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Scavenger #1
Shadow
K. J. Parker received critical acclaim for his Fencer Trilogy, and Shadow is the first book in the Scavenger Trilogya series that takes fantasy fiction into remarkable new territory. A man wakes in the wilderness, amid scattered corpses and inquisitive crows. He has no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. The only clues to his former existence lie in his apparent skill with a sword and the fragmented dreams that permeate his sleep.
572 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2001
95 people are currently reading
2232 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Parker
134 books1,679 followersK.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
February 4, 2022
This book has a very high body count.
If you like a hero with a good heart and an amazing skill for killing who, with no intention of going on a psychotic killing spree, manages to go around killing everyone in sight, this is the book for you. As it was for me.
I loved the main character, whoever he is. I liked the general sense of confusion, when you're reading one of the two main PoVs and have no idea who this person is, but neither do they. There are also dream sequences that add to the general confusion but also drop little clue-nuggets. I spent the book hoping to find out who's who and also planning on finishing it only to start it over immediately and try to piece things together a bit more.
I loved the world, medieval-ish, the world at war, not a moral compass in sight. A religious order of killers. And a god on a cart. And button salespeople. And the most evil man in the world.
I still have little clue who he is or what the smack is going on, but then neither does he. So I guess we'll figure out together... Definitely reading the next one.
If you like a hero with a good heart and an amazing skill for killing who, with no intention of going on a psychotic killing spree, manages to go around killing everyone in sight, this is the book for you. As it was for me.
I loved the main character, whoever he is. I liked the general sense of confusion, when you're reading one of the two main PoVs and have no idea who this person is, but neither do they. There are also dream sequences that add to the general confusion but also drop little clue-nuggets. I spent the book hoping to find out who's who and also planning on finishing it only to start it over immediately and try to piece things together a bit more.
I loved the world, medieval-ish, the world at war, not a moral compass in sight. A religious order of killers. And a god on a cart. And button salespeople. And the most evil man in the world.
I still have little clue who he is or what the smack is going on, but then neither does he. So I guess we'll figure out together... Definitely reading the next one.
April 12, 2012
5 Stars
I feel as a lover of adult oriented, dark, intelligently written fantasy, that I am obligated to point out why this flawed book deserves full marks and it deserves a wider audience. This is a complicated and at times confusing story that centers on a man with no name. Our main protagonist wakes up in a river filled with dead soldiers. He is obviously suffering from a head wound as he cannot remember who he is, why he is there, and where he should be going. The adventure begins as our hero tries to make his way, he tries to unlock the mystery of his identity and comprehend why he has the skills that he does (He finds out accidentally that he is a master with a sword and equally adept as a killer).
Our hero joins up with a woman named Copis, and together they decide to travel the country with him pretending to be the “God on a Cart”, Poldarn, and her, his priestess. Funny thing is that the man may actually be this god of destruction. Our hero learns more and more about this god called Poldarn, and he has one such conversation about him with a little girl:
“… 'nobody knows what he's called, and he goes around from village to village, and wherever he goes gets burned down or invaded and all the people die; but it's not his fault, it's bad men like the raiders who do the actual burning and invading. He just sort of goes in front. Oh yes,' she added, 'and there's a silly bit, too, but I don't believe it.'
'Tell me anyway,' Poldarn said.
The little girl pulled a face. 'Well, they say he doesn't actually know he's a god, he just thinks he's one of us, a person. And he starts off by climbing up out of a river, and he keeps on going till he meets himself coming in the opposite direction. And then that's the end of the world. Like I said,' she added disdainfully, 'it's really silly, and I don't think anybody really believes it….”
Frustration and confusion play major roles throughout this tale. Deception and ambiguity also color nearly every situation. Poldarn comes across many people that claim to know him, but no matter how he tries to get them to reveal to him his identity, things never work out his way.
“'You know me,' he said.
'I thought I did,' the stranger replied. 'I mean, I'm used to you pulling some bloody stupid stunts but this is going too far, even by your standards. Have you got the faintest idea what they'll do to me if we're seen together? If you've got a death-wish, that's absolutely fine. Just leave me out of it. I'm sick and tired of rescuing you every time you get it into your head to do something crazy.'
'No, really,' Poldarn said (and he felt like there was an enormous weight on his chest, so heavy he could hardly breathe). 'You don't understand.'”
Most times the people that he meets up with end up dead, with them trying to kill him, or with him just up and killing them.
Parker is a writer and narrator that paints in every detail down to the finest point. I absolutely loved her attention to every scene, the vistas and landscapes, and houses and buildings. The world building is top notch. There is even a large chapter that does nothing more than describe every piece of machinery and engineering technique about the manufacturing of buttons. Sure, this means that there are many times when things slow down, where the action is minimal, and at times the dialogue too. I adored the fighting and the action and the focus that was put on swords. Poldarn often speaks of his sword skills and internally refers to the circle, which we later learn about:
“'Think,' he told him, 'about the circle you've just drawn in the air.' (Was that Father Tutor talking, or the Junior Tutor that Monach had grown into, eighteen years later, the one who copied his former teacher's words and mannerisms now that he was a teacher himself? The sword-point describes a circle—) 'You can't see it now,' Father Tutor went on. 'You'd better learn to see it, because it's the circle of life and death—your life, your death, and the lives and deaths of others, possibly dozens or hundreds of them. So long as you're alone in the circle, you're safe, and so is your enemy. He can't reach you, and you can't reach him. As soon as either of you steps into the other's circle—and of course when you enter his circle, he enters yours—both of you are in terrible danger, both of you are a single moment away from success, from victory. The circle of life and death—there's a grand, magical-sounding name for you, but that's precisely what it is. Alone in your circle, you're safe and you can achieve nothing. Once your circle meshes with someone else's, you carry with you victory and defeat, both at the same time, success and failure, life and death.'”
Like I said before this is a complicated read as we the reader are often treated to the same things that Poldarn is. Parker uses repetition throughout this book , adding layers to the mystery, to the prophecy, and to our confusion as well. There is repetition in nearly everything, from conversations already had, battles previously fought, and dreams that already came and went. The novel is bravely centered on repetition and confusion, and to me it worked. Parker adds the icing to this amazing cake by giving us the antagonist Monach. He is a sword-monk, that like Poldarn is surrounded by confusion and death. He confesses that he was the best swordsman in years and we get to see it in action many times. His story line parallels Poldarns even while Monach is actually trying to find him to kill him. I will not spoil anything but I believe that there is more of a connection between these two men that I hope to find the answers to in the later books.
This is not a fast read by any means. It is a lot of work at times to make it through it, but I feel that in the end, this is adult fantasy at its best. I would compare K.J.Parker to that of China Mieville in that his writing often demands a great deal out of his reader. I highly recommend this book and look forward to book number two.
“…Of course it's all just a load of old rubbish. But you know what they say: opportunities and mushrooms.'
'Opportunities and mushrooms what?'
'Grow up out of horseshit,' she explained.”
I feel as a lover of adult oriented, dark, intelligently written fantasy, that I am obligated to point out why this flawed book deserves full marks and it deserves a wider audience. This is a complicated and at times confusing story that centers on a man with no name. Our main protagonist wakes up in a river filled with dead soldiers. He is obviously suffering from a head wound as he cannot remember who he is, why he is there, and where he should be going. The adventure begins as our hero tries to make his way, he tries to unlock the mystery of his identity and comprehend why he has the skills that he does (He finds out accidentally that he is a master with a sword and equally adept as a killer).
Our hero joins up with a woman named Copis, and together they decide to travel the country with him pretending to be the “God on a Cart”, Poldarn, and her, his priestess. Funny thing is that the man may actually be this god of destruction. Our hero learns more and more about this god called Poldarn, and he has one such conversation about him with a little girl:
“… 'nobody knows what he's called, and he goes around from village to village, and wherever he goes gets burned down or invaded and all the people die; but it's not his fault, it's bad men like the raiders who do the actual burning and invading. He just sort of goes in front. Oh yes,' she added, 'and there's a silly bit, too, but I don't believe it.'
'Tell me anyway,' Poldarn said.
The little girl pulled a face. 'Well, they say he doesn't actually know he's a god, he just thinks he's one of us, a person. And he starts off by climbing up out of a river, and he keeps on going till he meets himself coming in the opposite direction. And then that's the end of the world. Like I said,' she added disdainfully, 'it's really silly, and I don't think anybody really believes it….”
Frustration and confusion play major roles throughout this tale. Deception and ambiguity also color nearly every situation. Poldarn comes across many people that claim to know him, but no matter how he tries to get them to reveal to him his identity, things never work out his way.
“'You know me,' he said.
'I thought I did,' the stranger replied. 'I mean, I'm used to you pulling some bloody stupid stunts but this is going too far, even by your standards. Have you got the faintest idea what they'll do to me if we're seen together? If you've got a death-wish, that's absolutely fine. Just leave me out of it. I'm sick and tired of rescuing you every time you get it into your head to do something crazy.'
'No, really,' Poldarn said (and he felt like there was an enormous weight on his chest, so heavy he could hardly breathe). 'You don't understand.'”
Most times the people that he meets up with end up dead, with them trying to kill him, or with him just up and killing them.
Parker is a writer and narrator that paints in every detail down to the finest point. I absolutely loved her attention to every scene, the vistas and landscapes, and houses and buildings. The world building is top notch. There is even a large chapter that does nothing more than describe every piece of machinery and engineering technique about the manufacturing of buttons. Sure, this means that there are many times when things slow down, where the action is minimal, and at times the dialogue too. I adored the fighting and the action and the focus that was put on swords. Poldarn often speaks of his sword skills and internally refers to the circle, which we later learn about:
“'Think,' he told him, 'about the circle you've just drawn in the air.' (Was that Father Tutor talking, or the Junior Tutor that Monach had grown into, eighteen years later, the one who copied his former teacher's words and mannerisms now that he was a teacher himself? The sword-point describes a circle—) 'You can't see it now,' Father Tutor went on. 'You'd better learn to see it, because it's the circle of life and death—your life, your death, and the lives and deaths of others, possibly dozens or hundreds of them. So long as you're alone in the circle, you're safe, and so is your enemy. He can't reach you, and you can't reach him. As soon as either of you steps into the other's circle—and of course when you enter his circle, he enters yours—both of you are in terrible danger, both of you are a single moment away from success, from victory. The circle of life and death—there's a grand, magical-sounding name for you, but that's precisely what it is. Alone in your circle, you're safe and you can achieve nothing. Once your circle meshes with someone else's, you carry with you victory and defeat, both at the same time, success and failure, life and death.'”
