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Лондон, 1562 год. Великий город Елизаветы встречал Амфортас холодом. Корабль шёл вверх по Темзе, судьбы вела его обратно в знакомый порт. Дым тысячи каминных труб отражался в ледяных обсидиановых водах, смешиваясь с вонью нечистот из каждого стока и запахом стряпни с каждой улицы. Высоко над городом, отбрасывая чёрную тень как на грешников, так и на благочестивых, стояла великая нормандская твердыня Вильгельма завоевателя -Лондонский Тауэр - его толстые белые стены и четыре башни - незыблемые символы абсолютной власти и господства.
200 pages, Hardcover
First published January 24, 2017
3 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Aly Fell
30 books11 followersAlastair Fell
Manchester UK based illustrator and concept artist. I have over 20 years experience in the animation and games industry, having previously worked as an animator at Cosgrove Hall Films (on Dangermouse, Count Duckula, The BFG and Discworld, and various other projects including specials for Chuck Jones, The BBC and ITV alongside many commercials and promos. I also doubled up as a character and model sheet artist whilst working in animation. In more recent years I have worked as a 3D animator and artist in the games industry for companies including, Core Design, Eurocom and TTFusion on projects such as Herdy Gerdy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Rock Band etc.
I am now a self employed illustrator, and my clients include Simon and Schuster, Ilex Press, Asylum Press, DAW Books, Llewellyn Publishing and Harper Collins. My work has featured in Spectrum, Fantasy Art Collections, Ballistic Publishing, Erotic Fantasy Art, Advanced Photoshop and ImagineFX. I am the co-author/editor (with Duddlebug) of Erotic Fantasy Art Now, and Fantasy Art Now 2.
In 2016 Dark Horse Comics published 'The Shadow Glass', my six part comic book set in the Elizabethan era. The collected edition is now available from comic shops and Dark Horse themselves.
Manchester UK based illustrator and concept artist. I have over 20 years experience in the animation and games industry, having previously worked as an animator at Cosgrove Hall Films (on Dangermouse, Count Duckula, The BFG and Discworld, and various other projects including specials for Chuck Jones, The BBC and ITV alongside many commercials and promos. I also doubled up as a character and model sheet artist whilst working in animation. In more recent years I have worked as a 3D animator and artist in the games industry for companies including, Core Design, Eurocom and TTFusion on projects such as Herdy Gerdy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Rock Band etc.
I am now a self employed illustrator, and my clients include Simon and Schuster, Ilex Press, Asylum Press, DAW Books, Llewellyn Publishing and Harper Collins. My work has featured in Spectrum, Fantasy Art Collections, Ballistic Publishing, Erotic Fantasy Art, Advanced Photoshop and ImagineFX. I am the co-author/editor (with Duddlebug) of Erotic Fantasy Art Now, and Fantasy Art Now 2.
In 2016 Dark Horse Comics published 'The Shadow Glass', my six part comic book set in the Elizabethan era. The collected edition is now available from comic shops and Dark Horse themselves.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 14, 2022
Aly Fell's artwork is exceptional. If only is storytelling was as good. This is about a young woman who stumbles upon 3 men summoning a demon in 1600's England. The story becomes about the four fighting for control of the Shadow Glass that controls the demon. The main character, Rosalind, is a big dummy who is repeatedly tricked and used. Everyone else ranges from unlikable to straight-up despicable. I did like that Fell included John Dee as a character. He was a real world occultist and advisor to Elizabeth I.
July 3, 2021
As with other commentators I will rave about the beauty of Aly's art work forever. The story is pretty neat and increasingly dark too. The naïve young heroine discovering the awful truth behind her parentage and upbringing is a vehicle for many fantasy horror tales. Here, Rosalind learns that she is adopted and sets out to both find and later on oath avoid finding her true father. She seeks advise from the real Elizabethan alchemist John Dee, only to find her natural father is there at the same time.
What follows is a struggle for control of a mysterious scrying stone, The Shadow Glass, which can unleash a powerful, beautiful angelic demon / demonic angel entity, which Rosalind falls in love with while her father seeks it for its power. Rosalind faces rejection, secrets, imprisonment in the Tower of London and the threat of execution, but will her winged, and sometimes tentacled lover save her or damn her? You'll have to read the book to find out.
Daring in its erotic art, and beautifully paced to a stunning tense stand off finale.
What follows is a struggle for control of a mysterious scrying stone, The Shadow Glass, which can unleash a powerful, beautiful angelic demon / demonic angel entity, which Rosalind falls in love with while her father seeks it for its power. Rosalind faces rejection, secrets, imprisonment in the Tower of London and the threat of execution, but will her winged, and sometimes tentacled lover save her or damn her? You'll have to read the book to find out.
Daring in its erotic art, and beautifully paced to a stunning tense stand off finale.
May 1, 2021
As others have stated the art was outstanding, but the story was lacking. Everything in the second half felt rushed, and the writing wasn't great. But the art alone outweighed the negatives.
3.5/5 stars.
3.5/5 stars.
February 12, 2025
The artwork was phenomenal. The storyline mediocre. All in all and good read. Not sure if I care to continue with it or not.
