Customer Reviews

Shadowfall (The Godslayer Chronicles, Book 1)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An interesting idea of what constitutes a "god" plays through this book. In this world, 'gods' simply appear to be very powerful 'people' with normal bodily habits (sweating, urinataion, perhaps illness, etc) and no great immunity to harm or injury. However, they do have the ability to Grace others and objects with their considerable powers.
The story starts off strongly enough with the restitution of the mangled body of a disgraced Shadowknight named Tylar. The Shadowknights are somewhat frustrating because I can't figure out their role in this society. They seem like they should be an elite military order, focused on upholding honor and dignity, and the way in which the author writes of them indicates that this is the role they play. But throughout the book, it seems fairly well understood by most, that they hold not particular higher morals and are simply quite skilled swordsman.
Tylar is accused of the murder of a god, and sets out to prove that he didn't do it. Tylar suffers from being dull and not very knowledgeable. Surprisingly, he isn't even that great a swordsman any longer. Rather, he is usually protected and led by those more competent than he to eventually get to a place where he can learn what is really going on. I was also surprised by his lack of depth. Late in the book, when he displays tenderness and caring toward one particular character, I couldn't understand where such empathy and kindness came from. He seems to go from being a broken man, to godslayer, to kind/good leader, but I couldn't match his actions/thoughts to such a progression.
My biggest complaint about this book is that the mystery about what is going on is there for some 250 pages, but nothing really is learned. Rather we are given back-story that helps set the stage for the eventually meeting and understanding of what is taking place. But, that long slog really grinds the book down. It seemed like it could have been done in a shorter span of pages.
The best part of the book takes place in the last 100 pages when we learn some of the truth. From there, the book takes off. Action is the focus as the characters learn what they need to do, all while undergoing a trial by fire. Tylar is suddenly a lot more interesting. The characters seem to suddenly go from being a bunch of self-focused thrown together misfits, to a cohesive unit, daring to risk their lives to fight evil.
If they continue such growth in the future books, this could prove to be a fun series to read.

After the Sundering, gods fell to the barbaric world of man. Chaos and war reigned for centuries until the gods bonded themselves to the different lands. Then, with their powerful Graces, they bring the world back from the brink, and help mankind to build great cities. Now civilization spreads to all but the Hinterlands, where the crazed, rogue gods rule. But through the years a darkness starts to grow, stirring the winds of war. All-out conflict between the gods means a bloody anarchy for man that will be worse then ever before. All hope falls to the Shadowknights; the blessed, elite warriors of the world, but who can the Shadowknights save? They may have been infiltrated so deeply by the same evil that threatens all, that their very core may be rotted.

Epic fantasy is my favorite genre, but in the last few years I'd all but given it up. Seems like most everything out there now-a-days, is predictable, too whimsical, low on action and description, and/or magic is as commonplace as a cell-phone. The few good fantasy books that I've come across, the writer runs the story into the ground or they make you wait so long between books that your interest fades

Not so with Clemens. His writing moves quickly. The story and setting is unique, the characterization is superb, the action is two-fisted, and, intrigue abounds. While most epics have the formula climatic battle at the end, Clemens sticks a major part or two, right smack in the middle. You'll find yourself surprised when you still have half-book left. Be careful of which character you get attached to. They could get knocked-off so suddenly, you'll find yourself re-reading your last completed sentence; just to be sure you got it right. Also judging by Clemens's other series, he seems to put them out regularly, so you won't die of old-age waiting on the next book.

I've already finished the next "Godslayer's Chronicles" book, "Hinterland" and I'm now hunting down his other fantasy series, "The Banned and the Banished." Give "Shadowfell" a go, you'll probably find yourself hooked too.

