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The Shadow Immortals
In a desolate planet, Ekon, resides two species: X’zane and Ukwe Elves. The Ukwe Elves colonized the planet decades ago and remained the dominating force between the two cultures. The X’zane people are humanoid species with primitive knowledge that limited them to further advance their nation. While the Ukwe Elves were capable of mechanizing engineered vehicles and advanced weaponry.
With this technological advancement, the Ukwe Elves continued to rule the entire planet. The X’zane tried to claim their planet back by organizing an uprising to defeat the Ukwe Elves. But with the Elven nation’s war-bred soldiers and weaponry, the X’zane were defeated.
Decades after the war, an X’zane boy is in search for his mother. He embarks on a journey filled with tragedy, betrayal, and discovery of a new power destined to shape the future of their nation and home-world.
With this technological advancement, the Ukwe Elves continued to rule the entire planet. The X’zane tried to claim their planet back by organizing an uprising to defeat the Ukwe Elves. But with the Elven nation’s war-bred soldiers and weaponry, the X’zane were defeated.
Decades after the war, an X’zane boy is in search for his mother. He embarks on a journey filled with tragedy, betrayal, and discovery of a new power destined to shape the future of their nation and home-world.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
Paperback
Published September 15, 2021
6 people want to read
About the author
John Luke Chica
2 books6 followersJohn Luke Chica is currently the Editor-in-Chief for an online publication and a Creative Director for an advertising agency. But his calling is to be a sci-fi and fantasy novelist for the remainder of his lifetime.
He followed his Mother in her footsteps in becoming a self-published author.
His debut novel, “The Shadow Immortals” is an ode to his mother. His novel was also nominated in the category of Best Fiction Novel (English) at the 40th National Book Awards in 2022 by the National Book Development Board of the Philippines. And the same novel was nominated in the category of Best Novel (English) at the Filipino Readers’ Choice Award.
He is also an avid toy collector and a console gamer. Despite his age, 45, he’s still into
Dungeons and Dragons — constantly looking for players and hopes to become a game
master.
He also supports local authors by providing them with tools on how to better market their work in collaboration with PaperKat Books and HS GrafikPrint Publishing.
He followed his Mother in her footsteps in becoming a self-published author.
His debut novel, “The Shadow Immortals” is an ode to his mother. His novel was also nominated in the category of Best Fiction Novel (English) at the 40th National Book Awards in 2022 by the National Book Development Board of the Philippines. And the same novel was nominated in the category of Best Novel (English) at the Filipino Readers’ Choice Award.
He is also an avid toy collector and a console gamer. Despite his age, 45, he’s still into
Dungeons and Dragons — constantly looking for players and hopes to become a game
master.
He also supports local authors by providing them with tools on how to better market their work in collaboration with PaperKat Books and HS GrafikPrint Publishing.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 20, 2024
#BernardReads | BOOK REVIEW 📚
#TheShadowImmortals by John Luke Chica 🌓
It was rare for me to read #ScienceFiction books because I'm mainly intimidated by lots of scientific terms my normal brain could not handle haha.
However, when I read that the author of this book, aside from being a fellow PaperKat Books mentee, is an avid fan of #StarWars like me, I decided to give it a try.
It's more of a Western Sci-Fantasy to me just like Star Wars and Dune. Here's my honest review:
The story started with a tragedy and call for action. Your typical young hero is here.
Writing style is okay and not intimidating. Worldbuilding is neat but I think it's on its initial phase of exploring for this actually short story.
It was so fast-paced I had trouble keeping up who's talking and what's their known information, like some motivation behind actions are unclear.
Threats abound but the unlikely duo of main characters just discovering their identity and powers made it more compelling.
Truly, death is just the beginning.
With a very detailed description, it gives off #GameofThrones vibe with the politics.
It had some unreasonable motivations by certain characters, anticlimactic encounters, sudden character realizations just for the plot, I guess (unless explained by further installments).
It actually reminds me of #MadMax Fury Road with how they travel back and forth between settings with multiple confrontation scenes.
