Review: Shadow Magic
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 15, 2012
Shadows are typically scary places where nightmares lurk.  Rat, the main character, finds shadows to be a source of comfort and protection within the concealment offered by shadows.  This is an interesting twist on traditional fantasy assumptions.  Story opens with Rat, the homeless city boy, being discovered hiding in the shadows by a magician clansman.  This meeting leads Rat on a journey to discover magic and meet clan rivalries, intrigues and warfare.  Rat has a destiny which he is, mostly reluctantly, forced to find.  Overall, an action and suspense packed fantasy which I enjoyed.Parts of the story were confusing to follow as the overall nature of the conflict is unclear as well as the roles of some characters.  Many of Rat's family relationships were dysfunctional with only minor progress in addressing those issues.  Considering that this is the first book in a series, this is a fine mechanism to build interest in the next novel.  I expect that the next book will better clarify the conflict and the character roles.Child of the Sword is the first book in The Gods Within series.  Author's website indicates that this series will be a trilogy and that the next novel, The SteelMaster of Indwallin, should be released in December 2012.No significant editing issues were noted.  The Child of the Sword is 7,322 Kindle locations long - including a short excerpt for the next novel.  Standard length "paperback" novels seem to run in the 4,500 to 7,000 plus Kindle location range.  Long novels can range from 15,000 to 20,000 plus Kindle locations.