Shadowfall is the start of yet another fantasy series and much of it will sound familiar to fans of the genre. There is a military order of skilled knights with a secret sect, a pantheon of gods, not one but two special swords (not to mention a special dagger), lots of folks with hidden origins, a small band fighting against overwhelming odds, and a quest to undertake to save the world.
Despite the oh-so-familiar trappings, however, and despite some flaws of execution, Clemens injects enough originality into the work that it transcends the cliches and becomes an engrossing read.
Shadowfall is set in the Nine Lands, lands kept in peace by gods who "settled", tying themselves to a particular area of land and allowing their "graces" (bodily fluids collected by human "Hands"--and yes, they collect all the fluids) to be used to alchemical effect. The first God to settle was Chrism, 4000 years ago. Now there are 100 settled gods and uncounted "rogue" gods who ply the hinterlands growing more mad.
The story starts off strong, with Tylar,a "fallen" and broken-bodied Shadownight, witness to the slaying of one of the 100 gods whose dying act is to heal him, fill him with a god's Grace, and lay a guardian within him so he may quest for "Rivernscyr", though he has no idea what that is. Arrested for being a godslayer, he must escape imprisonment and then pursuit to find his destiny, joined by Rogger--a mysterious thief, and Delia--one of the murdered god's Hands. He soon picks up other allies, including a Shadowknight thought dead 300 years ago and perhaps a few gods, though their allegiance is unclear.
Meanwhile, two other stories unfold simultaneously. One involves Tylar's ex-wife (she testified against him years ago in the trial that led to his being cast out of the order) and former compatriots back in the citadel of the Shadowknights. Their former leader has just died mysteriously, there are rumors of an evil sect within the order, and hints of growing danger to the world at large. Tylar's ex Katherine and others try to get to the bottom of things as the citadel prepares a trap for Tylar, who is rumored to be heading back "home".
The second story centers on a young girl named Dart, in training to perhaps be selected as a Hand. We meet her first as your typical orphan outcast among the richer girls--mocked, tormented, bullied. Her only friend is Pup, a fearsome creature invisible to all but her and who only manifests himself when bloodied and who comes to her fierce defense when she is threatened. Eventually Dart is chosen, along with her worst tormentor, as Hand to Chrism, the eldest god, and heads off to the god's home. Rather than safety in the god's bosom, however, Dart finds murder, suspicion, and betrayal, though she can't tell the good guys from the bad guys.
Eventually, as one would expect, the three strands of story intertwine and all the major characters are brought together.
The plot is complex and interesting enough to hold one's attention throughout and Clemens does a good job of using the shifting points of view from one storyline to another to increase suspense and tension. He also does a good job of withholding information so that one is never quite sure which side is good or bad or who is on which side until near the very end. Even then, when the villains have been revealed as villains, there are still some questions.
While some of the elements are utterly familiar, as mentioned there's enough originality there (especially the parts with regard to the Gods and the bodily graces) so they don't seem cookie-cutter. Dart is probably the strongest character despite her youth and her story tends to be the most compelling of the three due to her strength of characterization.
Tylar unfortunately is a bit weak of a character, seeming a bit undeveloped and passive through much of the story, though his characterization is much sharper and more vivid in the latter third or so. Other characters and elements also seem to lack some development, whether it be specific characters such as Rogger or the Raven Knight or whole pieces of background, such as the Shadowknight order or the use/manner of the Gods. And there is far too much exposition put into the mouths of characters, especially at the end where it reads almost like a history lecture. And unfortunately Clemens falls prey to the villain's dreaded monologue--the far too tired method of having a villain explain everything just before he's about to kill the hero (have these people never seen what happens to the villains that do this?)
The book comes to a resolution of battle but not of war and so offers the dual delight of a completed tale and suspense as to what happens next, as the war of Gods and Men (with factions from both on each side) is truly declared. Recommended with pleasure.

Shadowfall by James Clemens is the first book in a new series titled The Godslayer Chronicles. Evidently, Mr. Clemens also wrote another fantasy series, but I can not comment on that as I have never read it. When I first picked up this novel I thought it was a first time author, simply because I had never heard his name before. However, within the first twenty five pages it is evident that Mr. Clemens has a gift for writing.