There's an intense climax, though a little bit predictive with some of its trope, I'm still quite satisfied with the endings among the characters. Description is just too fast between scenes.
I know the author tried its best to juggle between a few selected characters. That's why sometimes I feel the world is so small while reading it.
It accomplished telling one tale and promises for another epic as it ended, I guess, the first saga. I hope there would be continuation that would answer some big questions left by the first book and to further explore the potential of this world and characters.
For X'zane.
P.S. Love the cover and illustrations. I can easily see this adopted into a graphic novel. 🧡
#bookreview #johnlukechica #scifibooks
#TheShadowImmortals by John Luke Chica 🌓
It was rare for me to read #ScienceFiction books because I'm mainly intimidated by lots of scientific terms my normal brain could not handle haha.
However, when I read that the author of this book, aside from being a fellow PaperKat Books mentee, is an avid fan of #StarWars like me, I decided to give it a try.
It's more of a Western Sci-Fantasy to me just like Star Wars and Dune. Here's my honest review:
The story started with a tragedy and call for action. Your typical young hero is here.
Writing style is okay and not intimidating. Worldbuilding is neat but I think it's on its initial phase of exploring for this actually short story.
It was so fast-paced I had trouble keeping up who's talking and what's their known information, like some motivation behind actions are unclear.
Threats abound but the unlikely duo of main characters just discovering their identity and powers made it more compelling.
Truly, death is just the beginning.
With a very detailed description, it gives off #GameofThrones vibe with the politics.
It had some unreasonable motivations by certain characters, anticlimactic encounters, sudden character realizations just for the plot, I guess (unless explained by further installments).
It actually reminds me of #MadMax Fury Road with how they travel back and forth between settings with multiple confrontation scenes.
There's an intense climax, though a little bit predictive with some of its trope, I'm still quite satisfied with the endings among the characters. Description is just too fast between scenes.
I know the author tried its best to juggle between a few selected characters. That's why sometimes I feel the world is so small while reading it.
It accomplished telling one tale and promises for another epic as it ended, I guess, the first saga. I hope there would be continuation that would answer some big questions left by the first book and to further explore the potential of this world and characters.
For X'zane.
P.S. Love the cover and illustrations. I can easily see this adopted into a graphic novel. 🧡
#bookreview #johnlukechica #scifibooks
July 18, 2024
i admire the book's world-building qualities. the author skillfully used words to create a vivid picture of ekon's world, its lore, powers, and established traditions. however, there were several issues that prevented me from fully enjoying the book.
one significant issue is the frequent mention that the hybrids are an abomination, yet this claim and the fear surrounding them were not adequately justified. it would have been more effective if there had been stories or rumors earlier in the book that showcased the citizens' fear. additionally, the book likes to introduce new terminologies now and then, which can be a bit annoying to read, especially since many of these terms were hard to pronounce.
another problem was the phrase “death is only the beginning” which was repeated throughout the book. by the end of the story, i still didn’t understand its popularity or significance. similarly, the relationship between zacnie and folkvarthr lacked depth and believability. the book could have shown a flashback or provided more backstory to make their connection more convincing. folkvarthr was held in high regard, and always regarded as 'the hunter', but the justification for his importance was unclear.
among the things i didn’t like the most was the final showdown. it felt like a turn-based game, just a series of summoning powers here and there. i didn’t feel invested in it, and i think it was rather tedious and emotionless.
overall, the book managed to keep my interest, despite the list of things i didn’t like. for a sci-fi/fantasy book, i was quite surprised to have finished it within a day. if the second half of the book had been written as well as the first, i’m sure i would have liked it more.
one significant issue is the frequent mention that the hybrids are an abomination, yet this claim and the fear surrounding them were not adequately justified. it would have been more effective if there had been stories or rumors earlier in the book that showcased the citizens' fear. additionally, the book likes to introduce new terminologies now and then, which can be a bit annoying to read, especially since many of these terms were hard to pronounce.
