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The Tower of Shadows
 
 
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The Tower of Shadows [Hardcover]

Drew Bowling (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

December 12, 2006
From the boundless imagination and talented pen of a young storyteller springs the fabulous first novel in a major new epic fantasy series. Steeped in the traditions of its classic forebears, yet boldly original in its vision and sense of wonder, The Tower of Shadows swells with heroism, sings with enchantment, and carries the reader at full gallop into a marvelously wrought world of breathtaking adventure.

Untold ages ago, vainglorious spirits battled with the three gods in a bid for dominion over all–only to be defeated and banished below the earth to fester in their unquenchable evil. One of these vengeful demons eventually broke free and rained bloody death upon an innocent village in the land of Ellynrie. Few survived. The Starcross brothers, mere children orphaned by their parents’ slaughter, suffered very difficult fates. Corin Starcross was delivered to safety by the wizard Dale, while his brother, Cade, was abandoned to the flames that devoured their childhood home. Likewise, the mercenary Wren Tident saved his infant daughter, Kayla, from the monstrous fate that claimed her mother. When the demon retreated to its black abyss, the haunted souls left in its murderous wake did their best to carry on–save for one, who vowed retribution.

When Cade Starcross reappears, he immerses himself in a secret study of the blackest arts, and a grim dance of destiny begins. His humanity withered by grief and his mind twisted by his apprenticeship to darkness, Cade seeks to use sorcery to wreak vengeance on his demon nemesis. But in order to succeed, a dagger of unearthly power wrought by the gods themselves must be found. And the blood of Cade’s brother, Corin Starcross, must be spilled.

Yet all of Cade’s fury and magic will prove no match for the evil set free upon the earth. By any means and at all costs, the doomed vendetta must be stopped. A fledgling wizard, a tormented warrior, and a young girl burning with her father’s untamed spirit must rally together as the only hope of a world poised perilously at the abyss.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This precocious debut from college sophomore Bowling turns on the evergreen battle of good vs. evil as embodied by Corin and Cade Starcross, brothers whose childhood loss of their parents leaves Corin's morality intact but twists Cade, the elder, with a lust for revenge. Wizard Dale calls on Wren Tident, a retired adventurer, to locate and protect Corin when Cade and his minions—Sarin, One-Eye and Damon—begin hunting down the younger brother. Cade requires the blood of his sibling and a magic dagger to summon a dreadful demon who will destroy their parents' murderers. Wren takes his teenage daughter, Kayla, along on his dangerous quest and eventually unites with Dale's bumbling but benevolent apprentice, Adriel. Bowling stocks the mystical land of Ellynrie with the talismanic trappings of most classic quests—magic medallions, wizards, pirates and, of course, a dragon—but he brings an exciting pace and his own exuberant style to a novel suitable for all ages. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Advance praise for The Tower of Shadows

“A fast-paced, exciting adventure that doesn’t allow you to take a breath.”
–Terry Brooks

“Drew Bowling’s The Tower of Shadows is simply elegant. This young writer doesn’t waste words; he uses just enough description to engage the reader’s imagination, inviting the reader to participate in the creation of the imagery. Reading The Tower of Shadows was a very visual experience, for me, as if I were there, or watching a movie.”
–R. A. Salvatore

“Bowling’s debut is a fast-paced, accessible fantasy epic.”
–Kirkus Reviews

“[Bowling] brings an exciting pace and his own exuberant style to a novel suitable for all ages.”
–Publishers Weekly

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey; 1ST edition (December 12, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345486706
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345486707
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Shows potential but definitely not there yet, March 25, 2007
This review is from: The Tower of Shadows (Hardcover)
Unfortunately, I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how this book got such good blurbs from established writers. It's basically just a series of fight scenes held together by a very thin, disjointed narrative thread, with two-dimensional characters and a very shallow backstory.

Bowling would have used his time and space much more wisely if he had spent more of it developing the characters and plot, which was basically that the survivor of a massacre (by demons?) is trying to find his brother and use his blood to gain power, supposedly to avenge their parents' murder. He couldn't even be bothered to come up with original names, filching Ariel from Shakespeare for one of the world's gods, and the name of the knight who magically appears out of nowhere whenever the characters are in a tight spot is priceless - Sir Lancet Rhymewind. The main characters are the "good" brother who is the target, a reluctant wizard with poor self-esteem, an embittered and cynical ex-warrior, and his plucky daughter. Yawn. I couldn't bring myself to really care about any of them, and what ever happened to Kayla's artistic talent, anyway? That was a promising trait that piqued some interest in me at the beginning, but then it was just dropped.

The author has some nice descriptive touches in his writing (although "the sky was the color of a clotting wound" is _not_ one of them), and perhaps he can do better in future books, but I felt that this one was just a waste of my time.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Fantasy, February 19, 2007
By 
This review is from: The Tower of Shadows (Hardcover)
Tower of Shadows is a solid fantasy tale full of ingredients we know and love: swordfights, magicians, demons, tortured heroes, spunky heroines and yes, even a dragon. But despite these familiar fantasy elements, Bowling's descriptions make the book unique. I was particularly fond of Lantern Watch, a town created when two pirate ships and a merchant vessel crash on a rocky coast and the survivors build a village within and around the wrecked skeletons of their ships.

Some of the descriptions are a little on the gory side - vaguely reminiscent of The Briar King by Greg Keyes, in my opinion. But that's not a bad thing, and I'd say the book is still appropriate for teens (even though it doesn't appear to be marketed strictly as YA).

And you've got to admire Bowling for cranking out (and publishing) a novel while in school. That's no easy task!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining read, September 24, 2008
The Tower of Shadows was an entertaining story. Its a straightforward tale:

-A man trying to keep his daughter safe from his past, while beholden to answer when that past comes calling.

-A wizard's young untried apprentice charged with carrying out the duties his master is no longer able to.

-A young man unaware of his role in terrible events that are unfolding around him.

The author is a young man, a college student. While he still has room to grow he spins a fun tale. He does have a love of similes, but he makes them interesting and rarely dull. Through most of the book each chapter is devoted to one of the various viewpoint characters until we approach the final section of the book. From this point on the author switches between all of the various viewpoints from page to page, sometimes paragraph to paragraph. While this makes the ending a little more disjointed than it should have been the author makes it clear when he is making a viewpoint switch and to which character he is switching to.

Overall, though I enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing where the author will take the story in the next installment.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
lantern watch, tidal wall, lantern chamber, bell chamber, traveling pack
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Drew Bowling, One Eye, Sir Lancet, Woolthread Road, Honey Barrel, Rookery Rest, Spinribbon Fair, Summerset Isles, Seasong Arms, Seaspine Mountains, Black Rib Trident, Farmer Twine, Shale Throat, Wren Tident, Coral Castle, High King, Starlight Sea, God of the Air, East Bank, Sea of Dreams, Seashell Square Market, The Watchers, Sir Aaron, East Gate, Eastwatch Clock Tower
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