Shadowmancer

Rating:
Summary: Don't Believe the Hype? What Hype???
Review: I've never held to the view that teen's books are just for teens. I still go back and read Garner, Joy Chant, Rosemary Sutcliff etc - the books I grew up with. And so I still browse over that section of any book store and have been happy to have found some grand surprises over that way - Pullman of course, but others too: Phillip Reeve's 'Mortal Engines' and 'Predator's Gold', Chris Wooding's 'Haunting of Alaizabel Cray' and Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy spring to mind.

But for every hit there are bound to be misses. I should have known from the rather non-indicative reviews on the back of 'Shadowmancer' that this was not a book to be trusted. Two quotes do nothing but describe the book as an event. Another is a simple description of what the book is about. In fact the latter - "a magical tale of vicars and witches" - is the title of an interview with Taylor - not a review at all. One of the other quotes leaves off half way through - a very cynical manoeuvre - the full quote being: "The adventure unfolds at a vivid and breathless pace, but the religious symbolism is rather too fundamental and proscriptive for comfort."

Inotherwords the hype is pretty much manufactured from a publisher looking for not just a new Harry Potter like series (they always have to be series), but a J.K Rowling (and they always have to only use the initials of their first two names, like G.P. Taylor): an author who has a good story to back them up.

It would be churlish to belabour the religious point as it is well-covered elsewhere, but what the hell. This is a very thinly veiled pro-Christian book. It is not allegorical and magical like C.S. Lewis, nor is it just like any other fantasy book that features battles between good and evil: although that is a slight remark - many fantasy books do deal with good and evil. Yet the worst do so like this book, blandly and simplistically, while the best know that human nature is a good deal more complex. Even if Taylor referring to God with a made up name is not enough to distance this book from the tract it is.

Of course Christian-based books are not Bad Things, but this book paints it so darn obviously that it is completely absent of any suspense, any ambiguity, any sense of Greyness. Taylor is missing one of the main points of Pullman's trilogy - this sort of treatment of Christianity is colourless. The language is straight out of the worst type of evangelical pamphlets, pompous and overused: I will be with you always even to the end of time ... Let the one who can bring peace heal your life ... See he is coming, the bright morning star shines upon the earth.

Even an agnostic like me knows that there is a richness of language in the Bible, a richness of symbolism that so much literature has since simplified into Black and White. The Bible - and, really, any good author worth their salt - knows that Good and Evil are not simple concepts.

And as to originality - well many fantasy authors have modelled their demonic entities on Tolkien's Ringwraiths and Taylor is no exception. But there are faint echoes of other Tolkien-esque figures - the Miller and his family are a little Tom Bombadil-like, even in their placing in the novel, for instance. Moreover there are any number of fantasy works that better explore the world of British folklore than this - from Robert Holdstock's sophisticated and adult 'Mythago Wood' to Peter Beagle's 'Tamsin'.

There are far, far more finely written fantasy works for teenagers than this one. Don't believe the publisher's hype.

Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter, and Old One or Gilraen's young son
Review: Having just read Shadowmancer in one day I find myself engrossed in yet another magical world. I am a large Harry Potter fan, Cooper enthusiast and devoted Tolkien reader. I would agree with the reviewers that commented that this is more a Tolkienism than a Potterism and would add a twist of Cooper to the mix. Shadowmancer is a young adult's story, and I enjoyed the Christian theme. I would consider it for a Christian youth group book study, and will recommend it to my own children when they get older.

Rating:
Summary: Better than expected
Review: Having reacently been on holiday in the States I borrowed this book from a friend and started to read it on the plan. I found the first two chapters hard going trying to understand the plot and know where I was going. By the time I had got to chapter 4/5 I was into the book and could not put it down, infact I am in my mid twenties and my cousin who's 13 had read half the book in 3 days and she's from the states and loved Harry Potter too.

I believe that a non-Christian reading it would enjoy this book too - it shows the powers of darkness and light and the extracts from the Bible are in the right place. I would give it to any member of my youth group to read

Rating:
Summary: Shadowmania sweeps the world!
Review: Shadowmancer is a simply wonderful book set in 18th Century Yorkshire, England. It is a tale of superstition, witchcraft and magic, featuring an evil vicar called Obadiah Demurral who wishes to take over the world! Whilst Shadowmancer is listed as a children's book, it also has an adult read quality about it. Often hailed as the new J. K. Rowling, G. P. Taylor is far better compared to Tolkien. The story unfolds at a breathtaking pace and holds the reader throughout. You may need to read it a couple of times before fully appreciating it and the film is sure to be a massive success! I recommend reading Shadowmancer in a dark room, probably just before you go to sleep to amplify the fear factor! Charge up the mobile in case you need to phone a friend!

Rating:
Summary: exhilarating religious allegorical fantasy
Review: In England, Vicar Obadiah Demurral lost his belief in his religion and God years ago, as he firmly believes that the Almighty has turned a deaf ear towards humanity. Obadiah is a "poisoned angel", a SHADOWMANCER, who communicates with the dead and has plans to rule the world. To achieve his ambition, Obadiah needs to obtain two Keruvim, an amulet that he already possesses and some other artifact of power that he seeks. Together, the twin Keruvim objects will turn Obadiah into an invincible force.

On a quest to recover the stolen relic taken from his village, African Raphah tracks the object to England where he meets two young victims of Obadiah's evil wrath, Thomas and Kate. The trio team up in an effort to stop Obadiah from accomplishing his malevolent objective even if it means going into hell for their heavenly cause.

SHADOWMANCER is an exhilarating religious allegorical fantasy that provides a deep message without preaching inside a wonderful action-packed good vs. evil war. The story line is fast-paced as Obadiah comes closer and closer to achieving his evil objective while the three youngsters are the only souls with faith in God and his way. Though some bad dudes change sides too conveniently, readers from high school age and up will appreciate this timely cautionary tale. G.P. Taylor admonishes the leaders of organized religion not to abuse power especially at the cost and loss of the congregation and pleads with the congregation to keep the faith even when the leaders abuse their positions of power and fail them.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Badly written and NOT Christian
Review: I hurried to buy Shadowmancer, hearing that it's a Christian answer to Harry Potter. Sorry, it's not. While the Harry Potter books are reasonably well-written, the writing in Shadowmancer is so awful, I laughed out loud at times. There are more point of view shifts than in any book I've ever read, sometimes giving multiple perspectives in a single paragraph. Speaker attributions are usually out of place, and dialogue is often pitifully contrived. The characters are wafer-thin, and even the heroes are plastic soldiers. It's hard to cheer for anyone to succeed.

Also, it's not a Christian book. Raphah speaks a lot of Christian-type lines, but he appears to follow a cult, calling on Riathamus. While the meaning of that name may conjure a Christlike being in the reader's mind, this deity appears to approve of Raphah's cultlike adherence to dark symbols of power. The only character who holds to any appearance of naming Christ is the worst bad guy in the story, Demurral, the Vicar. Yes, it's clear that his faith is fraudulent, but I'm troubled by the fact that the only "Christian" in the story is a demonic hypocrite.

I'm looking forward to the release of two other reputed Christian fantasy titles, "Raising Dragons" and "Dragonspell," both coming out in June. We'll see if these are any better.

Rating:
Summary: Vicar in a No No
Review: I think all I need to do to get across how blank and lame this book is, is quote some of the prose:
"She had lost all the trust she had in [her father], in fact in everyone. Life with her father had never been easy. It was his drinking that had always been the problem. He would fly into a rage at the slightest thing, shout and scream and then break down in tears. For many years she had thought it was her fault, that in some way she was responsible. Kate could never live up to his expectations, she could never be a child, never play games. Her lot in life was to cook and clean, to sew and mend. These were his demands. He wanted her to be a mother, a servant, but never a daughter. Tonight she had leant that he had been living a double life, and realized that her father had been slowly poisoned by the death of her mother, the guilt, the pain, and now the deception. 'It's not my fault, it's not my fault,' she kept repeating under her breath as she thought of her father and of how he had betrayed her."

See what I mean? And that's supposed to be a moving bit!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I bought the book for my pre-teen as a substitute for Harry Potter, and I ended up reading it first! This was truly an epic story in the classic style of historical good vs. evil. I appreciated the biblical analogies the author used. For parents--this is a trustworthy purchase, believe me.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully done
Review: The author of this book sold his motorcycle to get enough money to self publish his book. And ever since he has enjoyed the success of a book published by a huge publishing company. And now he has his pick of the bunch as he has a best seller. It is the same Cinderella story that the book, The Little Guide To Happiness, had. A self published book that became a best seller beyond anyones wildest dreams. And like-wise, it is beautifully written, and deserves every bit of attention.

Rating:
Summary: Watch out J.K. Rowling!!
Review: (...)This book was terrific! An epic tale of good vs. evil in the manner of Lord of the Rings or the newest Harry Potter (it's darker than the first few Potter books). It is classified as a teen type book but I think it transcends that to become a book that would be enjoyed by anyone. I don't think I could've taken the advice another reviewer gave to read it in the near dark right before bed, all I would've seen in my dreams were scary red eyes!! I don't want to say too much about the story itself for fear of giving away the ending. Mr. Taylor, if you happen to read this - please continue with more tales like this!