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Shadowless
What if the gods themselves wanted you dead?
A young boy lies on a beach on a warm summer's day. While trying to block the sun from his eyes Arpherius makes a shocking discovery; he has no shadow. Confused and bewildered he asks his uncle why he is shadowless. What he learns is a terrifying secret that will change his life forever.
Set in the Northern Realms, Shadowless is a fantasy novel about individuals born without a shadow. Spawned by the malevolent deities of this world these children of the gods are persecuted at every turn. Hunted by the high priests who carry out the wishes of their gods, hunted by the Shadow Watchers; armed soldiers who are assigned to each temple, and hunted by the gods themselves.
Part-mortal and part-god, the Shadowless live for centuries and face a battle for survival, constantly on the run or hiding in far-flung corners of the Northern Realms.
Soon their lives and fates become intertwined, expedited by the mysterious monk Amrodan. Driven by a series of visions Amrodan travels through the Northern Realms, seeking out the Shadowless and trying to enlist their help to take a stand and fight back against the gods.
A young boy lies on a beach on a warm summer's day. While trying to block the sun from his eyes Arpherius makes a shocking discovery; he has no shadow. Confused and bewildered he asks his uncle why he is shadowless. What he learns is a terrifying secret that will change his life forever.
Set in the Northern Realms, Shadowless is a fantasy novel about individuals born without a shadow. Spawned by the malevolent deities of this world these children of the gods are persecuted at every turn. Hunted by the high priests who carry out the wishes of their gods, hunted by the Shadow Watchers; armed soldiers who are assigned to each temple, and hunted by the gods themselves.
Part-mortal and part-god, the Shadowless live for centuries and face a battle for survival, constantly on the run or hiding in far-flung corners of the Northern Realms.
Soon their lives and fates become intertwined, expedited by the mysterious monk Amrodan. Driven by a series of visions Amrodan travels through the Northern Realms, seeking out the Shadowless and trying to enlist their help to take a stand and fight back against the gods.
491 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 8, 2017
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February 21, 2020
The cover blurb for SHADOWLESS poses the deeply ominous question "What if the gods themselves wanted you dead?" Pretty attention-grabbing right? Well, at the very least it makes you want to open up the book and find out more about these pesky gods and who they want dead. But then as you get deeper into this fantasy story about gods, half-god children, dragons, and all manner of mythical creatures, it evolves into a gripping journey that draws you in and leaves you feeling like you've read something very original and quite daring in the end.
The story is told in a somewhat unique way with each chapter telling a separate story with a different main character but the setting is the same place, called the Northern Realms. There's also a feeling that although these stories tell very divergent tales, somehow they all relate to each other and may converge at some point near the end. And converge they ultimately do, into one of the more thrilling endings of a fantasy book that I've ever come across. So this isn't a short-story collection as much as it is a continually shifting viewpoint/setting novel that has a very clear direction and purpose if you have the patience to stick with it.
The background of the story is that there has been a civil war among the gods. As a result of that civil war, many of the gods were vanquished, including every last female god. This has put the gods' very existence in peril since they now have no ability to procreate among their own kind. As a partial remedy to this, many of the gods have copulated with certain mortals and consequently, their half-human/half-god progeny now walk the world as Shadowless. The name Shadowless is in reference to the fact that because of their partial god parentage, they cast no shadow whatsoever.
Casting no shadow creates a myriad of problems. One of which is that these individuals are easy to identify by those who would destroy them, seeing them as horrific abominations who must be eradicated. These hunters of the Shadowless, known as Shadow Watchers, travel across the Northern Realms seeking those born from the gods. Where they find them they are under direct orders to take them out by the high priests of each realm.
The Shadowless themselves are both blessed and tortured by their god-like powers as they are either unable to fully control them, or they don't understand the full extent of the devastation that they can unleash with a mere thought or flicker of body movement. It's truly a harrowing life they lead as they are constantly on the run, hiding from the very gods who fathered them. You see, the gods have discovered that their mortal children can actually amplify their own powers as they get older and if they kill their Shadowless offspring after a time, they can become even stronger than they once were.
As each of the paths of these Shadowless are told, there is a definite sense that something has to give. Will the gods continue to run amok and use their half-mortal children as merely tools to increase their power, or will the Shadowless rise up and organize in an effort to claim their own identity and put a stop to their constant fear of being hunted and wiped out one by one?
I enjoyed SHADOWLESS a great deal. At first, I wasn't too keen on the ever-changing viewpoint aspect of how the story was being told. But as the chapters unfolded, the stories themselves were so well-told and compelling, that I found myself gradually getting more comfortable with it. Part of this is also due to the fact that Randall McNally does some really exceptional world-building. I mean, this is a seriously cool setting that is populated by some incredibly imaginative creatures and gods.
Another thing that I liked about SHADOWLESS was the interesting concept of gods being able to increase their powers through a half-mortal host and then having to kill them to claim those new and improved capabilities. Such a fascinating way to approach a magic system and it was a most refreshing take that made me want to continue reading well into the early morning hours on a few occasions.
I've heard from some that the feel of the book hearkens back to ancient Greek and Roman mythology and I agree that's a fairly accurate assessment based on my experience. At the same time I will say that Randall McNally doesn't lean entirely on those influences, but instead incorporates them into an entirely original fantasy story that is both enjoyable and utterly readable all on its own. I highly recommend SHADOWLESS for anyone who enjoys fantasy books with outstanding world-building, engaging characters, a brilliant magic system, and a sprinkle of ancient mythology. But most of all, it should appeal to anyone who just enjoys a really intense and entertaining read regardless of genre.
The story is told in a somewhat unique way with each chapter telling a separate story with a different main character but the setting is the same place, called the Northern Realms. There's also a feeling that although these stories tell very divergent tales, somehow they all relate to each other and may converge at some point near the end. And converge they ultimately do, into one of the more thrilling endings of a fantasy book that I've ever come across. So this isn't a short-story collection as much as it is a continually shifting viewpoint/setting novel that has a very clear direction and purpose if you have the patience to stick with it.
The background of the story is that there has been a civil war among the gods. As a result of that civil war, many of the gods were vanquished, including every last female god. This has put the gods' very existence in peril since they now have no ability to procreate among their own kind. As a partial remedy to this, many of the gods have copulated with certain mortals and consequently, their half-human/half-god progeny now walk the world as Shadowless. The name Shadowless is in reference to the fact that because of their partial god parentage, they cast no shadow whatsoever.
Casting no shadow creates a myriad of problems. One of which is that these individuals are easy to identify by those who would destroy them, seeing them as horrific abominations who must be eradicated. These hunters of the Shadowless, known as Shadow Watchers, travel across the Northern Realms seeking those born from the gods. Where they find them they are under direct orders to take them out by the high priests of each realm.
The Shadowless themselves are both blessed and tortured by their god-like powers as they are either unable to fully control them, or they don't understand the full extent of the devastation that they can unleash with a mere thought or flicker of body movement. It's truly a harrowing life they lead as they are constantly on the run, hiding from the very gods who fathered them. You see, the gods have discovered that their mortal children can actually amplify their own powers as they get older and if they kill their Shadowless offspring after a time, they can become even stronger than they once were.
As each of the paths of these Shadowless are told, there is a definite sense that something has to give. Will the gods continue to run amok and use their half-mortal children as merely tools to increase their power, or will the Shadowless rise up and organize in an effort to claim their own identity and put a stop to their constant fear of being hunted and wiped out one by one?
I enjoyed SHADOWLESS a great deal. At first, I wasn't too keen on the ever-changing viewpoint aspect of how the story was being told. But as the chapters unfolded, the stories themselves were so well-told and compelling, that I found myself gradually getting more comfortable with it. Part of this is also due to the fact that Randall McNally does some really exceptional world-building. I mean, this is a seriously cool setting that is populated by some incredibly imaginative creatures and gods.
Another thing that I liked about SHADOWLESS was the interesting concept of gods being able to increase their powers through a half-mortal host and then having to kill them to claim those new and improved capabilities. Such a fascinating way to approach a magic system and it was a most refreshing take that made me want to continue reading well into the early morning hours on a few occasions.
I've heard from some that the feel of the book hearkens back to ancient Greek and Roman mythology and I agree that's a fairly accurate assessment based on my experience. At the same time I will say that Randall McNally doesn't lean entirely on those influences, but instead incorporates them into an entirely original fantasy story that is both enjoyable and utterly readable all on its own. I highly recommend SHADOWLESS for anyone who enjoys fantasy books with outstanding world-building, engaging characters, a brilliant magic system, and a sprinkle of ancient mythology. But most of all, it should appeal to anyone who just enjoys a really intense and entertaining read regardless of genre.
August 9, 2019
Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Shadowless by Randall McNally is a debut book that touches upon quite a few genres such as epic fantasy, dark fantasy & godpunk to name a few. The story is a bit hard to describe because of the unique way the author has written it. For me, the cover was certainly striking and the blurb while being so vague (which after reading the book, I completely understand why) still drew me in and this was the first book in my lot with which I decided to start SPFBO 2019.
The story is set on a huge continent called the Northern Realms, which is further divided into thirteen realms who have their own rules and ways of dominion. The biggest shocking aspect of the series is the presence of the gods and their copulative meddling in all but one of the realms. As described in the book, there was a civil war among the gods and all the female gods are dead. Thus the male gods from time to time, take a human guise and impregnate females. Who upon birthing the godling children die. These godlings have a special characteristic that they don’t have any shadows and hence the title. They also share a bit of the specific god’s powers. What’s also cruel is that these same gods then harvest their children by killing and getting their power back (with interest). This sadistic cycle has been ongoing for many centuries.
As you can imagine, there’s a lot going on in the background. To add to that, the author inserts another twist by having twenty chapters. Plus each chapter has its own POV Shadowless narrator, this makes it a grand epic storyline. As we get 20 characters whom get to follow and know more about in each chapter, before the author whisks us to the next Shadowless godling in a different region and time period. This effect can be a bit disorienting in the first few chapters but pretty soon, you get the hang of things and start discovering minute ties within chapters. The biggest draw for me was trying to figure out what was the actual chronological timeline as a couple of chapters mention events which we later find out have occurred in the past. There’s also a central druid/wizard character who makes appearances in a few chapters before making a bow in his own. Lastly towards the end we get a strong culmination of several character and events which leave us with a terrifically action-packed climax which also heralds the start of a new war on the gods.
The author has to be lauded for his worldbuilding skills as he showcases each of the thirteen different realms and the magic system that prevails throughout the story. The magic system is of the understated sorts as we along with the characters face a similar amount of confusion in trying to figure it out. The Gods are also alien, hugely powerful and very Greek in their dealings with the inhabitants of the Northern Realms. This book strongly gives a Clash Of The Titans vibe as demigod children are forced to hide from or fight back against their immortal fathers. The gods often rape their human mothers so they can birth the godlings (who also receive a portion of the god’s power). With each godling, the longer they live, the more powerful they get. Hence if the gods kill them after a while, they get an interest on their portion that was given to the godling. I thought this was a very well thought and decidedly dark area of the book. The author takes care to never showcase any rape on the pages and it is only hinted at.
We also get a wide variety of characters, the warrior child who’s fated to be the Shadowmancer. A demigod herbalist who might not be as silly as he seems. A child who can harness the power of weather and who feels rage like none other. The priest who’s trying to helps all the shadowless. A brother-sister duo who take on slavery as they seek their future and many more such intriguing characters who make up the Shadowless. With each chapter, we are thrust into the life of a new Shadowless godling both heroic and horrible. These characters are very intriguing and there were a few that I couldn’t get enough of and I hope the author gives us more in the sequels.
With regards to any drawbacks, we have to keep in mind, this is a big book. The pace of the story fluctuates from chapter to chapter and many might feel a sense of disorientation as the reader is uprooted and inserted into a whole new angle each time. For those who don’t like the darker bent of fantasy or those who like their stories with a lot of action might not find this debut entirely to their liking. The dialogue also isn’t the most striking but definitely conveys the needed emotions.
CONCLUSION: Shadowless is a debut that is strikingly original in scope, execution and plot. I loved how Randall McNally presented a world that while alien, struck a chord in my mind. Shadowless is the bastard child of Clash Of The Titans and Rob J. Bennett’s Divine Cities trilogy but unlike its titular characters, it is entirely welcome and utterly fantastic.
December 13, 2018
Shadowless are the offspring of evil gods; part mortal, part god. They are born out of rape and chased with the intent to kill their whole lives – lives that they live for centuries- because not having a shadow which equals having a sort of a superpower makes them essentially an abomination for the human kind and the priests. If that wasn’t grim enough, the gods themselves, their fathers, are after them because of the power that the Shadowless carry within them. The older the Shadowless get, the more their power grows and with their death, the power will be sent back to the god, or distributed in between their father and other shadowless siblings. Thinking of it- the gods essentially ‘feed’ on their children’s spirits. In a way!
This book is unreal! Yes, it takes the age-old man versus god fight, the part-man/part-god idea and turns it up a notch by adding some really unique elements by ‘superpowers’ and a revolution that has been stewing for centuries on a basis of a prophecy. Oh! It also has a dragon! 😉 I very much liked that dragon and I hope to read more about the dragon in the future!
Going back to the ‘unreal’ part- you see, there are quite a number of gods each with their own specific ‘area’ of, shall we say, expertise. So, you might have a God of Death, a God of Violence, or a god of various natural elements. And the offspring receive their father’s specific area. An example: a Shadowless who is able to breathe both on land and whilst walking the bottom of the ocean. Or, a Shadowless who can read thoughts, or a Shadowless who can manipulate rocks, or metal… you get the gist. The Shadowless are also easily referenced back to who their father is by the colour of their eyes. Each has their own unique set of colours. So, it’s the small, thought out detail that I really enjoyed here.
But… I am still not explaining my statement of ‘unreal’ … There are many Shadowless and the book is structured so that even though there is the main thread with a certain direction from A to B, or from beginning to end, each Shadowless has their very own chapter. I mean, the imagination in this book knows no boundaries. The chapters are long enough to place each Shadowless into a unique setting and allow the reader to really get to know them.
There may be an argument that there are too many characters and throughout the book we do not really revisit them to keep them fresh in the mind, but I do not stand by this argument. I actually liked that this book was different this way- it was like receiving a book of many stories within it, all working towards the same goal. This also, in my mind, works out pretty well… Shadowless, whilst it could work 100% as a standalone; it, at the same time, is a perfect first book to start off a series.
The world building and the writing are strong- a joy to read, really! So, if fantasy, gods and a bit of plotting for a revolution is your thing, I would highly recommend this book. It’s full of adventure! It’s also grim and gory and even sad. But the individual character exploration, the main plot, the variety of unique settings and well-placed twists made for a smooth reading experience!
This book is unreal! Yes, it takes the age-old man versus god fight, the part-man/part-god idea and turns it up a notch by adding some really unique elements by ‘superpowers’ and a revolution that has been stewing for centuries on a basis of a prophecy. Oh! It also has a dragon! 😉 I very much liked that dragon and I hope to read more about the dragon in the future!
Perched high on the cliffs overlooking the Sea of Wrath, it is inaccessible from the north and the east. Beside this sleepy little enclave is a monastery and a temple, in which live an order of monks. These monks do not align themselves to any particular god or religion. This monastery, some say, is a retreat for those who feel they do not fit in anywhere else.
Going back to the ‘unreal’ part- you see, there are quite a number of gods each with their own specific ‘area’ of, shall we say, expertise. So, you might have a God of Death, a God of Violence, or a god of various natural elements. And the offspring receive their father’s specific area. An example: a Shadowless who is able to breathe both on land and whilst walking the bottom of the ocean. Or, a Shadowless who can read thoughts, or a Shadowless who can manipulate rocks, or metal… you get the gist. The Shadowless are also easily referenced back to who their father is by the colour of their eyes. Each has their own unique set of colours. So, it’s the small, thought out detail that I really enjoyed here.
But… I am still not explaining my statement of ‘unreal’ … There are many Shadowless and the book is structured so that even though there is the main thread with a certain direction from A to B, or from beginning to end, each Shadowless has their very own chapter. I mean, the imagination in this book knows no boundaries. The chapters are long enough to place each Shadowless into a unique setting and allow the reader to really get to know them.
There may be an argument that there are too many characters and throughout the book we do not really revisit them to keep them fresh in the mind, but I do not stand by this argument. I actually liked that this book was different this way- it was like receiving a book of many stories within it, all working towards the same goal. This also, in my mind, works out pretty well… Shadowless, whilst it could work 100% as a standalone; it, at the same time, is a perfect first book to start off a series.
The world building and the writing are strong- a joy to read, really! So, if fantasy, gods and a bit of plotting for a revolution is your thing, I would highly recommend this book. It’s full of adventure! It’s also grim and gory and even sad. But the individual character exploration, the main plot, the variety of unique settings and well-placed twists made for a smooth reading experience!
October 28, 2019
I have mixed feelings about this one. I appreciate the unique structure (each chapter is told from another POV and can be treated as a short story of sorts) and the way McNally ties all the moving parts. On the other hand, some chapters and some POVs felt flat or unnecessarily brutal and dark. Additionally, another pass of editing could help the author to get rid of POV changes mid-scene (infamous head-hopping).
So...I dunno...I think I appreciate the structure and the idea more than the execution.
So...I dunno...I think I appreciate the structure and the idea more than the execution.
December 7, 2021
I was sent a copy of this book by the author for a honest review. What can I say other than this book is unique! It has a structure unlike any I have ever read before. The characters are fantastic and the story is compelling. However, the structure while being the books greatest strength is also is greatest weakness.
This boon suffers from a complexity issues. It’s very much a puzzle which while enjoyable to figure out can be sometimes frustrating. The first 40% feels like a collection of short stories. The next 20% we start getting the actual through line of the stores. The last 40% starts bringing it all together.
The issue with this because we have so many shadowless with complex names. I had to rely on context to remember who was who and how they all fit together.
One thing this book could have used is a dramatis personae
Despite these criticisms. I have rarely read this much creativity in a book since the Cosmere. Each character could easily have their own full book. The author does a fantastic job hooking you In with creative ideas and powers. I really enjoyed reading this book!
Overall I give this book 8/10 I hope to read more from this author.
This boon suffers from a complexity issues. It’s very much a puzzle which while enjoyable to figure out can be sometimes frustrating. The first 40% feels like a collection of short stories. The next 20% we start getting the actual through line of the stores. The last 40% starts bringing it all together.
The issue with this because we have so many shadowless with complex names. I had to rely on context to remember who was who and how they all fit together.
One thing this book could have used is a dramatis personae
Despite these criticisms. I have rarely read this much creativity in a book since the Cosmere. Each character could easily have their own full book. The author does a fantastic job hooking you In with creative ideas and powers. I really enjoyed reading this book!
Overall I give this book 8/10 I hope to read more from this author.
July 18, 2022
My review on YouTube: https://youtu.be/31ywB7ePGsI
4.5. A very unique book that starts off as a collection of short stories, which coverage into a master plot by the end. Every character felt distinct and it was also a lot darker than I thought it would be, which is always a plus for me. Really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read whatever Randall writes next.
4.5. A very unique book that starts off as a collection of short stories, which coverage into a master plot by the end. Every character felt distinct and it was also a lot darker than I thought it would be, which is always a plus for me. Really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read whatever Randall writes next.
March 12, 2023
"I am the bringer of death, the instrument of destruction, whom all enemies fear. I am the invisible blade that strikes unseen in the darkness. I am the shadowless damned."
Randall McNally's Shadowless is among the most fascinating and uniquely structured (indie) books I had the pleasure of reading.
Shadowless is an epic, dark fantasy novel set in the world of the Northern Realms. The main protagonists are individuals born without a shadow - children of various gods that are hunted throughout the continent by the Shadow Watchers (armed soldiers assigned to temples) and the gods themselves.
The book could be described as a collection of interconnected short stories. The story is told from multiple POVs; in each chapter, the readers are introduced to a different protagonist. McNally's characters are complex and as diverse as the lands and kingdoms of the Northern Realms.
‘You judge me on acts that you feel are criminal when they are none of your concern. Now that those acts might serve your purpose, you willingly ignore any potential wrongdoing and repercussions, choosing instead to cite beliefs that these deeds will somehow be for the greater good.’
However, the chapters are not arranged in chronological order - one might be set in the present and another in the past. These deliberate choices form an intriguing puzzle that the readers have to put together as they progress throughout the book. At times it can be challenging, but I promise you it's well worth it.
My only complaint about the book is related to the page space dedicated to character development. With so many POV characters in one book, it is understandable that not all of them would get enough page space for detailed character development. Some things would be resolved in a few lines, or wouldn't be explained in enough detail as I would have liked. This could have been resolved by having fewer POV characters, but having fewer POV characters would diminish the reading experience.
With a fascinating and diverse cast of characters, intriguing and amusing chapter titles (such as "The Botanical Misdemeanors of Dorrin Brethil" or "The Infectious Charm of Clantiâr Novastus"), a plot that will lure you in from the very start and keep you glued to the story... To the ending that will make you question everything and have you craving for more... Shadowless is a spectacular book that should find its way to every lover of epic, dark fantasy! This 5 ⭐ read is well worth your time!
April 15, 2023
I read the first few chapters of this book over the course of three weeks or so. I thought of putting it aside for a bit but a week later, I gave it another try and something clicked.
The thing is, I'm not a fan of short stories usually. This book starts out with every chapter dealing with a different character and they seemingly don't connect to each other. But in a certain chapter, the main character really got to me, only to die at the end of it. And I was hooked. The funny thing, if I tell it like that, it's as if something's wrong with me, that characters dying are the thing that gets me interested. Anyway, once you get somewhere halfway through the book, things do start to overlap and I read the last 80% faster than the first 20%. Characters you see in the beginning come back later and start to come together. I love when characters that start out separately, end up converging on a certain point.
The major thing I had a bit of trouble with, was the huge amount of characters. I'm not talking about the 'main characters' in each chapter, but mostly because nearly each one of them had a whole ton of side characters and I felt there could be more there. All the different countries and politics were also a bit underdeveloped, it would have been nice to know more about the world. And with so many characters, it was hard to really like them completely, because it's difficult to get to really know them.
I guessed some of the things that were going on in the book, but hadn't quite figured it out entirely. I'm not sure about the ending either. It is definitely open for a lot more story, so I do hope the author continues, because even though I'm not entirely attached to a lot of the characters, I would love to read more about some of them.
All in all, I ended up liking the way the story was told, it was really well done.
The thing is, I'm not a fan of short stories usually. This book starts out with every chapter dealing with a different character and they seemingly don't connect to each other. But in a certain chapter, the main character really got to me, only to die at the end of it. And I was hooked. The funny thing, if I tell it like that, it's as if something's wrong with me, that characters dying are the thing that gets me interested. Anyway, once you get somewhere halfway through the book, things do start to overlap and I read the last 80% faster than the first 20%. Characters you see in the beginning come back later and start to come together. I love when characters that start out separately, end up converging on a certain point.
The major thing I had a bit of trouble with, was the huge amount of characters. I'm not talking about the 'main characters' in each chapter, but mostly because nearly each one of them had a whole ton of side characters and I felt there could be more there. All the different countries and politics were also a bit underdeveloped, it would have been nice to know more about the world. And with so many characters, it was hard to really like them completely, because it's difficult to get to really know them.
I guessed some of the things that were going on in the book, but hadn't quite figured it out entirely. I'm not sure about the ending either. It is definitely open for a lot more story, so I do hope the author continues, because even though I'm not entirely attached to a lot of the characters, I would love to read more about some of them.
All in all, I ended up liking the way the story was told, it was really well done.
March 24, 2023
In Shadowless the Goddesses were slaughtered in a civil war so the Gods force children on mortal women. Those children have no shadow and grow up in constant fear of being hunted down and killed for their godly parents to be able to reap their abilities for their own gain. The longer these demigods live the stronger they become and the more power the God gains when the 'Shadowless' in question is cut down and essentially harvested.
I saw someone somewhere mention it has similar vibes to Percy Jackson or Xmen & I can definitely see where they're coming from—demi gods, found family, a ragtag bunch of people with strange powers coming together to rebel against those that have otrasiced/harmed them.
One of the many reasons I love seeking out indie/self published books is the freedom authors have to do something a bit different that traditional publishing often doesn't allow. This book had such a cool, fresh format.
Its structured more like a short story collection, each chapter follows a different character. It was really impressive how the author manged to not only to introduce a new character each time, give them a backstory and conclusion, but also to actually make you care about them in such a short space of time.
I thought it was just going to be a collection of short stories set in the same world until I got about 40% in and realised...oh all these plots are overlapping!! And when all the pieces of the puzzle fully connect? Fantastic! SO well done 🤩
And if you read it as an audiobook like I did, the format makes it like 1hr episodes of a tv show you can pop on, its great!
Speaking of the audiobook I'd highly recommend it, the narration was brilliant. I also really liked the music and sound effects that started and finished each chapter. I thought that was a lovely touch, it really helped set the scene!
I saw someone somewhere mention it has similar vibes to Percy Jackson or Xmen & I can definitely see where they're coming from—demi gods, found family, a ragtag bunch of people with strange powers coming together to rebel against those that have otrasiced/harmed them.
One of the many reasons I love seeking out indie/self published books is the freedom authors have to do something a bit different that traditional publishing often doesn't allow. This book had such a cool, fresh format.
Its structured more like a short story collection, each chapter follows a different character. It was really impressive how the author manged to not only to introduce a new character each time, give them a backstory and conclusion, but also to actually make you care about them in such a short space of time.
I thought it was just going to be a collection of short stories set in the same world until I got about 40% in and realised...oh all these plots are overlapping!! And when all the pieces of the puzzle fully connect? Fantastic! SO well done 🤩
And if you read it as an audiobook like I did, the format makes it like 1hr episodes of a tv show you can pop on, its great!
Speaking of the audiobook I'd highly recommend it, the narration was brilliant. I also really liked the music and sound effects that started and finished each chapter. I thought that was a lovely touch, it really helped set the scene!
December 26, 2020
Shadowless by Randall McNally is dark fantasy with a little something different. Not the story itself, but the structure and execution. A novel in the form of twenty short stories strung together, Shadowless is a bold attempt to show there’s more than one way to tell a tale.
The aspect of this book that stands out the most, and has the greatest impact on the narrative is it’s structure. It isn’t one long narrative like most novels. Instead it is comprised of twenty short stories along with a prologue and epilogue. Twenty short stories each with their own narrative, protagonist, POV, etc. I want to point it out here at the outset so that you keep it in mind as I discuss everything else and then I’ll return the structure and whether it succeeded.
This short story format was a little strange at first and took a while to get used to. For about half the book it wasn’t evident how the stories connected apart from the overall device that children born of the gods have no shadow and they are hunted down by priests, the Shadow Watchers, and the gods themselves. They are feared in the land because anyone caught harboring one will be killed as well, even at times whole villages at once. As offspring of the gods they age very slowly, live for centuries, and develop godlike powers that grow stronger as they age. When they are killed their powers return to their godly parent which in turns makes the god grow stronger.
Each story focuses on one (at times more than one) shadowless character and some predicament they are in where their lives are in danger. As I mentioned, at first the stories don’t really seem connected apart from the fact that each one seems to offer up some additional detail about what it means to be shadowless. Over time though a broader narrative becomes evident and an actual connected plot does appear and with it the stakes are raised.
Normally I start with something about the protagonist and minor characters. That’s hard to do with this book. Each story in this book has a different POV protagonist. And there are a lot of characters. Every now and then a character from one story shows up in another. Some characters only seem to appear once, serve some purpose to illuminate some new aspect of the plot, and then are never seen again (often because they die). If there’s one character that shows up more than the others it’s probably the monk Amrodan. Yet I’d hesitate to call him the protagonist. In the overall story I don’t know that any one character can be labeled the main character or the one that the main narrative revolves around.
The world building in Shadowless is much like the structure. It comes in bits and pieces where you learn a little more with each succeeding story. The book is set in the Northern Realms, a land made up of numerous smaller countries. Each story is set largely within one of these smaller realms, often just within one city, town, wood, or home. It’s with the accumulation of these tales that the broader world building becomes evident. At the same time there isn’t a ton of depth to it. Each realm is pretty similar and could be easily switched out with another. Where some of the unique elements come in are in a few of the cities and towns.
The magic system is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the world building in Shadowless. Magic in this case is really the power of the gods. Each child of a god develops some godlike magical ability. It may be the ability to move really fast, slow time, shape shift, come back to life, or super human strength. Whatever the case, some essence of the parent god is given to their offspring and it grows in power over time. With it comes the reality that at some point the god will want it that power back. Once their son or daughter is killed the power, not stronger than before returns to the god making him even more powerful than before.
In terms of tone and theme Shadowless is a dark story. For most of the book there isn’t much in the way of hope. It’s one story after another of the shadowless being hunted down and killed, or being used for their abilities under threat of death.
The background to the story is dark too. Centuries ago the gods fought a civil war in which all of the female gods were killed. This also comes with a trigger warning. Since all the female gods were killed the male gods can only mate with female humans to produce children. They do so by raping them. This is an old story. It’s one told countless times by ancient civilizations, and depending on your point of view even in the Christ story. But it is definitely a narrative choice that will leave some readers unsure if they want to read the book. No rape scenes are depicted in the stories, but it is brought up in a number of them as an integral plot point. Add to that the knowledge that the human women do not survive childbirth and you’ve got an even darker story.
So you’ve got dark and traumatic origins and a harrowing existence that leads to certain death at the hands of your father or his followers and you end up with a pretty bleak story all told. Hope is pretty non-existent for the characters for much of the book. But it does appear. You just don’t really see it until you’re well into the story and even then there’s no guarantee things will work out in the end.
So…does it work? That’s the key question. And the answer for me is…kinda. Like with any book, readers won’t have the same reaction. Let me say first that I’m not typically a fan of short stories. So for me to like them they have to blow me away. I can’t say that any one story in this book blew me away. Some were good, others were a little flat, many were just fine. The writing was good, though at times it suffered from a little too much telling and not showing.
When strung together it’s kind of a mixed bag too. With this format you’re only with one character for a little while before moving on to another. You get one story that doesn’t seem to be fully resolved, then another, and then another, and so on. It takes a while for the overall connected narrative to begin to appear. Had I not been reading this as an author request I might have set it down and DNF’d it. I’m glad I didn’t because that integrated story became much more interesting as the final half to one-third of the book progressed. But even though I came to appreciate that overall narrative the sheer number of characters and structure of the book didn’t allow for much in the way of character growth and development. There was some, but it wasn’t profound. Likewise story arcs were less pronounced and while there may have been tension in individual stories the overall tension suffered.
Yet I really appreciated the attempt at creating an overall narrative through the use of short stories strung together. At times they were out of sync which did help to keep you guessing at what was happening. Each one doled out just a little bit more information to keep things moving along. And the conclusion definitely had some surprises. So overall…Shadowless is daring and succeeds in what I think McNally set out to do. Whether you enjoy it or not I think will ultimately come down to whether you enjoy short stories more than me and/or whether you like reading books that take risks in their storytelling structure and format. I encourage you to give it a try and see what you think.
I was sent a copy of this book for review by the author.
The aspect of this book that stands out the most, and has the greatest impact on the narrative is it’s structure. It isn’t one long narrative like most novels. Instead it is comprised of twenty short stories along with a prologue and epilogue. Twenty short stories each with their own narrative, protagonist, POV, etc. I want to point it out here at the outset so that you keep it in mind as I discuss everything else and then I’ll return the structure and whether it succeeded.
This short story format was a little strange at first and took a while to get used to. For about half the book it wasn’t evident how the stories connected apart from the overall device that children born of the gods have no shadow and they are hunted down by priests, the Shadow Watchers, and the gods themselves. They are feared in the land because anyone caught harboring one will be killed as well, even at times whole villages at once. As offspring of the gods they age very slowly, live for centuries, and develop godlike powers that grow stronger as they age. When they are killed their powers return to their godly parent which in turns makes the god grow stronger.
Each story focuses on one (at times more than one) shadowless character and some predicament they are in where their lives are in danger. As I mentioned, at first the stories don’t really seem connected apart from the fact that each one seems to offer up some additional detail about what it means to be shadowless. Over time though a broader narrative becomes evident and an actual connected plot does appear and with it the stakes are raised.
Normally I start with something about the protagonist and minor characters. That’s hard to do with this book. Each story in this book has a different POV protagonist. And there are a lot of characters. Every now and then a character from one story shows up in another. Some characters only seem to appear once, serve some purpose to illuminate some new aspect of the plot, and then are never seen again (often because they die). If there’s one character that shows up more than the others it’s probably the monk Amrodan. Yet I’d hesitate to call him the protagonist. In the overall story I don’t know that any one character can be labeled the main character or the one that the main narrative revolves around.
The world building in Shadowless is much like the structure. It comes in bits and pieces where you learn a little more with each succeeding story. The book is set in the Northern Realms, a land made up of numerous smaller countries. Each story is set largely within one of these smaller realms, often just within one city, town, wood, or home. It’s with the accumulation of these tales that the broader world building becomes evident. At the same time there isn’t a ton of depth to it. Each realm is pretty similar and could be easily switched out with another. Where some of the unique elements come in are in a few of the cities and towns.
The magic system is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the world building in Shadowless. Magic in this case is really the power of the gods. Each child of a god develops some godlike magical ability. It may be the ability to move really fast, slow time, shape shift, come back to life, or super human strength. Whatever the case, some essence of the parent god is given to their offspring and it grows in power over time. With it comes the reality that at some point the god will want it that power back. Once their son or daughter is killed the power, not stronger than before returns to the god making him even more powerful than before.
In terms of tone and theme Shadowless is a dark story. For most of the book there isn’t much in the way of hope. It’s one story after another of the shadowless being hunted down and killed, or being used for their abilities under threat of death.
The background to the story is dark too. Centuries ago the gods fought a civil war in which all of the female gods were killed. This also comes with a trigger warning. Since all the female gods were killed the male gods can only mate with female humans to produce children. They do so by raping them. This is an old story. It’s one told countless times by ancient civilizations, and depending on your point of view even in the Christ story. But it is definitely a narrative choice that will leave some readers unsure if they want to read the book. No rape scenes are depicted in the stories, but it is brought up in a number of them as an integral plot point. Add to that the knowledge that the human women do not survive childbirth and you’ve got an even darker story.
So you’ve got dark and traumatic origins and a harrowing existence that leads to certain death at the hands of your father or his followers and you end up with a pretty bleak story all told. Hope is pretty non-existent for the characters for much of the book. But it does appear. You just don’t really see it until you’re well into the story and even then there’s no guarantee things will work out in the end.
So…does it work? That’s the key question. And the answer for me is…kinda. Like with any book, readers won’t have the same reaction. Let me say first that I’m not typically a fan of short stories. So for me to like them they have to blow me away. I can’t say that any one story in this book blew me away. Some were good, others were a little flat, many were just fine. The writing was good, though at times it suffered from a little too much telling and not showing.
When strung together it’s kind of a mixed bag too. With this format you’re only with one character for a little while before moving on to another. You get one story that doesn’t seem to be fully resolved, then another, and then another, and so on. It takes a while for the overall connected narrative to begin to appear. Had I not been reading this as an author request I might have set it down and DNF’d it. I’m glad I didn’t because that integrated story became much more interesting as the final half to one-third of the book progressed. But even though I came to appreciate that overall narrative the sheer number of characters and structure of the book didn’t allow for much in the way of character growth and development. There was some, but it wasn’t profound. Likewise story arcs were less pronounced and while there may have been tension in individual stories the overall tension suffered.
Yet I really appreciated the attempt at creating an overall narrative through the use of short stories strung together. At times they were out of sync which did help to keep you guessing at what was happening. Each one doled out just a little bit more information to keep things moving along. And the conclusion definitely had some surprises. So overall…Shadowless is daring and succeeds in what I think McNally set out to do. Whether you enjoy it or not I think will ultimately come down to whether you enjoy short stories more than me and/or whether you like reading books that take risks in their storytelling structure and format. I encourage you to give it a try and see what you think.
I was sent a copy of this book for review by the author.
February 6, 2025
Step-through into a totally different world, where those born to the gods are marked by the absence of a shadow and are doomed before their first breath to be slaughtered by their sires.
I honestly had no expectations going into this except that there are gods involved and the cover looks freaking AWESOME, which is usually all I need to dive in headfirst. I'm sad I waited so long to read this one because it truly is EPIC!
I listened to it on Audiobook and the narrator was phenomenal. It's hella long though (20+ hours) so buckle in for the long road trip for this one.
The way the author constructed this story is so fascinating and unique. It focuses each chapter on a new "Shadowless" demi god. In this way, we get to explore the world and the different powers each of these individuals have, and the way the gods interact with mortals. Bit by bit, the reader is fully immersed into this world. Every chapter brings new insight to the overarching plot, which is spearheaded by a mysterious figure who appears consistently in the background of all these characters: Amridan.
There's foreshadowing sprinkled throughout the chapters to allude to the ending, and I can't say I was floored by the twist, but I was definitely ah ha!'d by it in a satisfying way.
I'm not sure if the author is planning a book 2, I certainly hope, so as it is a bit open ended.
A few drawbacks I will mention are: the length, the timeskips here and there--for example: things would happen to one character in a chapter that related to something that happens to a different character in another chapter, and the relation wouldn't be entirely obvious unless you were paying close attention and inferred that there was a connection to be made.
So just keep those things in mind when you embark on these epic adventure. I say when, not if, because you really do not want to miss one.
I honestly had no expectations going into this except that there are gods involved and the cover looks freaking AWESOME, which is usually all I need to dive in headfirst. I'm sad I waited so long to read this one because it truly is EPIC!
