Some of Zelazny’s work doesn’t hold up well today. Jack of Shadows is the exception.
The world does not revolve—magic works on the night side, science on the day side. Shadowjack is an immortal thief, always resurrected after his death, seeking revenge on those who once slew him. Great world-building, great characterization and lean but lovely prose. The book instills a real Sense of Wonder.
In a world half of light, half of darkness, where science and magic strive for dominance, there dwells a magical being who is friendly with neither side. Jack, of the realm of shadows, is a thief who is unjustly punished. So he embarks on a vendetta. He wanders through strange realms, encountering witches, vampires, and, finally, his worst enemy: the Lord of Bats. He consults his friend Morningstar, a great dark angel. He is pursued by a monstrous creature called the Borshin. But to reveal any more would be to spoil some of the mindboggling surprises Jack of Shadows has…
Set in the time of Dicken’s London and narrated by Dicken’s historic friend and fellow writer, Wilkie Collins, the book creates a dark, atmospheric picture of the city in their day, as the writer connects actual events and fantasy surrounding Dicken’s last, unfinished novel.
Because of Collin’s laudalum addiction, it’s often hard to know if what he tells us is correct, leading to mystery and suspense. This is a darker book than I normally read, but its scenes in the catacombs beneath London are unforgettable. The book has stayed with me—it’s a real masterpiece of both research and fantasy.
On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens--at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world--hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever. Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research ...or something more terrifying?Just as…
I ran across this book by accident. It’s mostly found used or as an ebook at Project Gutenberg.
It’s a lovely, poetic fantasy about a young girl living on the Isle of Skye. She sets out on a quest to find a Faery treasure, leading to adventures. The description, however, doesn’t do the book justice. It’s a short but enchanting read that left me smiling. I wish more people knew about it, because I think it would rank high in the list of fantasy literature.
"My excavations came to an untimely end," said the Student. "I always owed that old man a grudge for being beaten before my tent. Why couldn't he have been beaten somewhere else? I should like to meet him again and tell him precisely what I thought of his conduct." "You have done both now," said the hawker. "And it is his turn." "Impossible," said the Student. "He was as old twenty-five years ago as you are now." "At my age," said the old man, "one grows no older. No one who walks the world as I do need ever grow…
The infinite house, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe. The lamps must be lit or the stars die, the clocks wound or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the house’s strange rules, traveling its winding corridors and secret passages to the myriad countries lying within its walls. He has little time to act; the Anarchists have seized control of the Doors; the Black River is rising; the Eternity Clock is running down. His actions will determine the fate of Reality. But his enemies are strong, and the Room of Horrors is never far from him.
