Publishing information: Paperback; 400 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Ltd.; 01 April 2010
ISBN 10: 1847375634
ISBN 13: 978184737563
Series- The Chronicles of Siala Book One
Copy- out of pocket
Reviewer- Tyson
Back of the Book "After centuries of calm, the Nameless One is stirring. An army is gathering: giants, ogres and other creatures joining forces from across the Desolate Lands, united for the first time in history under one black banner. By the spring, or perhaps sooner, the Nameless One and his forces will be at the walls of the great city of Avendoom. Unless Shadow Harold, master thief, can find some way to stop them. Epic fantasy at its best, Shadow Prowler is the first in a trilogy that follows professional thief Shadow Harold on his quest for a magic Horn that will restore peace to the kingdom of Siala. Accompanied by an elfin princess, ten Wild Hearts - the most experienced and dangerous royal fighters - and the King's court jester (who may be more than he seems ...or less), Harold must outwit angry demons, escape the clutches of a band of hired murderers, survive ten bloody skirmishes ...and reach the burial grounds before dark. Can he escape a fate worse than death?"
Shadow Prowler has been prowling me for quite some time, I have had this book since September of last year and finally settled down to read the first book by Pehov. It was translated from his native tongue of Russian and aside from a few clumsy sentences here and there, it is very well written.
The story follows Harold a well-reknown thief who does his best to stay off the radar of law enforcement, royalty, and the thieves guild. All of Harold's hard work comes crashing down when the powers that be require his services. This starts his quest or should I say say quests as the book is divided into two parts. The first mission is to gain information vital to his main mission. In order to do this he must go into a enchanted section of the city that no one has been known to escape once they enter. The second is when he accepts his mission to find a magical item that will maintain the balance and keep "The Nameless One" from attaining power in their world and defeating humankind and the other various races that live in relative harmony. The plot of Shadow Prowler is similar to the Lord of the Rings but in reverse. The handpicked group is not trying to destroy a magical object in a place of evil but rather to obtain a object of great power and use it to vanquish the forces of evil.
The characters are what you would expect from a fantasy novel, we have elves, dwarves, humans, orcs and other creatures. However, Pehov has a very distinct take on all of them. The Elves for instance more resemble vampires and are separated by two schools of magic. Gnomes and Dwarves hate one another. Harold is the story teller of the first book in the series and he is not sure of his abilities or his companions. The characters in this tale all have their own reasons for taking on the journey and it is interesting as each individual's motivation is revealed.
The magic system is divided into wizardry and shamanism, each have their benefits and negative aspects. While magic is found all over the world in this book our main character, Harold possesses no magic ability. Pehov does a decent job of explaining the magic systems and I have a feeling that there is more to them that what he lets on in this first installment of the series.
The world building is rather lacking, but it has the feel of middle Earth or something very similar to Tolkien's world, with a Russian slant on it, of course. The world is a dark and dangerous place full of orc attacks and other beasts that roam the world looking for the weak.
While the book is very short 381 pages of actual story and a small glossary in the back, I found myself wanting more. Especially as the book reaches its conclusion before the real story could truly begin. It made me hunger for more and I have to wait until April 2011 (Shadow Chaser) in order to do just that. While not a huge fan of Tolkien (perish the thought), I did enjoy this novel quite a lot.
Plot 7
Characters 9
Style 8
Overall 8/10
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