I listened to it on Audiobook and the narrator was phenomenal. It's hella long though (20+ hours) so buckle in for the long road trip for this one.
The way the author constructed this story is so fascinating and unique. It focuses each chapter on a new "Shadowless" demi god. In this way, we get to explore the world and the different powers each of these individuals have, and the way the gods interact with mortals. Bit by bit, the reader is fully immersed into this world. Every chapter brings new insight to the overarching plot, which is spearheaded by a mysterious figure who appears consistently in the background of all these characters: Amridan.
There's foreshadowing sprinkled throughout the chapters to allude to the ending, and I can't say I was floored by the twist, but I was definitely ah ha!'d by it in a satisfying way.
I'm not sure if the author is planning a book 2, I certainly hope, so as it is a bit open ended.
A few drawbacks I will mention are: the length, the timeskips here and there--for example: things would happen to one character in a chapter that related to something that happens to a different character in another chapter, and the relation wouldn't be entirely obvious unless you were paying close attention and inferred that there was a connection to be made.
So just keep those things in mind when you embark on these epic adventure. I say when, not if, because you really do not want to miss one.
August 17, 2023
“Gather everyone together; tell them it is time. We are going to kill a god.”
Compelling cover, catchy caption ( “What if the gods themselves wanted you dead?” ), and a captivating prologue – This is how this dark fantasy book started off for me. The first chapter started off in typical epic grimdark fantasy fashion. But that’s as far as my ‘typical’ assumption was allowed to last, from there everything about this novel was unique.
The second chapter had a guy who comes back to life whenever he’s killed, the third chapter had a dragon, the fourth chapter had spirit travel and so on… Twenty different chapters, twenty different characters, and twenty different super-powers. This was, in short, a fantastical twist on X-men meets Percy Jackson.
Initially, it took me a while to get into it because of the disjointed narrative structure; each chapter follows a different character. I persevered and my investment totally paid off. By 50% of the book, I was relishing the way the plot and world-building had to be unraveled. The author performs zero hand-holding stuff; the reader is thrown into the northern realms headlong and has to put together everything by piecing clues and tidbits from every chapter. It was akin to putting together a jigsaw puzzle and as with jigsaw puzzles, it was incredibly satisfying when the different pieces of the puzzle were clicking together in each chapter and the overarching plot started coming together. From chapter 12, the characters start overlapping and the multiple sub-plots start converging into the main plot and the whole book shifts to another gear. Particularly, there’s one explosive chapter (not the ending) where 6 characters come together that was just chef’s kiss.
The author definitely deserves plaudits for both the imagination & creativity to come up with 20 different superpowers each of which has a unique twist/limitation to them, and the execution – to tell 20 different storylines with each one having just one chapter to introduce the character, reveal the power, open a subplot, leave them in an “interesting” position while also managing to leave clues for the overarching plot to unfurl is masterful. For anyone who can persist through the initial disorientation of abruptly leaving and beginning new POVs, a very rich plot and world is present. The scope of the plot and the depth of the world that has been created is immense and there are many subplots left to tie up.
Some minor drawbacks include the prose feeling too wordy at places and the ending being rushed. The plot twist before the ending was done very well but the ending battle itself felt a bit anticlimactic after so many impressive series of events. The epilogue sets us up at a very nice place of foreshadowing for what is about to come and I hope the next book comes out soon.
Compelling cover, catchy caption ( “What if the gods themselves wanted you dead?” ), and a captivating prologue – This is how this dark fantasy book started off for me. The first chapter started off in typical epic grimdark fantasy fashion. But that’s as far as my ‘typical’ assumption was allowed to last, from there everything about this novel was unique.
The second chapter had a guy who comes back to life whenever he’s killed, the third chapter had a dragon, the fourth chapter had spirit travel and so on… Twenty different chapters, twenty different characters, and twenty different super-powers. This was, in short, a fantastical twist on X-men meets Percy Jackson.
Initially, it took me a while to get into it because of the disjointed narrative structure; each chapter follows a different character. I persevered and my investment totally paid off. By 50% of the book, I was relishing the way the plot and world-building had to be unraveled. The author performs zero hand-holding stuff; the reader is thrown into the northern realms headlong and has to put together everything by piecing clues and tidbits from every chapter. It was akin to putting together a jigsaw puzzle and as with jigsaw puzzles, it was incredibly satisfying when the different pieces of the puzzle were clicking together in each chapter and the overarching plot started coming together. From chapter 12, the characters start overlapping and the multiple sub-plots start converging into the main plot and the whole book shifts to another gear. Particularly, there’s one explosive chapter (not the ending) where 6 characters come together that was just chef’s kiss.
The author definitely deserves plaudits for both the imagination & creativity to come up with 20 different superpowers each of which has a unique twist/limitation to them, and the execution – to tell 20 different storylines with each one having just one chapter to introduce the character, reveal the power, open a subplot, leave them in an “interesting” position while also managing to leave clues for the overarching plot to unfurl is masterful. For anyone who can persist through the initial disorientation of abruptly leaving and beginning new POVs, a very rich plot and world is present. The scope of the plot and the depth of the world that has been created is immense and there are many subplots left to tie up.
Some minor drawbacks include the prose feeling too wordy at places and the ending being rushed. The plot twist before the ending was done very well but the ending battle itself felt a bit anticlimactic after so many impressive series of events. The epilogue sets us up at a very nice place of foreshadowing for what is about to come and I hope the next book comes out soon.
July 11, 2020
Shadowless by Randall McNally is dark fantasy with a little something different. Not the story itself, but the structure and execution. A novel in the form of twenty short stories strung together, Shadowless is a bold attempt to show there’s more than one way to tell a tale.
The aspect of this book that stands out the most, and has the greatest impact on the narrative is it’s structure. It isn’t one long narrative like most novels. Instead it is comprised of twenty short stories along with a prologue and epilogue. Twenty short stories each with their own narrative, protagonist, POV, etc. I want to point it out here at the outset so that you keep it in mind as I discuss everything else and then I’ll return the structure and whether it succeeded.
This short story format was a little strange at first and took a while to get used to. For about half the book it wasn’t evident how the stories connected apart from the overall device that children born of the gods have no shadow and they are hunted down by priests, the Shadow Watchers, and the gods themselves. They are feared in the land because anyone caught harboring one will be killed as well, even at times whole villages at once. As offspring of the gods they age very slowly, live for centuries, and develop godlike powers that grow stronger as they age. When they are killed their powers return to their godly parent which in turns makes the god grow stronger.
Each story focuses on one (at times more than one) shadowless character and some predicament they are in where their lives are in danger. As I mentioned, at first the stories don’t really seem connected apart from the fact that each one seems to offer up some additional detail about what it means to be shadowless. Over time though a broader narrative becomes evident and an actual connected plot does appear and with it the stakes are raised.
Normally I start with something about the protagonist and minor characters. That’s hard to do with this book. Each story in this book has a different POV protagonist. And there are a lot of characters. Every now and then a character from one story shows up in another. Some characters only seem to appear once, serve some purpose to illuminate some new aspect of the plot, and then are never seen again (often because they die). If there’s one character that shows up more than the others it’s probably the monk Amrodan. Yet I’d hesitate to call him the protagonist. In the overall story I don’t know that any one character can be labeled the main character or the one that the main narrative revolves around.
The world building in Shadowless is much like the structure. It comes in bits and pieces where you learn a little more with each succeeding story. The book is set in the Northern Realms, a land made up of numerous smaller countries. Each story is set largely within one of these smaller realms, often just within one city, town, wood, or home. It’s with the accumulation of these tales that the broader world building becomes evident. At the same time there isn’t a ton of depth to it. Each realm is pretty similar and could be easily switched out with another. Where some of the unique elements come in are in a few of the cities and towns.
The magic system is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the world building in Shadowless. Magic in this case is really the power of the gods. Each child of a god develops some godlike magical ability. It may be the ability to move really fast, slow time, shape shift, come back to life, or super human strength. Whatever the case, some essence of the parent god is given to their offspring and it grows in power over time. With it comes the reality that at some point the god will want it that power back. Once their son or daughter is killed the power, not stronger than before returns to the god making him even more powerful than before.
In terms of tone and theme Shadowless is a dark story. For most of the book there isn’t much in the way of hope. It’s one story after another of the shadowless being hunted down and killed, or being used for their abilities under threat of death.
The background to the story is dark too. Centuries ago the gods fought a civil war in which all of the female gods were killed. This also comes with a trigger warning. Since all the female gods were killed the male gods can only mate with female humans to produce children. They do so by raping them. This is an old story. It’s one told countless times by ancient civilizations, and depending on your point of view even in the Christ story. But it is definitely a narrative choice that will leave some readers unsure if they want to read the book. No rape scenes are depicted in the stories, but it is brought up in a number of them as an integral plot point. Add to that the knowledge that the human women do not survive childbirth and you’ve got an even darker story.
So you’ve got dark and traumatic origins and a harrowing existence that leads to certain death at the hands of your father or his followers and you end up with a pretty bleak story all told. Hope is pretty non-existent for the characters for much of the book. But it does appear. You just don’t really see it until you’re well into the story and even then there’s no guarantee things will work out in the end.
So…does it work? That’s the key question. And the answer for me is…kinda. Like with any book, readers won’t have the same reaction. Let me say first that I’m not typically a fan of short stories. So for me to like them they have to blow me away. I can’t say that any one story in this book blew me away. Some were good, others were a little flat, many were just fine. The writing was good, though at times it suffered from a little too much telling and not showing.
When strung together it’s kind of a mixed bag too. With this format you’re only with one character for a little while before moving on to another. You get one story that doesn’t seem to be fully resolved, then another, and then another, and so on. It takes a while for the overall connected narrative to begin to appear. Had I not been reading this as an author request I might have set it down and DNF’d it. I’m glad I didn’t because that integrated story became much more interesting as the final half to one-third of the book progressed. But even though I came to appreciate that overall narrative the sheer number of characters and structure of the book didn’t allow for much in the way of character growth and development. There was some, but it wasn’t profound. Likewise story arcs were less pronounced and while there may have been tension in individual stories the overall tension suffered.
Yet I really appreciated the attempt at creating an overall narrative through the use of short stories strung together. At times they were out of sync which did help to keep you guessing at what was happening. Each one doled out just a little bit more information to keep things moving along. And the conclusion definitely had some surprises. So overall…Shadowless is daring and succeeds in what I think McNally set out to do. Whether you enjoy it or not I think will ultimately come down to whether you enjoy short stories more than me and/or whether you like reading books that take risks in their storytelling structure and format. I encourage you to give it a try and see what you think.
I was sent a copy of this book for review by the author.
The aspect of this book that stands out the most, and has the greatest impact on the narrative is it’s structure. It isn’t one long narrative like most novels. Instead it is comprised of twenty short stories along with a prologue and epilogue. Twenty short stories each with their own narrative, protagonist, POV, etc. I want to point it out here at the outset so that you keep it in mind as I discuss everything else and then I’ll return the structure and whether it succeeded.
This short story format was a little strange at first and took a while to get used to. For about half the book it wasn’t evident how the stories connected apart from the overall device that children born of the gods have no shadow and they are hunted down by priests, the Shadow Watchers, and the gods themselves. They are feared in the land because anyone caught harboring one will be killed as well, even at times whole villages at once. As offspring of the gods they age very slowly, live for centuries, and develop godlike powers that grow stronger as they age. When they are killed their powers return to their godly parent which in turns makes the god grow stronger.
Each story focuses on one (at times more than one) shadowless character and some predicament they are in where their lives are in danger. As I mentioned, at first the stories don’t really seem connected apart from the fact that each one seems to offer up some additional detail about what it means to be shadowless. Over time though a broader narrative becomes evident and an actual connected plot does appear and with it the stakes are raised.
Normally I start with something about the protagonist and minor characters. That’s hard to do with this book. Each story in this book has a different POV protagonist. And there are a lot of characters. Every now and then a character from one story shows up in another. Some characters only seem to appear once, serve some purpose to illuminate some new aspect of the plot, and then are never seen again (often because they die). If there’s one character that shows up more than the others it’s probably the monk Amrodan. Yet I’d hesitate to call him the protagonist. In the overall story I don’t know that any one character can be labeled the main character or the one that the main narrative revolves around.
The world building in Shadowless is much like the structure. It comes in bits and pieces where you learn a little more with each succeeding story. The book is set in the Northern Realms, a land made up of numerous smaller countries. Each story is set largely within one of these smaller realms, often just within one city, town, wood, or home. It’s with the accumulation of these tales that the broader world building becomes evident. At the same time there isn’t a ton of depth to it. Each realm is pretty similar and could be easily switched out with another. Where some of the unique elements come in are in a few of the cities and towns.
