Customer Reviews

Shadow Dawn

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the second book in the CHRONICLES OF THE SHADOW WAR (after SHADOW MOON), the sequel trilogy to the movie WILLOW. Being the second book in the series, I was expecting a lot less action and a lot more character development than in the first book. While the character development was definitely there, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of action and tension that it contained. Chris Claremont takes his 17 years of writing X-MEN and developing those characters and applies that experience here with an expansive brush and colorful palette. Two years have passed since the end of SHADOW MOON and, although we missed out on the maturation of Elora Danan in those two years, this book gives the reader a vivid picture of how she begins to come into her own as a person and begins to discover what it means to be the Sacred Princess. As she and her companions begin to puzzle out who the Deceiver is and what his goals are, we see the little girl we knew in the first book start to become a young woman. By the end of the book, Mr. Claremont has turned her into this fiercely passionate woman who knows what must be done, if not how to accomplish it. Throughout this journey, the author populates the book with vivid and engaging characters. Each one is unique in their personality and in their relationship with Elora. We especially get a good look at Rool and how he relates to Elora without the smothering presence of Franjean. The characters are what drive this portion of the story, although the tension and action is there as well.

The battle scenes in this book aren't as grand as in the first book, but they are just as compelling. The sacrifice of friends, the fight against all odds, and the trust shown for those guarding your back, Claremont ties all of these themes into each of the fights that our protagonists encounter. While the majority of the book was character and plot development filled with beautiful and compelling prose, the action scenes in between were gripping and had me turning pages at a hectic rate. Heart pounding action that left you wondering who would live and who would die.

My one major problem with this book was the fact that one of the songs that Elora sang was a blatant ripoff of BRAVEHEART.......the film preceded the book by two years.

Despite this bit of plagiarism, this was a compelling book. Almost better than the first one in terms of readability and reader involvement. I truly cared about the characters in this novel and wanted to see them succeed. A definite must read for any fantasy fan.

This is like getting dropped into a fantasy world, an instruction manual on their magic or an encyclopedia on their culture or maybe a museum display of their creatures-Fun and Fantasies. George Lucas must have realized, though, that this would eventually bore many people, so he nicely wove it together with a lot of wild action and really dramatic magic; the outcome was a quite wonderful book, and a great chance to slip into another world.

"Shadow Dawn" continues the new "Willow" saga fairly effectively, but the major problems in the book lie in the abilities of the writer. Overall, the story could've used a bit more polish and a pinch more originality; an entire scene in the book is blatantly stolen from the film "Braveheart," while clumsily palliated in a story-within-the-story. While "Shadow Moon" gave us the future of the Willow saga so many of us had grown to love, "Shadow Dawn" stumbles along until finally reaching a morass of odd story twists and dragged-out characterization.

Better than Shadow Moon, but not by too much. The writing has improved, the characters are slightly more believable. But I still get the impression that I've missed something. The ideas flow from the authors faster than they can absorbed by the reader. It's like watching the T.V. with the sound off, you are only getting a portion of what is meant. I commented that the first book, Shadow Moon needed an impartial, unfamiliar editor to ask questions and to fill in the blanks for us. The same goes for Shadow Dawn. I finished the book as unsatisfied as if it had been put down in the middle. Again I ask "What was that all about? What happened?" Maybe part 3 will be better?

I had just finishing reading Shadow Moon about a month before and was thrilled to find out that the sequel was due out anytime! No having to wait a year or two between stories, though I don't see how I missed it so long! Both books I could not stop reading. I know the characters are different from the movie "Willow", but they are more captivating. I eagerly followed Elora through all her ups and downs, and was sorry the book came to end (though maybe now I will get some work done without the book in my hands!). I hope that there is a 3rd book, I do so want to read more about the characters I have come to love and I guess I will have to wait the traditional year or two this time. Oh, well...should be worth the wait

I've heard and read quite a few reviews saying that these books were not good. It's a lie! Sure I'm only 11, but I personally think that these books are a wonderful challenge. The way they are written is good, and Elora is a great heroin. I'm almost done with the second book, and by now I fully think that it's a wonderful story line.
Now true, I've never seen the movie, Willow, and perhaps it makes people expectant for a certain quality, but honestly, I find the story to be very good. Perhaps it's a good thing I didn't see the movie first. Anyway, I think the books are good, no matter if others don't.