August 27, 2021
A great twisted story in the Middle Age, about a mysterious and powerful mirror and a young charismatic girl.
The art is simply gorgeous.
This is a great tale for fans of sorcery tales and medieval cloak & dagger mysteries.
The art is simply gorgeous.
This is a great tale for fans of sorcery tales and medieval cloak & dagger mysteries.
May 9, 2019
Beautiful, stunning artwork combined with a middling story. In The Shadow Glass, a mysterious man returns from America to 1600s England with a shadow glass (whatever that is). With the help of a compatriot, he calls a demon/angel into existence! Cut to: several years in the future, a young woman stumbles upon these same men, using the same shadow glass. She steals the glass, bonds with the demon/angel, and, well, has a tough time of it. There are some bloody action scenes and mediocre twists, but it all leads to an oddly unsatisfying conclusion. And we never really learn who these people are or what a shadow glass is until the book's afterword, which explains that this was actually a work of historical fiction.
The artwork is the clear selling point here - Aly Fell's lines are precise, his 1600s England evocative of the real thing, the colors crisp and generous. He offers some concept artwork in the backmatter that's similarly stunning. While the story in The Shadow Glass falls short, I'd happily read something else where Fell is the illustrator.
The artwork is the clear selling point here - Aly Fell's lines are precise, his 1600s England evocative of the real thing, the colors crisp and generous. He offers some concept artwork in the backmatter that's similarly stunning. While the story in The Shadow Glass falls short, I'd happily read something else where Fell is the illustrator.
January 17, 2017
I bought this for the beautiful art but the story was surprisingly interesting as well. It wasn't mind-blowing but it kept me guessing. The art is stunning.
October 3, 2019
OK, so like many others, I have only read the only 3 issues in print, waiting for the paperback to arrive. However, three issues are enough to draw some conclusions from.
First off, the art is gorgeous, if a bit static, rather like Carlo Boscarato's in the late '70s - early '80s Giornalino (in adaptations such as Oliver Twist). Detailed settings. backgrounds, attire etc. but not much in the way of movement. Furthermore, his protagonist, Rosalind, seems to have only one or two expressions, making her whole character and reactions rather fake.
However, the true problem is the writing, as it reads like a bad telenovella (or, you know, ANY telenovella) or a photo-romance of yore. Now, I have read some things that point to the story being only semi-fictional, but the historical source is incomplete, hence hobbling it, but that is not explanation enough, as the problem persists in almost every scene, regardless of overall plot.
Actually, the only one who passes for a believable human is the demon / angel of the story.
I reserve my final judgment until I read the whole TPB, but I think it rather safe to say that this is merely very pretty to look at.
First off, the art is gorgeous, if a bit static, rather like Carlo Boscarato's in the late '70s - early '80s Giornalino (in adaptations such as Oliver Twist). Detailed settings. backgrounds, attire etc. but not much in the way of movement. Furthermore, his protagonist, Rosalind, seems to have only one or two expressions, making her whole character and reactions rather fake.
However, the true problem is the writing, as it reads like a bad telenovella (or, you know, ANY telenovella) or a photo-romance of yore. Now, I have read some things that point to the story being only semi-fictional, but the historical source is incomplete, hence hobbling it, but that is not explanation enough, as the problem persists in almost every scene, regardless of overall plot.
Actually, the only one who passes for a believable human is the demon / angel of the story.
I reserve my final judgment until I read the whole TPB, but I think it rather safe to say that this is merely very pretty to look at.
October 4, 2017
Synopsis: "A young student to England's greatest occultist learns her real father is in league with the devil. When Rose finds out that the man who raised her isn't her father, she ignores his warnings about the terrible secrets of her own past and seeks answers from childhood teacher Dr. John Dee, the queen's occult advisor."
My Review: I randomly picked this one up due to the art on the cover. I have to say it was a bit obscure, I wasn't 100% sure what was going on until I got to the end. Apparently this book is written about a little known historical object and it contains real people and some real events with some fiction thrown in to fill out the story. Having known that now, it makes a little more sense as a historical fiction and why the story is really kind of incomplete. With all that said as much as the story didn't really appeal to me and didn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense as to what they were trying to do or who the characters were, the artwork in this book is amazing!
My Review: I randomly picked this one up due to the art on the cover. I have to say it was a bit obscure, I wasn't 100% sure what was going on until I got to the end. Apparently this book is written about a little known historical object and it contains real people and some real events with some fiction thrown in to fill out the story. Having known that now, it makes a little more sense as a historical fiction and why the story is really kind of incomplete. With all that said as much as the story didn't really appeal to me and didn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense as to what they were trying to do or who the characters were, the artwork in this book is amazing!
December 28, 2016
Oh my god, the art on this thing. This is gorgeous, unique, beautiful art made comic. I definitely want to find more things by this artist. The women do look a little like each other a bit too much, but who cares, it's beauty in motion.
However, the story is a bit pointless and boring, and the characters (with the exception of the demon) are generally boring and a bit of walking clichés. Plus, you have no idea of what is going on. It feels most of the time that the story is only in place to show girl-on-girl romance.
However, the story is a bit pointless and boring, and the characters (with the exception of the demon) are generally boring and a bit of walking clichés. Plus, you have no idea of what is going on. It feels most of the time that the story is only in place to show girl-on-girl romance.
April 8, 2018
Honestly, I thought this book would have something to do with piracy. It isn't and I don't know why I ever thought it would be. Perhaps because of the tentacles? Who knows.
Either way, this was really fun to read. I predicted the ending (whoops!) but the way the book got there was enjoyable.
Either way, this was really fun to read. I predicted the ending (whoops!) but the way the book got there was enjoyable.
December 18, 2017
The art was interesting but the plot felt unfinished and the characters were two-dimensional at best.
August 10, 2018
WOW... personnages bien réussis... on ressent leurs émotions. Plusieurs rebondissements. J'espère bien qu'il y a aura une suite pour savoir ce qu'il advient de Rose...
September 19, 2018
Lovely artwork but the story left a lot to be desired. I was disappointed.
June 19, 2022
I really liked it. Surprising!
October 4, 2022
Very pretty artwork, definitely aimed at young adults, a little racy!
Read
July 13, 2024Interesting one.
May 13, 2017
The higher star count on this comes mostly from the artwork. The style is very unique to me and holds a lot of emotion and movement to it. This is the biggest stand out for the short story. The plot on the other hand, is subpar. There are interesting ideas and concepts, but it reads very much as a beginning author.
Rosalind never wavers from the manipulations from those around her, she's constantly taking action, but it's always the one she's expected to take. This makes it difficult to support her, she keeps falling into traps and then complaining (understandably so) about being in such situations.
In the last chapter there is a part where they pretend to have her killed, giving her an opening to escape, only to follow her back to the treasure she hid from them. This would have been an interesting event, but twice the antagonist told us it was all a plan and how it was going to go down, and then we had to follow along with Rosalind as things went down exactly as planned, the third time we here about this same event.
I'm excited for future work from this author, hopefully they've improved and have a deeper understanding of story construction.
Rosalind never wavers from the manipulations from those around her, she's constantly taking action, but it's always the one she's expected to take. This makes it difficult to support her, she keeps falling into traps and then complaining (understandably so) about being in such situations.
In the last chapter there is a part where they pretend to have her killed, giving her an opening to escape, only to follow her back to the treasure she hid from them. This would have been an interesting event, but twice the antagonist told us it was all a plan and how it was going to go down, and then we had to follow along with Rosalind as things went down exactly as planned, the third time we here about this same event.
I'm excited for future work from this author, hopefully they've improved and have a deeper understanding of story construction.
March 5, 2017
5 star art, 3 star story
March 5, 2017
Beautiful Art. Odd Story.
February 5, 2017
The 4* is mostly for the art. Story, maybe a 3.
I'm not sure where I caught a review of this one that piqued my interest... I might have seen it in an advert in another Dark Horse title?
Anyhow, I went to the comic shop and the awesome employee told me that this just came out in trade paperback, so I flipped through and saw that the art looked incredible and decided to give it a chance.
The story is interesting... In the words of M. Night: "What a Twist!!!" The art though, I loved the full-page spreads at the start of each issue and there was such great detail throughout. Maybe if I read it over the 6 months of the mini-series, I might have been able to become more attached to Rosalind as a character, but her journey is still an intriguing hero's quest nonetheless.
Looking forward to the upcoming volume(s), should Alastair (Aly) Fell decide to continue it.
I'm not sure where I caught a review of this one that piqued my interest... I might have seen it in an advert in another Dark Horse title?
Anyhow, I went to the comic shop and the awesome employee told me that this just came out in trade paperback, so I flipped through and saw that the art looked incredible and decided to give it a chance.
The story is interesting... In the words of M. Night: "What a Twist!!!" The art though, I loved the full-page spreads at the start of each issue and there was such great detail throughout. Maybe if I read it over the 6 months of the mini-series, I might have been able to become more attached to Rosalind as a character, but her journey is still an intriguing hero's quest nonetheless.
Looking forward to the upcoming volume(s), should Alastair (Aly) Fell decide to continue it.
February 6, 2017
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this book which is Historical Fiction meets Lovecraft Horror meets Coming of Age Adventure. The mix of genres may not leave readers of any of those individual genres entirely satisfied.
I was impressed with the focus on “classical storytelling” for lack of a better word. There’s not a lot of splash pages or glitz- the art has substance over style, and while it’s by a writer/ artist the focus is on storytelling over big “visual” moments rather than what you might imagine is “fun” to draw.
I guess I’d say the book is good though perhaps not entirely satisfying because it doesn't fit within the framework of any particular genre expectation.
I was impressed with the focus on “classical storytelling” for lack of a better word. There’s not a lot of splash pages or glitz- the art has substance over style, and while it’s by a writer/ artist the focus is on storytelling over big “visual” moments rather than what you might imagine is “fun” to draw.
I guess I’d say the book is good though perhaps not entirely satisfying because it doesn't fit within the framework of any particular genre expectation.
February 7, 2017
2.5 maybe. I enjoyed the first issue, and the artwork is lovely, but there wasn't much substance to the story or characters.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews