Customer Reviews

Shadowmancer

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(70)

 

 

I began reading this book very predisposed to like it, but found it terribly disappointing. Having heard good reviews and comparisons to JK Rowling and Philip Pullman, I plugged on til the end, hoping that it would get better, but it never did. While I could see that some children might find the story exciting because of the constant appearance of smugglers, trap doors, hidden tunnels and sliding wall panels, I can't see why this book could cross over into the adult market. I found the language stilted and cliche-ridden and the Biblical allegories unimaginative and unilluminatingly obvious. It seemed like Taylor was trying to write a Christian book that would appeal to fantasy readers and Tolkien fans, but the brazen allegory would have Tolkien turning in his grave. It starts rather obscurely, with lots of occultic references, and ends like a Pentacostal revival meeting, but with none of its power because of the clumsy writing. Although the two child characters through the story are supposed to grow into good Christians (sorry, followers of Riathamus), their development is forced. Here's an example of a key point in the development of Kate, a main character who has been completely one-dimensional up to this point (and remains so, I think.):

"She had lost all the trust she had in [her father], in fact in everyone. Life with her father had never been easy. It was his drinking that had always been the problem. He would fly into a rage at the slightest thing, shout and scream and then break down in tears. For many years she had thought it was her fault, that in some way she was responsible. Kate could never live up to his expectations, she could never be a child, never play games. Her lot in life was to cook and clean, to sew and mend. These were his demands. He wanted her to be a mother, a servant, but never a daughter. Tonight she had leant that he had been living a double life, and realized that her father had been slowly poisoned by the death of her mother, the guilt, the pain, and now the deception. 'It's not my fault, it's not my fault,' she kept repeating under her breath as she thought of her father and of how he had betrayed her."

Taylor is economical with his character development; he gets it over in one paragraph. The monsters/demons/scary things were also equally unconvincing. Tolkien creates some great monsters, Taylor never even gives them good descriptions or personalities, just piggybacks on what we know of other beasties from other fantasy stories. And evil is equally unconvincing and entirely unattractive. If someone wanted to recommend obviously Christian allegorical books to their kids, there are books out there that are better written. John White's Anthropos books ('The Tower of Geburah', 'The Iron Sceptre', etc ) are at least very readable. And other, not overtly Christian books can get kids thinking without resorting to churchy language and religious cliches, just changing names and adding bogeymen.

I admire Taylor's attempt to make a good, scary story, and he knows which props will appeal to readers, but I think he needs to keep writing and learn to flesh out his characters and create a more subtle and convincing manifestations of both good and evil. I hope he keeps at it.

I saw the author in an interview on some morning news program a couple of weeks ago. I thought his book sounded interresting, but proceeded to mostly forget about it.

Two days ago I was in a book store and saw the book on the shelf. The cover artwork caught my eye and I read the information inside the jacket. The information on the jacket reminded me of the interview so I decided to buy the book.

Taylor's Shadowmancer tells the story of three teens who are on a quest to save an artifact that had been stolen and resold. The artifact is purported to have some type of mystical powers.

The story takes the teens through some tense situations where they must defend themselves and the artifact against very powerful spiritual beings and against people who would use the artifact's powers to obtain more power for themselves.

I thought the story was very enjoyable. It was not the best book I have ever read, but it was not one that I gave up half-way through either. If you enjoy books with some adventure mixed with suspense and spiritual warfare, you will probably enjoy this book. If you are offended by any mention of religion or spirituality, this book is probably not for you.

While I was reading this book, I couldn't help thinking of all of the good writers out there who have had no luck getting published. Even if you narrow it down to Christian fantasy writers, I'm betting that there are a bunch that have written something better than this. Welcome to the mysterious world of book-buying.

While Shadowmancer is not without potential, the utterly unprofessional writing spoiled any enjoyment I might have had. It's a mystery to me why this book took off the way it did. I have to say I'm thoroughly disappointed.

G. P. Taylor seems like an interesting individual and his story has possibilities, but unfortunately the writing style is amateurish. The characters are so underdeveloped one hardly cares that they spend the entire time in mortal danger. The plot, while interesting, is shallow, contrived, and woefully thin. Taylor forces his story, like a child gasping out a startling event - the details are sparse; events are jumbled; and characters wander in and out for no apparent reason.

This book was a difficult read largely because the many flaws in the plot development ruined the action. For example, the description of Demurral's conversion from well-intentioned preacher to dark lord was completely implausible and inadequately explained. I found myself wondering what actually happened to explain his monstrous make-over. This is only one of many inconsistencies and shortcomings that distracted from the excitement of the story and made for a tedious and frustrating reading experience.

I heard that Taylor originally self-published the book. Maybe the editing got left out in the process. It's too bad. The author has a good idea, but his basic writing skills need work.