Like I said before this is a complicated read as we the reader are often treated to the same things that Poldarn is. Parker uses repetition throughout this book , adding layers to the mystery, to the prophecy, and to our confusion as well. There is repetition in nearly everything, from conversations already had, battles previously fought, and dreams that already came and went. The novel is bravely centered on repetition and confusion, and to me it worked. Parker adds the icing to this amazing cake by giving us the antagonist Monach. He is a sword-monk, that like Poldarn is surrounded by confusion and death. He confesses that he was the best swordsman in years and we get to see it in action many times. His story line parallels Poldarns even while Monach is actually trying to find him to kill him. I will not spoil anything but I believe that there is more of a connection between these two men that I hope to find the answers to in the later books.
This is not a fast read by any means. It is a lot of work at times to make it through it, but I feel that in the end, this is adult fantasy at its best. I would compare K.J.Parker to that of China Mieville in that his writing often demands a great deal out of his reader. I highly recommend this book and look forward to book number two.
“…Of course it's all just a load of old rubbish. But you know what they say: opportunities and mushrooms.'
'Opportunities and mushrooms what?'
'Grow up out of horseshit,' she explained.”
June 1, 2022
A rather odd but intriguing novel by Parker, that on the one hand establishes many of the tropes he employed in his later fantasy, and yet differs in fundamental ways as well. The story is told largely from two POVs-- a man with amnesia who comes to be known as Poldarn and a 'soldier monk' of the established religion of the Empire. While Parker just tosses you into the story, a basic outline of the world emerges slowly, at times leaving the reader a bit confused, much like the amnesiac lead.
Parker's fantasy worlds all share some basic features. First, there is an old Empire or something close, that has lasted for 100s if not 1000s of years, stuck if you will in a pre-industrial age quasi feudal system. Secondly, there is no magic-- his stories are all character driven in specific contexts, with the leads being (typically) fencers, engineers, etc. What is unique here is the possible inclusion of the divine, even though most of the characters are devout atheists.
Shadow starts off with a man awakening in a muddy, bloody stream with a few dozen dead bodies sprawled around. He himself suffered a blow to the head and he has no idea of how he got there or who he is. Obviously there was a battle here, with the two different types of armor on the dead, but the man does not recognize either group. He wanders a bit-- this is a rather desolate moorland-- and then finds a road. Tired, he sleeps, only to be awakened by a cart that almost runs down his prostrate body. The drunken, belligerent driver gets out and accosts him, and finally he is forced to defend himself with his sword and cuts the driver down with one blow. It seems he as quite some aptitude with weapons! The woman in the cart, known as Copis, runs a scam where she goes into villages and so forth as a priestess of Poldarn; the driver of the cart was her current 'god' Poldarn. So, they come to an agreement. The amnesiac man will play Poldarn at the next village to replace the guy he killed.
Meanwhile, Parker introduces another POV, that of a soldier monk from the 'church'. He is something of a trouble shooter, acting as an assassin at times or just doing what the church elders deem necessary. We first encounter him in a city where he has been tasked to assassinate a bigshot merchant/trader. The thing is that he and the amnesiac (called Poldarn after his god act, for lack of something else) seem to share their dreams, and further, in the dreams some omnipotent narrator how tells both of them events past, present and future. So the two are linked but what is the connection? Finally, we are introduced to the myth/lore of Poldarn himself. Copis tells Poldarn that she just made up the name, taking it from the name of a factory where she grew up, but Poldarn is actually a god in the pantheon, albeit a rather obscure one. Poldarn is a 'fire god', worshiped by iron mongers, smelters, etc., or any trade that deals with fire. Unlike most of the pantheon, Poldarn is neither 'good' nor 'bad', as fire is both useful and destructive, depending on how it is used. There is, however, the myth/lore that Poldarn will bring about the end of the world, something akin to the return of Jesus in the final rapture.
The story is situated in the North of the Empire, which is beset by several problems related to war and conflict. First, we have the 'raiders', people akin to Vikings, who spend the summer raiding the North and leaving a trail of destruction/death in their wake. This has been ongoing for years, but this year there is a rumor that they have allied themselves with a local lord, quite powerful, who seeks the crown of the Empire for himself, or at least a potential proxy via a relative of the current Emperor who is based in the North. We also have an army in the North sent by the Emperor lead by the most brilliant general for 100s of years. So, in effect, we have at least three armed groups wandering around in the North and while the powerful northern lord is ostensibly allied to the crown, he 'turned traitor' in a key battle to the Northern army to help out the cousin of the king who the northern lord wants as a proxy to the throne. Get it? Lots of intrigue here, and no way of sorting out what will happen. This ambiguity of alliances and such itself serves as something of a metaphor for Poldarn himself. Obviously, he was caught up in the conflict somehow, as he keeps running across people who recognize him as some sort of a big shot, but he never manages to find out who he is what what he was doing before he lost his memories.
In a way, this is an existentialist novel, with the lead Poldarn trying to figure out who he is and what he should do with his life. His skills are only military, however, which leaves him few options. Even worse, during his short time playing the god scam, it seems that something really happened! In the one visit to the village (really to cage some free food and supplies), several people were healed and some even from the dead. Is the ancient prophesy about Poldarn true? In the myth/lore, Poldarn will assume the form of a human without memories and travel around in a cart leaving destruction in his wake. Is the myth really true? Parker strings out the reader on this one.
Overall, this is a departure from Parker's usual fare as it (again, potentially) involves some divine intervention, but the characters will be familiar to any reader of Parker's fantasy works-- the almost emotionless, self-interested people who all seem to lack true empathy who interact via snarky dialogue. He also treats us to some of his trademark details of things, in one case a very detailed depiction of a bone button factory and of course, some blacksmithing/ metal work and weapons/armor of all sorts. I really love these 'asides' although some readers may find the tedious.
This is rather more ambitious than Parker's usual works as well; there is no simple plot thread to follow and he keeps the reader guessing throughout regarding 'Poldarn's' real identity, the connection between the sword priest and our amnesiac lead, and finally, the Poldarn the god, who largely enters the scene as a crow or a murder of crows, one of which has a gold ring in its mouth. Very original to be sure with many funny, albeit largely dark quips, regarding the human condition. 4 quirky stars!!
Parker's fantasy worlds all share some basic features. First, there is an old Empire or something close, that has lasted for 100s if not 1000s of years, stuck if you will in a pre-industrial age quasi feudal system. Secondly, there is no magic-- his stories are all character driven in specific contexts, with the leads being (typically) fencers, engineers, etc. What is unique here is the possible inclusion of the divine, even though most of the characters are devout atheists.
Shadow starts off with a man awakening in a muddy, bloody stream with a few dozen dead bodies sprawled around. He himself suffered a blow to the head and he has no idea of how he got there or who he is. Obviously there was a battle here, with the two different types of armor on the dead, but the man does not recognize either group. He wanders a bit-- this is a rather desolate moorland-- and then finds a road. Tired, he sleeps, only to be awakened by a cart that almost runs down his prostrate body. The drunken, belligerent driver gets out and accosts him, and finally he is forced to defend himself with his sword and cuts the driver down with one blow. It seems he as quite some aptitude with weapons! The woman in the cart, known as Copis, runs a scam where she goes into villages and so forth as a priestess of Poldarn; the driver of the cart was her current 'god' Poldarn. So, they come to an agreement. The amnesiac man will play Poldarn at the next village to replace the guy he killed.
Meanwhile, Parker introduces another POV, that of a soldier monk from the 'church'. He is something of a trouble shooter, acting as an assassin at times or just doing what the church elders deem necessary. We first encounter him in a city where he has been tasked to assassinate a bigshot merchant/trader. The thing is that he and the amnesiac (called Poldarn after his god act, for lack of something else) seem to share their dreams, and further, in the dreams some omnipotent narrator how tells both of them events past, present and future. So the two are linked but what is the connection? Finally, we are introduced to the myth/lore of Poldarn himself. Copis tells Poldarn that she just made up the name, taking it from the name of a factory where she grew up, but Poldarn is actually a god in the pantheon, albeit a rather obscure one. Poldarn is a 'fire god', worshiped by iron mongers, smelters, etc., or any trade that deals with fire. Unlike most of the pantheon, Poldarn is neither 'good' nor 'bad', as fire is both useful and destructive, depending on how it is used. There is, however, the myth/lore that Poldarn will bring about the end of the world, something akin to the return of Jesus in the final rapture.
The story is situated in the North of the Empire, which is beset by several problems related to war and conflict. First, we have the 'raiders', people akin to Vikings, who spend the summer raiding the North and leaving a trail of destruction/death in their wake. This has been ongoing for years, but this year there is a rumor that they have allied themselves with a local lord, quite powerful, who seeks the crown of the Empire for himself, or at least a potential proxy via a relative of the current Emperor who is based in the North. We also have an army in the North sent by the Emperor lead by the most brilliant general for 100s of years. So, in effect, we have at least three armed groups wandering around in the North and while the powerful northern lord is ostensibly allied to the crown, he 'turned traitor' in a key battle to the Northern army to help out the cousin of the king who the northern lord wants as a proxy to the throne. Get it? Lots of intrigue here, and no way of sorting out what will happen. This ambiguity of alliances and such itself serves as something of a metaphor for Poldarn himself. Obviously, he was caught up in the conflict somehow, as he keeps running across people who recognize him as some sort of a big shot, but he never manages to find out who he is what what he was doing before he lost his memories.
In a way, this is an existentialist novel, with the lead Poldarn trying to figure out who he is and what he should do with his life. His skills are only military, however, which leaves him few options. Even worse, during his short time playing the god scam, it seems that something really happened! In the one visit to the village (really to cage some free food and supplies), several people were healed and some even from the dead. Is the ancient prophesy about Poldarn true? In the myth/lore, Poldarn will assume the form of a human without memories and travel around in a cart leaving destruction in his wake. Is the myth really true? Parker strings out the reader on this one.
Overall, this is a departure from Parker's usual fare as it (again, potentially) involves some divine intervention, but the characters will be familiar to any reader of Parker's fantasy works-- the almost emotionless, self-interested people who all seem to lack true empathy who interact via snarky dialogue. He also treats us to some of his trademark details of things, in one case a very detailed depiction of a bone button factory and of course, some blacksmithing/ metal work and weapons/armor of all sorts. I really love these 'asides' although some readers may find the tedious.
