REVIEW: In the Shadow of Swords by Val Gunn

In the Shadow of Swords by Val Gunn
Publishing information: Paperback; 358 pages
Publisher: Errant Press; 28 February 2011
ISBN 10: 0615232698
ISBN 13: 9780615232690
Series: Tales of Ciris Sarn Book 1
Copy:  provided by publisher (Advanced Readers Copies)
Reviewers: Victoria and Tyson

On the Back of the Book. . .


When legendary killer Ciris Sarn ends a life in an empty city plaza with a single dagger thrust, little does he know that an insidious game has been triggered by the brutal slaying. Turning predator into prey, this part fantasy, part espionage novel races along as it follows the now hunted Sarn across the brilliant white sands and sparkling seas of Mir'aj, pursued by the widow of his latest victim who will stop at nothing for vengeance.


Tyson:  In the Shadow of Swords is a novel that takes place in a world very similar to the Middle East, many of the environments and religious practices seem to stem directly from Islam. There are a few differences that I found. For one Alcohol is not forbidden and the is magic alive and well in this world. To a certain extent if felt as if it were a lost or modern retelling of 1,001 Arabian Nights.

Victoria:  As Tyson has already stated, the world of  In the Shadow of Swords seems to owe everything to this world's Middle East.  I love tales that are set in deserts and the Middle East such as 1,001 Arabian Nights and the old British adventure classics such as A.E.W. Mason's The Four Feathers.  I did not, however, like the fact that Mr. Gunn incorporated Arabic, with Arabic letters, into the novel.  I cannot read nor speak Arabic, so at times I was lost and did not know what was being stated.

Tyson:  The novel has a handful of people that we follow throughout the story but our main protagonist is Sarn, a well-known and feared assassin. While I wanted to like Sarn and the other individuals in the novel, I found them very two dimensional. He and the rest of the cast were introduced along with their motivations and from there they never really grew or became likable. They were just characters. While Sarn and a few others like Marin, the woman who is hunting Sarn because he killed her husband, progressed the story, they never really captured my imagination. I never got around to worrying about their well-being or whether they succeeded in their quest. The characters just fell flat.

Victoria:  I agree with Tyson on this one.  I did not care for any of the characters and I believe this to be a problem with the execution of the novel itself.  The novel contained ninety-five per cent of telling and five per cent showing.  Instead of learning about Sarn through his actions, his dialogue, mannerisms or any other personal interaction, the author simply told us.  This went for every character in the novel.

Tyson:  The world building was also not to my liking. The book provided a map to the world but it was hard to read and I eventually gave up and just decided to not worry about the various locations that I was taken to as I read. There are a lot of places that we encounter in this first book and they all took but a few days to reach. It made the world feel really small considering that they go to all points of the globe it did not seem as though the world was very large.

Victoria:  I also found the world hard to follow.  The book jumped from character to character, place to place and time to time seemingly at random.  Many times I had no idea what was going on, or who I was following, or what the focus of a chapter was.  And then there were the chapters.  Each chapter only consisted of a couple or a few pages and this helped create a disjointed effect not only to the world, but to the story itself.

Tyson:  There is a lot of magic in the form of summoners, jinn (djinn or Genies), and demons which can be summoned. I really enjoyed this portion of the book. It was a fresh concept that largely seems to go unnoticed as of late. I thought this was the highlight of the book and that it could have used more instances of the magic found in the world. However, the magic did not carry the book and was really the only redeeming portion of the book.


Victoria:  Here we're going to have to agree to disagree, Tyson.  While I found the concept of the summoning system to be refreshing, I thought it could have held a little more mystique.  I was told so much by the narration that the magic just was not magic to me.

Tyson:  The pacing moves rather fast, mainly due the fact that the world appears to be small. As a result, most of the time In the Shadow of Swords felt disjointed because of that fact. In the Shadow of Swords begins very strong and had me at the edge of my seat, but as I read more, the book started to fray at the edges and there were far too many sub-plots and political games going on to keep my interest. However, the book does attempt to redeem itself towards the end. It just never made it past that hurdle for me.

Victoria:  I thought the prologue was strong, but then everything went downhill from there.  I found many parts of this novel to be close to unreadable.  I really felt like I was reading a draft at many points.  While I love the concept and the ideas behind In the Shadow of Swords the execution fell flat.

Tyson:  I am not sure whether I would stay with the series. There would have to be some serious improvements with character development and plot (and its various threads) to keep me interested. It is not a bad book, it just needs more editing and development. Bearing in mind this was an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) that I received so there may be improvements to everything that I complained about when the book is finally released.

Victoria:  I'll pass on reading the rest of the series.  In the Shadow of Swords needs an entire re-write before I'll consider it.  Again, the concept was great, but the work needs far more editing and polishing.

Tyson's Ratings:

Plot 5
Characters 4
Style 5

Overall 4/10

Victoria's Ratings:

Plot 6
Characters 2
Style 3

Overall 3/10