Scribe in Shadows

The Scribe #1

by Moira J. Moore

Alcina lives in a land of subtle magic. She is a scribe and has prepared to take her mother's place as High Scribe when her mother retires. When her mother is killed unexpectedly, Alcina must take her place. But her mother was not just a scribe; she was also working with a secret alliance to counter the plans of the Principal Councillor and had information that someone might just kill for. While battling her own demons of depression, Alcina must decide who she can trust and what to do with the information bequeathed to her.

Genres: Fantasy

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 18, 2015

About the author

I started writing my first book when I was fourteen. I was sitting in class, bored out of my mind, and I started writing a story about a girl sitting in class, bored out of her mind. Except her class was in a school of wizardry. That story turned into a book. An awful book that I tried and failed to get published. I'm grateful the internet wasn't a thing back then, because I surely would have put it online and it would be out there forever.

Since then I've continued to write books and continued to put life experiences in them. My frustration with alpha male characters, the extreme weather I experienced while living in Japan, and contract law have all shown up in my fantasy novels.

The first six books in my Heroes series were published by ACE. ACE didn't want to finish the series, so I did, by self-publishing Heroes Reward. I fell so in love with the self-publishing experience that I have no inclination to seek a traditional publisher again.

My most recent book, The CEO Can Drop Dead, is a contemporary novel that portrays common romance tropes as the abusive behaviour that they are. I mean no disrespect to the romance genre as a whole, I don't believe it's any less worthy than any other genre, but the prevalence of abusive behaviour disturbs me, so I wrote a book about it. 25% of my royalties is donated to the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first time writing a review on...anything... so if it's not detailed enough I apologize.

I've always really enjoyed the author's Hero series and naturally had to pick up her newest book! Stylistically it's very different from her last series, this one is a lot more serious in terms of what the main character is going through internally and the events occurring around her externally. Also, the magic in this series is interesting since it seems like each guild have their own form of magic/spells and I'd love to see how it develops the future series. Her magic is tied to the words she writes as a scribe and it's a bit like the pen is mightier than the sword. Hopefully you'll enjoy this book as much as I have :)

[Rhian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with Moira J. Moore's Heroes series a few years ago, and was thrilled when I realised she'd started on a new series. Her worlds are rich and diverse, filled with a large, interesting cast. The use of magic in Scribe in Shadows is intriguing and subtle, and I found it difficult to put down once I got into it, staying up late until 5am without realising it - my sleep schedule hates me.

Actually I'm a little sad that this book came out just a few months ago, because that means now I have to wait a year or more for book two. I honestly can't wait, this was a fun read for me and I'm really looking forward to the next one!

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alcina becomes the High Scribe decades before she expects to assume the role and must adjust to the requirements of what this involves (eg. Bodygaurds, impartiality, and politicking). Who does she trust? And what takes predecence, her duty to write magically binding laws as the Council directs? Or her duty to ensure wellbeing of the people of Gydnerth?

I enjoyed reading Moria J Moore's Hero series, and was happy to find out she has released more books. Although the situation and tone in this book are different, the focus on a main character and how the wider story is then told through their interactions and reality is similar. The writing style also means the book is an easy read.

What really makes this book stand out is what I feel to be an extremely accurate portrayal of living with mental illness. Alcina has good days and bad days, and it is something she has to fit into her life. This made her relatable and the story very human. That being said, in the begining I found a couple of Alcina's opinions a little bit one sided and actions not thought-out, but this is believable (she isn't perfect), and the opinions became more understandable throughout the book. I also enjoyed the two different newspapers presenting wildly different viewpoints of the same political events, showing that everything can be seen from a different perspective.

This book drew me in, I'm interested about where the story will progress next and I hope Moore continues the series.

[Anne V · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantasy thriller

Politically based fantasy with a fast paced narrative and an unusual protagonist. First novel I’ve seen with a legal drafting heroine, wish there were more like this.

[Jessica Lerbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like it quite as much as the Hero series, but it was interesting and had a fun magic system

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining story, with characters I feel I want to follow through further books in the sequence. Some very sloppy editing, however, with far too many run-on sentences, and some authorial habits that could have done with being gently discouraged - virtually every character is introduced with a similar list of features - hair/eye/skin colour, height and build - very few of which are ever referred to again. Some nice twists in the story and fun as a quick read, but a touch formulaic. One thing I really did like, though, was the total casual acceptance of all sorts of possible romantic relationships and sexualities as no big deal - something that just isn't an issue in the society created here.