The Light of Burning Shadows: Book Two of the Iron Elves [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Chris Evans (Author), Michael Kramer (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2010 | Series: Iron Elves (Book 2)

The second novel in an acclaimed epic fantasy series, The Light of Burning Shadows tells of a world where musket and cannon, bow and arrow, and magic and diplomacy all vie for supremacy in an empire teetering on the brink of war.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Private Alwyn Renwar of the Iron Elves is having constant, debilitating nightmares of the evil Shadow Monarch-and it's nearly killing him. The magical acorn which the Shadow Monarch planted in the chests of all the reformed Iron Elves during their last campaign carries dark magic, useful in combating the Monarch's minions, but filled with evil and contrary to the nature of elves. In this quick but moving second volume of Evans's Iron Elves series, Private Renwar, Major Konowa Swift Dragon, Sergeant Arkhorn, and the rest of the regiment discover that one of the dark acorn's side effects is turning souls, after death, into ghosts. Private Renwar focuses all his efforts on finding a cure for this curse, while a more worldly battle transpires over a magical falling star, the Jewel of the Desert, which must be found before the Shadow Monarch claims its powers for "Her" own. Evans evokes the era of Napoleon with muskets and slashing swords while neatly mixing in military fantasy, swords and sorcery, and a great deal of success; readers will no doubt end up desperate for the next volume. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"I'm always thrilled by seeing a new author press the boundaries of the conventions of fantasy. Chris Evans does just that -- taking the broad sword and sorcery archetypes and placing them squarely in a new and exciting environment." -- R. A. Salvatore

"A gutsy fantasy set in a world of imperial greed and magical plotting, with an eye for the ordinary soldier's plight that would have done Kipling proud." -- Karen Traviss, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Legacy of the Force --Revelation and City of Pearl

[Audio Review] Private Alwyn Renwar, who has a wooden leg as a result of a battle injury, is particularly sensitive to the dark magic that has been implanted in it by the Shadow Monarch and is searching for a cure. Meanwhile, the Iron Elves racing to keep a magical falling star away from the Shadow Monarch who seeks its power. Narrator Michael Kramer has plenty of opportunity to use a range of accents. The quick interplay between the Iron Elves has splashes of humor and affection that Kramer brings forward. Because this installment in the Iron Elves series picks up from the first book without much explanation of past events, starting with the first book would provide listeners with helpful background. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2010] --AudioFile

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged Library - CD edition (January 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400143217
• ISBN-13: 978-1400143214
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,387,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

www.ironelves.com
Twitter: CEvansAuthor
Facebook: Chris Evans (Iron Elves)
They tell me I was born in Canada. I do like hockey, and I am wary of polar bears so they're probably right. I now live in New York City and can often be found in my favorite diner, the Gracie Mews, where I simply nod and my usual is served, which is great except on the days when I don't want the usual. When reading, researching, writing, and editing are called for, as they pretty much are every day of the week, you'll find me at the New York Society Library. If I'm not hungry, and need a break from all the writing and reading, I'll be off running in Central Park and imagining I'm much faster than I really am.

I've got a few degrees (98.6 most days, over 100 when I have a fever) and put some of them to use as an editor of history and current affairs/conflicts books where I edit the Stackpole Military History Series (you may have seen them, usually green borders with a military medal on the cover and spine). I'm also the author of the Iron Elves fantasy series which includes A Darkness Forged in Fire, The Light of Burning Shadows, and the forthcoming Ashes Of A Black Frost. The Iron Elves series is being translated into Japanese, Russian, French, Czech, and German, and luckily for all the Japanese, Russian, French, Czech, and German readers out there I'm not the one doing the translations.

For more information, or least the same information told differently, please visit my Simon & Schuster author page at http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Chris-Evans/46195026 or check out my website at www.ironelves.com where you can find out a bit more and even read my blog, or try me face to face at Chris Evans (Iron Elves) on Facebook, or me being a twit at @CEvansAuthor on Twitter...just please don't tell the polar bears where I'm at.

Cheers,

Chris

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars super high quest fantasy, August 9, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Light of Burning Shadows: Book Two of the Iron Elves (Hardcover)

The Calahrian Empire still teeters from the assault of the elf witch Shadow Monarch whose allies include the new even more violent Viceroy of Elfkyna. Their greatest unit against the evil insurgency, the Iron Elves, remains disdained by their people for the tattoo representing their subservience to the Shadow Monarch. The people feel this way in spite of their great victory led by Commander Konowa Swift Dragon preventing the Shadow Monarch from obtaining the Red Star at the Battle of Luuguth Jor (see A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE).

Instead of lifting the frost fire curse from his men by using the Red Star, Konowa gives it to the Elfkynal; angering his soldiers who saw brothers in arms die and return as shades or maimed in the battle. Prince Tykkin directs Konowa to retrieve a new Star reported in the Hasshugeb Expanse. Konowa knows the witch will seek the Star too so he needs reinforcements so he sends Iron Elves to recruit those peers who failed to return when the unit was reactivated. He tries to calm down his outraged unit who believe they should be freed first and then defeat the evil while he deems they must defeat the evil first. At the same time the Shadow Monarch sends her servant the Viceroy of Elfkyna to darken the woodlands while a new flame has arisen that eats the shadow from the body until the person expires; death in those cases does not mean returning as a shade.

