The Outstretched Shadow

Authors Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory create a wealth of cultures in the world of this trilogy, and the first book, The Outstretched Shadow, has a pleasing sense of fully developed magic, logical consequences, and surprising characters. I’ve not read any of the authors’ books before, but I was quickly hooked on this series, enjoying the story progression of the first book (which could easily be two books), and particularly enjoying the sense of an ending (in the individual book) that leaves the reader both satisfied and eager for more.

The world-building is fascinating, the characters are appealingly flawed, and the threat is… well, overwhelming and definitely dark. But there’s natural humor and intriguing food for thought, show more including a nicely drawn out sense of religion and religious questions. Even the unicorn makes sense! Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I’m hooked! show less

The Outstretched Shadow is the first in the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. It's an old school epic fantasy mixed with a coming-of-age tale. Right away we're introduced to Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage ruler of the Golden City, as he stumbles across three books of Wild Magic. This sets Kellen on a path he never expected - being banished from the city he calls home and running for his life as an Outlaw.

I enjoyed getting to know Kellen and the friends he makes along the way. Kellen's easy to like though sometimes it's annoying being inside the head of a 17-year-old again. His POV sections definitely gave the book more of a YA feel. The world felt magical and I loved reading a book with magical creatures show more again. Some parts, like the elven city, gave me Lord of the Rings vibes.

The story takes its time with a slower pace as it mixes exposition, slice of life and plot together. At times this made the writing feel uneven, some sections seeming clunkier than others. There were a couple places where the writers used the same words almost back to back and I also noticed a few inconsistencies like Kellen's hair going from brown to blond and back to brown even after saying how laboring outdoors had given him blond streaks. I found it odd that things like this wasn't caught during editing though I could mostly overlook it.

The ending is fairly exciting and wraps up the main arc of the book well. There is definitely more story to tell and I'm looking forward to continuing Kellen's adventures soon. show less

"The Outstretched Shadow" is a mixture of excellent plot and mind-numbing exposition that is makes for a maddening read for anyone making it through the book. Authors Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory collaborated in creating interesting and worth-reading characters as well as burying them with pages of padding.

The book revolves around Kellen, the disgruntled son of the Arch-Mage ruler of his home city. Finding life in the city stifling and the rule of Mages like himself based on a lie, Kellen yearns to do something else and finds the Three Books of Wild Magic, outlawed by the Mage practitioners of High Magick. After his father finds the Books, Kellen welcomes banishment but almost loses his life without the help of the unicorn Shalkan. show more Once free of the city, Kellen starts his study in earnest of Wild Magic with the help from his previously unknown sister, but his father's greed results in both of them running for their lives into Elven country only to find themselves in the middle of a drought, which is the opening move in a new war launched by the Great Enemy, the Endarkened.

The overall plot and the characters were very interesting, however Lackey & Mallory buried it under unnecessary padding that blogged down the pace of the book. Kellen's worry and philosophical thoughts about Wild Magic was where the padding was most visible. While this inner struggle was necessary, the amount of time and the repetition of the same paragraphs was a discredit to the authors and undermined the trust of the reader. If Lackey & Mallory had been given a descent editor, the book would have been 100-150 pages shorter and much better for it.

"The Outstretched Shadow" is overall an okay book that unfortunately could have been really good, the protagonists and antagonists are well written creating the basis for a enjoyable series. However, the unnecessary padding of the book could result in discouraging readers from even finishing the book. show less

There is nothing I love more than a long, winding fantasy tale that gives the characters room to develop. This is the first series I have read my Mercedes Lackey and has thoroughly convinced me to read everything she has ever written. If you are accustomed to reading short books or lack patience, this series is not for you. But if you love a good trilogy wit books similar in length to the works of Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind, you will not regret picking them up. Magics, races and ideas found throughout a lot of fantasy books are reinterpreted in a way that does not seem tropey and the characters are endearing and entertaining.

A nice and simple epic fantasy story. It felt a bit like a simplified and sedate LotR, with many different types of creatures, a few people staying behind, others travelling to an evil place, elves, etc. Typical Mercedes Lackey with the pace and the coming-of-age, young-person-learns-about-own-powers theme. What I'm not used to from her is that the writing was at times decidedly clumsy. I've seen several instances of repetition of words within a sentence, or even repetition of whole sentences. It was not so often that it ruined the book, but it was really noticeable. Overall, it was nice, but it could have done with a few less pages. I'm all for describing every day life in a fantasy world, but I think she took it a bit too far this time.

With the literary excellence I've come to expect from Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, I have to say that this is my FAVORITE so far. I've read all the second trilogy books from this duo, and I love learning that actual backstory of all those legends Tyr and Harrier kept alluding to. Kellen and Idalia are those kinds of characters that you get to know and you really feel like you KNOW them. I know that I found myself hoping and praying for Lycaenon to get his comeuppance; you know Kellen had to escape the Outlaw Hunt, and then again the Arch-Mage is foiled when Kellen and Idalia knew in advance when the Scouring Hunt was coming, and not only they, but all the anticipated Otherfolk prey were suddenly out of their reach...I practically show more cheered when Lycaenon was foiled again and again!
Of course, the Elves' idea of manners is as frustrating to me now as it was when I read The Phoenix Unchained. All that asking-without-actually-asking-a-single-thing drives me nuts. It's makes you want to stare at the Elf not-asking and say sweetly, "So...was there a question in there somewhere?" show less

This is a fairly classic Sword & Sorcery fantasy tale of good versus evil. There are the usual suspects of Elves, Centaurs, Demons, Witches, Wizards, and Humans. There are knights in armour, dangerous battles, arduous treks, and all the other trappings of your typical fantasy tale – including a fire-breathing dragon with a wry sense of humour.
Kellen is the son of Lycaelon, the Arch-Mage of Armethalieh, where the Council of Mages basically control every aspect of the citizens' lives. No one ever leaves and very few outsiders are ever allowed inside. Changes are few and those allowed are very subtle. Kellen yearns for something different and constantly rebels against his strict father. One day, while browsing through a bookseller's show more wares, he finds three mysterious little books which deal with a type of magic he has never heard of before - very different from the High Magic that is the only type allowed in the City. Eventually Lycaelon discovers these books and Kellen is Banished. This is when the adventure begins - saved by a unicorn, nursed by to health by a woman who knows a lot about him and eventually going on a quest with an Elven Knight to save the Elves from a Demon caused blight. Along the way, we discover why no one is allowed to leave the City; why so few changes are allowed; why so few outsiders are allowed to enter the City; what kind of Magic Kellen is learning from his new books and who this mysterious woman is and why she knows so much about him.
But, though the good guys are well portrayed, the villains need more depth. The Mages are caricatures of bad guys - chauvinistic pucker-mouthed windbags. The Demons, the other villains, are just as one-dimensional in their evil. There’s nothing there but Bad with a capital “B”: torture, incest, cannibalism, tax-collecting (oops, sorry, that’s the Mages), classic red hides and horns, obviously all the really nasty stuff the authors could think of. I’m sure this was intended to be scary, but it was so laid on so thick that I laughed. Well, at least it makes choices simple for our hero, and for the reader too. There’s not much doubt which side should wear the white hat in this story!
There’s nothing really new here, it doesn’t set the world on fire, and it is certainly not Lackey at her best. Nonetheless, it is a good read for a wet Sunday afternoon. I care enough about the characters to read the rest of the trilogy to see what befalls them. show less