another problem was the phrase “death is only the beginning” which was repeated throughout the book. by the end of the story, i still didn’t understand its popularity or significance. similarly, the relationship between zacnie and folkvarthr lacked depth and believability. the book could have shown a flashback or provided more backstory to make their connection more convincing. folkvarthr was held in high regard, and always regarded as 'the hunter', but the justification for his importance was unclear.
among the things i didn’t like the most was the final showdown. it felt like a turn-based game, just a series of summoning powers here and there. i didn’t feel invested in it, and i think it was rather tedious and emotionless.
overall, the book managed to keep my interest, despite the list of things i didn’t like. for a sci-fi/fantasy book, i was quite surprised to have finished it within a day. if the second half of the book had been written as well as the first, i’m sure i would have liked it more.
December 21, 2023
The Shadow Immortals has that elaborate world-building, nice set of powers: light and darkness, and many gripping action sequences. Reading this is reminiscent of when I watched Dune, but this has more intriguing drama.
I liked the character of Atakka. She's pretty complex. She's fierce yet has a softness in her heart. She reminds me of Inej in Six of Crows. I think it would be better if she's the main character in the story rather than Helias, who I found uninteresting.
I would have rated this a bit higher if not for the lack of emotional impact on some important scenes. Like in a death scene or a reunion scene. There was also that one scene, wherein the enemy sent someone close to Helias crashing onto a hut, and Helias' only reaction was, "You'll pay for that." With no body language showing worry or anger. It would have been better if the book provided more reactions from its characters, rather than just focusing on the narrative.
But overall, it's a good read. I appreciated the intricate details on the setting's culture, even the history about the moons, the vivid description of the places, as well as the lore behind the story's power set. It definitely felt like I was transported to another place.
I liked the character of Atakka. She's pretty complex. She's fierce yet has a softness in her heart. She reminds me of Inej in Six of Crows. I think it would be better if she's the main character in the story rather than Helias, who I found uninteresting.
I would have rated this a bit higher if not for the lack of emotional impact on some important scenes. Like in a death scene or a reunion scene. There was also that one scene, wherein the enemy sent someone close to Helias crashing onto a hut, and Helias' only reaction was, "You'll pay for that." With no body language showing worry or anger. It would have been better if the book provided more reactions from its characters, rather than just focusing on the narrative.
But overall, it's a good read. I appreciated the intricate details on the setting's culture, even the history about the moons, the vivid description of the places, as well as the lore behind the story's power set. It definitely felt like I was transported to another place.
December 11, 2023
Finally, a local sci-fi book that evokes the mystery of Dune, with new characters to champion for.
I got my paperback copy from the recent PaperKat Books event called, "You Should Be Writing" and brought it with me Prague during my recent trip to Europe. The coolest thing about getting this book was that I also got a map and a selfie with the author himself. Yes, it does pay to be early at book events especially when there are free loots for early buyers.
John writes beautifully when he describes the scenery and setting to a point that there is a cinematic feel to how it was written with the camera focusing and defocusing on the foreground and then onto the background. I felt it when I was reading it and I loved it.
While the ending does tie up some loose ends, it doesn't mean that it's all happily ever after. I can't wait for the succeeding books as I know he has mapped out I think 2-3 more in the series. Here's waiting and here's hoping.
I got my paperback copy from the recent PaperKat Books event called, "You Should Be Writing" and brought it with me Prague during my recent trip to Europe. The coolest thing about getting this book was that I also got a map and a selfie with the author himself. Yes, it does pay to be early at book events especially when there are free loots for early buyers.
John writes beautifully when he describes the scenery and setting to a point that there is a cinematic feel to how it was written with the camera focusing and defocusing on the foreground and then onto the background. I felt it when I was reading it and I loved it.
While the ending does tie up some loose ends, it doesn't mean that it's all happily ever after. I can't wait for the succeeding books as I know he has mapped out I think 2-3 more in the series. Here's waiting and here's hoping.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews