Shadows of Doom

Mithgar (Publication) #2

by Dennis L. McKiernan

The winter had begun.

At Gunnaring Gap, the valiant Riders of Valon began their charge. And though Challerain Keep lay in ruins and butchery had led to the capture of Princess Laurelin, heroes strode forth from the ranks of Men, Elves, Warrows and Dwarves to turn the tide of doom. And across the land ruled by unnatural dark, freedom flickered and burst into flame...

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Novels, Adventure

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

McKiernan was born in Moberly, Missouri, where he lived until he served the U.S. Air Force for four years, stationed within US territory during the Korean War. After military service, he attended the University of Missouri and received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1958 and an M.S. in the same field from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at AT&T, initially at Western Electric but soon at Bell Laboratories, from 1958 until 1989. In 1989, after early retirement from engineering, McKiernan began writing on a full-time basis.

In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.

McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.

McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.

(Biography taken from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Not quite as good as the first book, and a lot more in the realm of plagiarism than pastiche.

For example, we get a Moria-like journey. I was expecting this, but when a tentacle monster starts attacking when they open the magically sealed door, I literally shouted "Oh come on!". And, of course, at the end of this we get a Balrog-like fight.

We also get a river journey and we learn about the magical place that all the elves disappear off to at some point in their lives. Sound familiar?

McKiernan also jumps around a lot in this one, much like how Tolkien jumps around to different characters after the fellowship breaks up. This doesn't really work here, however, because we don't really know much about these other characters, and thus don't really care about them. There are also huge jumps back and forth in time when we follow different people, which is a bit jarring.

Finally, the last chunk of this book is a huge lore/info dump, which really slows it way down.

Over all, this is still entertaining but really disappointing when compared to the first book.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

McKiernan's homage to Tolkien continues, although the sophomore in the series displays a fairly typical place holder status. The Iron Tower is really one long story, albeit broken into three books. The first ended with the downfall of the King's Keep in the North, with his army shattered. SOD picks up right were that left off, with several long chapters following the adventures of the various survivors of the army. We first follow our main protagonist, Tuck, on his wild escape and then his 'hooking up' with the prince of the realm, who also managed to escape. They are later joined by a dwarf and a royal Elf, who served as a councilor to the King. Poor Princess Laurelin has been taken by the evil hoard, and we follow her trials and travails as she is taken far to the north, to the Iron Tower itself. Two other surviving members of the defense of Challerain Keep, Warrows, we follow as they find their way home to warn of the upcoming invasion...

All in all, a good second outing, but one that starts just after a cliff hanger and ends with a doozy as well. McKeirnan moves the story along nicely although the plot seems a little predictable at this point. We have our great heroes and our great villains and we know they will clash in the final denouncement, but it is fun getting there. 3 solid stars.

[Michael Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The earth sustains us while we are alive, and we return to it after death. But fire, stone, soil, or even the sea, it matters nought, for it is the way of our living that is testament to our spirits, and perhaps the way that we die; and the way of our burial means little, for what we have been is gone, though our spirits may live on in the hearts of others . . . for a little while, at least.”

I have to say, I thought my interest in classic fantasy was fading. The Iron Tower trilogy has seen to it that I'm not losing any interest in my most favourite of genres at all.

Beautiful prose, great characters, decent pacing and moments of grandeur balanced with warmth and intimate scenes combine to create a truly wonderful read.

[East Bay J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright, so, no noticeable change with book two of The Iron Tower Trilogy. McKiernan still rambles on, lots of words, more words then words, words, words. And all dramatic like. The Tolkien thing is still in full effect. I did consider that this may be McKiernan's idea of a tribute to Tolkien, but I've considered a lot of dumb stuff in my lifetime. My grandpa taught me about skimming when you read and I gotta’ say, I found myself skimming just to save having to read all those words. Man, I like words! I think they’re great! This guy, though. Sheesh! All the freakin’ crazy WORDS! I did find myself at one point asking, “Is the writing actually getting better?” Then I realized the combination of skimming and familiarity was responsible and not any improvement on Dennis’ part. Hey, I give credit where credit is due and none is due here. The repetition is still quite prominent. There is a lot of repetition. McKiernan often repeats himself. Dennis seems to have been incapable of shaking the poor habit of repeating himself. See? Pretty annoying, isn’t it? Oh, and there’s a goddamned synopsis. Really? Did I mention the repetition thing?