This is rather more ambitious than Parker's usual works as well; there is no simple plot thread to follow and he keeps the reader guessing throughout regarding 'Poldarn's' real identity, the connection between the sword priest and our amnesiac lead, and finally, the Poldarn the god, who largely enters the scene as a crow or a murder of crows, one of which has a gold ring in its mouth. Very original to be sure with many funny, albeit largely dark quips, regarding the human condition. 4 quirky stars!!
September 1, 2024
A man wakes up,in the middle of nowhere ,surrounded by dead soldiers and with no memory of who he is or how he got there. By the end of the book, he's none the wiser, and neither was I ! I really liked experiencing events as they happened to our protagonist .It kept the whole thing unpredictable.
Every so often, he meets someone who recognises him , but before he gets a chance to question them, something happens, and they usually end up dead, a running gag that I greatly enjoyed.
Through various clues , he starts to realise that he's part of some larger conspiracy, but who the hell is he? A God, a famous general, a feared mercenary leader or a member of the Emperors family?
A very descriptive book ; if you like detailed descriptions of medievalish button factories, then this is the book for you.
Shadow was offbeat ,fresh (despite being written twenty years ago) ,original, and one that stands out from the crowd.
Highly enjoyable.
Every so often, he meets someone who recognises him , but before he gets a chance to question them, something happens, and they usually end up dead, a running gag that I greatly enjoyed.
Through various clues , he starts to realise that he's part of some larger conspiracy, but who the hell is he? A God, a famous general, a feared mercenary leader or a member of the Emperors family?
A very descriptive book ; if you like detailed descriptions of medievalish button factories, then this is the book for you.
Shadow was offbeat ,fresh (despite being written twenty years ago) ,original, and one that stands out from the crowd.
Highly enjoyable.
June 22, 2020
It’s less than a year since I discovered KJ Parker and it’s still a blossoming love affair!
The first in a trilogy, an intriguing story about an individual who wakes up with bodies around him, but has no memory of who he is, or what’s happened. OK, memory loss stories are probably not that original but the Parker angle on this one is fascinating. He deliberately keeps you guessing but in the end you don’t much care who our main POV really is and the frustration of getting so close on a number of occasions becomes a humorous part of the story!
What you do get is a story with all the typical Parker meanderings in this non-magical vaguely Byzantium world. As I’ve said before, the journey is as important as the destination. There are some interesting characters, details on how people struggle to make a living including by deceptively pretending to be a god to naive villagers, a martial order of monks (from where another POV emerges) and some warfare though in the non-romanticised, non-heroic fashion typical of the author. There’s some technical education; you learn how to make buttons from old bones (marvellous recycling when you think about it!) and how to recycle steel and iron scrap when you haven’t the furnaces to melt it!
It’s the first in a trilogy and I’ve no idea where it’s going next but I know I’ll enjoy it. Maybe 4.5*as some sections were a little confusing though I’m sure intentionally so. Probably too clever for me! But Parker always deserves any score rounding upwards.
The first in a trilogy, an intriguing story about an individual who wakes up with bodies around him, but has no memory of who he is, or what’s happened. OK, memory loss stories are probably not that original but the Parker angle on this one is fascinating. He deliberately keeps you guessing but in the end you don’t much care who our main POV really is and the frustration of getting so close on a number of occasions becomes a humorous part of the story!
What you do get is a story with all the typical Parker meanderings in this non-magical vaguely Byzantium world. As I’ve said before, the journey is as important as the destination. There are some interesting characters, details on how people struggle to make a living including by deceptively pretending to be a god to naive villagers, a martial order of monks (from where another POV emerges) and some warfare though in the non-romanticised, non-heroic fashion typical of the author. There’s some technical education; you learn how to make buttons from old bones (marvellous recycling when you think about it!) and how to recycle steel and iron scrap when you haven’t the furnaces to melt it!
It’s the first in a trilogy and I’ve no idea where it’s going next but I know I’ll enjoy it. Maybe 4.5*as some sections were a little confusing though I’m sure intentionally so. Probably too clever for me! But Parker always deserves any score rounding upwards.
May 8, 2020
This first volume defines the words ambiguous and intriguing. Even after a second read. Damn you, Parker! 4.5*
November 2, 2025
Parker. What are you *doing* to me.
Let's get the preamble out of the way: I'm a huge Parker fan, I love his works, etc etc etc
I'm at least giving this an earned 3 stars, rather than having to round up for his sake like I did with PROOF HOUSE. However, I am concerned--*very* concerned--that this man is going to PROOF HOUSE me again with this series.
Let me get the negative out of the way first--this book makes no sense as a story. Minute to minute beats and entire chapters are good and Parker's writing continues to impress and be at the top of the game when it comes to narrative prose, but *man* did he read my review of FENCER TRILOGY and double down on the metaphysical bullshark. At no point is the reader every sure where/when something is happpening. Dreams with other characters and portents abound and we're not even sure which one of them is having the dream. We don't even know *who the MC is*. A least a dozen times is he faced by someone who knows him but *they refuse to say his name or say who he is*. Instead, we get the Parkeresque "oh, it's you" or "ugh, not you again". So, if I could summon up a single word to describe this book, it's *frustrating*.
Now, it gives me hope that this is the first book where I don't know where it's going and not the 3rd book, as was the case with PROOF HOUSE. And there is some really profound stuff hidden between Parker's attempts to drive off anyone picking up one of his books for the first time. Things like how much of your identity is made up of memories--yours and others'--of who you *were*, and, if you lost that, how you could just decide to be someone else. There's a lot about fate and destiny, and gods and choice, and there's a ton of political machinations going on behind the scenes if you care to parse through it.
Basically, there's enough to get me to read the next book but *so help me*, sir, I better get some kind of something from PATTERN or I'm going to become a Booktube Dudebro and only read Marcus Aurelius and STONER.
Let's get the preamble out of the way: I'm a huge Parker fan, I love his works, etc etc etc
I'm at least giving this an earned 3 stars, rather than having to round up for his sake like I did with PROOF HOUSE. However, I am concerned--*very* concerned--that this man is going to PROOF HOUSE me again with this series.
Let me get the negative out of the way first--this book makes no sense as a story. Minute to minute beats and entire chapters are good and Parker's writing continues to impress and be at the top of the game when it comes to narrative prose, but *man* did he read my review of FENCER TRILOGY and double down on the metaphysical bullshark. At no point is the reader every sure where/when something is happpening. Dreams with other characters and portents abound and we're not even sure which one of them is having the dream. We don't even know *who the MC is*. A least a dozen times is he faced by someone who knows him but *they refuse to say his name or say who he is*. Instead, we get the Parkeresque "oh, it's you" or "ugh, not you again". So, if I could summon up a single word to describe this book, it's *frustrating*.
Now, it gives me hope that this is the first book where I don't know where it's going and not the 3rd book, as was the case with PROOF HOUSE. And there is some really profound stuff hidden between Parker's attempts to drive off anyone picking up one of his books for the first time. Things like how much of your identity is made up of memories--yours and others'--of who you *were*, and, if you lost that, how you could just decide to be someone else. There's a lot about fate and destiny, and gods and choice, and there's a ton of political machinations going on behind the scenes if you care to parse through it.
Basically, there's enough to get me to read the next book but *so help me*, sir, I better get some kind of something from PATTERN or I'm going to become a Booktube Dudebro and only read Marcus Aurelius and STONER.
November 22, 2018
-Los riesgos son aplaudidos, pero hay que saber manejarlos con cuidado para que logren una ovación.-
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro Sombra (publicación original: Shadow, 2001), nuestro protagonista, con una herida en la cabeza, despierta en mitad de un barrizal junto a un río, donde se ha sostenido un combate y hay bastantes cuerpos a su alrededor, pero no recuerda si él era un testigo de la lucha, parte de uno de los bandos o del otro. Cuando se aleja del lugar y sigue un camino, se encuentra con una pareja en un carro. El estado de embriaguez y la agresividad del hombre que lo conduce le llevan a la muerte a manos del protagonista, sorprendido por su habilidad para usar armas y matar, pero en cambio genera una extraña amistad y colaboración con la mujer del carro, Copis, acostumbrada a estafar campesinos aprovechándose de su credulidad. Copis decide llamar Poldarn a nuestro protagonista, que sigue sin recordar quién es, igual que el personaje que interpretará, un dios con una antigua leyenda destructiva, para sacarle dinero, comida y bienes a los pueblerinos. Pero, cuando duerme, Poldarn “ve” escenas muy vívidas. Primer libro de La trilogía de Poldarn.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro Sombra (publicación original: Shadow, 2001), nuestro protagonista, con una herida en la cabeza, despierta en mitad de un barrizal junto a un río, donde se ha sostenido un combate y hay bastantes cuerpos a su alrededor, pero no recuerda si él era un testigo de la lucha, parte de uno de los bandos o del otro. Cuando se aleja del lugar y sigue un camino, se encuentra con una pareja en un carro. El estado de embriaguez y la agresividad del hombre que lo conduce le llevan a la muerte a manos del protagonista, sorprendido por su habilidad para usar armas y matar, pero en cambio genera una extraña amistad y colaboración con la mujer del carro, Copis, acostumbrada a estafar campesinos aprovechándose de su credulidad. Copis decide llamar Poldarn a nuestro protagonista, que sigue sin recordar quién es, igual que el personaje que interpretará, un dios con una antigua leyenda destructiva, para sacarle dinero, comida y bienes a los pueblerinos. Pero, cuando duerme, Poldarn “ve” escenas muy vívidas. Primer libro de La trilogía de Poldarn.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
February 19, 2019
I have counted K.J. Parker among my favorite authors since I read his Sharps five years ago. But this is only the fourth novel length work, and first of his multi-book series I have attempted.*
*caveats: (not actually spoilers)
One reason for this, aside from my general dislike of series and assumption that all such are only such for the lack of a sufficiently ruthless editor, is that I'd come to the conclusion based on my consumption thus far, that while Parker excels at the novella, his longer work can be more difficult to engage with because focus shifts too much between too many characters. (Savages) A failing of much fantasy to be sure, but I wasn't ready to have my opinion of Parker undermined by picking up works which seemed more likely to let me down than his shorter stuff.
The description for Shadow being not only interesting in its own right, but suggesting a potentially tighter focus than some other options, I chose this for my first go at one of Parker's trilogies.
