Shadows' Greatest Hits - Shadows (The)

Advantages: great action scenes, reasonable characters
Disadvantages: pulpy

...Somebody once said that there are only two plot lines in classic fantasy: an unexpected simpleton (child, beggar, heathen, girl, commoner) saving the world (e.g. Frodo) and a king threatened by the usurper (e.g. Arthur). This is, of course, a major simplification, but still, many, many fantasy novels follow one of those plotlines. The Way of Shadows seems to be an example of the first one. Azoth is a guild rat, grown up in the slums, poverty and fear, beatings and abuse his daily reality. When, in a sudden flash of justified anger he crosses the Fist of his guild, he has to make some hard decisions, quickly. His life is at stake, and the only way out he sees is apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint: the best assassin in the city. Azoth changes his identity to Kylar Stern and has to leave his old life in the slums of the Warrens to face... Read review

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Advantages: Quite a dark and involving story
Disadvantages: Not terribly visual

...In fantasy more than any other genre, the line between writing for adults and writing for children is incredibly blurred. The only obvious differences are that in writing for younger readers, the heroes tend to be younger, there are more human-like characters and fewer names with too many apostrophes and too few vowels compared to fantasy novels aimed at adults. There are very few differences between the plotlines and the stories themselves. Having written for adults prior to this, author Thomas Wharton would know this better than I. I know nothing of his work for adults, but if it's as good as "The Shadow of Malabron", it has to be worth checking out. Will Lightfoot, isn't happy with his life. His mother died three years ago and he is uprooted from his home to move across the country for his father's new job. It's a chance to move on... Read review

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Advantages: Gripping from the start, interesting characters
Disadvantages: Thought the ending may have been more explosive

...I recently had all my shifts changed at work which means that I ended up working 6 weeks of nights - ouch! Knowing that work was going to be quiet and therefore fairly boring, I asked my Dad to recommend me a couple of good books. The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters was one of them. The Author Minette Walters is often referred to as the 'queen of the psychological thriller' and after reading several of her books, you will see that this is a title she deserves. The Chameleon's Shadow is her 12th psychological thriller. Some of her other books include Acid Row, Fox Evil, The Ice House, The Sculptress and The Dark Room. Some of her stories have been turned into films or TV series. The Story Lieutenant Charles Acland life is literally turned upside down when a roadside bomb hits his vehicle while they are serving in Iraq... Read review

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