One final caution: this book is far darker, scarier, and more occult than Harry Potter, to which it is frequently compared. It is not for younger readers. I found it in the library in the yount adult section.

On a trip overseas and in need of something to read, I picked up Shadowmancer on a whim. What a mistake. After forcing myself to read to the end I threw it away in a hotel room deliberately.

This is almost certainly the worst book I have ever read. There were a few well-written paragraphs here and there (the first chapter had me hoping), but on the whole this is shockingly bad.

Characters are bland and make incomprehensible decisions. A crude, unhelpful brand of Christian-like religion is bandied about in a silly sort of way. The pacing is disastrous; things randomly happen, then stop, then start again. Creatures and ideas pop up for no apparent reason and then are abandoned, never to reappear.

The worst thing is that there is press fawning over it like it's the second coming of Harry Potter. That series might be weak as literature, but it's an order of magnitude more worthwhile and entertaining than this drivel.

SCENE ONE: Night. On top of a windblown cliff, evil moustache-twirling villain (and local vicar) OBADIAH DEMURRAL is looking out to a violent, boiling sea. His comedy sidekick, BEADLE simpers at his side.

DEMURRAL: Waves and wind, fire and water. Thunder, lightning and hail, hearken to my desire, hearken to my words. Come forth from the north and the deep below. Tempest, storm and ravaging wind, crash this boat to the shore and bring me the Keruvim that I might not need to employ any more cod Shakespearean storm dialogue any more.

Thunder rumbles, lights flash on and off.

AUDIENCE: Boooo!

DEMURRAL: Blow wind and cra-

BEADLE: Sir?

DEMURRAL: What is it Baldrick?

BEADLE: Beadle.

DEMURRAL: Cease, worm! Can't you see I have evilness to, er, do?

BEADLE: That whole even-more-powerful-than-God thing we talked about?

DEMURRAL: That.

BEADLE: Right. It's just that it seems a big step to take. You know, taking on the unseen and unknown powers of the Universe and what have you. I'd have thought we'd discuss it a bit more in depth. What's my role, my motivation? Big issues at stake here and I'm still rather in the dark. Plus, as my key worker already told you, my unendearing mixture of incompetence and boozing is almost certain to mess things up. I just need to know where I stand.

DEMURRAL: How do you mean?

BEADLE: Well, fr'instance. If we were to, say, take some plucky kids hostage and then a lucky earthquake destroys the building they're in and - oh I don't know - you'd just happened to leave them with the priceless religious artefact that you've dedicated your life to owning and then - purely hypothetically - trusted me to go and save it, what with the earthquake and that, would you prefer me to simply kill them, knock them unconscious or stupidly untie all three and then go 'Ooops'.

DEMURRAL: Oh 'Ooops' I think. This is a children's pantomime after all, regardless of the fact that we're going to throw in shed loads of complex religious stuff.

BEADLE: Super.

DEMURRAL: Well, it's important to get these things sorted out at the start.

Enter RAPHAH, KATE and THOMAS, stage left. DEMURRAL and BEADLE do that walking around thing with the kids close behind. All very amusing.

AUDIENCE: They're behind you!

DEMURRAL and BEADLE: Oh no they're not!

RAPHAH, KATE and THOMAS: Oh yes we are!

SCENE TWO: Day. Inside DEMURRAL's vicarage, the three kids are trapped in the tower, tied to chairs, waiting for midnight and some sort of ceremony.

KATE (to RAPHAH): So, where are you from?

RAPHAH: Egypt. Not the touristy bit. Another bit.

KATE: Right, and what A levels did you do? I want to do Film Studies at Uni so I'm thinking Art, English and Drama, but my school doesn't do Drama so I might have to think about a language and then possibly an evening class? Like, to top up? You know? Ooh, is that your mobile?

THOMAS: Kate. Kate! This is the early 18th Century.

KATE: Are you sure? I seem terribly middle class. Where are Edmund and Lucy?

THOMAS: Who?

KATE: Sorry, wrong Christian allegory.

THOMAS: Oh for heaven's sake.

RAPHAH: Precisely my little fish.

THOMAS: You what?

KATE: Have you noticed how this is supposed to be rural North Yorkshire two hundred and fifty years ago and no-one even tries to speak with the primitive rustic indolence that Wordsworth will champion in a generation's time? I mean, I'm a dead ringer for Emma thingy out of them Harry Potter films. That can't be right.

THOMAS: And I'm like that lad who stole the coal from Mr Perks in The Railway Children.

RAPHAH: Peter.

They all nod.

THOMAS: Who are you like then, Raphah?

RAPHAH: Oh I'm a sort of vague amalgam of lots of different people. I'm a nod to the PC brigade because I'm black and God loves everyone, but I'm sufficiently different to be able to come out with all that King James Bible type stuff. He who is will show you, and so on.