Although the overarching theme does not move forward, the second Iron Elves high quest fantasy is a great tale as Chris Evans expands the author's world adding much depth to it. The story line once again focuses on Konowa and his unit who though victorious still hurt mentally and physically from the recent battle and their commander's decision on the Red Star. Fans will enjoy this fine entry as Konowa seems on the verge of PTSD caused not just by sending men to die knowing they are cursed to become shades, but also having to make difficult decisions, which keep his men in harm's way.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great fantasy, November 14, 2009

By 

Blodeuedd "Blodeuedd" (Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Light of Burning Shadows: Book Two of the Iron Elves (Hardcover)

This book continues where book 1 left off. Konowa and The Iron Elves are destroying the Shadow Monarchs trees on islands on their way to the desert on the south. There Konowa hopes to meet up with his exiled men, the true Iron Elves and with them take up the fight to banish the Shadow Monarch. But as they come closer darkness is growing, and there are rumours about another Star falling in the desert. Everyone wants the starts power for their own purpose, and Konowa knows that he held it once and did not free his men from their terrible oath, but can he do it again?

I really liked book 1, A Darkness Forged in Fire. It was good, and then suddenly it was so good that I did not want to put it down. Not the same feeling here because all books are different, but this was still great epic fantasy, and after reading this I do want to read book 3 that is out sometime 2010.

A negative thing about this book is that he did not move forward the possible relationship between Visyana and Konowa. Are there to be more books? Because then he movie it slow, as it was now they did not even say a word to each other. That was a tad bit slow since there obviously is something there.

The other negative part for me was that this was mostly about Allwyn, yes he was crucial to the book as he can see their fallen comrades and talk to them, he has a tree for a leg and he can handle the dark magic the best. It was his story in a way, still I missed Konowa.

But don't get me wrong, this was still good fantasy. The battle continues and I am really starting to like the different soldiers, while not so much others. Here we learnt more and got to see more of everyone, and of course big epic fight in the end when the star has come. The Empire wants it, the desert wants it, mysterious powers wants it, the Shadow Monarch wants it, yes it's not an easy battle and he manages to surprise me in the end.

Good old fantasy, with a big slice of military, I do like it. I will always like fantasy the best because it has this way of capture me the most. It's the excellent world building, the thought behind the political unrest and so forth. Oh and gotta have a nice map too, I want to see where I am going. This book has all those things, and I hope book 3 keeps up the good pace.

"They might be doomed, damned, and buggered for all eternity, but that didn't mean they couldn't sparkle like a diamond in the sun and grin like a skull in the moonlight on their way to oblivion."

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Iron Elves are back and better than ever., July 30, 2009

By 

Ruth (Idaho Falls, ID USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Light of Burning Shadows: Book Two of the Iron Elves (Hardcover)

In this second installment in The Iron Elves series, Konowa Swift Dragon has convinced Prince Tykkin that he needs to reclaim the original Iron Elves who were dispatched across the ocean and stationed at the backside of beyond when Konowa was originally dismissed after murdering the first Viceroy. The prince agrees, but mostly because he's heard rumors of another Star reading to appear in the Hasshugeb Expanse where the Iron Elves are stationed -- which just happens to be the rumored location of the fabled Lost Library of Kaman Rhal. So, the Iron Elves set off on another adventure to find the new star and keep it from the Shadow Monarch, but in the desert they encounter another ancient force which is bent on finding the new Star and bending it to a different, darker purpose.

All the seeds planted in A Darkness Forged in Fire have definitely grown into fruition here. The action in The Light of Burning Shadows picks up shortly after the end of the first volume and the reader is quickly swept away into the story once again. Evans sets a swift pace, and this book centers more on the characters, with slightly less military action than the first volume. The characters are where Chris Evans really shines, especially with the attention paid to the ordinary soldiers in the regiment -- not just the commanders. The relationship between dwarf Sgt. Yimt Arkhorn and Private Alwyn Renwar (who lost his leg at the battle in Luuguth Jor and has a new one fashioned for him from living wood by elven magic) is particularly well written. Alwyn is a main character in this installment, as he struggles to deal with the effects of the curse and his ability to see the Darkly Departed -- the shades of fallen Iron Elves who still protect their regiment.

The main fight in this book isn't between the Iron Elves and the Shadow Monarch, but against this new power coming from the desert. This creates a fresh take on what is essentially the same quest as in the last book: capture the Star, break the curse. The new villain brings political machinations to the forefront, which allows many of the characters to grow and develop. Evans writes with a brilliant evocative pose that captures the pride of this cursed regiment: "They might be doomed, damned, and buggered for all eternity, but that didn't mean they couldn't sparkle like a diamond in the sun and grin like a skull in the moonlight on their way to oblivion."

There were many moments in The Light of Burning Shadows that had me laughing and there were a few shocking twists -- one in particular made me go back and read it again just to verify that I had actually read it correctly. Add in fast-paced action, intriguing characters, tight plotting, the addition of a map and a glossary, and you've got a book that's nearly pitch perfect in every way.

I can't remember the last time I slammed a book shut in frustration at the end -- because I was going to have to wait a year for the next installment. I don't want to wait to find out what happens next for the cursed Iron Elves, bound by an oath to a dark magic that ties them even after this life. Mr. Evans, please please, please write quickly!