Narration is third person, but limited to two pov characters.* The first is a man referred to as "Poldarn" for most of the book, who awakes at the beginning of the book with no memory of anything before that point. It quickly becomes apparent that he has a knack for killing, as he inadvertently kills everyone he meets who seems to know him before they can be persuaded to tell him who he is. He soon finds himself paired with a fake priestess who earns her living from a religious scam, and presses him into the role of the fake(?) god Poldarn.
*See dreams section below.
The secondary pov character is a sword-monk, whose own real name may be lost in the haze, but goes by Monach when out and about. He is sent to investigate the fake god in a cart.
In the background, multiple conspiracies and internal wars are going on in the empire, and the novel is a tiny bit like a political thriller as seen through the eyes of delivery boy who just happens to be delivering items to various members of the different factions. Sometimes this is literally what's happening in the book, but I say this also so you know what to expect from the plot. The pov characters are in the dark, and therefore the reader is too. I imagine some readers will find it unsatisfying for that reason.
Overall the story has more action, and much less of the sardonic voice that I typically associate with Parker. The signature digressions into period technology are present. The writing is quite good, but a reader should be prepared to be lost much of the time.
The level ambiguity and uncertainty in the story is very high, and is in fact, one of a list of things that Parker does in this novel which I often find annoying, but he manages quite well. I'm generally nothing but irritated when an author pulls the but was it real, or all in his head? garbage at the end of a story, (Of course it's not real you dumbass, it's fiction. Mixed with: If the story doesn't believe in itself, why am I reading this trash?) Here though, the ambiguity pervades the entire novel and is more which explanation is correct? than is any of this true? so it's okay with me.
On a similar note: dreams. If there's anything less interesting than someone else's dreams, it could only be the dreams of a fictional someone else. I hate dream sequences in fiction. I gave you one level of unreality, try to take two and we're done. Practically ever other scene in this book is a "dream". Or is it? Parker skirts this one because none of the dreams seem to actually be dreams. You might call them visions, or memories, or clairvoyant episodes. All of them seem to have happened or come to happen, though the point of view is not always from the identity of the "dreamer". Some of them even create some uncertainty in the timeline.
Another concern when picking this up was that I had no idea what kind of "trilogy" it was. Loosely-linked, three shorter-arcs joined by a larger, or the dreaded single arc arbitrarily chopped into thirds. Based just on this one, I think it's possible to make an argument for the second. Poldarn, who much more than Monach is our main character, still has many gaps in his life, by the end he does have one. Even without the background conspiracies and wars resolved, and with the remaining gaps in Poldarn's history, the ending satisfied. I look forward to reading the sequel, but it's not something I must do.
*caveats: (not actually spoilers)
One reason for this, aside from my general dislike of series and assumption that all such are only such for the lack of a sufficiently ruthless editor, is that I'd come to the conclusion based on my consumption thus far, that while Parker excels at the novella, his longer work can be more difficult to engage with because focus shifts too much between too many characters. (Savages) A failing of much fantasy to be sure, but I wasn't ready to have my opinion of Parker undermined by picking up works which seemed more likely to let me down than his shorter stuff.
The description for Shadow being not only interesting in its own right, but suggesting a potentially tighter focus than some other options, I chose this for my first go at one of Parker's trilogies.
Narration is third person, but limited to two pov characters.* The first is a man referred to as "Poldarn" for most of the book, who awakes at the beginning of the book with no memory of anything before that point. It quickly becomes apparent that he has a knack for killing, as he inadvertently kills everyone he meets who seems to know him before they can be persuaded to tell him who he is. He soon finds himself paired with a fake priestess who earns her living from a religious scam, and presses him into the role of the fake(?) god Poldarn.
*See dreams section below.
The secondary pov character is a sword-monk, whose own real name may be lost in the haze, but goes by Monach when out and about. He is sent to investigate the fake god in a cart.
In the background, multiple conspiracies and internal wars are going on in the empire, and the novel is a tiny bit like a political thriller as seen through the eyes of delivery boy who just happens to be delivering items to various members of the different factions. Sometimes this is literally what's happening in the book, but I say this also so you know what to expect from the plot. The pov characters are in the dark, and therefore the reader is too. I imagine some readers will find it unsatisfying for that reason.
Overall the story has more action, and much less of the sardonic voice that I typically associate with Parker. The signature digressions into period technology are present. The writing is quite good, but a reader should be prepared to be lost much of the time.
The level ambiguity and uncertainty in the story is very high, and is in fact, one of a list of things that Parker does in this novel which I often find annoying, but he manages quite well. I'm generally nothing but irritated when an author pulls the but was it real, or all in his head? garbage at the end of a story, (Of course it's not real you dumbass, it's fiction. Mixed with: If the story doesn't believe in itself, why am I reading this trash?) Here though, the ambiguity pervades the entire novel and is more which explanation is correct? than is any of this true? so it's okay with me.
On a similar note: dreams. If there's anything less interesting than someone else's dreams, it could only be the dreams of a fictional someone else. I hate dream sequences in fiction. I gave you one level of unreality, try to take two and we're done. Practically ever other scene in this book is a "dream". Or is it? Parker skirts this one because none of the dreams seem to actually be dreams. You might call them visions, or memories, or clairvoyant episodes. All of them seem to have happened or come to happen, though the point of view is not always from the identity of the "dreamer". Some of them even create some uncertainty in the timeline.
Another concern when picking this up was that I had no idea what kind of "trilogy" it was. Loosely-linked, three shorter-arcs joined by a larger, or the dreaded single arc arbitrarily chopped into thirds. Based just on this one, I think it's possible to make an argument for the second. Poldarn, who much more than Monach is our main character, still has many gaps in his life, by the end he does have one. Even without the background conspiracies and wars resolved, and with the remaining gaps in Poldarn's history, the ending satisfied. I look forward to reading the sequel, but it's not something I must do.
December 30, 2010
I ordered this book based on the other reviews I was seeing on Amazon. I have to admit the book is a very interesting concept and really keeps you guessing. Neat concept, very thought provoking. Definitely not what I would call a "candy" book (all good action, entertaining, but you never think twice about it after reading it).
Unfortunately I feel that it could have had more depth and more action. As you follow the character through the book you end up looking at everything very dispassionately. Which may be the way you would see things if you had lost your memory I suppose...but I feel you would still have very strong opinions and views. This approach to writing made it so I didn't really care what happened to any of the characters, I didn't like them, I didn't care about them. I believe these are very important things to make a book engrossing.
The other thing that was lacking was good pacing. The middle of the book plods along...vvveerrryy sslloowwly. I really didn't care what type of buttons the lead character, Poldarn, ended up selling, I mean who really cares. It had no benefit to the story except to show that Poldarn was lost and confused and I picked that up in the first half. If you had cut out about 100 pages and given the characters some passionate opinions then I would rate this book 4-5 stars.
All that being said I will probably read the 2nd book. If you had asked me if I was going to continue the series 3 chapters before the ending of this book I would have told you I am selling this book and shame on me for purchasing the next two in the series. But, the last few chapters were enough to re-spike the curiosity that the first part of the book generated. I am hoping the pace and depth of the characters picks up in the second book.
Unfortunately I feel that it could have had more depth and more action. As you follow the character through the book you end up looking at everything very dispassionately. Which may be the way you would see things if you had lost your memory I suppose...but I feel you would still have very strong opinions and views. This approach to writing made it so I didn't really care what happened to any of the characters, I didn't like them, I didn't care about them. I believe these are very important things to make a book engrossing.
The other thing that was lacking was good pacing. The middle of the book plods along...vvveerrryy sslloowwly. I really didn't care what type of buttons the lead character, Poldarn, ended up selling, I mean who really cares. It had no benefit to the story except to show that Poldarn was lost and confused and I picked that up in the first half. If you had cut out about 100 pages and given the characters some passionate opinions then I would rate this book 4-5 stars.
All that being said I will probably read the 2nd book. If you had asked me if I was going to continue the series 3 chapters before the ending of this book I would have told you I am selling this book and shame on me for purchasing the next two in the series. But, the last few chapters were enough to re-spike the curiosity that the first part of the book generated. I am hoping the pace and depth of the characters picks up in the second book.
August 14, 2018
I was surprised to find in Shadow one of my favorite Parker novels yet, as it's one of his least popular.
I can see the point of rancor, and others may be able to see the reason for my acclaim. As usual, it concerns a difference of expectation. Look for a straightforward story from K.J. Parker (is it so little to ask that a mystery have a resolution?) and you'll walk away disappointed, even angry. Bow to his adept prose, his wit, his ingenious convolutions, and allow him to mess with your head, and you'll have a marvelous time.
We follow the travails of one Poldarn (a pseudonym and a reference to an obscure god of destruction and the end of the world), who has woken from a head injury in the midst of carnage, having no memory of who he is or why he was there. He is soon swept up in world affairs that seem to have everything to do with him, but every time he meets someone he knows, they either refuse to tell him who he is or they die precipitously. After the fourth such encounter, I laughed aloud; it grants you an absurd sort of freedom to know that there's nothing you can sort out, no hidden clue (of which there are many) that won't lead you to a dead-end (of which there are many). You're left to enjoy a fantastic story.
This theme runs its course throughout the book, and it's a Parkerian trademark. Don't fight it or try to outsmart him, and you'll fall in love.
I can see the point of rancor, and others may be able to see the reason for my acclaim. As usual, it concerns a difference of expectation. Look for a straightforward story from K.J. Parker (is it so little to ask that a mystery have a resolution?) and you'll walk away disappointed, even angry. Bow to his adept prose, his wit, his ingenious convolutions, and allow him to mess with your head, and you'll have a marvelous time.
We follow the travails of one Poldarn (a pseudonym and a reference to an obscure god of destruction and the end of the world), who has woken from a head injury in the midst of carnage, having no memory of who he is or why he was there. He is soon swept up in world affairs that seem to have everything to do with him, but every time he meets someone he knows, they either refuse to tell him who he is or they die precipitously. After the fourth such encounter, I laughed aloud; it grants you an absurd sort of freedom to know that there's nothing you can sort out, no hidden clue (of which there are many) that won't lead you to a dead-end (of which there are many). You're left to enjoy a fantastic story.
This theme runs its course throughout the book, and it's a Parkerian trademark. Don't fight it or try to outsmart him, and you'll fall in love.
