Shadow Blade

You know what's awesome about this book? Kira, the heroine, seems smart enough and knowledgable enough that I can totally buy into the idea that she's an archaeologist. (That's sadly rare for me in PNR/UF.) Ms. Glass not only presents elements of Kira's expertise in a way that demonstrates that she knows what things mean, not just details in isolation, but she also puts it together in a way that shows how those elements are important within the overall story.

That eye for detail is evident in pretty much every aspect of this book, from Kira's childhood experiences as a psychometrist in a Normal world to Khefar's interactions with his trickster companion, who added a lovely splash of humor to the story.

I also likes how Kira and Khefar's show more relationship develops -- there's an attraction and a growing sense of affection and trust and loyalty, but no insta-love, no love triangles, no immediate jumping into bed, no 3-day HEA. It's so refreshing to have romantic leads who 1) focus on the mission and 2) actually take the time to get to know each other.

I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to more by this author.

Favorite quote, a conversation between Kira and Anansi.

"Fighting a seeker demon doesn't freak me out. Having an ancient warrior rise from the dead in my bed doesn't freak me out. But having a demigod in my kitchen making breakfast... and that apron? Yeah, that strains my brain a bit."
"Why?"
"Why?" She blinked at him as he brought the plates over to the table. "You're a god."
"You've met them before. You talk to Ma'at quite often."
How does he know that? "Yeah, but she doesn't come to breakfast."
"Have you invited her?"
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This was fantastic. I'm hoping Glass continues in this world.

One thing I loved: main character of color. That's right, a tough, kick-ass chick wielding a magical blade who fights for the Light, and she's African-American.

Another thing I loved: Kira's innate power makes it so she cannot touch anyone without killing them. She's moved on and focused on what's important in her life. She doesn't mope, yet she hasn't cut herself off from all human relationships. She simply does not touch.

Through her work as an appraiser of magical antiques Kira comes across a very dangerous dagger. Then the dagger's owner, a 4,000 year old immortal Nubian warrior, and his sidekick, come looking for it. But they aren't the only ones, because the Shadows show more would like to get their hands on it--and Kira--too. show less

First book report card:

Creativity: above average. Ancient Egyptian and general anthropology knowledge is a bonus.
Magical system: above average. Based partly on relationships with Egyptian deities, with nary a werewolf in sight.
Female heroine: above average. Slightly Mary Sue in physical abilities, I suggest meeting with counseling regarding emotional issues.
Pacing: needs focus on balancing action with investigation, flashbacks and information-sharing.
Plotting: acceptable. Light versus Shadow plot shows signs of tropism, so will bear watching.
Attitude: acceptable. While there is some tendency towards self-pity, it is a relief to not have minimal snark or witticisms while facing conflict.
Language: needs work, particularly in dialogue show more with a 4,000 year old character that sounds inconsistently like a twenty-year old American
Relationships: Able to focus on issues at hand and not be unduly distracted by male physique, however, has tragic first-love backstory. Kissing appropriately put on hold to save humanity.
Attire: above average. Does not focus on midriff tops or high heeled boots.

After awhile, parts of the UF/ paranormal fantasy start to look remarkably similar. Shadow Blade stood out for me with an interesting underlying magical system, willingness to flaunt convention--at least in the first book--and well-developed multi-culti characters, without making a deal about it. (As a complete aside, one review I read commented on how odd it was that everyone was 'black,' or at least, non-white, and they didn't think that was very realistic in an American city. I will now pause to let city-people roll their eyes). Seriously, it is nice to read a UF that doesn't focus on the scrappy white chick character.

Side characters are mixed; some get a chance to shine, like Mr. Nansee, while others are lacking the chance to distinguish themselves. His scene making breakfast was priceless ("and that apron? Yeah, that strains my brain a bit") and I admit I might have smiled at the thought of him rousing people on the subway. I also rather like the morally ambiguous psychic vampire; he has a developed essence of creepy/skeevy where you aren't sure if he's dangerous or just needs a slap with a sexual harassment lawsuit. At times the writing is able to convey the alienation and age of Khefar, the four millennia old Nubian, and at times he is surprisingly and perhaps inappropriately modern. I will say that despite inconsistency, Glass is able to better convey age than Hearne with the Iron Druid series.

Shadow Blade does suffer a little from first-book syndrome, that collection of symptoms that so many series-intent authors are prone to develop. Those tantalizing hints at past issues, more tantalizing hints at future issues ("made a mental note to check that out when she had time"), the excessive explaining of self-evident decisions ("The sooner she got back to the scene of the crime, the more likely the chances she'd find some sort of lead").

