Title Author
Rating
Times Read
Shadowland Straub, Peter 8 1
     In "Dark Fantastic," Clive Barker's biography by Douglas Winter, Barker reveals that he's probably written all the stories he has in him. Being one of my favorite authors of all time, this news was a little distressing to me. Unlike Charles DeLint or Stephen Lawhead, Barker is no one-trick pony. Each of his works are brilliantly unique, though linked by his poetic prose and dark imagination.
     Lately I'd begun to despair of reading anything that genuinely made me want to turn the page, the sort of book that makes you shirk responsibility to get to the climax. The last time I read such a book was Neil Gaiman's "American Gods". Then, a few weeks ago, after browsing a Chapter's for nearly two hours, I picked up "Shadowland" with a gift certificate I had received for my birthday. It was that sort of book. I had found a new author worth reading.
     The premise seems unspectacular; two young men learning magic from a master wizard one summer at a remote mansion beside a lake. As the book opened in a boarding school from hell, my first impression was this was like reading a dark inspiration for the Harry Potter books. The two main characters are both orphans, who will soon be going to a school of sorts, the home of a retired magician who promises to teach them the art of magic.
     To give away any more of the plot from this book would be remiss. There are too many splendid surprises for the fan of dark fantasy, which is truly what this book is. Not simple horror, relying upon cheap gore and things that go bump in the night. No, this book is far more disturbing and moving than horror fiction can claim. Straub is a master of the writing craft, and it is little wonder to me that he has not been as prolific as King. King churns out cheap pulpy horror stories with lots of sex and violence. Straub has a much more subtle hand, evoking much of what I loved about Barker the first time I read "Weaveworld."
    As for shirking responsibility...with two finals looming, studying to do, a sermon to write for Sunday, a deadline for an article query and a weekend of roleplaying coming up, I blew everything off for two hours when I hit the "point of no return" in the story. Read as fast as I could, devouring the climax. I never thought about my priorities once.
    An incredibly surreal trip, "Shadowland" will take you to a place in the woods, where fairy tales still walk and nothing is as it seems. Like a funhouse, all is illusion, and even at the end of the tale we must wonder, was it all real, or just a dream?
 
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Book Reviews - Shadowland

Legend
10
 This is on either my fiction or non-fiction "top 10 books" list.
9
 Will definitely read again and recommend to everyone! Probably kept me up all night.
8
 An excellent book that either changed my thinking or was difficult to put down.
7
 A page turner or thought provoker.
6
 Worth reading.
5
 Better than average within it's genre.
4
 Typical of it's genre: no surprises.
3
 Creative writing assignment that somehow got published.
2
 Will rot your brain.
1
 Kept reading because I was locked in a cage with it.
0
 Piece of crap.
UF
unfinished