Customer Reviews

Shadow Star

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

 

 

The scope and breadth of this work outshines even its predecessors. Picking up right where Shadow Dawn left off, it continues the adventures of Elora Danan and her protectors and friends.

All the rising questions of the first two books are answered in the end, tying together all three books and the movie in a way that only George Lucas could achieve. More questions are raised, and then their answers revealed. The actions the characters take are shocking, but fitting.

A few technical problems do mar the book, though. Claremont's writing is good, but still leaves much to be desired. Typos riddle the book, as well as a few very vaguely defined scenes. These, combined with scattered contradictions of the first two books, tend to break the immersion.

Overall, though, I'd say the plot more than makes up for it. The ending is simply amazing, and so very far from what I had expected. And best of all, I think, is that in the end, it's really only just beginning.

Overall the entire series is wonderful, it explains much of the why of the movie Willow.
The problem lies in the writing style, although both George Lucas and Chris Claremont are both wonderful at what they do they stumbled at some points in the novel, being overtly descriptive and having the characters jump into unexpected actions to cover the transition into the next plot point.
The books cannot stand on their own, you have to read one to understand the others.
Despite my complaints about the books, I loved reading every word. It was hard to follow at times, but it was still a wonderful series.

I have been waiting with bated breath for Shadow Star and I was really disappointed. Not in the story, per se, but in the writing style itself. The writing was rough and this detracted from the magic of the story. I didn't have the same connection with the characters that I had experienced previously. However, it's still worth the read.

This is the concluding volume of the SHADOW WAR trilogy (book one was SHADOW MOON and book two was SHADOW DAWN), the sequel to the movie WILLOW. The series as a whole really impressed me. Chris Claremont's writing style, although weak in a couple places, fits perfectly in the fantasy genre. His characters are vivid, their interactions realistic, and I'm constantly asking myself if his beautiful prose rolls off his brain and onto the page or whether he needs to actively think about his word selection. This series is definitely darker than the movie, but it was still very enjoyable. If you haven't seen the film, you can still enjoy these books, but you won't get the full effect.

Claremont continues his brilliant writing in this book. It's fun just to read his prose because it evokes such vivid images and feelings. As in the previous books, there are a couple of instances where his descriptions are vague and confusing (I read one scene three times and still was unable to figure out exactly what he was trying to convey). He also seemed to rush the climax just a bit, but it was still a compelling ending to the book and the series. I especially liked the final chapter...it kind of left things open for us to revisit this world and these characters at a later date. I would love to see how things are going in another ten years (in their time, not ours!).

Speaking of the characters, we get to see them develop even further in this book. Elora completes her "ascension" on her own terms and it is nothing like what it was expected to be in the first book. Thorn and the brownies continue to struggle in the face of adversary and we get a glimpse into Khory's past life.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this series. I was a fan of the movie and, even though these books had a lot darker tone, they were a wonderful continuation of the story.

This book answers every question you might have, and culminates the Shadow War saga with a BANG. It highlights and adds to the enjoyment of the entire saga, especially the original film WILLOW! After reading this book, you will watch the movie with a whole new set of eyes, and be able to appreciate on a whole different level. This book has made me realize that this Saga, not STAR WARS, is the true Master Saga that Georg eLucas was meant to write. Willow and the Shadow War is Lucas' Magnum Opus.

I was quite excited to be able to read this trilogy by such a great team..but the final installment was quite the disappointment. I feel this was mostly attributed to the Editor of this writing. Story lines were unexplained and left out and more emphasis was placed on the "war". It showed in the second book but this last book was horrible to try and follow the story..Hope you will write again but get a new editor.

I just re-read this for the first time in a long time and was pleased to discover that it not only holds up but improves with time! The prose (which is very energetic and colorful) is no clunkier than that of GRRM, Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson or any of the other big fantasy authors; I doubt most fantasy buffs would even recognize bad prose anyway. But what separates this trilogy out and makes it (in my opinion) so engrossing is the wildly original world it is set in. There's no falling back on the tropes of Tolkien, Howard or the other classic authors of "epic fantasy" here: Lucas and Claremont create a completely new environment, this is "world building" of the highest order. Of course there's medievalism and magic, but the structure and details of this world are both admirably complex and refreshingly different from the norm (even now, twelve years after its first publication). The characters are likable and their journey is big enough to justify three volumes.

The basic story revolves around the machinations of a mysterious power called the Deceiver who is instigating the realms of man and faerie to war. The primary characters are a dwarf sorcerer who has left behind his wife and children to wander the earth in search of answers, a thirteen year old girl born to save the world who has been raised as a spoiled brat, and a female warrior who was killed long ago and has been resurrected but has no memory of her previous life.

This is the final volume of the Shadow War Chronicles (a trilogy beginning with "Shadow Moon" and continuing in "Shadow Dawn") and it brings the saga to a fittingly epic close. I loved the allusions to classic fairy tale motifs and the mingling of Celtic myth with science-fictional elements. The character of The Caliban is a memorable adversary, and the revelation of the story of Khory Bannefin, the female warrior brought back to life in "Shadow Moon", is outstanding. This volume also brings the main character home and we return to Castle Nockmaar, where his adventure first began in the classic film "Willow."

I can't recommend this highly enough to readers of myth, fairytale, adventure stories and "epic fantasy." It's one of the best.

this book is great i got it after my last copy fell apart.
this book is the secound in a set of three.
they are following the movie willow.
if you like the movie willow this is a book for you.

I found this the least satisfying of the the Trilogy. It did not hang together as a story, at least for me. I found that all the love interests between the characters had little development and/or reason. It seemed artificial although the imaginative action moments might make for a good movie-I was disappointed in the Chronicles as a whole for reading. It was unclear and fuzzy what the main principal was representing.

It has been clear from the beginning that the film "Willow" was meant to be an enjoyable romp full of flashy visuals and laugh-out-loud entertainment, and the books have shown what Lucas envisioned all along. A dark story, full of blood, death and fear. And I've enjoyed that! But I was always a little disappointed that the story in the first two books never seemed to connect to the film for me, changing Willow's name, and killing of major film characters...But along the way I have grown to enjoy the new characters, I felt that Khory was an excellent character, but to make me give this 5 stars I got what I wanted. In the final book everything tied back to the film. We relived emotions with Bavmorda, Kael, etc. and finally everything was wrapped up and questions answered. I'm not sure if I really liked the very end, but still give it 5 stars, as I could not put the book down and enjoyed it a great deal.