Starting book three. Can’t wait!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two of the Iron Tower trilogy mainly focuses on Tuck and Galen as they traverse the land of Mithgar eventually finding two more companions( an elf and a dwarf)and advancing towards the southern regions in an attempt to gather forces and communicate what is going on in the north.
The book begins with the plight of Laurelin who has been captured by the forces of Modru and held in the actual Iron Tower. McKiernan really puts the pedal to the metal in this first chapter detailing the long harrowing journey north that a battered, bruised, and defeated Laurelin takes in the company of literal monsters.
Danner and Patrel return home in another chapter to gather the remaining forces there.
But the highlight is the Tolkien-like journey of Tuck, Galen and their two companions through the underground while pursued by enemy forces as well as their leader, a Gargon, which puts the fright in all.
A very solid read and onto book three!

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to rate this higher. Really, I did. But I can’t. My low rating has nothing to do with the story and everything to do with McKiernan’s constant language swapping. It makes the story hard to read when every character has his own words for freaking EVERYTHING, up to and including *other characters’ races* and it’s bloody annoying to read a conversation in which one character’s race is being called 3 different things - none of which are the name of the damned race.

[C.K.T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shadows of Doom, the 2nd book of the Iron Tower Trilogy, finds the alliance of men, elves, warrows beset on all sides by the forces of the Dark Lord Modru. The High-King Galen, the elf Gildor, and the warrow Tuck must make their way through the treacherous Dimmendark in an attempt to rally the Host of Pellar. Along the way they meet the dwarf Brega. He joins our heroes' bringing humans, dwarves, elves, and warrows together to face the darkness.

The heroes face numerous perils on their journey. They are forced to flee through an abandoned dwarven kingdom where a great evil lurks (sound familiar?). They must avoid the forces of Modru as they make their way south yet through all the danger, they are able to decipher Modru’s plan. If Modru is able to succeed, then the world will end, and an age of darkness will reign. Having this knowledge forces the heroes to form a desperate plan of their own. But is there enough time?

Shadows of Doom continues the fantasy tropes and hero journey started in The Dark Tide. The book continues to borrow themes and elements from earlier authors creating a pretty standard story of good vs evil. The heroes continually find themselves in dire straits against overwhelming odds forced to change plans and attempt ever more desperate escapes. Yet they are able to survive and carry hope to the people of Mithgar.

One element that I would have liked to see more time spent on was the narrative shift to the warrows, Danner and Patrel, as we see them survive the fall of Challerain Keep and return to find that the war has come to the Boskydells. This sets up another good vs evil fight that I wish we could have seen more of.

This is a 3-star read for me. I got exactly what I expected in the 2nd book of this series. Heroes journeying through a dark and dangerous landscape in an effort to rally the people to fight against pure evil. This is a typical 2nd book where everything looks grim for the free people of Mithgar as Modru and his evil plan are ascendent. This is what I expect, and this is what I got. This is a fun and entertaining story, but the reader should be aware that they are getting a standard and predictable fantasy story

[Bryant Matheis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mid-story book! Continues the efforts of our faithful and diverse group of heroes as the battle both inside and out of the Dimmendark. Truly reads like a well planned D&D campaign, now where did I put that third book…?

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy was the first published part of McKiernan's Mithgar series. It's a fun, excellently written high-fantasy series, richly detailed and intricately plotted, with all manner of interesting characters of both the good and evil variety. The linguistic detail gets to be a little much once in a while, and sometimes the good/evil distinction is a little too marked, but overall I enjoyed this first visit to Mithgar very, very much. McKiernan was (and continues to be) criticized for borrowing heavily from Tolkien, which is a criticism that I never could understand. He proclaimed the fact that he was heavily influenced by Tolkien, and I think he did an excellent job of paying homage (particularly in this first trilogy) as well as expanding the world of Mithgar far beyond what Tolkien (or Jackson) ever envisioned for Middle Earth. Every artist is influenced by their predecessors (even J.R.R.!), and I think that overall McKiernan's Mithgar series is more original than most.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second book of the Iron Tower Trilogy is Shadows of Doom. McKiernan definitely likes his needlessly pretentious titles.

Just when I was beginning to think that the Iron Tower was merely heavily inspired by Tolkien, rather than being a complete clone, I have to backpedal a bit. The Dark Tide actually had some events and plot elements that, while not exactly the most original, did definitely differentiate this story from the Lord of the Rings. Shadows of Doom, on the other hand, is like reading sections of the Lord of the Rings, just in a different order so that we, um, will not notice. And while Tolkien is often very eloquently wordy in his prose, McKiernan is just plain wordy at times.

Hopefully the conclusion to the trilogy follows more in the footsteps of the first book, rather than this one, or it is going to be another long short book.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of a strange book, in that the actually writing improved, but the plotting gets so much worse as McKiernan quite literally lifts entire sections from the Lord of the Rings. As a kid, I didn't mind because I was craving anything that reminded me of JRRT but as a more adult discerning reading...this is embarrassing at times.