I suspect a few of my problems come indirectly from the author's background in romance novels. Here's hoping she can individualize the conflict and romance so it doesn't have the whiff of cardboard about it.

Overall, it was reasonably enjoyable. In my UF scale, it rates above Chicagoland Vampires, and below Kate Daniels. I've already borrowed the sequel from the library, so I look forward to seeing if the series grows.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/shadow-blade-shadowchasers-1-by-seress... show less

I heard about this series and author via a recommendation at Dear Author. We were discussing the way [some] authors and [most] publishers are really screwing with the sub-genre "Urban Fantasy." Urban Fantasy started as basically Sword & Sorcery but in a modern format and urban location. Somehow someway...Urban Fantasy became Romances with angry, sword wielding women who dressed in strings and had sex with paranormal creatures.

This book...isn't like that. I mean, it's still an Urban Fantasy so it stays pretty close to the trope...but there is no emphasis on sex. The moment the heroine made a stupid decision...something bad happened to her. And there are POC characters!! Wow!

One of my favorite scenes in the book? When Khefar(hero) and show more Kira(heroine) are kissing and they stop. Because they have more important things to do...like planning for and killing the evil bad guy. :-D There is no sex in this book.

This being an Urban Fantasy, Kira is the strongest Shadowchaser in quite a while. Kira is a bit of loner but it's not because she's angry with the world. She is gifted (or as she considers it, cursed) with a power that does not allow her to touch people. If she touched them she would severely hurt them and possibly kill them. That puts a damper on interpersonal relationships, I'd say. She does have some really good "normal" friends but only a few - those she can trust. There is a relationship brewing in this book but it is not the focus of the story. Kira is fascinated with Khefar...but a huge portion of that comes from the fact the he is the only human she can touch.

Another thing I really liked about the book was its ethnicity and different focus. Kira is African American and Khefar is Nubian. Both Kira and Khefer worship Egyptian deities (Kira worships Ma'at and Khefar worships Isis). Egyptology is a large focus of this book (and I'm assuming the series). I haven't ran across many (if all) fantasy books with this focus so kudos to the author!

While Kira is presented as very powerful, she is faced with a villain she cannot fight alone. She has to grow and learn teamwork during the course of the book. I appreciated the fact that Kira was shown as fallible and I hope that she will be forced into additional growth during the series. I do have a small concern: will she become too powerful? That becomes boring.

There is some info dumping at the beginning of the novel. Some of the terms are not really explained and the author leaves the reader to figure it out via context clues. While I love (love!) the fact that the characters are either African or African American (so far), I had to admit that some of it felt a little...forced? From what I could tell all the characters were African American and that's just not that realistic (either). One of the things I love about Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series is the diversity of characters.

All in all, this is a fun book with great characters and a fresh background. I'm glad I ran across this author and I will be continuing this series. show less

Kira was born with a power – she knows things and people by touch. One touch and she senses thought, emotion and experience. And she drains their power, their life force and sometimes leaves them injured or dead.

An orphan, her powers quickly confused and frightened her foster families – until she was taken in and raised by the Gilead Commission, a secret organisation that polices the magical beings of the world – and leads the forces of Light against the chaotic destruction of the Shadow. Kira was brought up as a member, a warrior, a Shadowchaser, one of the elite of the Commission to hunt down the most powerful agents of the Shadow.

And there is one of the most powerful agents in Atlanta, hunting down a 4,000 year old dagger of show more incredible power. Her mentor died to bring it to her and the immortal owner of the dagger, Khefer, has followed to retrieve and protect it. Kira must fight through her grief, protect her friends and work with Khefer to banish the Fallen and stop more lives being lost- and to stop her own descent into the darkness.


I found the story generally good – agent of light fighting the shadow isn't exactly original, but nor was it done in a way I found dull or boring. There is a growing romance between Khefer and Kira but, despite my worries, it never takes over the plot beyond odd moments of Kira's shock that she can touch him. The plot remains focused (to a degree) on the actual plot and decent characterisations. It was interesting and kept me engaged and never once made me think I should be cleaning the bathroom or some other unpleasant task to help me avoid reading

My main complaint with this book is one of pacing, especially towards the middle of the book. There's a time when there are no leads and no particular direction and Kira and Khefer just seem to drift around not doing a whole lot. There were a few incidents like that throughout the book – and it's exacerbated by the fact that they don't actually do a whole lot until the end. They wait for something to happen, then react – there's not a lot of pro-active activity from the protagonists, even though they're not passive people. Given the severity of the threat they're facing, it feels vaguely like picnicking in the path of a tsunami.

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I found this book thanks to Dark Faerie Tales and the Debut Urban Fantasy Author Challenge that's going on. So very glad I found the challenge and this book. The challenge has led me to some fab UF and this books is definitely in that group.
The premise of SHADOW BLADE was a new one to me, Kira has abilities to read items by placing her bare skin on the object. Sadly, this also means no close contact with people unless she wants them in a coma or dead. She's kept people at a distance all of her life, except for a trusted few and even they are kept sheltered from her touch and some emotional attachment. Kira has trained herself to be this way, for their sake and hers, but finds herself wanting to see what it would be like to touch one show more person...the Nubian, Khefar, owner of the ancient dagger she is protecting.
Khefar is tasked with a mission of protecting lives after an early lifetime of being a killing machine. The dagger was given to him by the Pharoah and it's never been out of his sight until now and he will do what it takes to get it back.
Khefar has a 'sidekick', though Nansee would be appalled to find himself called such. I think he was my favorite character in the book. He appeared as needed or as he felt compelled to appear in the guise of an old man, albeit an old man who could kick ass in the kitchen and in the fight.
I enjoyed the parts of the book where Kira has to deal with all of the paperwork after a Shadow attack. Bureaucracy is bureaucracy no matter if it's in the 'real' world or in the UF world and the author does a good job of showing Kira's disgust with that fact.
I am very pleased that this blend of ancient Egyptian mysticism and urban fantasy is the beginning of a series. There is definitely a story that needs telling and finishing. A story of good (Light) versus evil (Shadow). Shadow is definitely truly horrendous and Kira needs her wits and her allies around her to fight the darker side. This dark side also wants Kira to work for them and are doing all they can to make that so. And she is doing all she can to keep on the right side of Light.
Five sparkly Light diamonds..... show less

Review courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com

When I was little I wanted to be Indiana Jones (not his girlfriend, him) and I dabbled a bit with Lara Croft envy in my teens (the video game version more than the movie version) because I was obsessed archaeology, Egyptology in particular. When I heard about a new urban fantasy series featuring an antiquities expert, I got a little giddy. When I saw the cover featuring an Egyptian pyramid in the background I was downright euphoric.

"The dagger reeked of ancient magic. Kira Solomon stared down at it, trying not to salivate with longing." -Shadow Blade

Kira Solomon is an antiquities expert who moonlights as a Shadowchaser, a member of the Gilead Commission who hunts down the Fallen from show more Light (aka Demons). Kira has a unique ability that sets her apart from other Shadowchasers, she can sense the magic and history of an object just by touching it. But that ability that is so invaluable professionally, is deadly personally. Touching people can force them into a coma or even take their life.

One such object that Kira touches is a 4,000 year old Egyptian dagger with a magical bloodlust that has the ability to destroy the soul of whoever is strong enough to wield it. When the equally ancient (though not in terms of appearance) owner of the dagger comes calling, and a formidable Fallen power starts attacking, Kira may have to reach out and touch someone for the first time to save a life rather than take it.

Kira’s personal history and the burdening effects of her gift were fascinating. Everything she touches effects her. Even food that she doesn’t harvest herself can make her physically ill because of all the people who have touched it. Also the inclusion of the Egyptian pantheon of gods was a fresh and unique source of magic in the urban fantasy genre. The concept of Light and Chaos, and the Universe’s need for balance made for an interesting world to play in.

"Guardians are the higher beings of Light: angels, gods, goddesses and spirits who embody good. Shadow beings are the Fallen: spawns of Chaos who fought in the First Battle– the upper echelon demons, gods and goddess who sow discord and chaos. Both use Avatars in this dimension." -Shadowchasers website

I have to say I was a little disappointed by the lack of Indiana Jones/Lara Croft style adventure in this book. Kira didn’t get to raid a single pyramid. I know that antiquities expert doesn’t automatically mean Indiana Jones, but I was hoping.

Overall, the concept and unique world building are the clear strengths of this novel. Kira’s gift/curse was a little to easily overcome in terms of the romantic subplot, and while to the story never dragged, the excitement level never really took off in the way it could have. Shadow Chase (Shadowchasers, book 2) is due out July 27, 2010 and there is enough promise here that I’ll be watching out for it.

Sexual Content: References to sex.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 show less