April 21, 2020
Does Parker turn traditional fantasy tropes upside down? Well ... sorta. If you're looking at lost royalty tropes, then he definitely does that, since most of the heroes (so to speak) in his novels are just ordinary people, exceptional in some ways, but otherwise just your average folks. The real question is: Is what Parker writes even fantasy? If not, then what tropes is he supposedly turning upside down?
Shadow is a bit of a departure from Parker's novels, in that he eschews the whole military-political intrigue (mostly) for a simpler (such as it is) story about the narrator trying to find out who he is after suffering from amnesia. Parker still engages all of his writing talents -- wry humor, sardonic characters, complex plots -- at their fullest in the story, making you guess all throughout the novel. Even when you reach the final page, with the answer finally given, you may find yourself asking, "Is Parker fucking with me?"
So, whatever Parker writes (fantasy? Medieval warfare? Political intrigue?), there's no other writer I've found who can do what he does. I enjoyed the hell out of Shadow.
Shadow is a bit of a departure from Parker's novels, in that he eschews the whole military-political intrigue (mostly) for a simpler (such as it is) story about the narrator trying to find out who he is after suffering from amnesia. Parker still engages all of his writing talents -- wry humor, sardonic characters, complex plots -- at their fullest in the story, making you guess all throughout the novel. Even when you reach the final page, with the answer finally given, you may find yourself asking, "Is Parker fucking with me?"
So, whatever Parker writes (fantasy? Medieval warfare? Political intrigue?), there's no other writer I've found who can do what he does. I enjoyed the hell out of Shadow.
May 3, 2009
Just another great book from KJ Parker; barely waiting to continue with the next one which I stared first but stopped to wait for this one once I got hooked.
October 14, 2021
A man awakens on the bank of a river, surrounded by dead soldiers. He has no memory of who he is or where he's from, but he discovers an extraordinary gift for violence. Which comes in handy, because half the people he meets recognize him and immediately try to kill him.
Shadow starts off as a series of wacky misadventures. He has total amnesia, and one powerful person after another recognizes him with a start and either scolds him for “playacting” or just tries to stab him. Comically, they either refuse to believe his lack of memories or they flee or die before they can enlighten him. He (and the reader) is led to believe by turns that he is an AWOL soldier, a genius general, an ascetic sword-monk, a sleeper agent for the rapacious raiders across the sea, and a little known god who will usher in the end of the world. It’s a farce, and an entertaining one. For the record: .
When the plot begins to gel, Shadow becomes less enjoyable. He turns out to be an intensely unlikable, unrelatable protagonist. (eg, ) I like an antihero as much as the next but it's hard to care where this monster’s story is headed.
Still, the ending can save or sink a story, and this story is far from finished. The volume 2 synopsis is intriguing. My rating of Shadow might have to be revised upwards.
Shadow starts off as a series of wacky misadventures. He has total amnesia, and one powerful person after another recognizes him with a start and either scolds him for “playacting” or just tries to stab him. Comically, they either refuse to believe his lack of memories or they flee or die before they can enlighten him. He (and the reader) is led to believe by turns that he is an AWOL soldier, a genius general, an ascetic sword-monk, a sleeper agent for the rapacious raiders across the sea, and a little known god who will usher in the end of the world. It’s a farce, and an entertaining one. For the record: .
When the plot begins to gel, Shadow becomes less enjoyable. He turns out to be an intensely unlikable, unrelatable protagonist. (eg, ) I like an antihero as much as the next but it's hard to care where this monster’s story is headed.
Still, the ending can save or sink a story, and this story is far from finished. The volume 2 synopsis is intriguing. My rating of Shadow might have to be revised upwards.
July 17, 2012
Sooo . . . How's your tolerance for frustration? If not very high, then you might want to skip this one, although you'll be missing some good stuff. Our hero awakens in a mudpuddle in the middle of a battlefield; he has no idea who he is, although he soon discovers that he does have certain talents, both martial and otherwise. He begins by joining a woman driving a cart (she goes around to villages impersonating a priestess and needs someone to impersonate a god), although that doesn't last long. Throughout the book he has occasional dreams or flashes of memories that may or may not come from his former life; and he keeps running into people who recognize him but either flee or are killed before they can actually tell him who he is or what he's been doing. We do get some answers late in the book, but even then there's always a question as to whether the answers are truthful or not, given that the people giving the answers very much have their own agendas.
The book is written very much from a pawn's-eye view -- there are obviously big things happening in the world, but we discover them only insofar as they impinge on his travels, or the travels of another character who gets a few POV chapters.
Despite (or because of) all that, I really did enjoy the book. Parker has a very sardonic voice; and has a real gift for specificity of detail and terminology. Probably closer to a 3.75 than a 4, but quite good regardless.
The book is written very much from a pawn's-eye view -- there are obviously big things happening in the world, but we discover them only insofar as they impinge on his travels, or the travels of another character who gets a few POV chapters.
Despite (or because of) all that, I really did enjoy the book. Parker has a very sardonic voice; and has a real gift for specificity of detail and terminology. Probably closer to a 3.75 than a 4, but quite good regardless.
March 3, 2014
I picked this book up because the premise sounded like a fantasy version of the Bourne Identity, and that appealed to me. What I got, though, was a subtle, meticulous, surprisingly funny, and infuriatingly evasive mystery with a main character who may be a great hero, or the worst villain on earth, or maybe the god of destruction.
As reads go, it's not the most action packed, nor is it traditionally plotted (it knows it's the first book in a trilogy, so while you get some answers in the end, the BIG answers are reserved for later volumes). What it is, is SMART. You will smile as you pick up little throw-away clues Parker litters throughout the narrative. It is also very well written; confident voice, solid grasp on character. It's just a damn good book, if somewhat unconventional.
As reads go, it's not the most action packed, nor is it traditionally plotted (it knows it's the first book in a trilogy, so while you get some answers in the end, the BIG answers are reserved for later volumes). What it is, is SMART. You will smile as you pick up little throw-away clues Parker litters throughout the narrative. It is also very well written; confident voice, solid grasp on character. It's just a damn good book, if somewhat unconventional.
January 27, 2009
Although I was a little annoyed at the lengths to which the author goes to keep us from knowing the real identity of the main character (until the very end... though I suspect what is revealed is only part of the answer), I found this a compelling study in identity, politics, and religion. I really hope the protagonist (in addition to what we've learned) turns out to be the god of destruction that he suspects he might be... moving on to book #2.
March 20, 2019
2.5 stars.
An ok read. A lot of mystery, some funny parts. A lot of boring parts. This book could easily have been cut down by 200 pages without any loss. The mystery was intriguing, but the characters certainly weren’t. I’ll probably give book 2 a go at some point, but I’m not in any hurry. Parker can do (and has done) much better than this.
An ok read. A lot of mystery, some funny parts. A lot of boring parts. This book could easily have been cut down by 200 pages without any loss. The mystery was intriguing, but the characters certainly weren’t. I’ll probably give book 2 a go at some point, but I’m not in any hurry. Parker can do (and has done) much better than this.
December 3, 2025
We are all Poldarn
March 22, 2017
This novel has one of the most awesome beginnings I’ve yet seen. It starts off with the narrator waking up in a battlefield surrounded by dead bodies and he can’t remember who he is or how he got there. It is a highly symbolic scene in which his mind appears to be split into two halves, the two halves arguing with each other. Ever sense I first sampled this book I’d been wanting to read this series based on that opening alone so I’m very glad that I’ve finally gotten around to reading it. It really does set up an interesting premise for the rest of the novel. This book is about the narrator’s search for his identity, with possibilities of who the narrator is dangled in front of the reader’s face over the course of the novel, the reader strung along and left wondering the entire way. But I think we’re going to have to wait until the end of the trilogy to find out who the narrator really is. Otherwise, what would be the point of making it a trilogy in the first place? It is insinuated that the narrator could be a prince, a monk, or even a god named Poldarn – who he is referred to for most of the book – but it is not straightforward and with the amount of guesswork the author makes the reader do anything could be possible. It is also likely that the narrator was a person who was not someone who was nice or well liked and that is something he has anxiety about throughout. There are characters who claim to have known who the narrator was and some who say that he was a bad and awful person, but despite this there is much contradictory information and so the reader doesn’t have a clear idea of who he was, and some of the characters who knew the narrator from his past flat out refuse to tell him who he was. K.J. Parker is a writer who likes to mess with his reader so be prepared for contradictory information, and for a story that is rooted in the characters interpretation of events, rather than the way things actually are. For this the reader really has to look critically at the information that other characters tell the narrator and not take any of it too seriously, as much of this information proves false. The characters in this novel have agendas that greatly inform their interpretations of events and the result is that the reader is easily mislead along with the narrator. I love how K.J. Parker is an author who likes to sprinkle clues together here and there and it’s the reader’s job to put the pieces of the puzzle together and see how it all fits.
This is the most unabashedly symbolic book I’ve read in a long time. When I say it’s unabashedly symbolic I mean the kind of symbolism that is thrown in your face, the kind of symbolism where the symbols are easily identifiable and where because of their presence at the forefront the reader has an easy time discerning their meanings. So if you’re the kind of reader who enjoys a more subtle form of symbolism that sits in the background and lets the story shine and speak for itself then this may not be your cup of tea. I don’t usually care for this type of symbolism myself but for some reason it didn’t bother me too much here. The main problem I had with it is that the authors use of symbolism and of certain meaningful phrases or songs or whatever are extremely repetitive. The author makes it too obvious what the meaning is by drawing attention to these symbolic patterns, such as crows, which is one of the main symbols used throughout the story. These symbols seem fresh early in the book but start to seem stale and old the further you go along. For this reason my enjoyment started to decay, especially later in the book. What started off as initial excitement with sparks flying in my mind took a downturn. But towards the very end the book started to climb back up and ended on a strong note. Many of these symbols also appear in dreams, at least what appear to be dreams. There are so many dreams in this novel that I’m unsure you can separate dreams from reality. In fact, this whole entire novel could be a dream for all the reader knows. I’ve heard writing advice that you’re not supposed to use dreams too much, and I do think K.J. Parker could use that advice, although the dreams seem to serve a purpose which is to give possibilities for the narrator’s identity. Indeed, these dreams are supposed to be glimpses into the narrator’s past or possibilities of the narrator’s past, but in these dreams the narrator is actually taking on the roles of other characters whom he knew in his past life and who we meet later in the book. Thus, when we meet the characters whom the narrator dreamt himself to be we can scratch that possibility off the list of possibilities. The narrator dreaming himself as other characters strengthens the possibility that he may be a god, which is something that is covered in great detail in this book and for a long stretch seems like the most logical possibility.