Alright, credit where credit is due, Claremont has improved some from the frightful start of this trilogy- 'Shadow Moon'- but only just enough so that by the time you realize the novel is going nowhere you've wasted too much time to back out now.

The chapters are still far too dense- a chapter of twenty pages takes nearly three times to wade through what those of a decent book would- most of the new characters introduced are one-dimensional bores and Claremont seems to make it a habit of killing off the few that aren't. On the plus side, Elora has become much more interesting and the few chapters where she's allowed to adventure across the land on her own are by far the best bit of the book. The underlying problem is that this is absolute middle of a storyarc so nothing much happens except what is needed to reenforce what happened in 'Moon' and pave the way to the inevitable showdown in 'Star'. Expect lots of pointless wandering and expository dialogue.

Which brings me to the biggest problem of all: an Epic fantasy requires an Epic villain because, lets face it, Good vs. evil is nowhere near as exciting as Good vs. EVIL, and the story just does not deliver. Instead we are treated to baddies like The Deceiver, who is little more than a glorified zombie, and...wait for it...The Lord Of The Dance. That's right, gasp in shock and awe at the might of a guy who will literally two-step you to your doom. It's books like these that make me sincerely wish there was an emoticon for a smiley repeatedly banging their head against something hard an unyielding- perhaps the skull of whichever of the two collaborative 'geniuses' thought any of this would be a good idea.

Cheer up, there's only one volume to go!

I loved the movie, so when I heard about the book, I rushed to find it. I am absolutly obssessed with the movie and probably the reason I loved it so much was the humor between Sorsha and Madmartigan. I really liked Willow too. The book was good, I'll give it that, but I will always love the movie more. Why did the writers and George Lucas turn Willow into a cold, killing sorcerer, not the kind, self-concious farmer I fell in love with? I was so sad when I found out they killed off my two favorite characters! Why get rid of 3/4 of the reason I wanted to read the book? I thought the beginnig was hilarious because in my mind I could see Sorsha and Madmartigan (Joanne Whalley/Val Kilmer) fighting and making up. I was terribly disappointed that in this book they disposed of two of the greatest characters and substitued others that did not have that special quality

A much better follow up to the first book, Shadow Star. It seems that Claremont and Lucas now had their bearings and had managed to get their thoughts organized into a comprehensible world where characters we have know since the movie have grown and changed (yet, as the saying goes, still stayed the same), characters we have known since the first book who are now familiar and much clearer in our minds, and new characters who add color to the world.

Thorn (Willow) takes a smaller part than he did in the film and the first book, but that is only because the authors have discovered Elora. She has grown into a fully fledged character and not just the cute baby and bratty child we have known. This is her story and she is conflicted, flawed, carring, and a fully fledged character.

There are people who have disappeared and never reappear, but you almost don't care, as the mystery of the world keeps you wondering and questioning with the rest of the characters as they try to prevent the many worlds from ripping themselves apart, not only internally, but from each other. This makes sense now that the mythology hinted at in the movie and established, however shakily, in the first book is now complete and alive.

Reading it was a joy. There were moments where you will laugh out loud and rip through others as you race from the start of a fight or a chase till its end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who plays Dungeons and Dragons, as some of the sequences just reek of being played out on a table with a twenty-sider and a character sheet.

The ending manages to answer all of the questions critical to this book, while still leaving the more critical ones that hang over the trilogy only partially answered. You will be reaching for the final book the minute you end this one.

The writing in this book is has a lot of depth to it, can be hard to keep track so If you get lost but are dedicated to the plot an story, just re-read a page now then to grasp it. Loved this book found it was from a trilogy so just recently purchased shadow moon the first book, and shadow star the 3rd book. it takes place from the story book / movie whatever you want to say or Willow.... but like 8-10 years down the road so many things have changed an that is in shadow moon, shadow down shes like preteen to teen years. Love the set!!!