An earthquake begins.

RAPHAH: Ooh, there's lucky.

SCENE THREE: Night. In a church overlooking Whitby Bay. All but DEMURRAL and PYRATHEON (the horned one) are in a right pickle.

DEMURRAL: MUWAHAHAHAHAHA! [twirls moustache]

AUDIENCE: Hisssssssssssss!

DEMURRAL: I'm dead evil, me.

PYRATHEON: And I'm the least convincing, most unscary devil ever.

They cackle.

Enter JACOB CRANE, rogue, raconteur, enfant terrible, bete noir, femme fatale and homoerotic fantasy in the absence of any vampires.

CRANE: I've come back like Han Solo in the last few minutes of this cack to save the day and appear like a proper hero, with a bit of stubble and a gold earring to boot. Huzzah!

DEMURRAL and PYRATHEON: Bum!

CRANE: Maybe later.

RAPHAH: Er, sorry, but I think you'll find Jesus saved everyone.

EVERYONE: Who?

RAPHAH: Jesus.

The CAST take out their scripts.

KATE: No mention of Jesus in here. Maybe he was too serious and worrying for a big publisher to risk putting in? He's this RIATHAMUS character isn't he?

RAPHAH [looking glum]: Yes.

KATE: Sorry. Well, maybe in the film, eh?

CRANE: Whatever ... I'm a changed man! Let's rock!

ALL [except DEMURRAL and PYRATHEON]: Woohoo! Get down!

EXIT pursued by an overwhelming sense of £5.99 badly spent.

I got this book from Scholastic and couldn't finish the first chapter due to wanting to watch my plants grow instead. Then I had to do a book report and guess what? No book except the dusty one on my bookshelf. I had to struggle through the undeveloped plot and paper thin characters before I could present my project, which luckily, I was allowed to persuade my audience against reading the book.

For one thing, the characters are undeveloped and prone to do weird things at any time. One minute they'll be oh so scared of an earthquake, and the next they'll be sticking swords into people without qualms.

One time, G.P. Taylor used AN ENTIRE PARAGRAPH to say that Thomas felt like a man. Whoop-de-do. It would have been better if he left it out altogether. At that point I really didn't care if he felt "all growed up" or not.

G.P. Taylor clearly does not know how to convey emotion in narration. Usually the characters have to say it outright or you don't feel for them at all. Not like you would anyway. But still, it would have been a blessing if he had used nice little words like "she said sadly" or "she said happily" or maybe "his eyes lit up and he hopped around for joy."

The action just happened. Period. End of story.

The end stinks! It's tedious and dull. If the book had been any good to begin with, I would have expected much more. But you don't always get what you wish for. In this case I got a sleeping pill.

There were no reasons for one of the characters to change. His name is Jacob Crane. He's a smuggler. All he ever wants is money. He helps Kate and Thomas, then he sells them to Demurral, then then he goes and tries to blow the building up. Later he ends up helping them. He totally changes from the beginning to the end. Blah blah blah.

The main thing I have against this book is that it is clearly unclear. I know that's an oxymoron, but 90% of the time you're wondering what the characters are doing, what happened to that guy, whether he's dead or not, and most of all, WHAT JUST HAPPENED? I think I've made my point.

The one thing I actually like about this book (gasp) is that G.P. Taylor applies many Biblical principles in fitting ways. The thing I don't like about the thing I do like (sigh) is that he renames God, Satan, and demons. They don't need new names. It's as if he's afraid of driving away non-Christians with "religion." I also noticed that he mentioned Riathamus in the dedication page. Is this a real name for God? Perhaps in Africa? But wait, he doesn't live in Africa; he lives in Europe. Silly me.

I've got to give it to him; he tried, and he even wrote a sequel. Unfortunately, his efforts amount to those of a sixth-grader's. (By the way, I will NOT be wasting my precious money on the probably worse sequel.)

Now for some good news: there's hope, like that which flies on a butterfly's wings and kisses the moon each starlit night. There is a way to cure the Shadowmancer disease. For starters, I suggest that you hit the back button right now and purge this incident from your memory. If you own a copy of this loathsome book, find the biggest bonfire you can and throw it in. Fireplaces will also work, if you're willing to forget that every time a page crinkles and turns to ashes, it is releasing a poison so wicked and noxious that it's the same as (GASP) reading the book. (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!)

If you happen to set eyes upon Shadowmancer at a library, yard sale, or bookstore, MAKE SURE YOU AVERT YOUR GAZE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE! This is very important. It is *proven fact* that if a subject is exposed to Shadowmancer for 45 seconds, the cover and horrible images within will be ingrained in their minds FOREVER, never to be forgotten. Over a minute is too late. A moment of silence for those brave souls who have passed on before us.