It is a long book so as can be expected there is a lot of material that can be cut or made more concise. I wouldn’t say that the book is longwinded per say but that the plot tends to run in circles. The story moves along – sometimes at an average pace and sometimes slow – but it isn’t obvious that it’s going anywhere. I’ve read reviews of the third book to try and get a sense if moving on and finishing is even worth it. In those reviews people say that this is the most cyclical series they’ve read. That doesn’t surprise me as the entire premise for the plot is very cyclical. I usually like cyclical as opposed to linear plots so hopefully I’ll end up really liking the series in the end. This series definitely seems like one where you need to step back from it after you’re done to truly get a grasp on what it all means. There are some scenes that I’d question if they even happened or if they happened the way the narrator tells it because there are contradictions and places where the narrator’s dreams and reality seem mixed up. Consider that he has lost his memory so how can you trust him to remember things perfectly? You can’t because he’s an unreliable narrator and there are things he should remember throughout the story that he forgets or periods where he tries to remember something and his memory is foggy. Literally, he forgets stuff a moment after being told it. The narrator in this novel is probably one of the most unabashedly unreliable that I have ever seen. So like with the symbolism the narrator’s unreliability is very much in the reader’s face as well. So if you want a more subtly unreliable narrator then this isn’t for you.
K.J. Parker is a very descriptive writer and this is another reason for the long length of the book. He writes with precision and strong attention to technical detail which works sometimes but when you’re in the middle of an action scene it can bog down the pace. I’m not sure that it’s necessary to describe the precise position and all of the movements of the characters as they sword fight. Now the author may be a detailed writer but at the same time he also writes in concise prose that are to the point and not overly flowery. So the style is rather plain and straightforward and so doesn’t add much to the difficulty of the book. If it’s difficult it’s difficult because of the author’s use of obfuscation and advanced use of plot techniques. In other words the style is easy to read and doesn’t distract from the story.
Some people in the reviews on this site described the part where the author is discussing the narrator’s work in the button trade as being a major slow down. This is true. It is a slow down but at the same time there are some parts of this that are highly insightful and relevant to the story such as when it describes people working to polish buttons and operating the machines that make the buttons. In this scene you can see the exploitation of labor and the explicit lack of humanity when the owner of the button business acts completely unconcerned for one of his workers who was injured by one of the machines. In fact, he acts more concerned for the damage done to the machine than he does for the worker’s welfare. You can also see that this bothers the narrator and his partners; what this scenes show is that the need for greater profit can mess up a person’s morality and turn them into monsters. You can also see other hints of the exploitation of labor and resources that is part of the capitalist system of economics throughout this series. One other example of this happens early in the book when they are looking at a scene of cleared forest and the resultant environment degradation that follows the pillaging and exploitation of the earth’s resources. You can see this part of this scene here:
“She hadn’t mentioned that before, not that it mattered. It was an interesting thought that this desert of couch grass and bog had once been a great forest. Interesting that even the landscape could lose its memory so completely, could go from being so full to so empty. For some reason, he almost found it comforting.
‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘the town’s just ahead, is it?’
‘Should be,’ she replied. ‘Pretty soon we’ll start seeing the smoke.’
‘Smoke?’
‘There’s still a foundry there,’ Copis explained. ‘Only reason for having a town out in the town in the middle of all this. I think they make a living from scavenging bits of stuff from old wored-out mines, bits the original miners missed or couldn’t be bothered to go after. They burn peat now, since they can’t use charcoal.’
That was an interesting thought, too; having used up everything that grew in it, they were using up the ground itself. It hadn’t occurred to him that iron was so destructive.
The further they went, the drearier the landscape became. Here and there he saw big briar tangles, which he took to be overgrown loppings, such as Copis had described earlier, and a fair sprinkling of derelict buildings – sheds and stores, built low out of rough-cut stone blocks, with broken-backed slate roofs drowning in creepers and nettles. A very predatory kind of place, he decided, where the people ate up the ground and the ground swallowed up the buildings, killers and carrion-feeders making up a cycle.
This is an excellent passage that is illustrative of the kinds of themes that make this book up. Considering that the narrator has lost his memory and has been unable to get it back you can see parallels between him and the land which has lost its memory too. In fact, there are a lot of references to memory throughout this book. The author messes with memory in interesting ways, which isn’t something you see very often, but I wish more authors did this. Also in this passage you can see the novels cyclical nature with people eating up the earth’s resources and then the building that man made with these resources being swallowed up by the creepers and nettles that grew in the forests place. It is really a striking passage that is one of my favorites in the book.
What may seem like a glaring flaw in this book is that despite having lost all of his memories Poldarn clearly understands language, can hold a conversation, and rationalize. Although this last point is debatable, as he has trouble making decisions throughout the book, you would think that someone who had lost all of their memories wouldn’t be able to function at all but Poldarn clearly can function. Now if I were to criticize the novel with this premise in mind it would be to clearly miss the whole point of the read. I say this because it is clear that K.J. Parker isn’t going for realism. Now I’m not at all familiar with K.J. Parker’s work as Tom Holt but from what I understand he writes ridiculous satire, so given this background it isn’t surprising that as K.J. Parker he should aim for the absurd.
As you would expect since the narrator’s memories have been lost he knows nothing about the world he lives in. Therefore, the reader only knows what is told to him by others and through the secondary character (there is a second PoV in this book). So it is perfectly plausible for the narrator to ask the most rudimentary question about the world such as what a certain place or how close certain places are. The reader is just as clueless as the narrator is. It is fun to discover and wonder about this world as the narrator is discovering it as well. It helps involve the reader and gives the world a greater sense of mystery. There was a reviewer who mentioned that the narrator describes things and move through the world rather detached which is true and perfectly plausible for the story, but that didn’t hurt the enjoyment of the work for me as I think it is interesting to see the effect that detachment as on the reader.
Now this review may have seemed negative but I gave it four stars right? This means I enjoyed it right? Yes, I’ve been critical but I enjoyed the book. K.J. is a good writer. I’m just skeptical that the story is going anywhere. This is the kind of thing I can see derailing and getting away from the author real fast. So I sure hope K.J. Parker proves me wrong in subsequent books and lays my fear to rest. Either way based on what I’ve read of this I can’t recommend it to a person who is new to K.J. Parker, as it is highly anti-mainstream. I would have to recommend the Folding Knife for that, which is an excellent standalone fantasy novel and was the first book by K.J. Parker that I read.
This is the most unabashedly symbolic book I’ve read in a long time. When I say it’s unabashedly symbolic I mean the kind of symbolism that is thrown in your face, the kind of symbolism where the symbols are easily identifiable and where because of their presence at the forefront the reader has an easy time discerning their meanings. So if you’re the kind of reader who enjoys a more subtle form of symbolism that sits in the background and lets the story shine and speak for itself then this may not be your cup of tea. I don’t usually care for this type of symbolism myself but for some reason it didn’t bother me too much here. The main problem I had with it is that the authors use of symbolism and of certain meaningful phrases or songs or whatever are extremely repetitive. The author makes it too obvious what the meaning is by drawing attention to these symbolic patterns, such as crows, which is one of the main symbols used throughout the story. These symbols seem fresh early in the book but start to seem stale and old the further you go along. For this reason my enjoyment started to decay, especially later in the book. What started off as initial excitement with sparks flying in my mind took a downturn. But towards the very end the book started to climb back up and ended on a strong note. Many of these symbols also appear in dreams, at least what appear to be dreams. There are so many dreams in this novel that I’m unsure you can separate dreams from reality. In fact, this whole entire novel could be a dream for all the reader knows. I’ve heard writing advice that you’re not supposed to use dreams too much, and I do think K.J. Parker could use that advice, although the dreams seem to serve a purpose which is to give possibilities for the narrator’s identity. Indeed, these dreams are supposed to be glimpses into the narrator’s past or possibilities of the narrator’s past, but in these dreams the narrator is actually taking on the roles of other characters whom he knew in his past life and who we meet later in the book. Thus, when we meet the characters whom the narrator dreamt himself to be we can scratch that possibility off the list of possibilities. The narrator dreaming himself as other characters strengthens the possibility that he may be a god, which is something that is covered in great detail in this book and for a long stretch seems like the most logical possibility.
It is a long book so as can be expected there is a lot of material that can be cut or made more concise. I wouldn’t say that the book is longwinded per say but that the plot tends to run in circles. The story moves along – sometimes at an average pace and sometimes slow – but it isn’t obvious that it’s going anywhere. I’ve read reviews of the third book to try and get a sense if moving on and finishing is even worth it. In those reviews people say that this is the most cyclical series they’ve read. That doesn’t surprise me as the entire premise for the plot is very cyclical. I usually like cyclical as opposed to linear plots so hopefully I’ll end up really liking the series in the end. This series definitely seems like one where you need to step back from it after you’re done to truly get a grasp on what it all means. There are some scenes that I’d question if they even happened or if they happened the way the narrator tells it because there are contradictions and places where the narrator’s dreams and reality seem mixed up. Consider that he has lost his memory so how can you trust him to remember things perfectly? You can’t because he’s an unreliable narrator and there are things he should remember throughout the story that he forgets or periods where he tries to remember something and his memory is foggy. Literally, he forgets stuff a moment after being told it. The narrator in this novel is probably one of the most unabashedly unreliable that I have ever seen. So like with the symbolism the narrator’s unreliability is very much in the reader’s face as well. So if you want a more subtly unreliable narrator then this isn’t for you.
K.J. Parker is a very descriptive writer and this is another reason for the long length of the book. He writes with precision and strong attention to technical detail which works sometimes but when you’re in the middle of an action scene it can bog down the pace. I’m not sure that it’s necessary to describe the precise position and all of the movements of the characters as they sword fight. Now the author may be a detailed writer but at the same time he also writes in concise prose that are to the point and not overly flowery. So the style is rather plain and straightforward and so doesn’t add much to the difficulty of the book. If it’s difficult it’s difficult because of the author’s use of obfuscation and advanced use of plot techniques. In other words the style is easy to read and doesn’t distract from the story.