The magic system is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the world building in Shadowless. Magic in this case is really the power of the gods. Each child of a god develops some godlike magical ability. It may be the ability to move really fast, slow time, shape shift, come back to life, or super human strength. Whatever the case, some essence of the parent god is given to their offspring and it grows in power over time. With it comes the reality that at some point the god will want it that power back. Once their son or daughter is killed the power, not stronger than before returns to the god making him even more powerful than before.
In terms of tone and theme Shadowless is a dark story. For most of the book there isn’t much in the way of hope. It’s one story after another of the shadowless being hunted down and killed, or being used for their abilities under threat of death.
The background to the story is dark too. Centuries ago the gods fought a civil war in which all of the female gods were killed. This also comes with a trigger warning. Since all the female gods were killed the male gods can only mate with female humans to produce children. They do so by raping them. This is an old story. It’s one told countless times by ancient civilizations, and depending on your point of view even in the Christ story. But it is definitely a narrative choice that will leave some readers unsure if they want to read the book. No rape scenes are depicted in the stories, but it is brought up in a number of them as an integral plot point. Add to that the knowledge that the human women do not survive childbirth and you’ve got an even darker story.
So you’ve got dark and traumatic origins and a harrowing existence that leads to certain death at the hands of your father or his followers and you end up with a pretty bleak story all told. Hope is pretty non-existent for the characters for much of the book. But it does appear. You just don’t really see it until you’re well into the story and even then there’s no guarantee things will work out in the end.
So…does it work? That’s the key question. And the answer for me is…kinda. Like with any book, readers won’t have the same reaction. Let me say first that I’m not typically a fan of short stories. So for me to like them they have to blow me away. I can’t say that any one story in this book blew me away. Some were good, others were a little flat, many were just fine. The writing was good, though at times it suffered from a little too much telling and not showing.
When strung together it’s kind of a mixed bag too. With this format you’re only with one character for a little while before moving on to another. You get one story that doesn’t seem to be fully resolved, then another, and then another, and so on. It takes a while for the overall connected narrative to begin to appear. Had I not been reading this as an author request I might have set it down and DNF’d it. I’m glad I didn’t because that integrated story became much more interesting as the final half to one-third of the book progressed. But even though I came to appreciate that overall narrative the sheer number of characters and structure of the book didn’t allow for much in the way of character growth and development. There was some, but it wasn’t profound. Likewise story arcs were less pronounced and while there may have been tension in individual stories the overall tension suffered.
Yet I really appreciated the attempt at creating an overall narrative through the use of short stories strung together. At times they were out of sync which did help to keep you guessing at what was happening. Each one doled out just a little bit more information to keep things moving along. And the conclusion definitely had some surprises. So overall…Shadowless is daring and succeeds in what I think McNally set out to do. Whether you enjoy it or not I think will ultimately come down to whether you enjoy short stories more than me and/or whether you like reading books that take risks in their storytelling structure and format. I encourage you to give it a try and see what you think.
I was sent a copy of this book for review by the author.
May 31, 2018
Dragons, infanticidal gods and powerful progeny, welcome to Shadowless. Congrats to my friend rand McNally on his first (of many I hope) book.
August 4, 2019
This is one of the most, if not the most, unique book I've read this year. I could say that this story is about children of evil Gods who are hunted by evil people because they are born Shadowless. The people who hunt them are attempting to appease the Gods pre-emptively, based on some bad past experience with protecting one of the Shadowless. Why? Because when these Gods create children, some of their power gets lost and given to the child, rendering them temporarily weaker than they'd like to be. However, as the child grows, the power grows and the God can reabsorb that power and become more powerful than before. The absorption concept is contingent on releasing the energy the child has, which is done through the killing of their offspring. Everyone lives in terror of the Gods, until a chosen one is born to change the future.
I could say... there, that's the story. But it's not. Not actually. The story is about 100 times more complicated.
I have to admit to waffling a bit on whether it was a four star book or a five, but I will explain that. See, the problem is that I really wanted this book to be 10 books. Instead, it's one incredibly dense volume. Yet, I almost feel like this book is a sampler, in a way. A tiny taste of this world that Randall McNally has crafted, and a big part of me really wishes that he'd taken each one of these interesting characters, and woven it into a really long, in-depth jaunt through this gigantic world. Then finally, some many books later, have them all meet up toward a final goal. When I'm of that mindset, it's a 4. When I remind myself that he could still break it all up into a ton of books just for this tiny piece of the story, leaving loads that could come after or before, I'm back at a 5 again.
This is like randomly picking up the Silmarillion and getting introduced to a world in which you are left wanting so much more from it all because you sampled several small stories. I will take a moment to mention that I don't make Tolkien comparisons often.
I loved so much about the world, and in it found so much darkness and devastation, that it makes you feel like you're stepping into a moment in time in which everything is at it's very lowest, and you are only able to go up from there. Which is good, because it creates a concept of hope for a better future for the people of that world. Particularly, for the Shadowless.
I could say... there, that's the story. But it's not. Not actually. The story is about 100 times more complicated.
I have to admit to waffling a bit on whether it was a four star book or a five, but I will explain that. See, the problem is that I really wanted this book to be 10 books. Instead, it's one incredibly dense volume. Yet, I almost feel like this book is a sampler, in a way. A tiny taste of this world that Randall McNally has crafted, and a big part of me really wishes that he'd taken each one of these interesting characters, and woven it into a really long, in-depth jaunt through this gigantic world. Then finally, some many books later, have them all meet up toward a final goal. When I'm of that mindset, it's a 4. When I remind myself that he could still break it all up into a ton of books just for this tiny piece of the story, leaving loads that could come after or before, I'm back at a 5 again.
This is like randomly picking up the Silmarillion and getting introduced to a world in which you are left wanting so much more from it all because you sampled several small stories. I will take a moment to mention that I don't make Tolkien comparisons often.
I loved so much about the world, and in it found so much darkness and devastation, that it makes you feel like you're stepping into a moment in time in which everything is at it's very lowest, and you are only able to go up from there. Which is good, because it creates a concept of hope for a better future for the people of that world. Particularly, for the Shadowless.
September 11, 2022
an interesting fantasy but didn’t flow for me
I liked thIs book but expected more. I wasn’t a fan of all the many characters with their individual chapters. So it read like a bunch of short stories, and you just wanted to get to the juicy part. That writing choice for almost half the book just didn’t work for me. However the characters had unique talents, and some things reminded me of popular cultural movies or musical shows I’ve seen.
A few little things bothered me. I thought Pandimonia agreed way too quickly to leave her way of life and go to the other Shadowless. Also the chapter with Clanitâr didn’t seem to go anywhere. I didn’t understand the point of that chapter. But there was a famous line quoted from an old movie that I recognized.
In fact there was a bit of humor here and it didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the atmosphere created throughout the book. Even the revelation of Amrodan’s place in the scheme didn’t excite me. Maybe it was the way it was revealed? I felt a bit letdown at the end.
But it was an enjoyable read and others might not be put off by the writing choices as described above. The Shadowless characters were very good and had great stories within each of their chapters.
I liked thIs book but expected more. I wasn’t a fan of all the many characters with their individual chapters. So it read like a bunch of short stories, and you just wanted to get to the juicy part. That writing choice for almost half the book just didn’t work for me. However the characters had unique talents, and some things reminded me of popular cultural movies or musical shows I’ve seen.
A few little things bothered me. I thought Pandimonia agreed way too quickly to leave her way of life and go to the other Shadowless. Also the chapter with Clanitâr didn’t seem to go anywhere. I didn’t understand the point of that chapter. But there was a famous line quoted from an old movie that I recognized.
In fact there was a bit of humor here and it didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the atmosphere created throughout the book. Even the revelation of Amrodan’s place in the scheme didn’t excite me. Maybe it was the way it was revealed? I felt a bit letdown at the end.
But it was an enjoyable read and others might not be put off by the writing choices as described above. The Shadowless characters were very good and had great stories within each of their chapters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 20, 2022
Received arc from Netgalley for honest read and review.I don't really know what to make of this one,the premise was good ,but I couldn't really get into it.Seemed to jump about too much for me.
January 17, 2023
Shadowless is a plethora of interesting short stories that loosely connect and, eventually, lead to a climax that (for me) seemed to come and go a little too quickly. For the amount of build-up associated with the shadowless's plan, the execution of the plan in a single chapter seemed to go by very quickly, especially compared to some of the other longer chapters devoted to the individual shadowless's stories/origins.
First off, the chapters (and by extension, the shadowless's individual stories/powers) were easily the highlight for me. Learning about the different regions in the Northern Realms, the peoples/places that reside in them, and the various political/cultural issues were handled well, in my opinion. Some of the quirkier/colorful characters definitely struck a chord with me. Ex: Little Dorrin's Shop of Horrors, Teenage Mutant NinjaTrisodulous, and Plague Daddy Clanitar. 😂
Where I struggled with this novel was with some of the choices with the prose. (ex: swapping between various POVs within these self-contained short stories.)
I also had to change my expectations from what I initially had going in, as I didn't expect it to be a book of short stories, which it undoubtedly is, introducing new shadowless with their own named chapters all the way up to the penultimate chapter.
Because of this structure, I found it hard to binge-read, as I had to refocus attention on an almost entirely new cast of characters every chapter. That being said, there are staple characters that appear in multiple chapters and act as the "glue" to this story (ex: Amrodan.)
On a more positive note, I thoroughly enjoyed these stories as small, digestible tales which are fine, engaging narratives in their own right.
For me, if this was marketed as a loosely connected anthology instead of a standalone novel, I would've probably had a much smoother time with it, knowing what to expect instead of wondering if the story would come together as I started each new chapter. Elements of the story do connect through the chapters and I appreciate how the novel weaves the narrative through multiple time jumps forward and backward. That was satisfying and impressive. Overall, this was a 3.5/5 read for me, though good enough to round up to 4
First off, the chapters (and by extension, the shadowless's individual stories/powers) were easily the highlight for me. Learning about the different regions in the Northern Realms, the peoples/places that reside in them, and the various political/cultural issues were handled well, in my opinion. Some of the quirkier/colorful characters definitely struck a chord with me. Ex: Little Dorrin's Shop of Horrors, Teenage Mutant NinjaTrisodulous, and Plague Daddy Clanitar. 😂
Where I struggled with this novel was with some of the choices with the prose. (ex: swapping between various POVs within these self-contained short stories.)
I also had to change my expectations from what I initially had going in, as I didn't expect it to be a book of short stories, which it undoubtedly is, introducing new shadowless with their own named chapters all the way up to the penultimate chapter.
Because of this structure, I found it hard to binge-read, as I had to refocus attention on an almost entirely new cast of characters every chapter. That being said, there are staple characters that appear in multiple chapters and act as the "glue" to this story (ex: Amrodan.)
On a more positive note, I thoroughly enjoyed these stories as small, digestible tales which are fine, engaging narratives in their own right.
For me, if this was marketed as a loosely connected anthology instead of a standalone novel, I would've probably had a much smoother time with it, knowing what to expect instead of wondering if the story would come together as I started each new chapter. Elements of the story do connect through the chapters and I appreciate how the novel weaves the narrative through multiple time jumps forward and backward. That was satisfying and impressive. Overall, this was a 3.5/5 read for me, though good enough to round up to 4
May 28, 2018
The plot and writing style of this book was amazing. I am an avid reader of fantasy novels and this book did not disappoint. the half god/ half human thing is something i always enjoy reading about especially since im really big into mythology. I also like how you get a good point of view perspective of each character. Not something a lot of people care for in books but I love it personally. I like knowing what each character is doing and how they play a part in the unfolding story versus just from the main character's point of view. I also feel it gives better detail to why a character does what they do. The characters and the plot were very well-developed and easy to follow (we all know that sometimes fantasy can get a little chaotic). This book was fun to read, unique, and I can't wait for more works by this author. Everything about the book and the author himself was awesome.
June 15, 2018
Always great to see a new concept in a fantasy book. the way the gods increase their power is pretty cool. Length of book is good with plenty of reading in it. points of view from lots of different characters. Great first novel, add to your reading lists people!
January 18, 2019
What a debut book!
This is the best book I’ve read in a long time! Without a shadow of a doubt... 👀 If you like fantasy à la Tolkien and Martin you will love this. The only question is Rand... when are we getting volume 2??!!
This is the best book I’ve read in a long time! Without a shadow of a doubt... 👀 If you like fantasy à la Tolkien and Martin you will love this. The only question is Rand... when are we getting volume 2??!!
September 11, 2019
This has been a fairly good read. I have to admit I have enjoyed it more than I had initially thought. I did find it confusing in the beginning to understand but once the storylines merged things became much clearer.
April 15, 2020
I was provided a free E-book version in exchange for an honest review.
There is a lot one can say about the endless possibilities the fantasy genre can provide. It seems like every time you pick up a new fantasy book, you are daring to get sucked into a whole new world and allowing yourself to get lost until the last page is turned.
I assure you, if you pick up Randall McNally's Shadowless, you are going to find yourself lost for a very long time!
Clocking in at a monstrous 499 pages, this elaborate fantasy epic is a masterpiece in world-building, flowing narrative, unforgettable characters, and a plot of numerous, gratifying layers. The reader is given an advantage in the way McNally wrote Shadowless. The chapters are crafted in such a way that it is easy to put the book down when you are finished one of them. Considering the overall length of the book, this format was very much appreciated. Meticulously crafted into twenty chapters, the book reads more like a series of short stories; the first nineteen for them featuring and introducing various people known as The Shadowless.
The book gives it to you straight away in chapter one: Shadowless are children who were fathered by various gods, yet birthed by a human mother. They are born with a portion of the deity's power, which manifests in ways related to the god. Each has their own unique powers and drawbacks, but one drawback remains the same among all of these half-god children: It is impossible for them to cast a shadow; making them easily identifiable no matter how hard they try to hide their power.
As I said, each chapter introduces a new Shadowless, each delightfully unique in their character, lifestyle, occupation, and of course their powers. As you read through each of their stories, McNally's great attention to detail to emphasize the nuances of the Northern Realms shines bright. With each of the characters' steps forward, you truly feel like you are in this world, watching all of this happen.
Another beautiful thing about the book is how often the author rewards you for paying attention. There are so many instances throughout the book where you can see the tales of these Shadowless overlapping. I lost track of the number of times I tilted my head back with my mouth agape going, "Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....." Each time it happened made me want to actively take in even the slightest details as I continued forward.
I'm trying to do my best to be as thorough as I can about my thoughts on this book without spoiling too much. So many exciting, wonderful, and tragic happenings occur to and around the various characters that you want to step into the fray and root for every single one of them. Once I was deep into the book, and saw the Shadowless being gradually introduced and gathered together, I was so eager to see how the climax played out. I could not wait to see all of the characters persevere and triumph against all of the odds their world had stacked against them. I wanted them to fight hard and win!
Except the botanist. Screw that guy!
Shadowless will leave you satisfied and exhausted. But it's the best kind of exhausted. You will experience a unique blend of action, tension, and emotion that very few indie authors—if any at all—could possibly replicate. Everything about Shadowless is beautiful. If fantasy is your genre of choice, you would be doing yourself a tremendous disservice by passing it by. It is a story to be taken in, savored, and enjoyed.
Make it your next big read, ASAP.
There is a lot one can say about the endless possibilities the fantasy genre can provide. It seems like every time you pick up a new fantasy book, you are daring to get sucked into a whole new world and allowing yourself to get lost until the last page is turned.
I assure you, if you pick up Randall McNally's Shadowless, you are going to find yourself lost for a very long time!
Clocking in at a monstrous 499 pages, this elaborate fantasy epic is a masterpiece in world-building, flowing narrative, unforgettable characters, and a plot of numerous, gratifying layers. The reader is given an advantage in the way McNally wrote Shadowless. The chapters are crafted in such a way that it is easy to put the book down when you are finished one of them. Considering the overall length of the book, this format was very much appreciated. Meticulously crafted into twenty chapters, the book reads more like a series of short stories; the first nineteen for them featuring and introducing various people known as The Shadowless.
The book gives it to you straight away in chapter one: Shadowless are children who were fathered by various gods, yet birthed by a human mother. They are born with a portion of the deity's power, which manifests in ways related to the god. Each has their own unique powers and drawbacks, but one drawback remains the same among all of these half-god children: It is impossible for them to cast a shadow; making them easily identifiable no matter how hard they try to hide their power.
As I said, each chapter introduces a new Shadowless, each delightfully unique in their character, lifestyle, occupation, and of course their powers. As you read through each of their stories, McNally's great attention to detail to emphasize the nuances of the Northern Realms shines bright. With each of the characters' steps forward, you truly feel like you are in this world, watching all of this happen.
Another beautiful thing about the book is how often the author rewards you for paying attention. There are so many instances throughout the book where you can see the tales of these Shadowless overlapping. I lost track of the number of times I tilted my head back with my mouth agape going, "Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....." Each time it happened made me want to actively take in even the slightest details as I continued forward.
I'm trying to do my best to be as thorough as I can about my thoughts on this book without spoiling too much. So many exciting, wonderful, and tragic happenings occur to and around the various characters that you want to step into the fray and root for every single one of them. Once I was deep into the book, and saw the Shadowless being gradually introduced and gathered together, I was so eager to see how the climax played out. I could not wait to see all of the characters persevere and triumph against all of the odds their world had stacked against them. I wanted them to fight hard and win!
Except the botanist. Screw that guy!
Shadowless will leave you satisfied and exhausted. But it's the best kind of exhausted. You will experience a unique blend of action, tension, and emotion that very few indie authors—if any at all—could possibly replicate. Everything about Shadowless is beautiful. If fantasy is your genre of choice, you would be doing yourself a tremendous disservice by passing it by. It is a story to be taken in, savored, and enjoyed.
Make it your next big read, ASAP.
May 8, 2020
Okay, I have to start this out with a lot of explaining so you can get a feel for this book. I will say now that it was rough to get through, but the writing style is worth the read.
In this book, there is a great war between the gods resulting in all the goddesses being killed. With the lack of women for the gods to do as they please, the gods turn to the mortal women of the land to please themselves. Upon these unions, children are born. Those children with a god as their father are born without shadows, known as the Shadowless. When they are born, a portion of their father’s godly powers transfers to the child. As the child grows, so do the powers.
If the child is not killed by those who discover the shadowless creatures, the gods hunt them to gain power. Once the child dies, the power returns to the father, making the god more powerful. They are viewed as bad luck, and the priests of the land often kill them upon discovery. This group is known as the Shadow Watchers.
The Shadow Watchers are run by high priests who have aligned themselves with a god. They kill the gods offspring in hopes of pleasing the gods and keeping in their good graces.
The Shadowless, at least those that survive long enough to understand life, just want to live in peace. One man, Brother Amrodan, is gathering a group of Shadowless in hopes of destroying the gods one by one. He has seen a prophecy of a boy that will aid them in their efforts.
Each chapter for the first half of the book is a short story of different people who are Shadowless. In the second half, those stories are tied together. Through every story, the main goal of the story is progressed through the individual stories. It has been fascinating to watch each story form into another. It is mentioned that they have travelled in similar areas, or even the same towns, but it isn’t until the second half that they start really lacing together. I loved the turns this book has taken.
While this is a unique way of writing, I can see how a lot of people won’t enjoy it. The first quarter is rough to get through. As a reader I felt very betrayed and worried I’d never see these characters again, but once you reach the halfway point, everything is made clear. I’d give this book a three star because it did take so long to really invest me in the overall storyline. This was not one of my favorite books, but it wasn’t a bad book either. Randall McNally stayed true to the fantasy genre and the lore he created for the world. As a writer I can appreciate the creativity that went into creating this novel, and I do like his writing style. Although, I would have prefered if there were four or less main characters to keep track of. I can’t tell you how many were in this book, there were just too many.
There was a lot of mystery and adventure in the second half of the book. It was nice to slow down with the beginning and really learn the world. Fantasy tends to focus a lot on history and I have always enjoyed learning about the history of a place. Overall I think this was a nice book, a good break from the other genres I’ve been reading.
Lily Ashtree
In this book, there is a great war between the gods resulting in all the goddesses being killed. With the lack of women for the gods to do as they please, the gods turn to the mortal women of the land to please themselves. Upon these unions, children are born. Those children with a god as their father are born without shadows, known as the Shadowless. When they are born, a portion of their father’s godly powers transfers to the child. As the child grows, so do the powers.
If the child is not killed by those who discover the shadowless creatures, the gods hunt them to gain power. Once the child dies, the power returns to the father, making the god more powerful. They are viewed as bad luck, and the priests of the land often kill them upon discovery. This group is known as the Shadow Watchers.
The Shadow Watchers are run by high priests who have aligned themselves with a god. They kill the gods offspring in hopes of pleasing the gods and keeping in their good graces.
The Shadowless, at least those that survive long enough to understand life, just want to live in peace. One man, Brother Amrodan, is gathering a group of Shadowless in hopes of destroying the gods one by one. He has seen a prophecy of a boy that will aid them in their efforts.
Each chapter for the first half of the book is a short story of different people who are Shadowless. In the second half, those stories are tied together. Through every story, the main goal of the story is progressed through the individual stories. It has been fascinating to watch each story form into another. It is mentioned that they have travelled in similar areas, or even the same towns, but it isn’t until the second half that they start really lacing together. I loved the turns this book has taken.
While this is a unique way of writing, I can see how a lot of people won’t enjoy it. The first quarter is rough to get through. As a reader I felt very betrayed and worried I’d never see these characters again, but once you reach the halfway point, everything is made clear. I’d give this book a three star because it did take so long to really invest me in the overall storyline. This was not one of my favorite books, but it wasn’t a bad book either. Randall McNally stayed true to the fantasy genre and the lore he created for the world. As a writer I can appreciate the creativity that went into creating this novel, and I do like his writing style. Although, I would have prefered if there were four or less main characters to keep track of. I can’t tell you how many were in this book, there were just too many.
There was a lot of mystery and adventure in the second half of the book. It was nice to slow down with the beginning and really learn the world. Fantasy tends to focus a lot on history and I have always enjoyed learning about the history of a place. Overall I think this was a nice book, a good break from the other genres I’ve been reading.
Lily Ashtree
January 25, 2023
One look at this book and you’ll know exactly what kind of story to expect, with a concept that’s as foreboding as it is terrifying for all of us puny mortals: what do you do when even the gods want you dead? And I am absolutely here for it!
The book is written like a series of short stories set in the same world. There is a thread that ties it all together, but we don’t see the effects of it until the third act when it very quickly draws the pieces together into an exquisite whole.
Without spoiling too much, I thoroughly enjoyed how everything from characters to minute details I’d half forgotten was brought together in a storm of suspense and action, well worth the journey to get there.
There were a plethora of characters to follow, including our hero Arpherius, ranging from the adorably (and tragically) optimistic, to some of the slimmest villains I’ve ever seen.
I especially loved the vast array of powers each Shadowless possessed, which both complimented and shaped each character in ways I wasn’t always expecting. Arpherius probably had my favourite ability of all the Shadowless, befitting the central hero of our story, but his was far from the most unique.
There are elemental wielders, soothsayers, storms in human form; shapeshifters, death dealers, voices that can smash stones, and even walking plagues, to name a few. And that’s just their magic!
Each of the Shadowless are as unique as their given powers, and all of them have their chance to shine as they try (and sometimes fail) to find a place in a world that feels determined to see them dead.
It brings to mind the multi-character perspectives of books like Game of Thrones: if you don’t enjoy one character, there’s another you’ll absolutely adore just waiting in the next chapter.
However, I do wish there was a little bit more of a single flowing narrative from the very beginning as well. While I love the varied perspectives, the reader is introduced to a lot of characters, with stories that jump back and forth across decades of time.
I found it difficult to keep track of everyone, especially towards the build up to the climax, and more than once I had to backtrack to previous chapters just to remember who was who.
Again, I liked the execution overall, but some parts of the narrative just felt disconnected from the whole; detours on the road to the main story, rather than building on each other to pave the way forward.
A powerful and gripping story, Shadowless has a highly ambitious concept and a fantastic narrative that comes together with colossal force at the end, even if it stumbles a bit along the way.
Overall I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun adventure with an incredible cast of characters and the perfect touch of grimdark aesthetic.
It also looks like the author is planning for a sequel (and how dare you bait me with a cliff hanger like that!) so I’ll be looking forward to what happens next.
The book is written like a series of short stories set in the same world. There is a thread that ties it all together, but we don’t see the effects of it until the third act when it very quickly draws the pieces together into an exquisite whole.
Without spoiling too much, I thoroughly enjoyed how everything from characters to minute details I’d half forgotten was brought together in a storm of suspense and action, well worth the journey to get there.
There were a plethora of characters to follow, including our hero Arpherius, ranging from the adorably (and tragically) optimistic, to some of the slimmest villains I’ve ever seen.
I especially loved the vast array of powers each Shadowless possessed, which both complimented and shaped each character in ways I wasn’t always expecting. Arpherius probably had my favourite ability of all the Shadowless, befitting the central hero of our story, but his was far from the most unique.
