What do you think?
Rate this book
Shadowleague #3
The Eye of Eternity
Returning to the world of Myrial, Maggie Furey continues her heroic saga of The Shadowleague. When all is lost, it’s the actions of a few brave souls that will be remembered forever.
Echo of Eternity
The Curtain Walls have fallen--leaving the world of Myrial vulnerable to unknown enemies from other realms. A slaughter by brutal winged invaders has left the city of Tiarond reeling, and the laws governing reality itself no longer seem to hold. Under the rule of a renegade leader, the Shadowleague slowly gathers itself together from its tattered remnants and braces for a devastating attack meant to shatter it forever. Missing is a ring, the symbol of Myrial’s divine power--and a reminder to its new ruler of the part he played in the collapse of the Curtain Walls. It must be found before his secret is discovered.
Missing also is the one man whose mind holds the Dragon Seer’s knowledge of all tribal memories. Two warriors and a firedrake embark on an urgent mission to find him--before the Dragons do.
When all hope seems lost, a young boy points the way to an amazing discovery. Caverns beneath Tiarond hold ancient artifacts that just might be the key they’re all searching for--but which they may be sorry they’ve found…
Echo of Eternity
The Curtain Walls have fallen--leaving the world of Myrial vulnerable to unknown enemies from other realms. A slaughter by brutal winged invaders has left the city of Tiarond reeling, and the laws governing reality itself no longer seem to hold. Under the rule of a renegade leader, the Shadowleague slowly gathers itself together from its tattered remnants and braces for a devastating attack meant to shatter it forever. Missing is a ring, the symbol of Myrial’s divine power--and a reminder to its new ruler of the part he played in the collapse of the Curtain Walls. It must be found before his secret is discovered.
Missing also is the one man whose mind holds the Dragon Seer’s knowledge of all tribal memories. Two warriors and a firedrake embark on an urgent mission to find him--before the Dragons do.
When all hope seems lost, a young boy points the way to an amazing discovery. Caverns beneath Tiarond hold ancient artifacts that just might be the key they’re all searching for--but which they may be sorry they’ve found…
Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
1 person is currently reading
389 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Furey
32 books197 followersMaggie Furey was born in North East England and spent most of her adult life residing in County Wicklow, Ireland. She was a qualified teacher, but has also reviewed books on BBC Radio Newcastle, been an advisor in the Durham Reading Resources Centre and organized children's book fairs.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 8, 2020
[meaningless quote goes here]
catchy headliner goes here
Now, that I got your attention: No, do not read this book. Even if I rate something low, I rarely regret spending time on reading it, and this is one of those cases.
Maggie Furey is a fountain of ingenious ideas and a curse of terrible executions. I have been begging for the grand finale this story of hers deserves, but I was only disappointed and discouraged from reaching for her book ever again.
Although it is a final book in the series, not much happens! There is no palpable feeling of urgency (you know, the impending doom of the end of the world with assorted accompanying phenomena such as wholesome slaughter and wanton suffering). To the contrary, the respective plot-lines develop rather slowly, almost reluctantly, but perhaps that is only an impression due to word count because a lot of space is devoted to anecdotal elements like a cow climbing up the stairs.
Of all these plot-lines and POVs, I enjoyed the under-the-city excursion the most, but only because it has been fun to read about all those contraptions of the Ancients, not because I thought it is credible to have the leader of the community to run after some gangly teenager in a dubious company of another gangly teenager of disputable morals. (Also, Galveron is my favourite hero in this story.)
It is significant insofar as I do not have many of those because I do not like the way Ms Furey develops her protagonists. They undergo some bizarre changes but not because of what is happening to them, but according to the needs of the overall story. Unsurprisingly then, the moment the Bad Guy stopped being the Bad Guy and started Saving the World, we needed another person to serve as a Bad Guy and hence the poor Undersecretary went some bizarre fast-track metamorphosis into a heartless, driven creature . At the same time, his mistress, introduced as a heartless and driven creature prone to evicting poor people from their houses for profit, is all sweetness and courage or at least presented as one.
The above indicates my second cardinal problem with this book: The main story is entirely overshadowed by random micro dramas blown out of proportions that suddenly gain a life of their own and take over the main arc. Therefore, if you have been expecting a journey to the Magefolk land (indeed a journey anywhere else in Myrial), some reckoning with the dragons or other ideas, discard this silly nonsense at once, because this is not happening. Instead, the super-secret place, undiscovered and left alone for millennia if not longer, suddenly gets invaded by all sorts of “accidental” guests and explorers How very credible.
