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Shadow-Town
"Beware the Whisperers."
Cousins Jack and Rose have been sent to live on their grandmother's farm for the summer. Although he's never ventured beyond the dusty fields, Jack likes to terrify Rose with stories of Shadow-Town, where creatures called Whisperers force the zombie-like victims of the Sleeping Sickness to work for them.
These aren't just stories, however, and their grandmother warns them to stick to the road when traveling. But the bickering cousins, goaded by Jack's wild friend Tamlin, end up daring one another onto a much more dangerous path. Before they get very far, Tam disappears.
Soon Jack and Rose are matching wits with the Dickensian Speculators, bunking with the mysterious Red Man, and riding the rails with the inhuman Clatterfolk who run the coffin-train. At the end lies Shadow-Town, where Tam has been enslaved by the Whisperers. Everything builds to an exciting climax as the cousins discover the power of courage and loyalty. Still, the whistle of the coffin-train continues to blow.
An intensely atmospheric and sometimes dark novel, Shadow-Town is the first in a four-book series.
Cousins Jack and Rose have been sent to live on their grandmother's farm for the summer. Although he's never ventured beyond the dusty fields, Jack likes to terrify Rose with stories of Shadow-Town, where creatures called Whisperers force the zombie-like victims of the Sleeping Sickness to work for them.
These aren't just stories, however, and their grandmother warns them to stick to the road when traveling. But the bickering cousins, goaded by Jack's wild friend Tamlin, end up daring one another onto a much more dangerous path. Before they get very far, Tam disappears.
Soon Jack and Rose are matching wits with the Dickensian Speculators, bunking with the mysterious Red Man, and riding the rails with the inhuman Clatterfolk who run the coffin-train. At the end lies Shadow-Town, where Tam has been enslaved by the Whisperers. Everything builds to an exciting climax as the cousins discover the power of courage and loyalty. Still, the whistle of the coffin-train continues to blow.
An intensely atmospheric and sometimes dark novel, Shadow-Town is the first in a four-book series.
- GenresFantasy
196 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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December 27, 2021Though it takes a while for the plot to get moving due to a complex world being set up (Involving nightmarish creatures such as Whisperes, Clatterfolk, Thralls, etc.) the world of the Vastlands is immeadeately vivid, original, and disturbingly reminscent of the familiarity of our nightmares. Thornton brings a dark world to life in this book in which farmers are haunted by a plague of the Whisperers' Words - powerful incantations which they whisper through the air to takes over the farmers' bodies, turning them into sleepwalking undead Thralls who labour endlessly for the Whisperers. The two main characters, cousins Rose and Jack get caught up in the horrors of the Tanglewood, and eventually Shadow Town, as they journey from their grandmother's farm.
The story itself is an engaging, twisted fairy tale. One of the characters is even named Tamlin, reminiscent of the ballad of the same name. Shadow Town's plot even loosely follows that of the ballad - though I won't say how as that would reveal the plot.
Though the characters and plot are well developed, what really makes this book resonate with a haunting quality of its own is the world of the Vastlands themselves. Rose is a painter and sees the twisted landscape around her as potential material for paintings - the desert and Tanglewood become brushstrokes. Similarly, Thornton weaves the landscapes of the Vastlands into being with words (every word choice and metaphor echoes the bleak tone of the novel), creating a vivid and elaborate setting which is just as haunting as the Whisperers' Words.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fairy tales or dark childrens novels such as Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. This is a story much darker and weighter than the all too common vampire or zombie novel.
Though the setting is vast enough to support a series, my biggest qualm with the book is that it felt like a contained novel more than the first entry in a series. I'm curious to see what new characters and locales of the Vastlands are revealed in book two of the series.
The story itself is an engaging, twisted fairy tale. One of the characters is even named Tamlin, reminiscent of the ballad of the same name. Shadow Town's plot even loosely follows that of the ballad - though I won't say how as that would reveal the plot.
Though the characters and plot are well developed, what really makes this book resonate with a haunting quality of its own is the world of the Vastlands themselves. Rose is a painter and sees the twisted landscape around her as potential material for paintings - the desert and Tanglewood become brushstrokes. Similarly, Thornton weaves the landscapes of the Vastlands into being with words (every word choice and metaphor echoes the bleak tone of the novel), creating a vivid and elaborate setting which is just as haunting as the Whisperers' Words.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fairy tales or dark childrens novels such as Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. This is a story much darker and weighter than the all too common vampire or zombie novel.
Though the setting is vast enough to support a series, my biggest qualm with the book is that it felt like a contained novel more than the first entry in a series. I'm curious to see what new characters and locales of the Vastlands are revealed in book two of the series.
February 16, 2012
Couldn't finish. too boring
December 7, 2021
I was initially drawn to Shadow Town by the dark fairytale atmosphere promised by its description and cover art, and the story doesn’t disappoint in that regard. In the end, however, this book is not for me.
The story is definitely influenced by the darker style of older European fairy tales – life is harsh and the people even harsher; there will be no “happy endings” here. Our protagonists Jack and Rose are sent away by their parents to live with their grandmother, an old woman who may or may not be succumbing to the sleeping plague. Jack torments Rose and is, in turn, tormented by his “friend” Tamlin, who is regularly beaten by his father, the Beadle. The “meanness” of these characters is off-putting to me, particularly since their world is already darkly disturbing.
The atmosphere is the best part of this tale, reminiscent of movies such as Gretel and Hansel – like a dark mirror of our own world, full of foreboding and hidden dangers. The woods are darkly forbidding, the haunting whistle of the coffin-train punctuates their nights and, always in the background, is the sleeping sickness that plagues their land. The world is populated by menacing but interesting characters: the Whisperers of Shadow Town, the Red Man, the Beadle, as well as the Speculators Snap and Whick. All of these elements contribute to establishing the dark tone of this well-realized world.
In the end, while I appreciate the world-building and atmosphere created by the author, the essential meanness of the protagonists overwhelms my enjoyment, making for an interesting yet unpleasant read. This is not a book that I will revisit, but my interest is sufficiently piqued to the point that I may check out the author’s Kallifax trilogy, which sounds more to my taste: a captivating adventure across fantastical realms.
The story is definitely influenced by the darker style of older European fairy tales – life is harsh and the people even harsher; there will be no “happy endings” here. Our protagonists Jack and Rose are sent away by their parents to live with their grandmother, an old woman who may or may not be succumbing to the sleeping plague. Jack torments Rose and is, in turn, tormented by his “friend” Tamlin, who is regularly beaten by his father, the Beadle. The “meanness” of these characters is off-putting to me, particularly since their world is already darkly disturbing.
The atmosphere is the best part of this tale, reminiscent of movies such as Gretel and Hansel – like a dark mirror of our own world, full of foreboding and hidden dangers. The woods are darkly forbidding, the haunting whistle of the coffin-train punctuates their nights and, always in the background, is the sleeping sickness that plagues their land. The world is populated by menacing but interesting characters: the Whisperers of Shadow Town, the Red Man, the Beadle, as well as the Speculators Snap and Whick. All of these elements contribute to establishing the dark tone of this well-realized world.
In the end, while I appreciate the world-building and atmosphere created by the author, the essential meanness of the protagonists overwhelms my enjoyment, making for an interesting yet unpleasant read. This is not a book that I will revisit, but my interest is sufficiently piqued to the point that I may check out the author’s Kallifax trilogy, which sounds more to my taste: a captivating adventure across fantastical realms.
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