The Wizard's Shadow [Mass Market Paperback]

Susan Dexter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 1993

Crocken the peddler had made a bad bargain.
For a bag of gold and a chance to keep breathing, Crocken had grudgingly agreed to conduct the shadow-remnant of a murdered wizard to the distant kingdom of Armyn.
Crocken kept his end of the deal. Trailed at every step by the chill, disapproving wraith, he braved wilderness, floods, and savage beasts. But when he finally won through to the Armyn fortress of Axe-Edge, he found his term of servitude extended at his intangible master's whim. For at Axe-Edge, Crocken was mistaken for a hero.
Doors opened to a hero that would have slammed in any ordinary peddler's face. And behind one of those doors waited the wizard's murderer . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dexter ( The Winter King's War ) offers here a largely predictable tale that is not much energized by its major device: Crocken, a simple peddler, has his own shadow replaced with that of a powerful wizard seeking revenge for his own murder. The peddler is compelled by the shadow to travel to a neighboring kingdom. Along the way, Crocken saves the life of a princess from a wild, charging boar and the story takes on themes of mistaken identity. Hailed as a heroic merchant-adventurer in the new kingdom, Crocken and his wizard shadow take up occupancy inside a royal court where intrigue over succession to the throne runs rampant. Through a series of fumbles and stumbles, Crocken becomes a key player in the intrigue, ingratiating himself with the man who becomes king. Through it all, the demanding shadow leaves the peddler little choice but to follow his captor's whims. Though the writing and plotting are clear, the rags-to-riches story, unfortunately, never really gets moving, and most of the potentially interesting characters are never fully realized.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Crocken the peddler had made a bad bargain.
For a bag of gold and a chance to keep breathing, Crocken had grudgingly agreed to conduct the shadow-remnant of a murdered wizard to the distant kingdom of Armyn.
Crocken kept his end of the deal. Trailed at every step by the chill, disapproving wraith, he braved wilderness, floods, and savage beasts. But when he finally won through to the Armyn fortress of Axe-Edge, he found his term of servitude extended at his intangible master's whim. For at Axe-Edge, Crocken was mistaken for a hero.
Doors opened to a hero that would have slammed in any ordinary peddler's face. And behind one of those doors waited the wizard's murderer . . .

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey; First Edition edition (July 5, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345380649
• ISBN-13: 978-0345380647
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,025,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Fantasy Adventure!, October 29, 2003

By 

Silmarwen (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Wizard's Shadow (Mass Market Paperback)

Crocken the peddler knew that he made a bad bargain the instant he agreed to the wizard's "request", but he really had no choice. If he did not agree to take the murdered wizard's shadow to the distant country of Armyn, the wizard would let him die of starvation. Crocken grudgingly took the wizard's shadow instead of his own and set out to make the best of it. With the shadow literally hounding his every step, Crocken made the long journey and finally arrived in the country of Armyn only to be faced with the seemingly impossible task of gaining entry into the fortress of Axe-Edge and gathering information from the royal court that resided there. As luck would have it, Crocken managed to save a princess from a wild boar and he found himself hailed as a heroic merchant-adventurer, instead of a luckless peddler without a penny to his name. Crocken thought that he had amply fulfilled his part of the bargain, but the shadow needed him and was not ready to release him.

So Crocken found himself drawn into the intrigues of the court and trying desperately to understand why the shadow bore such hatred for the steward-protector, Rhisiart, who seemed to be a noble and honorable man. Nor could Crocken understand what Prince Kieron was. He appeared to be a man, but evil deeds followed in his wake, always cleverly covered up by his mother, the dowager queen Sulien, but the court heard whispers of deaths and strange habits. Then there was the lovely Mistress Ivy, handmaiden to the princess betrothed to Prince Kieron. She seemed to be privy to more information that Crocken, but he was not sure if he wanted to be involved in her schemes, either. As Crocken finds himself more and more involved in the lives of the ruling class of Armyn, he risks everything that he has to make a difference and to bring some sense of peace to the wizard's shadow so that they both can move on...

This was another wonderful book by Susan Dexter. I simply loved the main characters and was definitely not ready to let them go - I would love a sequel to this book! Anyway, it was also fun to find out that the princess was one of Tristan's daughters (The Ring of Allaire, The Sword of Calandra, and The Mountains of Channadran) so that we had a brief glimpse of what he was like as a father. The plot flowed well and had plenty of intriguing little subplots to keep the reader occupied and busy trying to guess who was doing what and where to whom and why. I inhaled the book and now will have to go back and enjoy it again!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - Made me hope for a sequel., August 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wizard's Shadow (Mass Market Paperback)

An excellent concept. The book had enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and your attention focused. I was hoping for a sequel; wondering what would happen next.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising, original, facinating!, August 15, 1998

By 

Jessica B. Rupp (Seattle, Wa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wizard's Shadow (Mass Market Paperback)

A stand-alone book that I wasn't ready to be finished with. A reluctant hero, a tricky dead wizard who might not really be that bad (but who is definately inconvienient), the true (but unknown) villain, and a journey to find the answer to the burning mystery of who killed the magician. It was not the typical plot and has the advantage of covering the fantasy, adventure, supernatural, and mystery genres well. It is similar to Robert Asprin's "Myth" series - Ya gotta love it and I gotta read it again!