They live on borrowed time, everything is collapsing and in the meantime, we read about personal dramas and emotional issues. When events kind of start (and, mind you, not accelerating, but start altogether), we are well after the 50% mark and what were the protagonists doing earlier except for f…frolicking around, I have no idea. And then, once the course of action was decided, everything turned out to be so easy that the whole brouhaha was resolved in no time.
Everything worked out so conveniently for everyone that it was nearly offensive. Who was supposed to die, died; who had to survive did so; who needed forgiveness was forgiven and given a change of heart as a bonus. Worse, EVERYBODY got paired up in the most bizarre way that makes you believe that instant soup is a slow-food.
“Can we go home now?”
Yes, please. Let us go and pretend we have never been here.
Also in the series:
1. The Heart of Myrial ★★☆☆☆
2. Spirit of the Stone ★★★☆☆
catchy headliner goes here
Now, that I got your attention: No, do not read this book. Even if I rate something low, I rarely regret spending time on reading it, and this is one of those cases.
Maggie Furey is a fountain of ingenious ideas and a curse of terrible executions. I have been begging for the grand finale this story of hers deserves, but I was only disappointed and discouraged from reaching for her book ever again.
Although it is a final book in the series, not much happens! There is no palpable feeling of urgency (you know, the impending doom of the end of the world with assorted accompanying phenomena such as wholesome slaughter and wanton suffering). To the contrary, the respective plot-lines develop rather slowly, almost reluctantly, but perhaps that is only an impression due to word count because a lot of space is devoted to anecdotal elements like a cow climbing up the stairs.
Of all these plot-lines and POVs, I enjoyed the under-the-city excursion the most, but only because it has been fun to read about all those contraptions of the Ancients, not because I thought it is credible to have the leader of the community to run after some gangly teenager in a dubious company of another gangly teenager of disputable morals. (Also, Galveron is my favourite hero in this story.)
It is significant insofar as I do not have many of those because I do not like the way Ms Furey develops her protagonists. They undergo some bizarre changes but not because of what is happening to them, but according to the needs of the overall story. Unsurprisingly then, the moment the Bad Guy stopped being the Bad Guy and started Saving the World, we needed another person to serve as a Bad Guy and hence the poor Undersecretary went some bizarre fast-track metamorphosis into a heartless, driven creature . At the same time, his mistress, introduced as a heartless and driven creature prone to evicting poor people from their houses for profit, is all sweetness and courage or at least presented as one.
The above indicates my second cardinal problem with this book: The main story is entirely overshadowed by random micro dramas blown out of proportions that suddenly gain a life of their own and take over the main arc. Therefore, if you have been expecting a journey to the Magefolk land (indeed a journey anywhere else in Myrial), some reckoning with the dragons or other ideas, discard this silly nonsense at once, because this is not happening. Instead, the super-secret place, undiscovered and left alone for millennia if not longer, suddenly gets invaded by all sorts of “accidental” guests and explorers How very credible.
They live on borrowed time, everything is collapsing and in the meantime, we read about personal dramas and emotional issues. When events kind of start (and, mind you, not accelerating, but start altogether), we are well after the 50% mark and what were the protagonists doing earlier except for f…frolicking around, I have no idea. And then, once the course of action was decided, everything turned out to be so easy that the whole brouhaha was resolved in no time.
Everything worked out so conveniently for everyone that it was nearly offensive. Who was supposed to die, died; who had to survive did so; who needed forgiveness was forgiven and given a change of heart as a bonus. Worse, EVERYBODY got paired up in the most bizarre way that makes you believe that instant soup is a slow-food.
“Can we go home now?”
Yes, please. Let us go and pretend we have never been here.
Also in the series:
1. The Heart of Myrial ★★☆☆☆
2. Spirit of the Stone ★★★☆☆
July 17, 2022
I rated the first two 4* but this trilogy loses a star on the final instalment, because apparently it was a fairy tale all along. Everything ended perfectly (if not weirdly) and everyone became friends and got exactly what they wanted (apart from Harrel, but he's a background character so who cares). Even Packrat, the grubby little shit, turned out good, despite being a prolific thief who hates pretty much everyone apart from Aliana. A girl he seemed to have a crush on, but because she randomly falls in love with the Godsword Commander (previously her sworn enemy) Packrat conveniently turns his eyes elsewhere.
It's all just too perfect Maggie!
ALSO if Packrat had the silver bag thing that Blade caught Shree in, how come he ended up in the same nothingness place, with the same bag in his pocket? Honestly the whole cave/lights/nothingness thing felt too at odds with the whole fantasy world. Sometimes a sci-fi/fantasy mash up works (don't ask me which ones, but I'm sure they're out there) but this just feels disjointed to me.
I appreciate this story though. It's a little slow with all the description, but it doesn't drag and the idea overall is interesting.
It's all just too perfect Maggie!
ALSO if Packrat had the silver bag thing that Blade caught Shree in, how come he ended up in the same nothingness place, with the same bag in his pocket? Honestly the whole cave/lights/nothingness thing felt too at odds with the whole fantasy world. Sometimes a sci-fi/fantasy mash up works (don't ask me which ones, but I'm sure they're out there) but this just feels disjointed to me.
I appreciate this story though. It's a little slow with all the description, but it doesn't drag and the idea overall is interesting.
January 29, 2025
Not as exciting as the first two in the series but a wonderful conclusion and happy ending
August 22, 2020
Disappointing.
December 19, 2024
As refreshingly different the first two entries in this series were as predictable was this one…the ending was by far too “good”. The story suffered from plot-armoring the main characters and wrapping the plot up too neatly and predictably. A little disappointing.
March 28, 2023
It was a really satisfying ending to the series, although I kind of wish there was a fourth one because I would have loved to see where some of the relationships led to that developed towards the end. It's still hard to believe that after all these characters have gone through, the events of the entire series happens in just a few days (two weeks at max). There are a few parts that feel a little rushed but otherwise I really enjoyed it.
August 31, 2017
Great read and wonderful end to a trilogy.
Chose t
5 star's because it's one of those books that you do not want to put down and the character development and interactions are very well done. Great story for ages 12 and up.
Chose t
5 star's because it's one of those books that you do not want to put down and the character development and interactions are very well done. Great story for ages 12 and up.
May 27, 2023
The final volume of the Shadowleague series, this brought everything (and everyone) together at the end in the final solution to the problems facing the world. Extremely well written fantasy which I thoroughly enjoyed.
August 12, 2017
The ending wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking, but otherwise it was good!
March 25, 2022
I couldn’t have asked for a better ending :)
June 13, 2024
Everything gets wrapped up too neatly for my liking, but I couldn't put it down 😂
September 4, 2012
I found the Shadowleague trilogy an entertaining read with interesting ideas, although it did drag at times. I liked the various creatures, from the deadly Ak'Zahar to Firedrake Kaz. I liked the various regions and the idea of mind speech and Curtain Walls.
I liked book 3 more than the previous ones, especially the scenes where our heroes explore the underground tunnels full of deadly traps. Those scenes reminded me a little of the movie Cube. I was captivated by the forgotten technology of the "Ancients" and I really wanted to know more about them.
That being said however, Shadowleague is not a series without it's flaws.
First of all, Furey introduces too many characters in too short amount of time, especially at the beginning of the trilogy. She also has a tendency to name every character, even though many of these characters never appear again, or die soon after. This is frustrating, because it just gives me extra data that I have to remember. What's the point of naming them if they are never gonna appear again? And since you don't have a clear picture who is important to the story and who isn't, you kinda have to remember them all.
Second, the character dialog. Many characters speak the same way. It doesn't matter if they are a human barbarian or a dragon, they all use same words or sentences. Also, I often felt that the characters talk as if they are reading from a book.
Thirdly, what is Furey's fascination with horses? When she is not describing them, people talk about them, or feed them, or clean them. There is actually an entire chapter where they just talk about horses!
Fourth, some of the characters act out of their usual way. For example, there are character who are evil and suddenly become good and viceversa. I never understood Amaurn's motivation for example. Why did he stole the Hierearch's ring? I also couldn't really picture Cergorn as evil, as we don't spend too much time with him. I didn't like how many characters fall in love at the first sight either.