There are elemental wielders, soothsayers, storms in human form; shapeshifters, death dealers, voices that can smash stones, and even walking plagues, to name a few. And that’s just their magic!
Each of the Shadowless are as unique as their given powers, and all of them have their chance to shine as they try (and sometimes fail) to find a place in a world that feels determined to see them dead.
It brings to mind the multi-character perspectives of books like Game of Thrones: if you don’t enjoy one character, there’s another you’ll absolutely adore just waiting in the next chapter.
However, I do wish there was a little bit more of a single flowing narrative from the very beginning as well. While I love the varied perspectives, the reader is introduced to a lot of characters, with stories that jump back and forth across decades of time.
I found it difficult to keep track of everyone, especially towards the build up to the climax, and more than once I had to backtrack to previous chapters just to remember who was who.
Again, I liked the execution overall, but some parts of the narrative just felt disconnected from the whole; detours on the road to the main story, rather than building on each other to pave the way forward.
A powerful and gripping story, Shadowless has a highly ambitious concept and a fantastic narrative that comes together with colossal force at the end, even if it stumbles a bit along the way.
Overall I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun adventure with an incredible cast of characters and the perfect touch of grimdark aesthetic.
It also looks like the author is planning for a sequel (and how dare you bait me with a cliff hanger like that!) so I’ll be looking forward to what happens next.
December 23, 2020
A huge thank you to the author, Randall, for contacting me and sending me this book!
Welcome to a land of gods and monsters, magical beings and us mere mortals - where you never quite know who's on which side.
'Shadowless' is a behemoth of a book, a continuously twisting narrative guides us through the world of the Shadowless, beings fathered by gods, unwittingly granted powers, and without a shadow. But also, hunted. The gods would like their power back, and the only way to do that is by killing their children, unleashing more power than they original gave, making them stronger and everlasting.
I really enjoyed reading Shadowless, learning about all the different characters, what they can do (turning invisible, shapeshifting to name a few) and how their lives come together. The world of the Shadowless is vast and exciting, but also dangerous.
I liked that although the differing powers of the Shadowless might at first seem like the cliché superhero powers, the author put their own spin on each one. For example, one can be invisible but can only do so at great speed. I thought this was a clever way of introducing something new to the genre and avoiding run of the mill stuff.
I will admit to being slightly overwhelmed by the number of characters and trying to keep up with them all, some I had clean forgotten their backstories when the conclusion came around, but others were vibrant and demanded attention which helped. Characters are well written and rounded with believable backstories and motivations, even the evil ones! They blend well with their surroundings, and world building which is very effective. I enjoyed learning about all the different places and their landscapes, the inhabitants (dragons!) and flora and fauna. I thought the world as a whole sounded vibrant and real, which was excellent, but I found the writing a little too descriptive in some minor areas, particularly the beginning, though I stopped noticing it the further I got into the book.
I liked the changing viewpoints, though might have benefitted from revisiting a few of the characters after their introduction and before the end. I wonder if the author is setting up for more books, as there was one character I thought we would come across in the end but never did. On the whole I found each person to be unique and interesting and made me want to keep reading.
The lore, too, seems well done, I loved the inclusion of dragons (exceptionally well done) and contrasting cast of characters.
Overall I think this is a good debut - engaging and intriguing - and it was a book I kept wanting to read more of which is always a positive.
Though it could benefit from a few small refinements I believe it stands well on its own and is great for anyone looking to get into fantasy - as the switching viewpoints makes it easy to dip in an out of.
Welcome to a land of gods and monsters, magical beings and us mere mortals - where you never quite know who's on which side.
'Shadowless' is a behemoth of a book, a continuously twisting narrative guides us through the world of the Shadowless, beings fathered by gods, unwittingly granted powers, and without a shadow. But also, hunted. The gods would like their power back, and the only way to do that is by killing their children, unleashing more power than they original gave, making them stronger and everlasting.
I really enjoyed reading Shadowless, learning about all the different characters, what they can do (turning invisible, shapeshifting to name a few) and how their lives come together. The world of the Shadowless is vast and exciting, but also dangerous.
I liked that although the differing powers of the Shadowless might at first seem like the cliché superhero powers, the author put their own spin on each one. For example, one can be invisible but can only do so at great speed. I thought this was a clever way of introducing something new to the genre and avoiding run of the mill stuff.
I will admit to being slightly overwhelmed by the number of characters and trying to keep up with them all, some I had clean forgotten their backstories when the conclusion came around, but others were vibrant and demanded attention which helped. Characters are well written and rounded with believable backstories and motivations, even the evil ones! They blend well with their surroundings, and world building which is very effective. I enjoyed learning about all the different places and their landscapes, the inhabitants (dragons!) and flora and fauna. I thought the world as a whole sounded vibrant and real, which was excellent, but I found the writing a little too descriptive in some minor areas, particularly the beginning, though I stopped noticing it the further I got into the book.
I liked the changing viewpoints, though might have benefitted from revisiting a few of the characters after their introduction and before the end. I wonder if the author is setting up for more books, as there was one character I thought we would come across in the end but never did. On the whole I found each person to be unique and interesting and made me want to keep reading.
The lore, too, seems well done, I loved the inclusion of dragons (exceptionally well done) and contrasting cast of characters.
Overall I think this is a good debut - engaging and intriguing - and it was a book I kept wanting to read more of which is always a positive.
Though it could benefit from a few small refinements I believe it stands well on its own and is great for anyone looking to get into fantasy - as the switching viewpoints makes it easy to dip in an out of.
July 26, 2020
My thanks to Netgalley, and to Randall McNally for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sensitvity warning - there is infrequent profanity and references to rape, although the act is only mentioned, never described.
An unknown figure gets a sign that a prophesied 'Shadowmancer' has been born, Arpherius is a young boy being brought up my his uncle in a small peninsula, and is banned from entering the sea. He finds a new way of asking why as often as he can, until he finally asks why he doesn't have a shadow and is told the truth. He is a child of a god; his father raped his mother and his "uncle" Barranos was her husband. As the chapters continue new Shadowless are introduced with their own powers, along with tidbits of the lore. The children of these unions have a portion of their fathers' power and age slowly, so are hunted by Shadow Hunters, ousted or used by the people or they live in isolation, or are protected by those willing to do so despite the threat of being killed on discovery. Some kill to survive while others enjoy it. Even their knowledge of their heritage varies greatly The underlying plot begins to emerge as a battle to bring down a god, led by the monk Amrodan.
There are a large number of characters in this book, as each Shadowless is introduced and enlisted to help. It can make keeping who's who straight in the earlier chapters a bit tricky, and more than once when they appeared again I had to take a minute to remember who they are. What this does though, is it puts each one in their own context. They all have their own problems and means of coping; some hide away, and others don't. The way each chapter opens up the world is a new approach I've never seen before but once I realised what it was doing, I enjoyed it. In many ways, the characters are learning about the world, and the eventual battle, at the same time the reader is. The ending leaves a sequel possible but at this time I don't know if one is planned or not.
As well as a variety of characters, which I think were all well written and fleshed out, the descriptions of the world were very in-depth, especially where colour is concerned. I could see, smell and feel the world as it was being built. The result is an extremely rich world with varied landscapes for each location, befitting the people living in it. Here is where the book excelled for me. The plot appears to be extremely complicated but it isn't as the story unfolds. There were times in the first half where I was wondering where it was going and although it isn't a slow burner because each chapter is jam-packed, it does take time for the details and characters to begin crossing over. In time it does, and I found it an accomplished work being able to weave these stories together, although I wouldn't be too surprised if some other readers stopped reading due to the lack of apparent overarching plot. Until this point it reads like a series of short stories, each dealing with a different Shadowless in their own struggles.
All in all, Shadowless does take a bit of effort, but it's worthwhile effort. By that I don't mean it's difficult to read, just that it takes patience for everything to start becoming clear. It's still a well put together and highly enjoyable read. The listing says it's for ages 13-18 and I'd agree that 13 would be the minimum, although I didn't consider it a YA book so adults would enjoy it too. I don't remember reading a book with a similar premise before, and I certainly haven't written one with this approach of introducing everything. It's a lot to take in to understand but the way it's done works well. I wasn't quite waiting with bated breath to see what happened next, but I enjoyed it more and more as the book progressed. I hope to see more from Randall McNally, and the world he has created.
Merged review:
Sensitvity warning - there is infrequent profanity and references to rape, although the act is only mentioned, never described. An unknown figure gets a sign that a prophesied 'Shadowmancer' has been born, Arpherius is a young boy being brought up my his uncle in a small peninsula, and is banned from entering the sea. He finds a new way of asking why as often as he can, until he finally asks why he doesn't have a shadow and is told the truth. He is a child of a god; his father raped his mother and his "uncle" Barranos was her husband. As the chapters continue new Shadowless are introduced with their own powers, along with tidbits of the lore. The children of these unions have a portion of their fathers' power and age slowly, so are hunted by Shadow Hunters, ousted or used by the people or they live in isolation, or are protected by those willing to do so despite the threat of being killed on discovery. Some kill to survive while others enjoy it. Even their knowledge of their heritage varies greatly The underlying plot begins to emerge as a battle to bring down a god, led by the monk Amrodan.
There are a large number of characters in this book, as each Shadowless is introduced and enlisted to help. It can make keeping who's who straight in the earlier chapters a bit tricky, and more than once when they appeared again I had to take a minute to remember who they are. What this does though, is it puts each one in their own context. They all have their own problems and means of coping; some hide away, and others don't. The way each chapter opens up the world is a new approach I've never seen before but once I realised what it was doing, I enjoyed it. In many ways, the characters are learning about the world, and the eventual battle, at the same time the reader is. The ending leaves a sequel possible but at this time I don't know if one is planned or not.
As well as a variety of characters, which I think were all well written and fleshed out, the descriptions of the world were very in-depth, especially where colour is concerned. I could see, smell and feel the world as it was being built. The result is an extremely rich world with varied landscapes for each location, befitting the people living in it. Here is where the book excelled for me. The plot appears to be extremely complicated but it isn't as the story unfolds. There were times in the first half where I was wondering where it was going and although it isn't a slow burner because each chapter is jam-packed, it does take time for the details and characters to begin crossing over. In time it does, and I found it an accomplished work being able to weave these stories together, although I wouldn't be too surprised if some other readers stopped reading due to the lack of apparent overarching plot. Until this point it reads like a series of short stories, each dealing with a different Shadowless in their own struggles.
All in all, Shadowless does take a bit of effort, but it's worthwhile effort. By that I don't mean it's difficult to read, just that it takes patience for everything to start becoming clear. It's still a well put together and highly enjoyable read. The listing says it's for ages 13-18 and I'd agree that 13 would be the minimum, although I didn't consider it a YA book so adults would enjoy it too. I don't remember reading a book with a similar premise before, and I certainly haven't written one with this approach of introducing everything.
It's a lot to take in to understand but the way it's done works well. I wasn't quite waiting with bated breath to see what happened next, but I enjoyed it more and more as the book progressed. I hope to see more from Randall McNally, and the world he has created.
Sensitvity warning - there is infrequent profanity and references to rape, although the act is only mentioned, never described.
An unknown figure gets a sign that a prophesied 'Shadowmancer' has been born, Arpherius is a young boy being brought up my his uncle in a small peninsula, and is banned from entering the sea. He finds a new way of asking why as often as he can, until he finally asks why he doesn't have a shadow and is told the truth. He is a child of a god; his father raped his mother and his "uncle" Barranos was her husband. As the chapters continue new Shadowless are introduced with their own powers, along with tidbits of the lore. The children of these unions have a portion of their fathers' power and age slowly, so are hunted by Shadow Hunters, ousted or used by the people or they live in isolation, or are protected by those willing to do so despite the threat of being killed on discovery. Some kill to survive while others enjoy it. Even their knowledge of their heritage varies greatly The underlying plot begins to emerge as a battle to bring down a god, led by the monk Amrodan.
There are a large number of characters in this book, as each Shadowless is introduced and enlisted to help. It can make keeping who's who straight in the earlier chapters a bit tricky, and more than once when they appeared again I had to take a minute to remember who they are. What this does though, is it puts each one in their own context. They all have their own problems and means of coping; some hide away, and others don't. The way each chapter opens up the world is a new approach I've never seen before but once I realised what it was doing, I enjoyed it. In many ways, the characters are learning about the world, and the eventual battle, at the same time the reader is. The ending leaves a sequel possible but at this time I don't know if one is planned or not.
As well as a variety of characters, which I think were all well written and fleshed out, the descriptions of the world were very in-depth, especially where colour is concerned. I could see, smell and feel the world as it was being built. The result is an extremely rich world with varied landscapes for each location, befitting the people living in it. Here is where the book excelled for me. The plot appears to be extremely complicated but it isn't as the story unfolds. There were times in the first half where I was wondering where it was going and although it isn't a slow burner because each chapter is jam-packed, it does take time for the details and characters to begin crossing over. In time it does, and I found it an accomplished work being able to weave these stories together, although I wouldn't be too surprised if some other readers stopped reading due to the lack of apparent overarching plot. Until this point it reads like a series of short stories, each dealing with a different Shadowless in their own struggles.
All in all, Shadowless does take a bit of effort, but it's worthwhile effort. By that I don't mean it's difficult to read, just that it takes patience for everything to start becoming clear. It's still a well put together and highly enjoyable read. The listing says it's for ages 13-18 and I'd agree that 13 would be the minimum, although I didn't consider it a YA book so adults would enjoy it too. I don't remember reading a book with a similar premise before, and I certainly haven't written one with this approach of introducing everything. It's a lot to take in to understand but the way it's done works well. I wasn't quite waiting with bated breath to see what happened next, but I enjoyed it more and more as the book progressed. I hope to see more from Randall McNally, and the world he has created.
Merged review:
Sensitvity warning - there is infrequent profanity and references to rape, although the act is only mentioned, never described. An unknown figure gets a sign that a prophesied 'Shadowmancer' has been born, Arpherius is a young boy being brought up my his uncle in a small peninsula, and is banned from entering the sea. He finds a new way of asking why as often as he can, until he finally asks why he doesn't have a shadow and is told the truth. He is a child of a god; his father raped his mother and his "uncle" Barranos was her husband. As the chapters continue new Shadowless are introduced with their own powers, along with tidbits of the lore. The children of these unions have a portion of their fathers' power and age slowly, so are hunted by Shadow Hunters, ousted or used by the people or they live in isolation, or are protected by those willing to do so despite the threat of being killed on discovery. Some kill to survive while others enjoy it. Even their knowledge of their heritage varies greatly The underlying plot begins to emerge as a battle to bring down a god, led by the monk Amrodan.
There are a large number of characters in this book, as each Shadowless is introduced and enlisted to help. It can make keeping who's who straight in the earlier chapters a bit tricky, and more than once when they appeared again I had to take a minute to remember who they are. What this does though, is it puts each one in their own context. They all have their own problems and means of coping; some hide away, and others don't. The way each chapter opens up the world is a new approach I've never seen before but once I realised what it was doing, I enjoyed it. In many ways, the characters are learning about the world, and the eventual battle, at the same time the reader is. The ending leaves a sequel possible but at this time I don't know if one is planned or not.
As well as a variety of characters, which I think were all well written and fleshed out, the descriptions of the world were very in-depth, especially where colour is concerned. I could see, smell and feel the world as it was being built. The result is an extremely rich world with varied landscapes for each location, befitting the people living in it. Here is where the book excelled for me. The plot appears to be extremely complicated but it isn't as the story unfolds. There were times in the first half where I was wondering where it was going and although it isn't a slow burner because each chapter is jam-packed, it does take time for the details and characters to begin crossing over. In time it does, and I found it an accomplished work being able to weave these stories together, although I wouldn't be too surprised if some other readers stopped reading due to the lack of apparent overarching plot. Until this point it reads like a series of short stories, each dealing with a different Shadowless in their own struggles.
All in all, Shadowless does take a bit of effort, but it's worthwhile effort. By that I don't mean it's difficult to read, just that it takes patience for everything to start becoming clear. It's still a well put together and highly enjoyable read. The listing says it's for ages 13-18 and I'd agree that 13 would be the minimum, although I didn't consider it a YA book so adults would enjoy it too. I don't remember reading a book with a similar premise before, and I certainly haven't written one with this approach of introducing everything.
It's a lot to take in to understand but the way it's done works well. I wasn't quite waiting with bated breath to see what happened next, but I enjoyed it more and more as the book progressed. I hope to see more from Randall McNally, and the world he has created.
May 27, 2023
This very exciting book is the debut novel by, for me, new (indie)author called, Randall McNally.
Storytelling is wonderful, the tale superbly structured and executed, with certain touches of the master of heroic fantasy himself, David Gemmell, and all figures come all brilliantly to life in this story of heroic deeds against the Gods.
This heroic and dark fantasy has elements from history intertwined with touches of the mystic and paranormal, and all these factors make this book such a great read.
At first we follow the path of life of Arpherius, a Shadowless young man, who like many others like him are prosecuted and executed throughout the Northern Realms, simply because of the fact for not having a shadow.
In this tale many more Shadowless people, people fathered by a God on a human woman, and all these man and women will have to find safety, and eventually unite if they want to overcome the Gods who inhibits them.
Only when the dark mysterious monk, Amrodan, turns up, everything will be looking good in finally beating the God called, Kröm, but that victory will only benefit, without his knowledge, Arpherius, but also the very sly and calculating Amrodan, while the other Shadowless will have a bitter aftertaste after the confrontation has taken place and the truth behind their endeavours will come to the fore in full force.
What is to follow as a whole is a superb debut fantasy novel, where good and evil will come to the fore, with ingredients like prejudice against true believe, persecution against protection, legendary heroes against despicable cowards, mystic against reality, and all these human touches are brought to us in a wonderful manner by the author to make this book such an enormous joy to read.
Highly recommended, for this is a terrific debut from this new (Indie)author, and although this book is already six-years old (2017), it deserves so much more recognition, so that's why I like to call this very first outing: "A Most Impressive Debut Fantasy Novel"!
Storytelling is wonderful, the tale superbly structured and executed, with certain touches of the master of heroic fantasy himself, David Gemmell, and all figures come all brilliantly to life in this story of heroic deeds against the Gods.
This heroic and dark fantasy has elements from history intertwined with touches of the mystic and paranormal, and all these factors make this book such a great read.
At first we follow the path of life of Arpherius, a Shadowless young man, who like many others like him are prosecuted and executed throughout the Northern Realms, simply because of the fact for not having a shadow.
In this tale many more Shadowless people, people fathered by a God on a human woman, and all these man and women will have to find safety, and eventually unite if they want to overcome the Gods who inhibits them.
Only when the dark mysterious monk, Amrodan, turns up, everything will be looking good in finally beating the God called, Kröm, but that victory will only benefit, without his knowledge, Arpherius, but also the very sly and calculating Amrodan, while the other Shadowless will have a bitter aftertaste after the confrontation has taken place and the truth behind their endeavours will come to the fore in full force.
What is to follow as a whole is a superb debut fantasy novel, where good and evil will come to the fore, with ingredients like prejudice against true believe, persecution against protection, legendary heroes against despicable cowards, mystic against reality, and all these human touches are brought to us in a wonderful manner by the author to make this book such an enormous joy to read.
Highly recommended, for this is a terrific debut from this new (Indie)author, and although this book is already six-years old (2017), it deserves so much more recognition, so that's why I like to call this very first outing: "A Most Impressive Debut Fantasy Novel"!
March 3, 2022
Shadowless was one of those books that grabbed me before I had even opened it.
The dramatic cover art and the tagline "What if the Gods themselves wanted you dead?" were more than enough to make me bump this right up to next on my TBR pile.
And it did not dissapoint, especially for a debut book. From the opening you are thrust straight into this immense and well constructed world called the Northern Realms.
The premise of the book is that, long ago, the gods fought in a civil war and all the female and weaker gods were killed. Since then the male gods have come to the human realm in disguise and impregnated women. Children born of this union lack shadows (hence Shadowless dun dun duun) and have inherited part of their fathers power. Which aspects of their powers and how much is always up to chance but the kicker is they syphon it away from their father. As they grow they will syphon more and also increase their own themselves, until the god comes to kill them and reclaim their lost power and the interest grown.
The book follows multiple characters across multiple timelines, each a Shadowless and showcasing their own unique abilities. Every chapter is a POV that gives you glimpses into the world, the history, the difference in politics and religion between the different kingdoms of the Northern Realm.
The first half of this book is just individual and interesting stories, then it ties a few together and then for the last quarter all these threads are woven together and it races towards a climactic finale!!
I loved so much about this book, how engaging the characters were, how well developed the world was, but mostly the magic. The gods have a very Greek feel to them, siring demigods left and right like Zeus. However, Randall did not just copy the gods of different cultures, instead he made them his own, created an entire unique pantheon just for this story. The powers of the demigods were also fantastic, with some characters having the same father but totally different abilities.
It is a fantastically new and unique book and for any fans of dark fantasy or high fantasy and worldbuilding on a grand scale, this is the book for you.
Giving it a solid 9/10 and am expecting great things from the next book!
The dramatic cover art and the tagline "What if the Gods themselves wanted you dead?" were more than enough to make me bump this right up to next on my TBR pile.
And it did not dissapoint, especially for a debut book. From the opening you are thrust straight into this immense and well constructed world called the Northern Realms.
The premise of the book is that, long ago, the gods fought in a civil war and all the female and weaker gods were killed. Since then the male gods have come to the human realm in disguise and impregnated women. Children born of this union lack shadows (hence Shadowless dun dun duun) and have inherited part of their fathers power. Which aspects of their powers and how much is always up to chance but the kicker is they syphon it away from their father. As they grow they will syphon more and also increase their own themselves, until the god comes to kill them and reclaim their lost power and the interest grown.
The book follows multiple characters across multiple timelines, each a Shadowless and showcasing their own unique abilities. Every chapter is a POV that gives you glimpses into the world, the history, the difference in politics and religion between the different kingdoms of the Northern Realm.
The first half of this book is just individual and interesting stories, then it ties a few together and then for the last quarter all these threads are woven together and it races towards a climactic finale!!
I loved so much about this book, how engaging the characters were, how well developed the world was, but mostly the magic. The gods have a very Greek feel to them, siring demigods left and right like Zeus. However, Randall did not just copy the gods of different cultures, instead he made them his own, created an entire unique pantheon just for this story. The powers of the demigods were also fantastic, with some characters having the same father but totally different abilities.
It is a fantastically new and unique book and for any fans of dark fantasy or high fantasy and worldbuilding on a grand scale, this is the book for you.
Giving it a solid 9/10 and am expecting great things from the next book!
April 10, 2020
An enjoyable read blending the elements of dark and epic fantasy. The narrative is somewhat uneven, but, the author manages to tie it together towards the climax. Being a self-published work, it's quite polished in formatting, and the cover design.
The structure of the novel is comprised of some eight or ten individual stories, like a brief vignette or an episode. And, each of the characters has a role to play in the grand scheme of things. McNally's fantasy world is filled with cruel gods who kills their semi-divine offsprings in order to elevate their own power. These demigods don't have any shadow, and they're ruthlessly hunted by the followers of each god. The mythology isn't explored much, but, we get a wide scipe of the world through each of the individual characters' exploits.
The story veered between light and dark moments, and I have to say that some of the grim parts felt forced. And, the uneven narrative slowed down character development. Some of the characters die midway without having any impact upon the story. I would like to know more about the civil war of the gods, the varied aspects of their power, and also the role of an awesome dragon. There wasn't much action, but, the fight scenes in-between was nicely done. I would also like to see more interpersonal dynamics between the characters which was missing in this book.
The book has its flaws, but it was entertaining. The ending was quite mysterious, and teases for something big that's coming the reader's way. The writing is simple without much descriptions, but, the author manages to paint a clear picture of the places in the overarching plot. Particularly, I'm intrigued by the island where people coexist along with dragons, and also the motives of Amrodan and his dubious interests. I'm eager to read the sequel, and hope that McNally is already typing the words.
The structure of the novel is comprised of some eight or ten individual stories, like a brief vignette or an episode. And, each of the characters has a role to play in the grand scheme of things. McNally's fantasy world is filled with cruel gods who kills their semi-divine offsprings in order to elevate their own power. These demigods don't have any shadow, and they're ruthlessly hunted by the followers of each god. The mythology isn't explored much, but, we get a wide scipe of the world through each of the individual characters' exploits.
The story veered between light and dark moments, and I have to say that some of the grim parts felt forced. And, the uneven narrative slowed down character development. Some of the characters die midway without having any impact upon the story. I would like to know more about the civil war of the gods, the varied aspects of their power, and also the role of an awesome dragon. There wasn't much action, but, the fight scenes in-between was nicely done. I would also like to see more interpersonal dynamics between the characters which was missing in this book.
The book has its flaws, but it was entertaining. The ending was quite mysterious, and teases for something big that's coming the reader's way. The writing is simple without much descriptions, but, the author manages to paint a clear picture of the places in the overarching plot. Particularly, I'm intrigued by the island where people coexist along with dragons, and also the motives of Amrodan and his dubious interests. I'm eager to read the sequel, and hope that McNally is already typing the words.
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