Rating: 
Summary: A fun book, but it has problems
Review: Like many other reviewers, I picked up this book because of the comparisons to Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. It's not as good as either of those, but I think the author shows real promise.The biggest problem felt like a lack of cohesive editing. The media has made a big deal of the fact that Taylor self-published this book before a publishing house picked it up, but I don't think anyone took the time to conduct a thorough editing of the book. It reads like a first draft. Yes, characters are shallow. Yes, the plot takes twist that don't always make logical sense. Those are first-draft problems. On the other hand, the plot is fun. And like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, there's a definite line drawn between good and evil. Taylor does not believe in gray characters in this book, and it's nice to read about good people struggling to accomplish good deeds -- especially with such an overtly Christian message layered on top of it all. This is an author to watch when he comes out with a sequel -- a well-edited sequel. He's already telling a good story, and I think he'll put out a top-rate book if someone (himself or his publisher) forces him to shore up the weak points from this first book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great reading for teens and adults.
Review: This is a quick read that will be enjoyable to readers from their teen years through older adults. A strong story of good versus evil. Also recommended Chrisian reading for teens to adults, Bruce Conn's "The Curse of Durgan's Reef."
Rating: 
Summary: Much Ado About Nothing: Imitation is Another Word for Fake
Review: Arrogantly advertised as "Hotter than Potter," and as an appropriate non-occultic Christian alternative, Shadowmancer is neither.
As Graham Taylor told the BBC,
"A lot of the pagan stuff in my book is genuine material. Part of Demural's prayer to invoke the sea is taken from the witches' rite of invocation. So people can find far more stuff in my book than in Harry Potter."
Also disturbing, and more than slightly sacrilegious, is the toted magical powers of a self-aware (read "living") golden cherub stolen from the Ark of the Covenant. With it, the Arch-villain believes he can wield power over the god of the book.
Make no mistake: this god is (wink) God. Yet although the religious symbols are taken from Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim tradition, Graham renames the Almighty, lest the reader suspect the plot is slightly (gasp) religious in nature.
Not content with "borrowing" themes from C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien, Steven Spielberg, and J.K. Rowling, Graham re-writes sacred biblical material.
Poorly written and possibly profane, Shadowmancer is a cheap imitation of its betters.
Rating:
Summary: Great material, Love the spiritual insight, hated the ending
Review: Athough not a real fiction reader, I decided on reading Shadowmancer becuase of the hype that it was recieveing in Christian circles. Being a Christian that I am, I was very excited about a book that combined a spiritual otherwordly subject matter with an adventure story set in a very exotic and fascinating world of 1800 England. I was intrigued early in my reading and was very excited about the book but as i read, i felt that I was stumbling along a path of half finished character development and an ever more predictable plot. I still applaud the author for blatently exploring the spiritual side of the unseen in this book, I just wish he would have developed deeper characters and a more developed ending otherwise this would have been a 4 to 5 star subject for me!
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea - Needs work
Review: G. P. Taylor seems like an interesting individual and his story has possibilities, but unfortunately the writing style is amateurish. The characters are so underdeveloped one hardly cares that they spend the entire time in mortal danger. The plot, while interesting, is shallow, contrived, and woefully thin. Taylor forces his story, like a child gasping out a startling event - the details are sparse; events are jumbled; and characters wander in and out for no apparent reason.
This book was a difficult read largely because the many flaws in the plot development ruined the action. For example, the description of Demurral's conversion from well-intentioned preacher to dark lord was completely implausible and inadequately explained. I found myself wondering what actually happened to explain his monstrous make-over. This is only one of many inconsistencies and shortcomings that distracted from the excitement of the story and made for a tedious and frustrating reading experience.
I heard that Taylor originally self-published the book. Maybe the editing got left out in the process. It's too bad. The author has a good idea, but his basic writing skills need work.
One final caution: this book is far darker, scarier, and more occult than Harry Potter, to which it is frequently compared. It is not for younger readers. I found it in the library in the yount adult section.
Rating: 
Summary: My way of thinking
Review: This is one of the very few books that I have ever willingly read. Why? Perhaps because of the way I think. When I read books, I make them more exciting by picturing each character as someone from a show or a movie. That is not all that makes this a good book to me. To any christain (like me), this would be a good book. Otherwise, it will appeal to the fantasy lovers, and maybe a few others. It's one of thoses books where you will never know until you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Can't get into it
Review: I got this book because it was so highly recommended. I am very disappointed. Three times I've tried to read it, but I can' get past the fifth chapter. It seems choppy and, quite honestly, boring. I'm very disappointed. I think I'll go back to Karen Hancock and reread Arena.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, Unique and Moving
Review: First I have to say that this book CANNOT be compared to Harry Potter. I'm getting a little frustrated with every fantasy book released being compared to the Potter series. Don't get me wrong, I love Harry Potter, but it can't be considered a standard or criteria or model for fantasy literature. "Shadowmancer" is a very unique and fascinating story, full of great moral lessons and inspirational words and ideas. I'm not saying it's the best fantasy I've ever read, I'm not saying it's a literary masterwork, but I think that anyone who enjoys magic, mystery, adventure, suspense and classic "good vs. evil" will thoroughly enjoy this story, as I have.
Rating:
Summary: not recomended
Review: Another Harry Potter? Not even close. A Christian substitute for the young wizard? Much closer, but still inadequate. So where does "Shadowmancer" go wrong? Why all the bad reviews?
Drawn in by the marketing, I read this book with my daughters. We did find it to be in line with Biblical teachings, but we found little else to become attached to. We dragged through it. My girls had to be convinced to sit down for "reading time." (Already they're begging for more of "Peter and the Starcatchers.") I was struck by the use of repetitive phrases--"over and over," "faster and faster," "round and round." I was annoyed by the switches between point of view. Mostly, I just wanted some good reasons to care about the characters and believe the story was building toward something worthwhile. Instead, it meandered around toward a conclusion that had nothing to do with the characters' development and everything to do with angelic beings showing up at the necessary moments.
If you want an alternative to Harry Potter, this qualifies. But it doesn't qualify as great writing, gifted plotting, or entertaining storytelling. We'll be skipping book two.
Rating:
Summary: I've Read Better
Review: It's obvious that this is Mr. Taylor's first published novel. I really wanted to love this book but it was hard to do so. I kept hearing how this was "the next Harry Potter," and with a few key changes, Mr. Taylor could produce a wonderful novel. Unfortunately, this one just didn't meet my expectations.
The characters were dry and predictable, and I had little to no attachment to them. I honestly didn't really care what happened to them. I will admit that there were a couple characters that were exciting, but the main characters were not.
The ending was just plain bad. I don't want to give anything away, but it was reminiscent of sitting around a campfire singing songs. Both the good guys and bad guys, poised for an epic battle, decide to put down their weapons and walk outside for a nice moonlight stroll.
The biggest problem I had with this novel though, is the way that the suspense was built up but consistently let me down. It seemed like each chapter was a mini-book. Suspense would be built up within the chapter, and subsequently resolved. There were no loose ends left from one chapter to another, which greatly annoyed me. I expect a book to leave me hanging at the end of a chapter, forcing me to read onward. However, each of Mr. Taylor's chapters seemed to reach a conclusion and I had no qualms with putting down the book until later. It didn't make me want to keep reading.
Overall, if you want an easy-to-read fantasy novel, this book will give you something to do. I would recommend checking it out from the library, but I wouldn't spend the money on a hardback edition. It was good, but not great.
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