The Shadows over Marquette

A Journey of Black and Red #3

by Álex Gilbert

Ariane has found refuge in Illinois, and now plans her rightful return to vampire society. She must stay in control while hiding in nature, while foes old and new converge on her territory.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction, Magic, Fae

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 29, 2021

Reviews

[Luka Soare]

A bit hit and miss with some details, but still a fantastic reading experience.

[Noone]

This was somewhat of a disappointment. The characters became tackier and tackier, 2-dimensional, and clichéed as the series went on and in this book, the author completely gave up on the initial attempt at being not like other books and keep to realism.
He gave it up in favor of cheap one-liners, slapstick humor, and flashy spectacles, like every other second-rate fantasy or urban fantasy book out there.
The characters got shallower and less unique instead of the other way around and there is no character development whatsoever despite a time jump of decades.
This is especially sad because the book finally starts to do a lot of things the earlier volumes failed to, like having a more engaging plot and addressing a lot of worldbuilding details that were left vague for far too long.
Sadly the worldbuilding doesn't hold up to the initially promised standard either. A lot of it doesn't quite fit together and it reveals that it's far more spotty than initially promised.

And the most frustrating part is that after 3 books of backwater nonsense the book ends with the MC finally joining vampire society with all its political intrigue. But I am just not willing to spend another cent on this series after such an underwhelming third book.

I will never know if the teased vampire politics are really as interesting as I hoped.

[Tony Hisgett]

I still really enjoy parts of these books, but there are times when the author really loses the plot. Occasionally it feels like he has dredged up the most ridiculous storylines and shoved them into the story whether they make sense or not. It also doesn’t help that the author sometimes takes very little notice of what he actually writes and basically contradicts himself, for example;
During the big battle when the Towns people of Marquette are attacked by approximately three hundred ‘bandits’. They hit the bandits with multiple magic artillery shells, followed by several volleys of hundreds of muskets and then pistols at point blank range, but still two hundred and fifty still reach the town’s barricades, how? The author writes that the women’s home guard are capable of easily hitting a target at a hundred yards and there were a hundred of them. Then there is the actual town’s Militia and Araine’s guard.
The author is trying to make it dramatic but he does this by forcing things to happen that shouldn’t. I know most people wouldn’t even notice these minor issues, but I’m afraid I find them annoying.

I look forward to reading the next book, but I wouldn’t be surprised if an intergalactic spaceship appears at some point in the story.

[Russell Gray]

After the significant uptick in enjoyment I had in volume 2, this book stumbled quite a bit. I mentioned previously that the main thing I anticipated was Ariane rejoining vampire society and that's where the bulk of the story awaits, in my opinion. I knew the author would have a few checkboxes to mark before then, but unfortunately he spent an entire book doing so.

While I wouldn't say this book is filler since much of the contents are relevant, it was undeniably setting the table for events in the next volume and doesn't stand very well as a standalone experience. Maybe part of this stems from the story being a webnovel, but to me it's a matter of efficiency. I feel like it should have been possible to introduce the important characters and incorporate the lessons learned into the early stages of rejoining vampire society. Instead, they were separated, with this book serving as an unsatisfactory appetizer to what should hopefully be the real meal in volume 4.

As is often the case, the fourth volume tends to be a crossroads for me when it comes to continuing or dropping a series. I will read the next book, and if significant plot momentum isn't achieved, then I might not make it much further.

[William Moses Jr.]

This is just more of the good stuff I've come to expect from Gilbert. Interesting interpersonal conflicts, fun action, a quick pace, unexpected twists and turns, and overall a great story.

Though, the only thing that slightly bothers me is that things seem a bit too convenient for our protagonist. People favor her and things happen to her advantage at times for not always clear reasons. Still, it doesn't feel too plot armorish, because things do go wrong for her as well. But it's a minor thing I notice and the reason I notice is because those things that do go right, really end up benefitting the protagonist. But I guess one reason I'm not too irritated is because that element of the-protagonist-got-lucky and that's why they're better off than many others in the world is very much a part and parcel of most progression fantasy stories, so I have gotten used to it.

[Felipe]

The series' third installment receives a breath of clarity that distinguishes it from its predecessor. However, the writing continues to be somewhat patched and stale, a persistent weakness common in many webnovels. Unfortunately, the genre's notable addictiveness does not express itself in the series. Despite all its flaws, it continues to be worth a read for its focus on vampires, a thematic ill explored in today's fiction.

[C H]

Seriously excellent writing…

The plot line all the way up to this point has been an excellent journey. I am really excited and highly impressed with the character development. This take on vampiric society is fresh and well thought out. I am happy to pay for these books and will continue to follow this author. Wow!

[Vilius]

It's hard to tell if I'm reviewing the correct part since this is a web novel and I read it all in one go. Anyway, there is a time skip which is a bit unexpected but I enjoyed it either way. There is more of the same the good and the bad. There is a bad guy now which is great. I'm not a big fan of the ending as it changes absolutely everything.

[Colin Worthy]

This book continues the story of Ariane on the run and hiding in the wild west of the time. It shows her growth and how she interacts with others she comes across. The character continues to grow and develop, getting stronger as she needs to do. The book ends with some revelations and a change of scenery.

[Knight]

Interesting story

I cannot wait for the next book in the series to come out. Especially I cannot wait for the audiobook version to be released. A really interesting story of a vampire rolling a town

[Christian Jeffress]

Fun

Once more, this is another fun addition to the series, with interesting revelations that unfolded, retribution, met, and new companions introduced. If you enjoyed the first two books, I see no reason why you wouldn’t enjoy this one.

[Bea]

While I am enjoying this series I feel like the author rambles too much. Or I guess makes the characters ramble on and on and on.

So much text of the same rehashed speeches, same issue with the calamitous bob. But I'll keep reading because I do enjoy the book.

[Wetdryvac Wetdryvac]

Writing improving a lot starting here.

[Kinsey]

Best of the series so far, the main character isn’t whiny in this one. If you enjoyed the rest you’ll like this one too

[V]

Fun fun

[Michele02]

3,7

[Ben Mcpeake]

Read on Royal Road, 9/10