for both of them to conveniently abandon it through the one-two combo of awakening a bloodthirsty, evil, sentient magical blade and for Shera to kill someone she could've avoided with ease.
After reading Of Sea and Shadow I expected the secrets of the Consultants to be laid bare, to find out their greater plans and mysteries. I unfortunately didn't find what I was looking for.
September 21, 2016
Just Awful
The books main character is a sociopath. Lacking little personality.
Although the writer may have had a clear understanding of all the unfamiliar terms the reader does not and their part in the story is a convoluted mess
The books main character is a sociopath. Lacking little personality.
Although the writer may have had a clear understanding of all the unfamiliar terms the reader does not and their part in the story is a convoluted mess
September 18, 2020
I read the companion (Sea and Shadow) first, and was disappointed with Shadow and Sea. They overlap too much; it felt like I'd already read half the book already.
Shera isn't too interesting. Okay, I get it, you want a nap. Girl has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or something.
Shera isn't too interesting. Okay, I get it, you want a nap. Girl has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or something.
August 29, 2015
Achei o lado do mar na história mais legal.
August 5, 2022
I love fantasy, but I just couldn't get into it.
January 7, 2020
Will Wight gives us a fantastic start to his Elder Empire series in Of Shadow and Sea. This first book represents one of the more unique ways to write a fantasy series. Of Shadow and Sea covers the same events as Wight’s Of Sea and Shadow. But the protagonists in this book are the antagonists in that one, and vice-versa. Even knowing that makes for an interesting and engaging story, and I imagine reading both of the books will provide varying perspectives on all the characters in a truly unique way. But apart from the concept and unique structure of the story, this novel shines all on its own.
There is so much to praise in this start to the Elder Empire series it’s difficult to know exactly where to start. I suppose the first element of the story to jump out at me was the world building. This is one of Wight’s most unique worlds—and that’s saying something coming from an author who typically crafts deep and engaging settings for his stories. The Elders and Elderspawn are interesting and mysterious, and Wight offers details here and there about their nature and origins that are truly tantalizing. There is an island that features in the plot that is entirely covered in skin. As in…not dirt, but skin. It’s creepy and weird and so unique. What’s most important to me, however, is the way the world building draws you into the story. The unique setting is used to great effect in conveying the tale Wight wants to tell and it ends up being more than simply a fun backdrop. The magic system that exists in this world is another favorite element for me. There are so many layers to the system that are interrelated. We have Soulbound, able to perform certain magics based on their vessel. This is cool on its own, but then there are Readers, individuals able to read an object’s history, understand the object, and inject more intent into it—and do other impressive things to boot. To say more might be spoilery, but the various functions interrelate and make for an exquisitely complex magic system that Wight manages to communicate without ever resorting to paragraphs and paragraphs of exposition. Of course, beyond this world building are the characters. Each of the characters are interesting and feel real and authentic. It’s also fascinating to realize, as you’re reading, that your story’s heroes are another story’s villains, and that villain who you perceive as self-serving is some else’s hero. It’s very meta, and Wight is undoubtedly making a statement about perspective that’s equal parts fun and profound.
There were a couple small things that didn’t connect with me. I sometimes found the characters, both the heroes and the villains, to lack emotional connection for me. Frankly, this might be because I was thinking a little too much about them, rather than just feeling with them. But there were moments when I felt like I should have felt more emotion for them, and I just didn’t. Pacing was another area where things felt a little uneven for me. It wasn’t bad, or slow, but once or twice in the novel I felt like maybe the pacing was just slightly off. It’s possible this is a result of needing the story to line up and maintain adequate pacing across two entirely separate novels.
Of Shadow and Sea is a unique novel in concept, in execution, and in terms of setting. It’s wonderfully engaging, a ton of fun to read, and plays with perspective and who the good guys are in absolutely fascinating ways. A wonderful start to a series, this is one worth grabbing at your next opportunity.
8.8/10
4.4/5 stars.
5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing
There is so much to praise in this start to the Elder Empire series it’s difficult to know exactly where to start. I suppose the first element of the story to jump out at me was the world building. This is one of Wight’s most unique worlds—and that’s saying something coming from an author who typically crafts deep and engaging settings for his stories. The Elders and Elderspawn are interesting and mysterious, and Wight offers details here and there about their nature and origins that are truly tantalizing. There is an island that features in the plot that is entirely covered in skin. As in…not dirt, but skin. It’s creepy and weird and so unique. What’s most important to me, however, is the way the world building draws you into the story. The unique setting is used to great effect in conveying the tale Wight wants to tell and it ends up being more than simply a fun backdrop. The magic system that exists in this world is another favorite element for me. There are so many layers to the system that are interrelated. We have Soulbound, able to perform certain magics based on their vessel. This is cool on its own, but then there are Readers, individuals able to read an object’s history, understand the object, and inject more intent into it—and do other impressive things to boot. To say more might be spoilery, but the various functions interrelate and make for an exquisitely complex magic system that Wight manages to communicate without ever resorting to paragraphs and paragraphs of exposition. Of course, beyond this world building are the characters. Each of the characters are interesting and feel real and authentic. It’s also fascinating to realize, as you’re reading, that your story’s heroes are another story’s villains, and that villain who you perceive as self-serving is some else’s hero. It’s very meta, and Wight is undoubtedly making a statement about perspective that’s equal parts fun and profound.
There were a couple small things that didn’t connect with me. I sometimes found the characters, both the heroes and the villains, to lack emotional connection for me. Frankly, this might be because I was thinking a little too much about them, rather than just feeling with them. But there were moments when I felt like I should have felt more emotion for them, and I just didn’t. Pacing was another area where things felt a little uneven for me. It wasn’t bad, or slow, but once or twice in the novel I felt like maybe the pacing was just slightly off. It’s possible this is a result of needing the story to line up and maintain adequate pacing across two entirely separate novels.
Of Shadow and Sea is a unique novel in concept, in execution, and in terms of setting. It’s wonderfully engaging, a ton of fun to read, and plays with perspective and who the good guys are in absolutely fascinating ways. A wonderful start to a series, this is one worth grabbing at your next opportunity.
8.8/10
4.4/5 stars.
5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing
October 29, 2021
4.5⭐
Ich fand dieses Buch meeega gut kann aber nicht genau sagen wieso 😅 der Schreibstill war sehr angenehm und die Charaktere waren mal was anderes 💪 ich liebe die Dynamik die alle miteinander hatten und wie sie miteinander geredet haben auch dass man nicht immer erklärt bekommen hat was alles bedeutet und worum es eigeltich geht hat mir gut gefallen 🎉 ich möchte auch die zwei Timelines und es bekommt nur keine volle fünf Sterne weil ich nicht so durchgeflogen bin wie ich gerne wäre vlt lag das am Kindle ich hoffe das ändert sich wenn ich die physische Ausgabe lese🙈
Ich fand dieses Buch meeega gut kann aber nicht genau sagen wieso 😅 der Schreibstill war sehr angenehm und die Charaktere waren mal was anderes 💪 ich liebe die Dynamik die alle miteinander hatten und wie sie miteinander geredet haben auch dass man nicht immer erklärt bekommen hat was alles bedeutet und worum es eigeltich geht hat mir gut gefallen 🎉 ich möchte auch die zwei Timelines und es bekommt nur keine volle fünf Sterne weil ich nicht so durchgeflogen bin wie ich gerne wäre vlt lag das am Kindle ich hoffe das ändert sich wenn ich die physische Ausgabe lese🙈
September 25, 2021
See this review and more on Books and Ladders!
I'll be honest, there is another "version" of this story - a companion novel called OF SEA AND SHADOW that tells the story of the first book through a different perspective. I'm still trying to figure out if I should read that one or just continue on with the story. But mainly I am left wondering if I should even continue at all.
Sure, I got these for free through my Audible account, but is it worth it? I almost DNFed a few times because I was straight up bored. After the death of the emperor the guilds of the empire spilt into two factions: those that want a new emperor and those that want the empire to crumble. This book focuses on the latter faction through the eyes of Shera, an assassin in the secretive Consultants guild.
In this book we get to know more about the emperor, which is quite interesting. Mostly we follow the detached life of Shera as she and Calder Martin fight for control of the eternal life giving Heart of Nakothi.
I liked Shera and thought the book was okay but I think I stuck around mostly because Emily Woo Zeller was the narrator. Which is honestly the reason I picked this up to begin with. I couldn't tell you much about the plot, the characters, or the way that I think this story will move forward because I zoned out a lot while listening to it.