Fifth, Furey is pretty repetitive, especially in the last book where every few pages, someone frowns, or calls Tormon's girl "little girl". You know, that little girl has a name.
And finally the last thing that I found annoying was this big vast cavern full of strangely shaped objects. Apparently if you want to reach that chamber, you have to pass through dozens of corridors and avoid many deadly traps. Never mind the fact that you may reach that same room just by opening a shaft in one of the caves outside. Pretty overwhelming, huh?
All in all, a good, entertaining series, nothing bad, but nothing excellent either. I recommend it if you are into fantasy and don't have anything else to read.
I liked book 3 more than the previous ones, especially the scenes where our heroes explore the underground tunnels full of deadly traps. Those scenes reminded me a little of the movie Cube. I was captivated by the forgotten technology of the "Ancients" and I really wanted to know more about them.
That being said however, Shadowleague is not a series without it's flaws.
First of all, Furey introduces too many characters in too short amount of time, especially at the beginning of the trilogy. She also has a tendency to name every character, even though many of these characters never appear again, or die soon after. This is frustrating, because it just gives me extra data that I have to remember. What's the point of naming them if they are never gonna appear again? And since you don't have a clear picture who is important to the story and who isn't, you kinda have to remember them all.
Second, the character dialog. Many characters speak the same way. It doesn't matter if they are a human barbarian or a dragon, they all use same words or sentences. Also, I often felt that the characters talk as if they are reading from a book.
Thirdly, what is Furey's fascination with horses? When she is not describing them, people talk about them, or feed them, or clean them. There is actually an entire chapter where they just talk about horses!
Fourth, some of the characters act out of their usual way. For example, there are character who are evil and suddenly become good and viceversa. I never understood Amaurn's motivation for example. Why did he stole the Hierearch's ring? I also couldn't really picture Cergorn as evil, as we don't spend too much time with him. I didn't like how many characters fall in love at the first sight either.
Fifth, Furey is pretty repetitive, especially in the last book where every few pages, someone frowns, or calls Tormon's girl "little girl". You know, that little girl has a name.
And finally the last thing that I found annoying was this big vast cavern full of strangely shaped objects. Apparently if you want to reach that chamber, you have to pass through dozens of corridors and avoid many deadly traps. Never mind the fact that you may reach that same room just by opening a shaft in one of the caves outside. Pretty overwhelming, huh?
All in all, a good, entertaining series, nothing bad, but nothing excellent either. I recommend it if you are into fantasy and don't have anything else to read.
January 18, 2014
This was a great fantasy trilogy (with a touch of sci-fi added for good measure). What was really nice and refreshing was that, unlike the usual fantasy works, there was no definate good and evil. There were only people reacting to crises and either the best or the worst came out and not always one or the other for the same people. The good could go bad and the bad could go good and back again and it was all very human (except those who weren't lol). Very intriguing. Very refreshing. Very enjoyable series. I loved it.
April 27, 2008
What I love about reading fantasy is that if you find a good author who really describes and makes the places and characters real as Terry Goodkind, Maggie Furrey, Tolkien, etc do, then you can really use your imagination while reading a book, and really feel that these places are real during that time. That might sound goofy, but I know that people read these books and feel that way.
October 13, 2014
A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I enjoyed the exploring of the caves of the ancients and all the traps that had been set. I also liked that there was no definitive good vs evil - those originally considered evil did good and vice versa. An excellent testament to people's ability to grow and evolve. It did seem to come together snd finish a bit suddenly, but still a good read.
March 17, 2010
This third and final book in the Shadowleague trilogy takes up where book 2 left off and concludes in a highly entertaining story. Actually, I'd probably rate it as more a 3.5, but I like to give authors the benefit of the doubt and round up rather than down.
March 12, 2013
This is the 3rd book of the Shadowleague and is more exciting as the last. All the little stories converge into a wonderful tale of redemption, courage and drama. Maggie Furey is a great storyteller and hope there is more to come.
June 5, 2008
Read my review for The Heart of Myrial (Shadowleague) to see what I thought of the series as a whole.
July 10, 2008
Satisfying conclusion to the Shadowleague series. Every thing was well wrapped up with some interesting and unexpected points.
November 17, 2011
3.5 stars
May 11, 2014
Plot twists, good characters, background story, this was my favorite series long ago. I especially fell in love with the two main characters and the antagonist.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews