Shadowmancer (Shadowmancer, Bk 1)
Shadowmancer (Shadowmancer, Bk 1) book cover

Shadowmancer (Shadowmancer, Bk 1)

Paperback – May 9, 2005

Price
$7.99
Format
Paperback
Pages
174
Publisher
Charisma House
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1591856658
Dimensions
6.34 x 0.82 x 8.22 inches
Weight
9.9 ounces

Description

About the Author G. P. Taylor has spent his life pursuing God’s secrets of the universe. He has had a multifaceted career spanning the music industry and law enforcement. Today, he is the vicar of Cloughton and lives near Whitby on the Yorkshire coast, a countryside of cliffs and moors, richly steeped in history and folklore. He initially self-published Shadowmancer —and even sold his motorcycle to fund the venture—printing it through a local writers’ co-op. Taylor’s goals were modest—he hoped to sell his book in local bookstores. However, it rapidly caught on via word of mouth, was republished by the prestigious Faber and Faber, and in no time it all became a huge bestseller in England. ​ NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR In his first novel, Shadowmancer , reached #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List in 2004 and has been translated into 48 languages. His second novel, Wormwood is another New York Times best seller which was nominated for a Quill Book Award. G. P. Taylor also authored The Shadowmancer Returns : The Curse of Salamander Street, Tersias the Oracle , and Mariah Mundi .

Features & Highlights

  • NEW YORK TIMES
  • BEST SELLER
  • This novel,
  • Shadowmancer
  • , reached #1 on the
  • New York Times
  • Best Sellers List in 2004
  • and has been translated into 48 languages. The second novel,
  • Wormwood
  • is another
  • New York Times
  • best seller
  • which was nominated for a
  • Quill Book Award.
  • G. P. Taylor also authored
  • The Shadowmancer Returns
  • : The Curse of Salamander Street,
  • Tersias the Oracle
  • , and
  • Mariah Mundi
  • .  An apocalyptic battle between good and evil is vigorously, violently fought in British author G.P. Taylor's suspenseful, action-packed fantasy. The story, set in the 1700s on the Yorkshire coastline, revolves around Vicar Obadiah Demurral, a corrupt-but-inept, dead-conjuring "shadowmancer" who desires to control the universe by overthrowing God, or Riathamus. When two hard-luck near-orphans, (13-year-old Thomas Barrick, a bitter enemy of Demurral, and his troubled friend Kate Coglund) band together with a young African stranger named Raphah, they spend the rest of the book trying to stop the wicked Vicar as if their very souls are at stake...they are. Along the way, the three youths meet an enormous cast of friends and foes, some agents of Riathamus, others of Satan (Pyratheon), and some godless (but not for long) smugglers like Jacob Crane.
  • Readers who love fanciful storybook characters will find mermaidlike Seloth, smelly hobs, leg-dragging servants, goodhearted whores, and benevolent boggles. Age-old superstitions abound, though old magic and witchcraft are clearly denounced here as the work of the devil. Indeed, the author, an English vicar himself, tells a very Christian story and his often deliciously dramatic adventure lapses into stiffly presented glowing-halo Touched by an Angel moments(readers will be lured into the Enchanted Forest, but tricked into Sunday school). Nonetheless, Shadowmancer, the first of a series, is a pageturner bursting with magic and myth, and will appeal to fantasy lovers who don't mind the Bible mixed in with their boggles. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(63)
★★★★
25%
(52)
★★★
15%
(31)
★★
7%
(15)
23%
(48)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Sci-fi fantasy, not so much to my fancy, ...

Sci-fi fantasy, not so much to my fancy, but very well written. Actually would probably be preferred by younger readers, i.e. middle school and some high school.
✓ Verified Purchase

Why Do I Keep Finding This Crap!?

I couldn't even finish this one. Whoof, and that's really saying something, because I usually will limp through the worst pages of prose in order to gleefully rip apart the author. I'm here with about half my ammunition, but I think it'll be enough.
So, I didn't even know we were in the Yorkshire of the 1700s until about forty pages in, but that might have had something to do with the weird amalgam of setting. I've never heard of any god, anywhere, called Riathamus, and since I know that 16th century Yorkshire was devoutly Christian, I didn't understand how a black guy from Africa wasn't getting mobbed for calling him "the one true god." Considering that Christian sects can't even agree on the right way to worship, I definitely felt that the author was setting up a lackadaisical easy-answer tale. Guess if I was right or not.
Much of what's wrong with the thing has already been said; I will zero on in on the characters having unpredictable and inexplicable changes of heart. Evil vicar guy sees a mansion and decides to turn evil. That fast. (And he somehow tricks the guy in charge out of it with a cockroach race. The guy cries and leaves town. Seriously. Instead of summoning his guard and dogs and having Demurral chased out of town and beaten for gambling, a, you know, SIN. And don't tell me the guys in charge are never hypocrites.) Kate's Dad, steeped in a gin stupor for years following tragedy, is suddenly patting her on the shoulder and giving her a life lesson from Family Matters. I found myself making strange noises while reading this, mostly "Buh?" and "Whuh!?" Bad worldbuilding and bad characterization I can handle, but don't patronize me on top of it.
The author was definitely attempting to be PC, with an extremely watered down version of the Bible being quietly spoon-fed to the reader with plenty of sugar. I guess it bothers me when that happens, because C.S. Lewis was unapologetically bold with his Narnia tales, and the tale was the better for it. This story tiptoes around its references, and to me, that just seemed sneaky. I don't actually think it's possible to be PC and religious at the same time, especially when you start getting into the whole "one true god" thing. Someone's toes are bound to get stepped on sooner or later, and maybe that's what smacks of hypocrisy to me. Faith is not easy, faith is not simple, and neither are the problems surrounding it. Fantasy allows for digression, and the author's ultimate failing was that he did not examine the difficulties of faith and the fallability of the devout, but gave us the same old simple adage: "Everything is possible for God." Call me someone who thinks too much, but my riposte to that is "Easy for you to say. He's GOD."
Taylor, you owed your readers the truth of what you were attempting to say. Whatever that was was lost in translation, because you flinched from the inherent heavy-handedness of a Christian allegory and ended up clumsily sneaking it in. Which makes me doubt the sincerity of your statements that faith is simple and everyone should just accept the teachings of a "one true god". Religion is a volatile thing at best, and you knew it, you just tried to pretend that it wasn't. Shame on you.
For those looking for better reads: Brian Jacques, T. A. Barron, and Jonathan Stroud await you.