The introduction was great because the setup for Shera was intriguing and caught my attention right from the get go. I liked learning about the way these factions worked together and against each other. Unfortunately, the story progression suffered from badly placed time jumps. The last half should have been more exciting than the intro but the jagged story progression killed the flow, and I stopped caring about what was happening.
I think I'll try the companion novel to this story and see if it is any better then go from there. But I'm not sure I can recommend this one!
I'll be honest, there is another "version" of this story - a companion novel called OF SEA AND SHADOW that tells the story of the first book through a different perspective. I'm still trying to figure out if I should read that one or just continue on with the story. But mainly I am left wondering if I should even continue at all.
Sure, I got these for free through my Audible account, but is it worth it? I almost DNFed a few times because I was straight up bored. After the death of the emperor the guilds of the empire spilt into two factions: those that want a new emperor and those that want the empire to crumble. This book focuses on the latter faction through the eyes of Shera, an assassin in the secretive Consultants guild.
In this book we get to know more about the emperor, which is quite interesting. Mostly we follow the detached life of Shera as she and Calder Martin fight for control of the eternal life giving Heart of Nakothi.
I liked Shera and thought the book was okay but I think I stuck around mostly because Emily Woo Zeller was the narrator. Which is honestly the reason I picked this up to begin with. I couldn't tell you much about the plot, the characters, or the way that I think this story will move forward because I zoned out a lot while listening to it.
The introduction was great because the setup for Shera was intriguing and caught my attention right from the get go. I liked learning about the way these factions worked together and against each other. Unfortunately, the story progression suffered from badly placed time jumps. The last half should have been more exciting than the intro but the jagged story progression killed the flow, and I stopped caring about what was happening.
I think I'll try the companion novel to this story and see if it is any better then go from there. But I'm not sure I can recommend this one!
June 4, 2022
Of Shadow and Siesta
Yet another story with a really interesting start that fails to deliver. Sure, there’s likely a good story here, if you can deal with the frustrating way it is told. I’m not referring to the companion series Of Sea and Shadow, which is a very cool concept. No, it’s all the constant jump cuts back and forth in time. It’s such an annoying gimmick that makes it hard to build a connection with any of the characters, something this story desperately needs.
That being said, there are other issues. At times the material is very mature with hints at the deep world building the author is known for. At other times, it seems like a story written for little kids. Take Shera’s dark and shadowy organization, the Consultants, for example. They are a cross between Assassin’s Creed and Keebler Elves, killing from the shadows and then literally cleaning up after themselves in equal measure.
It’s a goofy concept made goofier still by Shera’s dichotomy of psychopathic indifference to murder and sparing of violent criminals like a halfwitted humanist. Her start was great as a stone cold killer and child capable of killing grown men. But then the story jumps 15 years ahead to her being some kind of pacifist, using nonlethal techniques on street thugs that would likely rape and kill her if given half the chance. It’s the unnuanced kind of morality a child would apply, again sending a conflicting message to who the target audience is for the story.
I really appreciate the scope of the author’s ambition with two overlapping series told in parallel, but the Devil is in the details. While the big picture story and world building is interesting, the character level story is mediocre. There’s just not enough to carry my interest through this book, let alone an entire series.
Yet another story with a really interesting start that fails to deliver. Sure, there’s likely a good story here, if you can deal with the frustrating way it is told. I’m not referring to the companion series Of Sea and Shadow, which is a very cool concept. No, it’s all the constant jump cuts back and forth in time. It’s such an annoying gimmick that makes it hard to build a connection with any of the characters, something this story desperately needs.
That being said, there are other issues. At times the material is very mature with hints at the deep world building the author is known for. At other times, it seems like a story written for little kids. Take Shera’s dark and shadowy organization, the Consultants, for example. They are a cross between Assassin’s Creed and Keebler Elves, killing from the shadows and then literally cleaning up after themselves in equal measure.
It’s a goofy concept made goofier still by Shera’s dichotomy of psychopathic indifference to murder and sparing of violent criminals like a halfwitted humanist. Her start was great as a stone cold killer and child capable of killing grown men. But then the story jumps 15 years ahead to her being some kind of pacifist, using nonlethal techniques on street thugs that would likely rape and kill her if given half the chance. It’s the unnuanced kind of morality a child would apply, again sending a conflicting message to who the target audience is for the story.