The plot of this novel is epic in scope and delivery. There are many things going on, first off there is the death of a goddess. Who killed her and for what reasons is the crux of the story. Vindicating a wrongly accused man is one of the subplots that continues throughout the pages as well. There are also several levels of political underpinnings, both between factions of the gods, but also the leaders of the First Land. For good measure, there are also a couple of characters who have many questions about who they are and where they came one. Mr. Clemens has woven together many plot points, yet at no time does the story seem to drag or get muddled based on how many things are going on. In fact, having all these things going on seems to help the story flow as there is always something going on. The reader is constantly challenged not to put down the book. The adage of `just one more page' applied often while reading this novel.

The characters in this book are also very well thought out. Characters such as Tylar de Noche, Dart, Pupp (my favorite), Rogger, Krevan and many more. For several characters there is a great deal of character development present in this novel. However, not all of that development makes sense one hundred percent of the time. The character's dialog is also well done, it seems that every character has their own unique voice. At times, in some fantasy novels, every character talks the same leaving a guessing game for the reader to decide who is really saying something, not so with this novel. The characters in this book are rich, detailed and not the least bit clichéd.

A few draw backs about this novel.

While the world is richly detailed, interesting, and fresh. All the talk of Graces and body fluids seems to hamper the overall story. I understand that the Graces are important to the world and the set up, however, at times I felt as though they were being shoved down the readers throat instead of just being mentioned.

Also, I would have liked to see a little more explanation on the gods. Where they came from, different names, just more information. I felt that, even though the gods play an important part throughout the book, they were the least developed. Hopefully, in the next book they will be more developed.

Mr. Clemen's prose is very good and allows the reader to flow from page to page, but also point of view to point of view. I really enjoyed how he allowed one chapter to focus on one character instead of trying to jam multiple things into a chapter. This allowed for a casual, but focused, flow of the novel.

A I mentioned above, the world is richly detailed and obviously took a great deal of time to fully flesh out. It is rich with history and has just enough of a unique feel for the reader to stay interested, but not enough to confuse the reader.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It is a fantastic fantasy epic and one that seems to be skirting under the radar of most fantasy fans. I can easily see myself recommending this book to every fantasy fan. There is something in this novel that should please everyone. A great read, and I am eagerly looking forward to the next book.

Overall the book was very good, i picked it up in a discount store and i just couldnt stop reading it, it interrupted my readings of Elizabeth Hayden.

But the story line if the book was based on 100 gods ruling a land called Myrillia. Basically thier bodily fluids keep the world operating, and shadowknights are the military through out this land. The gods came to connect them selves to the land to stop the madness in thier head, and they connected themselves by blood. So for many centuries Myrillia was peaceful, until one night a god was slain and an innocent man was blamed for it.

This is the starting path of the books, by the end you basically get an understanding of Myrillias true past and what has been going on behind the scenes when no one was looking, corruption and darkness underneath the light. And a starting path of a war that was postponned for the centuries of peace in myrillia, and is now started up again from the drakness behind the scenes.

i didnt want to go too indepth because there are a lot of details to be mentioned. But what i found really interesting in this book was the way the terms blood seed/menses sweat tears blackbile yellow bile, were used. i havent even read about black and yellow bile since studying the middle ages. Black is poop and yellow is urine. but it was very impressive that the terms werent used falsely.

this book was amazing it didnt disappoint me, being that i was a fan of the wi'tch series too. It is a very good read and a very good begining of a great series i look forward to collecting.

I read Mr. Clemon's first series "The Banned and the Banished", otherwise known as the Wit'ch books. I enjoyed the 5 book series, but the accent in just about every name was a bit annoying, and it often fell into a generic fantasy mode. The unusual group of adventuring characters that come together for a grand quest, the child with extraordinary powers, etc. But the strength of his writing brought me to his second series. The writing is even better on this one, and I must say that he is so much more original with this one. His take on gods and magic is very unique. I feel that the end of this book suffers a little from the generic fantasy grouping of odd characters and the powerful child, but it is only a little slip. For the most part, this is a very strong novel. If Clemons continues to improve in the fantasy genre, he will quickly become one of my favorite authors.

Shadowfall was written by James Clemens in 2005, and is the first book of the Godslayer Chronicles. It follows three characters through the world of Myrillia. A goddess is killed and a young broken knight named Tylar, who was expelled from his order, is framed for the murder. A girl named Dart is raped, and against all odds, is selected to be a Handmaiden of the oldest god in Myrillia. Kathryn, the former bethrothed of Tylar, is named Castellan of Tashijan (the Shadowknights' "home base") by an unlikely new Warden who may be mixed up in some dark magic.

Speaking of magic: Clemens' chosen system (and also Myrillia's world economy) is based on the humours (in the Renaissance sense of bodily liquids) of the gods. that's right: to gain magical power, you rub yourself, or an object, in a god's blood, phlegm, pee, poo, sweat, tears, semen, menses, etc. The whole idea is simultaneously fascinating, because each of the nine humors has a magical effect, or Grace, and disgusting. Need I really go into why it's disgusting?

The plot is a fantastic circle of twists and turns, accusings, recriminations, and forgivings. I wasn't sure until the end of the book who to suspect was the bad guy, and who was the hero. Was Tylar good or deluded? How about Dart's Friend Laurelle? Is the thief Rogger a betrayer, or is he just playing a game? I honestly didn't know, and that kept me reading, just to see who would fall into which camp. Poor Tylar is hurt, stabbed, bled, mutilated, had his fingers broken multiple times, had his hand smashed by a hammer at one point (!) His characters don't often get a chance to breathe.

The book would be wonderful, if only Clemens could write.

Sigh. He managed to highlight just about every pet peeve I have with the fantasy genre. One-or-two word paragraphs. "Only one person could descend. <new paragraph> The godslayer.<new paragraph>." Bleh. New Paragraph.

He created a badly-explained, silly (and completely unnecessary) ancient language, and printed entire paragraphs of text his unintelligible script. the magic sword RivenScryr, for example, comes from the synthetic tongue; the words mean "light" and "dark," and used to be spelled "ryvnn" and "skreer." You've got to be kidding, right? Apart from the EE/I/Y vowel drift, where they magically swapped with one another (and presumably make the same morpheme), who cares? If you want to call your sword, RivenScryr, I'm cool with that. The linguistic heritage from your silly language doesn't give it any more plausibility than, say, calling an entire race of people "hobbits."

His every-single-page use of question paragraphs; also annoying: "Who could she tell? What could she say? How could she explain? <new paragraph>." (p.33) Don't lead me with your ridiculous narrator. Tell me the story, and let ME decide which questions will be important. I promise I'm a big enough boy to figure out what things are going on in the plot.

I also might ask what the title means at this point, because at no moment in the book did it seem to relate to anyone, or anything that was being described.

Finally, and most dreadfully, were his cringeworthy sentences such as "Though an ache still lay buried deep inside her, where no scrub brush could ever reach, Dart put away her bucket and broom and broke open a fresh bale of hay." (p. 33) The sentence itself not being bad enough, the protagonist had been raped less than three pages earlier, and the reader doesn't really need the quite unneccesary "scrub brush reaching" image after a particularly painful scene. I promise you, Mr. Clemens.

OK... So in his defense, James Clemens (it's a pseudonym, his website says) was trained to be a veterinarian. Maybe he has a more clinical insight into rape, but I found it shocking. This was the first of many "You've got to be freaking kidding me" moments in the book.

Clemens' website (or maybe it was Wikipedia; I forget which) also says he was heavily influenced by Edgar Rice burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells: each author was active prior to 1930. I'm not sure he reads current fantasy/sci fi literature, and if so, how much he's gleaned from his peers. Maybe he's mimicking style that was fantastic 80+ years ago. I'd love to believe this, but I simply can't make that connection. I think his writing is just awful.

The plot was fun. His characters were almost engaging. Dart was annoyingly mousy; Tylar too self-sure, and Kathryn, who miscarried from 10 years earlier, still "absently touches her belly" every time somebody mentions her former betrothed, which as you might guess, happens quite frequently since it's a book about him. James Clemens' narrative voice was painful, and his actual writing style is an antiquated embarrassment. I won't be reading book two of the Godslayer series, although I could possibly get my hands on a copy about fifty yards from here. The bad outweighs the good, and it's a pity, because what was good had plenty of promise.

Two of Five stars.

The other reviews have given the reader the basic plot of the book: dishonored knight misidentified as the slayer of a god, is given her powers, thus becoming the one who will rescue the lands from the dark plans currently at work. The gods themselves are classical Greek in their general character, able to mate with one another and with humans. They display the same interest as the Greek and Roman deities in messing around in human affairs. They are immortal in the same limited sense that the classical deities were.

The Shadowknights, as another reviewer has commented, are not well-defined in this opening novel. They remain, as it were, shadows.

Ultimately, I found the work disappointing. The characters were more chessmen moved around on the board than characters that captured the imagination and interest of the reader. Perhaps the strongly-worded blurbs from John Saul amd R. A. Salvatore led me to expect more than I should have. I will not read more of the series.

Shadowfall is not a perfect book, but it is fast-moving and the imaginary world created by the author is highly original and even unexpected.

One real mystery is -- what is the premise behind this imaginary world, and what is really going on? I believe the author is reserving some great surprises for the subsequent volumes. One hundred mysterious "gods" colonized this craggy and scenic world three millenia before. Little is told of where they came from, but it appears to have been an exile following a great battle.

And yet these "gods" are more like demigods than real gods. For instance, two are killed in the course of the novel. Oddly enough, their bodily fluids -- manipulated through a kind of alchemy -- are the basis of powerful magic in this world.

In Tylar we have the most interesting character . . . oh, I know some of the other reviewers did not like Tylar. But we have in him the "little guy," the "failure," the "loser." He's made a royal mess out of his life, and he's slapped around by life. However, by being accidentally a witness to the murder of a goddess, and after rushing to her in compassion to cradle her in his arms as she dies, he is given the most incredible magical power one can imagine. From this point he dedicates himself to a mission on behalf of the goddess, to find her killers and exact justice.

Tylar goes forth after the murder looking his inept and unprepossessing self, but he now stirs with magical power -- and he has rediscovered a cause worth living for. Tylar is really now quite powerful and quite deadly, and the wicked daemons and princes who have had things their own way up to this point had now best watch their backs! I mean, retribution is coming. Tylar becomes their nemesis, if you will. The book's ending is "High Noon" and the "O.K.Corral" all rolled up into one, and the book concludes with a major shootout.

This review would get too much more long if I were to discuss all the major threads of the novel. But a few words should be devoted to Dart, a young "cinderella" who has been beaten and mistreated, and even raped, and yet is too gritty and brave to lie down and die as some of her tormentors would like. She's a great character, perhaps the best in the book, but her companion is so interesting as well. Her dog, named Pupp, is her inseparable companion and dearest friend. And yet, Pupp is a trans-dimensional dog. Pup seems to move back and forth through several dimensions, walking through walls and appearing/disappearing like a ghost. And on a couple of occasions, when his little mistress is abused, Pupp turns into something more like a hell-hound than a "pup." Again, Pupp is at the heart of much mystery, which Mr. Clemens withholds in order to delight and astound readers in the subsequent books of the series.

As I say, the book is not perfection, but it is gripping and most exciting, and -- as one who has read dozens of sword-and-sorcery fantasies -- I will say, it is about as fresh and original as can still be found in the genre. I have given a couple of examples of great imaginative originality, and the book holds many more!

Try it, you'll like it!

Though I'm not an avid reader of fantasy novels, I have read all of the author's books under his alter ego of James Rollins, including the superb Map of Bones. I have not read the author's Wit'ch Fire series so I was quite curious how my favorite author of adventure novels would handle the fantasy world. In a word...wow. This was one of the coolest books I have ever read! The storyline was brilliant and extremely original. I couldn't put the book down. It was loaded with action, mystery, fun, thrills, surprises and just the right amount of dark twisted nastiness to make you flinch. I don't know where this guy came up with this stuff, but I thought it was awesome. This is the first book in his new series and I hope he continues with these for years to come.