Some people in the reviews on this site described the part where the author is discussing the narrator’s work in the button trade as being a major slow down. This is true. It is a slow down but at the same time there are some parts of this that are highly insightful and relevant to the story such as when it describes people working to polish buttons and operating the machines that make the buttons. In this scene you can see the exploitation of labor and the explicit lack of humanity when the owner of the button business acts completely unconcerned for one of his workers who was injured by one of the machines. In fact, he acts more concerned for the damage done to the machine than he does for the worker’s welfare. You can also see that this bothers the narrator and his partners; what this scenes show is that the need for greater profit can mess up a person’s morality and turn them into monsters. You can also see other hints of the exploitation of labor and resources that is part of the capitalist system of economics throughout this series. One other example of this happens early in the book when they are looking at a scene of cleared forest and the resultant environment degradation that follows the pillaging and exploitation of the earth’s resources. You can see this part of this scene here:
“She hadn’t mentioned that before, not that it mattered. It was an interesting thought that this desert of couch grass and bog had once been a great forest. Interesting that even the landscape could lose its memory so completely, could go from being so full to so empty. For some reason, he almost found it comforting.
‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘the town’s just ahead, is it?’
‘Should be,’ she replied. ‘Pretty soon we’ll start seeing the smoke.’
‘Smoke?’
‘There’s still a foundry there,’ Copis explained. ‘Only reason for having a town out in the town in the middle of all this. I think they make a living from scavenging bits of stuff from old wored-out mines, bits the original miners missed or couldn’t be bothered to go after. They burn peat now, since they can’t use charcoal.’
That was an interesting thought, too; having used up everything that grew in it, they were using up the ground itself. It hadn’t occurred to him that iron was so destructive.
The further they went, the drearier the landscape became. Here and there he saw big briar tangles, which he took to be overgrown loppings, such as Copis had described earlier, and a fair sprinkling of derelict buildings – sheds and stores, built low out of rough-cut stone blocks, with broken-backed slate roofs drowning in creepers and nettles. A very predatory kind of place, he decided, where the people ate up the ground and the ground swallowed up the buildings, killers and carrion-feeders making up a cycle.
This is an excellent passage that is illustrative of the kinds of themes that make this book up. Considering that the narrator has lost his memory and has been unable to get it back you can see parallels between him and the land which has lost its memory too. In fact, there are a lot of references to memory throughout this book. The author messes with memory in interesting ways, which isn’t something you see very often, but I wish more authors did this. Also in this passage you can see the novels cyclical nature with people eating up the earth’s resources and then the building that man made with these resources being swallowed up by the creepers and nettles that grew in the forests place. It is really a striking passage that is one of my favorites in the book.
What may seem like a glaring flaw in this book is that despite having lost all of his memories Poldarn clearly understands language, can hold a conversation, and rationalize. Although this last point is debatable, as he has trouble making decisions throughout the book, you would think that someone who had lost all of their memories wouldn’t be able to function at all but Poldarn clearly can function. Now if I were to criticize the novel with this premise in mind it would be to clearly miss the whole point of the read. I say this because it is clear that K.J. Parker isn’t going for realism. Now I’m not at all familiar with K.J. Parker’s work as Tom Holt but from what I understand he writes ridiculous satire, so given this background it isn’t surprising that as K.J. Parker he should aim for the absurd.
As you would expect since the narrator’s memories have been lost he knows nothing about the world he lives in. Therefore, the reader only knows what is told to him by others and through the secondary character (there is a second PoV in this book). So it is perfectly plausible for the narrator to ask the most rudimentary question about the world such as what a certain place or how close certain places are. The reader is just as clueless as the narrator is. It is fun to discover and wonder about this world as the narrator is discovering it as well. It helps involve the reader and gives the world a greater sense of mystery. There was a reviewer who mentioned that the narrator describes things and move through the world rather detached which is true and perfectly plausible for the story, but that didn’t hurt the enjoyment of the work for me as I think it is interesting to see the effect that detachment as on the reader.
Now this review may have seemed negative but I gave it four stars right? This means I enjoyed it right? Yes, I’ve been critical but I enjoyed the book. K.J. is a good writer. I’m just skeptical that the story is going anywhere. This is the kind of thing I can see derailing and getting away from the author real fast. So I sure hope K.J. Parker proves me wrong in subsequent books and lays my fear to rest. Either way based on what I’ve read of this I can’t recommend it to a person who is new to K.J. Parker, as it is highly anti-mainstream. I would have to recommend the Folding Knife for that, which is an excellent standalone fantasy novel and was the first book by K.J. Parker that I read.
February 10, 2020
This is a "tease the reader" story. It starts with a man waking up surrounded by the dead without a single memory and through out the story the reader is constantly teased with the reveal of his missing identity. There are a great many dead ends and he may even be a god.
I found it interesting but also confusing and annoying. Much of the POV's origin story is explained through dreams/hallucinations of reality which he doesn't remember upon awaking. His relationship with the crow avatar/omen follows him troughout the story with him having pointless dialogues with them when he's (often) unconscious.
The author does have a good grasp of sword fighting and narrates those in detail but the battles between armies and political rivals was hard to follow. I also found the character development to be rather flat, I never came to care about any of them.
Probably my own taste for magic in fantasy left me wanting something beyond a possible war god's incarnation and the story was too plodding and aimless. I will not be finishing the trilogy.
I found it interesting but also confusing and annoying. Much of the POV's origin story is explained through dreams/hallucinations of reality which he doesn't remember upon awaking. His relationship with the crow avatar/omen follows him troughout the story with him having pointless dialogues with them when he's (often) unconscious.
The author does have a good grasp of sword fighting and narrates those in detail but the battles between armies and political rivals was hard to follow. I also found the character development to be rather flat, I never came to care about any of them.
Probably my own taste for magic in fantasy left me wanting something beyond a possible war god's incarnation and the story was too plodding and aimless. I will not be finishing the trilogy.
February 18, 2010
If you are one of those people who is always bugging the creators of Lost to "please, please give us some answers!" then THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU. Go away.
If you are like me, and would prefer there just to be questions on top of mysteries on top of WTFs, then this book IS for you. Welcome! Prepare to be totally confused.
Don't read any other reviews, don't read the back of the book, just start reading it and get ready to have your brains tied in a knot.
If you are like me, and would prefer there just to be questions on top of mysteries on top of WTFs, then this book IS for you. Welcome! Prepare to be totally confused.
Don't read any other reviews, don't read the back of the book, just start reading it and get ready to have your brains tied in a knot.
July 4, 2017
Stopped reading after 521 pages. The beginning of this book was so so promising, but since the main character doesn't know who he is, (and when he gets any idea, he has multiple people to choose from) the story doesn't have any drive. It's as confusing as he is. The book repeats itself with the only variation being different names on the people he encounters. The plot of the book has so many opportunities but the writer hasn't used any of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2020
I was intrigued by the first third of this book. It is fast-paced and leaves you reeling as every new piece of information provides more questions than answers. However, the layering of not knowing who the main character is on top of all the double-double crossing of many other characters made it too difficult for me to keep up. It smoothed out right at the very end, but there were a few chapters during which I almost gave up reading because I couldn't tell who was when and where.
March 23, 2007
Mildly confusing, though it's amusing. The main char has no idea who he is, which makes it fun cause hes trying to figure out who the hell he is along with you. Its even more entertaining cause everyone he meets who seems to know him either ends up trying to kill him, or he kills. I'd imagine this is quite frustrating.
February 6, 2017
This one doesn't appeal to me. I'm stopping after 100 plus pages.
November 8, 2017
I should have DNF but I carried on because I love this author's short stories but when it comes to his full length novels apart from the Folding Knife there just somehow leave me cold, I really want to like them as much as the shorts. I think I might just stick to his short stories from now on.
February 2, 2021
Ein Mann erwacht ohne jede Erinnerung über sich selbst mitten in einem Schlachtfeld auf. Lediglich sein überragendes Können im Umgang mit dem Schwert wird ihm schnell ersichtlich. Eine Betrügerin, die sich als Begleiterin des Gottes Poldarn ausgibt, nimmt in ihrem Pferdewagen mit, damit er sich als Poldarn ausgibt und sie gemeinsam in Dörfern Geld erschwindeln können.
Shadow war für mich ein schwieriges Buch, allein dadurch offensichtlich, dass ich das Buch zwischenzeitig fast ein Jahr lang habe liegen lassen. Auf der einen Seite ist die Idee eines Protagonisten, der seine Erinnerungen verloren hat, zwar keine neue, aber doch sehr interessant. Andererseits empfand ich das Buch als ziemlich langweilig. Die Stärke des Buchs ist eindeutig die Ausführung der Grundidee. Poldarn lernt langsam über das Buch zusammen mit dem Leser immer mehr. Das zeigt sich durch sehr verwirrende Träume und Erinnerungsfetzen. Für mich wirkt das jedenfalls sehr realistisch (als jemand, der bisher noch nie seine gesamte Vergangenheit vergessen hat...).
Problematisch war für mich jedoch, wie schon erwähnt, die fehlende Spannung und Handlung. Das Einzige, das wirklich über das Buch hinweg passiert, ist, dass Poldarn langsam mehr und mehr über sich selbst lernt. Dazu kommen lediglich die absolut absurden Zufälle, bei denen er manche Leute immer wieder trifft, gerade dann, wenn er (und auch ich...) diese bereits wieder an den Rand der Erinnerungen verdrängt hat. Diese Zufälle sind teilweise einfach nur noch unglaubwürdig und erinnern mich sehr an K.J. Parkers Engineer-Trilogie, deren große Schwäche für mich genau solche Zufälle waren.
Poldarn als Charakter hat mich bis zu den letzten 100 Seiten überhaupt nicht interessiert. Nichts an ihm hat mich wirklich dazu gedrängt, mehr über ihn erfahren zu wollen. Erst auf den letzten Seiten zeigte er für mich überhaupt wirklich menschliche Züge, vorher schien er häufig geradezu emotionslos und antriebslos.
Die erwähnten letzten 100 Seiten waren für mich der beste Teil des Buchs. Vieles, was zuvor in Form von Erinnerungs- und Traumfetzen angedeutet wurde, klärt sich in diesem Teil auf. Erst da hat das ganze Buch für mich überhaupt Sinn ergeben.
Alles in allem ist Shadow für mich ein unterdurchschnittliches Buch, dass seine Schwächen durch eine gute Ausführung der Grundidee und einen starken Schlussteil geradeso auf ein „Okay“ ausgleichen kann. Andere K.J. Parker Bücher mit besseren Protagonisten und interessanterer Handlung haben mir da deutlich besser gefallen. Nachdem mir der Schluss aber so gut gefallen hat, werde ich die Trilgoie sicherlich irgendwann weiterlesen.