I really appreciate the scope of the author’s ambition with two overlapping series told in parallel, but the Devil is in the details. While the big picture story and world building is interesting, the character level story is mediocre. There’s just not enough to carry my interest through this book, let alone an entire series.
January 2, 2015
This is an outstanding and fun book with a great setup.
The story is well trod: ancient gods are awakening, emperor who held it all together is dead, bad things afoot et cetera. However the familiar ground is necessary for the delightful either/or structure of the trilogy. Each installment has two parts: you can either follow an affable swashbuckler, or a literal psychopath assassin.
Obviously reading both is possible but the assassin track seems tailor made for people (like me) who dislike swashbuckler fantasy. the (female) assassin is a jerk to the swashbuckler in comic proportions and is a really fun antihero. She even has borderline narcolepsy in what becomes a running gag, as if even she is put to sleep by the standard fantasy tropes.
If there is one weakness it's in the terminology: Wight throws out a lot of terms in the very beginning- Gardener, Sleepless, Watchman and so forth- with a limited explanation of what they all are or why you should pay attention to it. By the end of the book it's mostly sorted out but the first half can be frustrating until you figure it out.
It's definitely a series to watch and I'll give the other perspective a try as well.
The story is well trod: ancient gods are awakening, emperor who held it all together is dead, bad things afoot et cetera. However the familiar ground is necessary for the delightful either/or structure of the trilogy. Each installment has two parts: you can either follow an affable swashbuckler, or a literal psychopath assassin.
Obviously reading both is possible but the assassin track seems tailor made for people (like me) who dislike swashbuckler fantasy. the (female) assassin is a jerk to the swashbuckler in comic proportions and is a really fun antihero. She even has borderline narcolepsy in what becomes a running gag, as if even she is put to sleep by the standard fantasy tropes.
If there is one weakness it's in the terminology: Wight throws out a lot of terms in the very beginning- Gardener, Sleepless, Watchman and so forth- with a limited explanation of what they all are or why you should pay attention to it. By the end of the book it's mostly sorted out but the first half can be frustrating until you figure it out.
It's definitely a series to watch and I'll give the other perspective a try as well.
April 5, 2020
**spoilers, for my own records**
Good, but kind of felt more like filling in the blanks of calder's book rather than its own story. Don't feel as attached to Shera and her friends, she's not as interesting/charismatic as Calder... Kind of feels like a lesser version of Nona from Red Sister. Wish her relationship with Lucan was explored more, felt kind of surprising that they had romantic feelings for each other.
The relationship with the emperor and being tasked to kill him if he is overwhelmed by the elders heart was a super interesting piece but not really expanded on enough.
Feels kind of GOT-y with two sides - one which wants a one emperor system (Calder) and one which wants... Something else? But not sure what.
Overall the characters on this side just aren't as interesting, even though Shera loves sleeping which is v relatable (but talks about it a bit too much... Kind of one-note).
Felt kinda like I wanted to rush through the book to get back to Calder's side, esp since this book doesn't push forward the plot. Downside to having two books about the same time frame I guess.
Good, but kind of felt more like filling in the blanks of calder's book rather than its own story. Don't feel as attached to Shera and her friends, she's not as interesting/charismatic as Calder... Kind of feels like a lesser version of Nona from Red Sister. Wish her relationship with Lucan was explored more, felt kind of surprising that they had romantic feelings for each other.
The relationship with the emperor and being tasked to kill him if he is overwhelmed by the elders heart was a super interesting piece but not really expanded on enough.
Feels kind of GOT-y with two sides - one which wants a one emperor system (Calder) and one which wants... Something else? But not sure what.
Overall the characters on this side just aren't as interesting, even though Shera loves sleeping which is v relatable (but talks about it a bit too much... Kind of one-note).