Even when you are no longer looking at the book, it is common to still have bloodcurdling images of terrible writing and terrifying lack of adjectives floating around in one's mind. Some are prone to seizures, lack of breath, and overheating. It is vital that you think happy thoughts as soon after receiving the shock as possible. Some victims find it helps to read Dr. Seuss and Thomas the Train until full recovery. Others find it soothing to play with something soft and cuddly, such as frying pans and electrical outlets.

I hope this helps those future victims of G.P. Taylor's writing to see the light. Some authors I highly recommend are Anthony Horowitz, Eoin Colfer, Garth Nix, C.S. Lewis, P.B. Kerr, and A.J. Butcher. Thank you to all those that spread light to humanity with your beautiful writing! Each of your books is like a breath of fresh spring air, unpolluted and unmatched!

Thank you and good night.

The main problem with this book is simple; the writing is terrible. The constant shifts in point of view make it confusing and jerky. The shallow characters are obviously a foil for the author's soapbox sermons.

Even though the publisher pushes this book as Christian fantasy, it seems to rely on occultic sources of power for the forces of good. That's surprising, especially since the only one who claims to be a Christian in the book is the bad guy.

If you want a better choice for inspirational fantasy, check out "Raising Dragons" by Bryan Davis. Much better writing, great characters, not so preachy, and a lot of fun.

Wow, did I buy into the hype. I read over a book a week and this has to be the worst book I have read in a long time. The writing is redundant and scattered. Get ready to see the same words and expressions over and over, ie "tufts" of grass and like a "mustard seed." This was like a bad cross of the Dark Materials series and a Clive Barker fantasy - except both of which are light years in head of this slop.

My question is, what 8 by 10 glossy photos does this guy have as blackmail to get the press this book got? Harry Potter? Are you kidding me? This was horrible. Every book in this genre I've read was better than this, ie Harry Potter, Samarkand - Barteumus, Artimus Fowl, The City of Ember, Dark Materials, Inkheart, Eragon ....

(...)

You just know a book is going to be bad when the author becomes very proud and pompous about it. I recently saw GP Taylor on a BBC programme with several other children's authors, and he spent the entire programme boasting about how good his book was and insulting the other author and their books. I should have known then what this book would be like, but I decided to give it a try anyway. How I wish I hadn't bothered.

Where to begin on all the flaws "Shadowmancer" has? For starters, it's very poorly written indeed. Most of the description is the sort you'd expect to read in a book written by an average twelfth grader. There is no witty or clever dialogue, a lot of phrases and words are repeated several times within sentences, and there are some many inconsistencies you could fill a book with them (such as the wheel at the Boggles' watermill suddenly changing from being made of wood to being made of metal).

Just about every aspect of the book is either unoriginal or lifted from another source. The plot is your typical evil man wants to rule the universe and three children must stop him storyline. Most of the characters are obvious imitations of the characters in the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings series (Beadle is a rip-off of Wormtail, the Boggles are a rip-off of Tom Bombadil, the ghosts that suck out peoples' souls are rip-offs of the Dementors), plus the idea of the villain being a vicar reminds me of a Daphne Du Maurier novel I once read. The few genuinely original ideas in the book are mentioned briefly than forgotten about.

The characters are also very poor. Taylor crams in far too many characters, makes a big deal out of them and then gets rid of them. Most of them are left bland and two-dimensional. The ones that aren't are poorly drawn out, particularly Kate who is your typical teenage girl (bursting into tears at every spare moment, being very dependant on the male characters, and generally acting in a way that is bound to make Taylor unpopular with feminists). And as for the villain, Obadiah Demurral...in an interview, Taylor said that Demurral makes Harry Potter's nemesis Lord Voldemort look like a wimp. Nope. Demurral is your average moustachioed, cane-twirling evil-doer who wants to rule the world. He can't compare to Voldemort, with his snake-like face, eight-fingered hands, red eyes and high-pitched voice, and an original goal (to conquer death).

But the main problem I have with the book is that it seems like a rewrite of the Bible. Many of the incidents described within it (such as Thomas's encounter in the woods with a man carrying a basketful of loaves and fishes) are poorly disguised copies of Biblical stories. Raphah is an obvious reincarnation of Jesus, who repeats Biblical quotes ad nauseum, and has an effect on you akin to Chinese water torture. The book also implies that Christianity is the sole religion, and that all others are fake, something which non-Christians might find very offensive. When teenage children read books they want an interesting, adventurous and action-packed thrill ride; they don't want religious propaganda forced on them every page.

And last but not least, the ending is very anti-climatic and disappointing. You've struggled all the way there, and for what purpose?

In short, this is a terrible book (though not the worst I've ever read...that honour goes to "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time"). If Taylor wants to make it as a writer he's going to have to try a lot harder than this.