Shadow war für mich ein schwieriges Buch, allein dadurch offensichtlich, dass ich das Buch zwischenzeitig fast ein Jahr lang habe liegen lassen. Auf der einen Seite ist die Idee eines Protagonisten, der seine Erinnerungen verloren hat, zwar keine neue, aber doch sehr interessant. Andererseits empfand ich das Buch als ziemlich langweilig. Die Stärke des Buchs ist eindeutig die Ausführung der Grundidee. Poldarn lernt langsam über das Buch zusammen mit dem Leser immer mehr. Das zeigt sich durch sehr verwirrende Träume und Erinnerungsfetzen. Für mich wirkt das jedenfalls sehr realistisch (als jemand, der bisher noch nie seine gesamte Vergangenheit vergessen hat...).
Problematisch war für mich jedoch, wie schon erwähnt, die fehlende Spannung und Handlung. Das Einzige, das wirklich über das Buch hinweg passiert, ist, dass Poldarn langsam mehr und mehr über sich selbst lernt. Dazu kommen lediglich die absolut absurden Zufälle, bei denen er manche Leute immer wieder trifft, gerade dann, wenn er (und auch ich...) diese bereits wieder an den Rand der Erinnerungen verdrängt hat. Diese Zufälle sind teilweise einfach nur noch unglaubwürdig und erinnern mich sehr an K.J. Parkers Engineer-Trilogie, deren große Schwäche für mich genau solche Zufälle waren.
Poldarn als Charakter hat mich bis zu den letzten 100 Seiten überhaupt nicht interessiert. Nichts an ihm hat mich wirklich dazu gedrängt, mehr über ihn erfahren zu wollen. Erst auf den letzten Seiten zeigte er für mich überhaupt wirklich menschliche Züge, vorher schien er häufig geradezu emotionslos und antriebslos.
Die erwähnten letzten 100 Seiten waren für mich der beste Teil des Buchs. Vieles, was zuvor in Form von Erinnerungs- und Traumfetzen angedeutet wurde, klärt sich in diesem Teil auf. Erst da hat das ganze Buch für mich überhaupt Sinn ergeben.
Alles in allem ist Shadow für mich ein unterdurchschnittliches Buch, dass seine Schwächen durch eine gute Ausführung der Grundidee und einen starken Schlussteil geradeso auf ein „Okay“ ausgleichen kann. Andere K.J. Parker Bücher mit besseren Protagonisten und interessanterer Handlung haben mir da deutlich besser gefallen. Nachdem mir der Schluss aber so gut gefallen hat, werde ich die Trilgoie sicherlich irgendwann weiterlesen.
July 28, 2022
This is a strange one. It's about a man who wakes up on a battlefield, alone and with no memory. He stumbles across a woman driving a cart, and after a brief scuffle, they wind up travelling together.
I'm a huge fan of KJ Parker. His more recent books are some of the best I've ever read in any genre. But this is an older book and it seems he wasn't as good at his craft yet.
Parker's books are often slowly and irregularly paced, but this one exceptionally so. Right where you'd expect the climax of the book, the protagonist decides to become a button salesman. He goes on a tour of a button factory, where we get deep explanations of how the buttons are made. Then he travels around from town to town selling these buttons. The intrigue and action are put on hold as he goes about these mundane tasks. It's not that it's boring, it's just that it feels like it's in the wrong part of the wrong story.
This book was less funny and less serious than most of his others. Parker usually combines witty writing and odd characters with a dark, serious world full of realistic wars and battles full of fascinating historical details. This book was less funny, less witty, and also less serious. The world didn't feel as real. There weren't as many nuggets of wisdom.
The writing is a bit clumsy in places, too. Before the protagonist is given a name, he's referred to simply as "he." The problem is, when he gets into a fight with a stranger, they're BOTH referred to simply as "he." It quickly becomes impossible to follow as "he" swings at "him." It's a confusing story made needlessly more confusing by these little problems.
With that said, I was intrigued by the mystery of who this guy really was. I liked getting the clues. I was interested in the protagonist and the world.
I also liked the second protagonist that was introduced later on, the sword monk. And I liked how he only made the mystery deeper.
Most of all, this book felt DIFFERENT. It's not the same generic hero character we've followed a thousand times, and it's not the same plot structure we've grown comfortable with over the years. This is something new and creative. I appreciate that very much.
Overall, this was an okay book that held my attention while I was reading it but never got me excited to pick it back up again. I don't think I'll continue this particular series, but I'm definitely eager to read whatever else KJ Parker writes going forward. His past five books have been amazing.
I'm a huge fan of KJ Parker. His more recent books are some of the best I've ever read in any genre. But this is an older book and it seems he wasn't as good at his craft yet.
Parker's books are often slowly and irregularly paced, but this one exceptionally so. Right where you'd expect the climax of the book, the protagonist decides to become a button salesman. He goes on a tour of a button factory, where we get deep explanations of how the buttons are made. Then he travels around from town to town selling these buttons. The intrigue and action are put on hold as he goes about these mundane tasks. It's not that it's boring, it's just that it feels like it's in the wrong part of the wrong story.
This book was less funny and less serious than most of his others. Parker usually combines witty writing and odd characters with a dark, serious world full of realistic wars and battles full of fascinating historical details. This book was less funny, less witty, and also less serious. The world didn't feel as real. There weren't as many nuggets of wisdom.
The writing is a bit clumsy in places, too. Before the protagonist is given a name, he's referred to simply as "he." The problem is, when he gets into a fight with a stranger, they're BOTH referred to simply as "he." It quickly becomes impossible to follow as "he" swings at "him." It's a confusing story made needlessly more confusing by these little problems.
With that said, I was intrigued by the mystery of who this guy really was. I liked getting the clues. I was interested in the protagonist and the world.
I also liked the second protagonist that was introduced later on, the sword monk. And I liked how he only made the mystery deeper.
Most of all, this book felt DIFFERENT. It's not the same generic hero character we've followed a thousand times, and it's not the same plot structure we've grown comfortable with over the years. This is something new and creative. I appreciate that very much.
Overall, this was an okay book that held my attention while I was reading it but never got me excited to pick it back up again. I don't think I'll continue this particular series, but I'm definitely eager to read whatever else KJ Parker writes going forward. His past five books have been amazing.
March 1, 2022
Desde hace varios meses tenía este libro en mi cola de lectura, no sólo porque es una de las pocas novelas de K. J. Parker que han sido traducidas al español (ahora con El demonio de Próspero son 3 de más de 15). La identidad de este autor fue un misterio durante 17 años, hasta que en 2015 se desveló que era un pseudónimo del conocido autor británico Tom Holt (famoso por su saga de Humoreous Fantasy, de la cual soy fan) y que lo usaba para escribir novelas de fantasía más realistas, crudas e históricamente bien construidas.
Es eso lo que nos propone con esta primera novela de una trilogía que en español decidieron llamarla Poldarn, en vez de Depredador o Carroñero (Scavenger). Pero dejando a un lado mi manía con las traducciones creativas, este libro nos presenta la historia de un hombre que ha perdido la memoria y que, para mi agradable sorpresa, no va a ser el salvador del mundo, sino el traedor de su final, adoptando la forma de un dios de la destrucción. Sin embargo, no hay nadie presionándolo para hacerlo y es su pasado, ese que le es tan confuso de recordar y que nadie quiere revelarle lo que lo llevarán a ello.
Aunque, debo admitir, que la novela es muy larga y lenta. El autor usa las más de 600 páginas para hablarnos sobre la situación del imperio, introducir otros personajes, contar muy detalladamente como era la vida en un burgo medieval y cómo funciona la política. Mientras que las cosas importantes de la historia como el pasado de Poldarn y en qué estaba metido, aparece en forma de fragmentos de información contradictorios y le toca a uno como lector el decidir en que creer.
De igual manera, es una novela en la que aunque no hay grandes batallas en el sentido de la palabra, sí nos muestra cómo funciona la política de un imperio, la multitud de intereses que giran a su alrededor. Y, mi favorita, cómo el hacerte demasiado famoso como general puede llevarte a la ruina si no decides derrocar a tu empleador.
Por lo que si quieres leer una novela de fantasía realista, sin héroes ni caballeros ni dragones, sino un grimdark fuerte, con personajes importantes muriendo a dos manos, una historia que te reta a que le des sentido antes de que el protagonista lo haga y quieres tardar más de una semana en leerla. Entonces, Sombra, primer libro de la trilogía Poldarn de K. J. Parker, es el que te recomendaría.
Es eso lo que nos propone con esta primera novela de una trilogía que en español decidieron llamarla Poldarn, en vez de Depredador o Carroñero (Scavenger). Pero dejando a un lado mi manía con las traducciones creativas, este libro nos presenta la historia de un hombre que ha perdido la memoria y que, para mi agradable sorpresa, no va a ser el salvador del mundo, sino el traedor de su final, adoptando la forma de un dios de la destrucción. Sin embargo, no hay nadie presionándolo para hacerlo y es su pasado, ese que le es tan confuso de recordar y que nadie quiere revelarle lo que lo llevarán a ello.
Aunque, debo admitir, que la novela es muy larga y lenta. El autor usa las más de 600 páginas para hablarnos sobre la situación del imperio, introducir otros personajes, contar muy detalladamente como era la vida en un burgo medieval y cómo funciona la política. Mientras que las cosas importantes de la historia como el pasado de Poldarn y en qué estaba metido, aparece en forma de fragmentos de información contradictorios y le toca a uno como lector el decidir en que creer.
De igual manera, es una novela en la que aunque no hay grandes batallas en el sentido de la palabra, sí nos muestra cómo funciona la política de un imperio, la multitud de intereses que giran a su alrededor. Y, mi favorita, cómo el hacerte demasiado famoso como general puede llevarte a la ruina si no decides derrocar a tu empleador.
Por lo que si quieres leer una novela de fantasía realista, sin héroes ni caballeros ni dragones, sino un grimdark fuerte, con personajes importantes muriendo a dos manos, una historia que te reta a que le des sentido antes de que el protagonista lo haga y quieres tardar más de una semana en leerla. Entonces, Sombra, primer libro de la trilogía Poldarn de K. J. Parker, es el que te recomendaría.
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