Felt kinda like I wanted to rush through the book to get back to Calder's side, esp since this book doesn't push forward the plot. Downside to having two books about the same time frame I guess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2023
This one honestly felt very YA compared to the parallel novel. The past stuff was interesting but so much stuff was disappointing. The final battle was very "epic" in that it was just a big dumb fight against a big dumb monster which is very rarely compelling. There were times in Sea that I was very curious as to what was happening in Shadow and generally the answer to that mostly seemed to be "Shera was asleep". She's a very dull character who has seemingly no motivations which doesn't make very compelling writing. She also has a Jiminy Cricket morality to her otherwise sociopathic ways. The end of the book gets me kind of excited that the plots will converge more here and add some better characters for this series so I'll keep trucking on.
June 19, 2021
I think I enjoyed the characters in Shadow more, though at this point I’m still #TeamCalder. The writing in this book felt lazier - I get it, Shera likes to sleep! Still loving the world and getting to see more sides of the same story. Honestly though, I think I would really prefer a “director’s cut” mashup of the two books, instead of two separate ones. I ended up skimming quickly through some of the parts that I had already seen in Sea and that weren’t doing much to advance the specific narrative of Shadow. I think I’ll read Shera’s perspective of Book 2 first this time.
August 30, 2020
Just read the Sea series
After first reading Of Sea and Shadow, this parallel novel was a disappointment. The writing wasn't as good, the characters were shallow and uninteresting. I had to struggle to finish it. I've since started Or Dawn and Darkness and the quality of writing again is much better. an interesting idea to write parallel novels,but obviously difficult to pull off.
After first reading Of Sea and Shadow, this parallel novel was a disappointment. The writing wasn't as good, the characters were shallow and uninteresting. I had to struggle to finish it. I've since started Or Dawn and Darkness and the quality of writing again is much better. an interesting idea to write parallel novels,but obviously difficult to pull off.
June 19, 2024
Well, that gimmick failed spectacularly. I'm trying to rate here on the intrinsic quality of the book, which is like a 3- (with the other being 3+), however the actual reading experience suffered a LOT as I've basically already read this.
I'm really not sure why the author thought it would be a good idea to write the same book from two different viewpoints. We've already invented the technology of having multiple POVs in the one book, and the amount of repetition doing it this way is crazy. 800 pages to tell this story is frankly ridiculous, could easily get that down to 500 pages or less in one book. Reading all the fight scenes a second time and especially the Grey Island section (which I found clunky last time) is just painful a second go around. I've seen some reviews from people being like "wow, I read Shera's books first and I thought Calder was the worst villain ever, and then when I read his I could understand his motivation! Wow!" Like, have you never read a book with opposing viewpoints before? This is by no means a novel thing. And anyway, when reading the Sea book 1, I knew Shera was the protagonist of her own trilogy so I didn't judge her too hard - like, she doesn't do anything inexcusable, just doing her job and fighting for her side of the civil war. Seeing her point of view, in which she is just doing her job and fighting for her side, doesn't really rock my boat. Yes, some of the fleshing out is welcome, but I had a decent understanding of her character already and it didn't warrant all the repetition.
Now, I'm not sure how to proceed - I genuinely liked Sea 1, so I don't want to impede my enjoyment of it by reading Shadow 2 before Sea 2 (even though it is the only way I might possibly enjoy Shadow 2), and if I were to interleave them then I would be creating a book of monstrous length. I might just power on with the Sea books and come what may. I don't think any of the stuff revealed here will be necessary for Sea 2, but I will keep an eye out for it and see.
As for the book itself, it is hard to judge, as I didn't enjoy reading it. Shera is definitely a less compelling character than Calder. She kills and she tries to have emotions and she sleeps. She's probably a more loyal citizen and all that, but morally grey Calder is just so much more interesting and fun. And his crew, while not super well developed, are fun. Shera's other two assassin friends feel like more of the same somewhat. Kerian and Yala are not a patch on Bliss and Alsa, not to mention all the other guilds we get to meet in the Sea story. Shadow is all in on the Consultants, and honestly they're not that interesting. They're not a particularly novel spin on an assassin's guild. The flashbacks were interesting, spending more time with the emperor.