Homage or theft? We've got a direct lift of the Watcher In the Water, followed by the Flight Through Moria (including a face-off with a fear demon on a bridge over a chasm), leading to a respite in Lorien, and then a trip down the roaring river. I mean, wow. Alternately, most of the rest of the book is taken up by a rehash of the Scourging of the Shire.

The odd part is, this is better written than the first book. The dialogue is better and sharper, and some better character development done as well. Danner in particular fares better in this book.

McKiernan is a skilled enough draftsman: he can write a tense action scene and describe his setting well, and there are flashes of ability in creating characters with depth and interest. But this book is badly served by being such an utter rehash of scenes in LotR that it borders on embarrassing. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but McKiernan's work is better when he works original plots.

[Norman Howe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up from a free-books shelf, and found it somewhat disappointing. Some of this may result from starting a trilogy in the middle, but that's not it.
This is a clone of "The Lord of the Rings." There are even scenes which reflect in detail chapters from Tolkien's epic. We have hobbits, under different names. We have Elves, Dwarfs, Men, an Evil One controlling undead armies, a Dark Shadow falling across the land, and so forth.
There are many tales like this, but this one skates much closer to the edge than I like. Oh, the writing is good. It's just the originality that's lacking.
Given the trilogy is the author's first fictional work, some of this can be excused, but not the plot plagiarism. As this is from the 1980s, I hope there is more, good stuff from this author.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the Iron Tower trilogy, the story gets better because the action picks and you get some great wholesale slaughter of the baddies.

The book contains a very controversial section, where the protagonist et al go through the former dwarven tunnels now inhabited by a baddie of exceptional power and might. The author says it is homage to Tolkien, others say it is a rip-off.


The little inanity I see in the book is the epithet given to the main baddie. He is responsible for the deaths of 10,000s of people at a time. But he also kidnaps the princess, so he is know as kinstealer. Forget the field after field of dead people, he kidnapped the princess! An object lesson in what is wrong about monarchies.

[Barbara]

All the terror and honor of Tolkien in this second volume of The Iron Tower homage, but it definitely leaves the reader hanging on a cliff. Seems like there could have been a little something offered to end on a high note other than a race down the river. Still, I’ll keep on with the third installment just to make sure all the right people live to tell their grandkids all about what they did in the Great War against Modru. If nothing else, this gives me an even greater appreciation for Tolkien’s work, once I’ve seen how hard it is to live up to.

[Chris Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look—these are silly. The dialog is not great, the characters are all mystified at everything, and the whole thing is basically a fan-written version of the Lord Of The Rings. For example, in this one we get the Mines of Moria and the Scourging Of The Shire.

BUT DESPITE ALL THAT—they really are fun. And McKiernan does get you emotionally engaged with the characters.

But it could have been soooo much better.

[Brittney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book far better than the first but still found it hard to get through. Unnecessary language and rambled paragraphs made some events of the story unclear to the point of having to re-read many sentences. I thought the authors approach to tell the story in a back and forth timeline style successful, I found certain character experiences far more entertaining than others but was still pleased with the way it was written.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the series. It's no secret that McKiernan was inspired by Tolkien and I think he has done a decent job creating his own fantasy world. At times the homages / inspiration feels too much like copying, but overall it's well done. The writing itself is not as good as the overall creation of the world the story is set in. Often dialogue & hero exploits feels contrived.

[Carson Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3/5
I think this book suffered from multiple POV’s (where the first book only had one) and second book syndrome, but still was a good read.
Not as much action as the first but it had some cool set pieces, even if they were very similar to LOTR…

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too much of the story was taken from LotR.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the continuation but it was a little slow at times.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Ayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a mix of Viking mythology and d&d .
Fast paced and interesting on to the next book in this trilogy!

[P.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Men,dwarves, elves, and warriors, oh my!

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story more of traveling than of war, but the pace of the story kept pulling me along. I look forward to learning of the fate of the four warriors that go to battle against Modru.

[Rooth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This whole series was okay, but bland with concepts that feel like they've been done a million times. The short halfling knock off is innocent and not worldly, the princess is helpless, etc.

[Wayfaring_Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm getting more invested in this story the longer I read. The world and characters are good and I'm curious to see how its all going to play out.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serviceable rendition of Tolkien

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book. It feels a lot like Lord of the Rings but that is not a bad thing.

[Ann Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some pretty exciting parts to this book but there was also a lot of repetition and a lot of Lord of the Rings parallels. Overall it's a great world and story.

[Megan]

DNS 10/28/23