Shadow Magic

I love me some Patricia Wrede, but this was manifestly not a good book. I only kept at it because (a) as stated, I love me some Patricia Wrede, and (b) there are 4 others in the series, so I kept thinking it must improve otherwise why would the series have continued?

It reminded me of the novels I wrote when I was 15--competent but derivative, with uneven pacing, a plethora of fancily-named people, sparse character development, etc., etc. She has the rudiments of creating a novel, but has clearly not blossomed into the worthy storyteller of her later years.

If I were to do it again, I'd start by reading a later, apparently better, book in the series. Here are my issues with the first book:

1. No characterization. There are a lot of show more people with a lot of names, impossible to distinguish because everyone sounds the same and behaves the same.

2. Everything important happens by accident, with no sense of Fate guiding the actions.

3. Uneven pacing.

4. No character development (this is a given, since there's a lack of characterization from the get-go).

5. The plot is one-of-those "The Lord of the Rings is popular, let's write something very much like it" books so common in the 70s/80s before people realised how broad fantasy can be (middle-school writers excluded, who always knew this!)

6. Thus, with a dull, trite, meandering, derivative plot, and uninteresting indistinguishable actors, it's not a good read. (It gets 2 stars because it's not gut-wrenchingly awful, just dull).

Apparently I've read a new-and-improved version because her original novel suffered from not having been workshopped. I feel for the author--it must be hard to silk-purse this sows' ear after the fact, with her current skills, when it's never going to hit the heights of her later work. I wouldn't have bothered.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). show less

Summary: While the Noble Lord of Brenn is trying to form alliances to protect the land of Alkyra from their old enemies, the Lithmern, his daughter Alethia is kidnapped from the midst of her twentieth birthday party by strange faceless men. They are using strange magic, and take Alethia deep into the woods, where strange creatures out of Alkyra's distant past are rumored to dwell. Alethia's brother, Har, and his friend, the trader Maurin, set off in pursuit of her, but if any of them want to get home, let alone save their country, they are going to have to uncover the truth of the old tales, and learn to work with the fabled magical creatures in order to defeat the dark magic being used by their common enemies.

Review: I grew up on (and show more loved) Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series, and when I more recently discovered her Sorcery & Cecelia series, and the Mairelon books, I quite enjoyed those as well. So I had (and to some extent still have) high hopes for her Lyra books. But in the case of Shadow Magic, I was pretty disappointed.

To be fair, Shadow Magic is Wrede's first novel. But to continue to be fair: it shows. The best part are the scenes with dialogue among her main characters; Alethia's got touches of the wit and charm and snark that Wrede's later heroines have in spades, and her interactions with her siblings, with her father, and with Maurin often put a smile on my face. But those scenes are kind of interspersed within a mishmash of every overused high fantasy trope, and a total lack of character development for any of the secondary characters. There was more than once that I sort of felt like Wrede had taken Tolkien, stuck it in a blender, added in even more fantasy-esque names (without Tolkien's regard for linguistic coherence) and poured the result out onto the paper. (Kindle screen. Whatever.) The magic woods and the beautiful but hidden cities of the magic users and the objects of great power that were lost long enough ago to have passed into myth and the working together between the races of sentient beings and the woodland creatures in touch with Earth magic building their houses out of trees and the marching of armies into high mountain passes and the secret magical heritages and the et cetera et cetera. Maybe I am being unfair, maybe these things were less cliché back in 1982, but at the same time, I've read other books that had a ton of cliché fantasy elements (I'm looking at you, The Wheel of Time) that just seemed to hang together much better. I don't know if it was the perfunctory worldbuilding, the undeveloped prose style, the flat characters, or what, but this book never grabbed me, and wound up feeling pretty silly. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I've noticed that people who are this novel's staunchest supporters are those who read it as a kid, and that does not surprise me at all; I very well might have been totally into it as a pre-teen. (Heck, I might have similar problems with Dealing with Dragons if I were able to read it without my childhood-love-colored glasses.) It would be a fine book to give to a pre-teen who likes fantasy, but for adults, Wrede's books get much better as she gets more comfortable with her craft. I'm still going to give the rest of the Lyra novels a try, though. show less