I'm really not sure why the author thought it would be a good idea to write the same book from two different viewpoints. We've already invented the technology of having multiple POVs in the one book, and the amount of repetition doing it this way is crazy. 800 pages to tell this story is frankly ridiculous, could easily get that down to 500 pages or less in one book. Reading all the fight scenes a second time and especially the Grey Island section (which I found clunky last time) is just painful a second go around. I've seen some reviews from people being like "wow, I read Shera's books first and I thought Calder was the worst villain ever, and then when I read his I could understand his motivation! Wow!" Like, have you never read a book with opposing viewpoints before? This is by no means a novel thing. And anyway, when reading the Sea book 1, I knew Shera was the protagonist of her own trilogy so I didn't judge her too hard - like, she doesn't do anything inexcusable, just doing her job and fighting for her side of the civil war. Seeing her point of view, in which she is just doing her job and fighting for her side, doesn't really rock my boat. Yes, some of the fleshing out is welcome, but I had a decent understanding of her character already and it didn't warrant all the repetition.
Now, I'm not sure how to proceed - I genuinely liked Sea 1, so I don't want to impede my enjoyment of it by reading Shadow 2 before Sea 2 (even though it is the only way I might possibly enjoy Shadow 2), and if I were to interleave them then I would be creating a book of monstrous length. I might just power on with the Sea books and come what may. I don't think any of the stuff revealed here will be necessary for Sea 2, but I will keep an eye out for it and see.
As for the book itself, it is hard to judge, as I didn't enjoy reading it. Shera is definitely a less compelling character than Calder. She kills and she tries to have emotions and she sleeps. She's probably a more loyal citizen and all that, but morally grey Calder is just so much more interesting and fun. And his crew, while not super well developed, are fun. Shera's other two assassin friends feel like more of the same somewhat. Kerian and Yala are not a patch on Bliss and Alsa, not to mention all the other guilds we get to meet in the Sea story. Shadow is all in on the Consultants, and honestly they're not that interesting. They're not a particularly novel spin on an assassin's guild. The flashbacks were interesting, spending more time with the emperor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2023
Ei olnud üldse halb raamat, aga kohe kindlasti mitte minu tassike teed. Ütleksin, et selline "Gideon the Ninthi" armuvili Lovecraftiga - eriliselt kummaline, originaalne maailm. Ja kuna maailm oli nii teistmoodi, siis oli hästi palju kirjeldusi, ja see oli minu jaoks natuke tüütu. Sama probleem oli mul ka eelmainitud GtN-ga. No ei saa lugu rahulikult areneda, kui kogu aeg peab selgitama, kuidas mingi asi välja näeb ja kui hirmus ja jälk kõik on.
Teine tüütus oli minu jaoks hästi palju võitlusstseene. Vahepeal, kui muu jaoks ka aega anti, siis lugu toimis ja tõmbas kaasa küll, aga .... jah.
Intrigeeriv on asjaolu, et lugu on kirjutatud kahe raamatuna, kumbki vaatab juhtunut lähi vastaspoole silmade. Aga minust jääb see "Of the Sea and Shadow" paraku lugemata.
Teine tüütus oli minu jaoks hästi palju võitlusstseene. Vahepeal, kui muu jaoks ka aega anti, siis lugu toimis ja tõmbas kaasa küll, aga .... jah.
Intrigeeriv on asjaolu, et lugu on kirjutatud kahe raamatuna, kumbki vaatab juhtunut lähi vastaspoole silmade. Aga minust jääb see "Of the Sea and Shadow" paraku lugemata.
February 9, 2022
✰ 3.5 STARS ✰
One way to make sure I'm faster to complete a series - Give me a notification that says the book is going out of the Audible Plus Catalogue soon. 😅
After reading Calder's POV in Of Sea and Shadow, the story of Shera, Meia and Lucan felt a bit lacklustre for me. I had more fun with Calder and The Testament's crew, felt more for them as characters, while the consultant trio just left me confused as to what my emotions for them were and wondering what their motivation for doing everything was.
Also, while the narration was quite good most of the time, there was a quite lot of almost-whispering going on - which gets annoying after a while really.
One way to make sure I'm faster to complete a series - Give me a notification that says the book is going out of the Audible Plus Catalogue soon. 😅
After reading Calder's POV in Of Sea and Shadow, the story of Shera, Meia and Lucan felt a bit lacklustre for me. I had more fun with Calder and The Testament's crew, felt more for them as characters, while the consultant trio just left me confused as to what my emotions for them were and wondering what their motivation for doing everything was.
Also, while the narration was quite good most of the time, there was a quite lot of almost-whispering going on - which gets annoying after a while really.
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