Customer Reviews

Shadows Of Myth

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

 

 

You begin this tale in a field of bodies...all dead except Tess, who cannot remember who she is, what happened, or why. She tries to save a child who also lives thru the attack, but the winter conditions, combined with injuries and Tess' amnesia, find her carrying a dead child when she is found by Archer, an immortal. Unable to separate the two, Archer takes her to an Inn nearby to recover. Tess eventually remembers her name and gets her voice back, and decides to stick with Archer and his friends to find the band that attacked Tess' traveling group. A few more villagers join the group (total 6), and they wonder at the magic that is chasing Tess and driving the weather out of season. Tess can hear the mage calling her, and they follow the trail into danger. There is a wonderful balance of romance, mystery, and fantasy in this story, and I look forward to more from Rachel. Her stories entrap you into a different world of magic.

The Luna imprint has quickly become my publisher of choice. Stronger female characters, action, a hint of romance, a touch of magick. This seems to be the core. And of course, the concepts of Plot and Character Development are not lost on these writers.

Having said that, I have to admit, I wasn't as tickled with Shadows of Myth as I was the other Luna books I have gobbled up. The pacing was slow, grinding and had this sense of "Oh, look yet another obstacle pulled out of no where."

At times, the character of Tess is so bloody out of it, you want to reach through the paper and shake her.

However, all and all this adventure of Tess the amnesiac, Archer the man who knows too much (and yet is an idiot) and their team of intrepet wanderers is fun and somewhat entertaining.

Normally, I would give a synopsis, but everyone else has.

This was a different type of book than what I normally expect from Rachel Lee. Different... and yet I enjoyed it. A woman awakens to find a caravan slaughtered around her and no memory of who she is or where she came from. She is rescued by Archer Blackcoat and two Anari men, Giri and Ratha, who take her to the nearest town of Whitewater. In Whitewater, she meets Sara Deepwell and Tom Downey. She remembers her name, Tess, and realizes that she has the ability to sense the evil abroad in the forest. Strange signs have been noted, such as the disappearance of the forest animals and the sudden and early arrival of a harsh winter. Archer, Tess, Tom, Giri, Sara, and Ratha begin an adventure to try to find food for the town of Whitewater to survive the winter as well as to try to end the evil that appears to be spreading across the land. Soon, the group realizes that both Tess and Sara are Ilduin, a race of powerful women who wield magick from the First Times. They also learn that the evil mage, Lantav Glassidor, controls an Ilduin in the town of Lorense, and that he is causing much of the evil they sense. Lantav has created a hive of people subject to his control in Lorense. Lantav kidnaps Tess and so the others follow her to Lorense where the powers of the Ilduin are further revealed. The novel concludes with a setup for Lee's next novel as the group realizes that Lantav is only a puppet of the Lord of Chaos and the Anari people are under attack. This was my second time reading this novel and I actually enjoyed it more that the first time as I wasn't surprised by Lee's different writing style.

At the end of the first section, I had to put the book down and go and compose myself. It was emotional. Not a bad way to suck a reader in.

Tess awakes in the middle of the forest, surrounded by a massacre, and can't remember anything. Not even if she had something to do with it or not.

From there, she acquires a band of people searching for the evil encroaching on their land. She joins them on this quest in hopes of discovering who she is.

Again, another great Luna piece, where the characters are engaging, the drama is intense, and good battles evil.

My only complaint is that it is shorter than the other Lunas, coming in at 302 pages. Since it is the first of a series though, I am willing to overlook that and wait impatiently for the next installment.

I found Lee's book to be well-written and enthralling. I finished it in two days - I just couldn't put it down. Intriguing characters, though not much development outside of Tess - and an interesting plot, although everything wrapped up a little too conveniently at the end. Still, a good book that I will probably read again.

She awakens in a field of corpses with no memory of who she is, where she came from, or how she got there. Archer, a man cursed with immortality, and his friends Giri and Ratha find her and the dead child she is carrying. He takes her to Bandylegs Inn in Whitewater where she recovers her ability to speak and recalls her name is Tess Birdsong. The innkeeper's daughter Sara, Tess, and the three men who found her sense something evil is coming for her.

Winter arrives unnaturally early and the townsfolk go hungry. Tess and her new friends along with Sara' wannabe lover Tom travel together in hopes of learning who she is, but are stunned to find a ghost town whose crops and food supply was poisoned. Rumors are heard that a powerful mage gathers those with Ildwin blood to harness their power in a quest to conquer the world. He apparently is calling Tess to come to him, but Sara hears him too. The magnificent six knows they must battle the malevolent mage, but remain clueless that beyond this dimension the Chained One uses the evil sorcerer as a puppet for his mysterious malignant purposes.

SHADOW OF MYTH is a fantastic fantasy set in a world where magic exists. The six champions are strong souls; Tom and Sara and Archer and Tess are delightful couples who work well together although Archer remains a bit of an enigma as he hides his true feelings for a woman more powerful than he is. Rachel lee, known for her terrific romantic suspense tales, provides a wonderful good vs., evil fantasy.

Harriet Klausner

sadly this is yet another Luna line "romantic fantasy" that is a disappointment to me. I quit this book about 100 pages in from sheer boredom. The book was already 1/3 done but hardly anything substantial by way of character or plot had been developed. I fell asleep everytime I tried to read this book.:(

If you are a romance reader who likes a little bit of fantsy thrown in to the storyline-I highly suggest you skip the Luna line as they tend to be written more on a fantasy theme-along with that themes like murder, gore, etc that will turn some romance fans off.

For the romance fan-stick to romantic fantasy put out by signet, zebra and the like. Fantasy fans stick with Tor, Baen and similar companies.

I enjoyed this book since the characters were very human. You could relate to the decisions and the confusion they went through. It was a very nice story line and i was extremely upset when it ended and i want to know what happens next!

I only give it four stars considering the beginning of the book was rather gruesome and gorey. Also considering i started reading it on a plane ride home and it was odd to start to settle into the book and have dreadfully horrific images come to mind.

Otherwise "Shadows of Myth" was a very good book and an interesting read.

Having heard good things about the Luna imprint, I picked up this book on ebay. Now I'm glad I didn't pay full retail price. Shadows of Myth grinds along at a slow pace with no sense of direction except our intrepid heroes on a quest with obstacles dropping in from nowhere.

I found it unbelievable that by the middle the book, when I was certain who Tess was that none of the characters even mentioned it, especially considering that Archer (Think a really dull Strider) told tales all the time.

This book is trying to be both romance and fantasy, and sadly doesn't suceed at either. A true dissapointment with no real worldbuilding, except various Tolkien-esque elements which make it clear this not a well-built fantasy world. I found the characters flat and the peril never truly realized.

Shadows of Myth starts out very well. It opens with the primary protagonist awakes among a slaughtered caravan without any memory of her past. As the novel progresses, she gradually learns more about her past as well as the past of the traveling companions she encounters in the woods and town nearby. It really is a good story. Two issues though. The first is that Archer smacks of Aragon of the Dunedin. The second is the epilogue. This is a Luna book. We know there is another one coming. Skip the cheesy epilogue. It made me feel like I was reading some book keyed to junior high readers. It also seems to (poorly) pay homage to Tolkien in the "we will all journey with you to the end" sort of way (ref the aftermath of Frodo agreeing to take the ring to Mordor). Cheesy though, "The myths of old had claimed their fates. Prophecies spoken. Destinies set. They could only hope the were fit for the burden." Could we please be a little less obvious? Just skip the epilogue.