Very good. The language is a bit awkward at times - veering randomly from epic-fantasy formal to casual everyday - but it doesn't obscure the story. Which is, to some extent, a standard high fantasy quest coming-of-age story (insofar as there is a standard for that - several very Tolkienesque tropes and scenes), but beautifully executed and very rich. There are clearly a lot more stories in Lyra - some I know have been written, but every minor character here has depth and his or her own story, whether we get to know it or not (mostly not, or the book would be a thousand pages thick). The obvious heroes aren't, or at least not the primary one; obvious villains aren't, either. The story starts with some mild worries about a neighboring show more country's ambitions, veers off into a kidnapping, picks up a heavy dose of magic and some hints of who needs to quest; a few odd revelations (mostly having to do with family) lead to the realization of war in process and true evil behind it. Logical, sensible plans for dealing with such matters go wildly awry for no visible reason (prophecies are a pain), the quest materializes in full, battle is joined and well on the way to being lost when the quest concludes in a manner no one expected, least of all the quester. Then an assortment of lovely scenes tying up all kind of loose ends - political, personal, magical - and the book ends. Nice, not-quite-standard happy ending - all the traditional ingredients with an elegant twist imparted to them, just like the rest of the book. Fun. I've only read it a dozen times or so - and now I need to read the rest of the Lyra books, of course. Not my favorite - that's The Raven Ring in Lyra and Dealing with Dragons overall - but one of the good ones definitely. show less

I've enjoyed other book series by the author (Enchanted Forest and Dealing with Dragons), and so I was curious about the first book she wrote. I don't think it's aged at all well although I'd probably have liked reading it when it was originally published in 1982 (I was obviously a lot younger then...). But now? The plot feels linear and basic. The characters come across as tropes with very little nuance. Main character Alethia is pretty much a Mary Sue, who happens to do all the right things via a combination of impulses and coincidences rather than active decision-making. Otherwise, I found it hard to remember which character was which. Large chunks of the writing were the characters telling each other about the plot or worldbuilding. show more Overall, I found this an effortful read. I'm very glad this wasn't the first of Wrede's books I tried, or else it might have put me off reading the others. show less

Shadow Magic is about as traditional a fantasy as you can get. Dark beings, thought vanquished long ago, reawaken and the kingdoms of men, Shee (ahem...), Wyrds, and more must find ancient artifacts and the chosen one to wield them before all is lost.

It's not all that original but there is something comforting in that. The characters are clearly drawn and pleasant, and the writing is smooth as glass. There is not a lot of surprise here, but quite a lot of warmth and fun.

I liked it. It isn't going to change the world, but it doesn't need to.

A fantasy with an historical flavour ~ well-worth reading for adults who enjoy the fantasies written 30 or more years ago. This novel was Patricia Wrede's first fantasy (if not her debut novel). The plot was a little thin on details in places ~ not explained, spoiler tag doesn't seem to be hiding the comment.

This novel didn't feel dated although the character development was a little too superficial and the action galloped in places where some evocative description would have painted a more interesting scenario. Slavish adherence to the usual tropes was avoided. The main character, Alethia, was a little wishy-washy at the end, but the YA reader will enjoy her trials.

In Alkyra Alethia knew that magic was part of the past, something that belonged in stories from the past, and quite probably mythical rather than truth, not something of the present. But when she's kidnapped by a group of men whose leader is nothing but shadows her reality begins to be a bit more fluid. It becomes even more fluid when she is rescued by beings from legend.

An interesting and well crafted quest story. Though I do sometimes question some of the rights of inheritance in some fantasy worlds. I liked Alethia, a woman who has strength of character and backbone and plans escape even though the odds are against her.