The Shadowed Path

by Simon Stone

In the west the ancient empire of Prast crumbles, an old man too sick to climb out of his deathbed. In the east an upstart nation of sun worshipers spread their heathen ways, swallowing up city-states and small kingdoms as they tread ever closer to Prast’s borders. War is inevitable. A war greater and more bloodthirsty than any seen since the old gods left the world. And yet, war is as nothing compared to the greatest danger. The Shadowland. A vast swathe of corrupted jungles, deserts and mountains, saturated in malevolence. Ever since the time of myth it has separated east from west, a mark on the world to remind all men of the anger of their gods. Now it has begun to spread, spewing out its deadly creatures on the nations, threatening to corrupt and consume everything. Only one man carries the key to stopping the Shadowland, a man battered and scarred from his years alone in its deadly grasp. To stop it he must first make a friend of his greatest enemy... ...and then he must enter the Shadowland again...

Genres: Fantasy

418 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2011

Reviews

[Melisa Scottson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Shadowed Path is a fantasy set in a Roman type world, but with a lot of differences. From the first chapter I was hooked with the story of the strange Inhumani people and the young hero Marcus as he gets trapped in a very hostile part of the world called the Shadowland. The characters are great, very realistic and have a lot of depth, especially Sheena/Jinx, she – or is it they? – is a very damaged girl but so compelling to read!

I’m desperate to find out what happens next, and will definitely get the next book. I would probably give it 4.5 stars if I could but I can’t so will give it 5 for being an indie book!

[Jeffrey Poole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome fantasy set in Roman times!

I don't think I've ever seen those two words in the same sentence before. Roman and fantasy. Yet it certainly applies to this book, the debut novel from author Simon Stone.

The author has a very easy-going writing style that gets you hooked from the start and won't let go, not even when you make it to the end. You know you've read a good book when you keep thinking about the story hours after you've finished and then start wondering what the sequel will hold.

This story is set in Roman times and follows several main characters, including a former rich boy who becomes stuck in unarguably the worst place to become stranded, the Shadowlands. He and several others eventually find their way out, but only after a few years. The spoiled rich boy is no more, and instead has adapted to become a cool lethal fighting machine. Then we have a young girl suffering the loss of a family who has fallen victim to creatures that typically reside in the Shadowlands. She has come, seeking revenge on those who let these terrible things happen to her loved ones. Also present are a race of humanoid creatures, the Waystalkers (or inhumanaii), forever slaves to their human masters. Dark, mysterious, and lethal, they are the only guides you'd want at your side if you have to travel the Shadowlands. They are sworn not to harm "redbloods". No inhumanii ever has, lest the poor Waystalker go mad with guilt and shame. Might some of the slaves have found a way to rebel against their masters?

There were so many things I liked about this book. I loved the Roman setting. The author did a tremendous job helping the reader to visualize everyday life in a Roman village. I loved the fantasy element, namely the Shadowlands separating the two great countries. I loved how the Shadowlands are home to unspeakable horrors and how it's inconceivable that someone could survive a few days in there, let alone four years. I loved seeing the changed world through Marcus' eyes after he and his two companions finally make it out of the Shadowlands and realize everything he had known is gone.

I'm sitting here, trying to remember if I really had any issues with the book, and the only things I can think of were a few typos, but as another reviewer mentioned, I simply didn't care. I eagerly look forward to the next in the series!!

[Nicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come! :)

[Pauline Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting debut, a very assured piece of writing, the first part of a trilogy set in a vaguely Romanesque world. There's a good, exciting opening - a gladiatorial combat followed by some desperate goings-on in the nightmarish Shadowland. Then, after something of a cliff-hanger, the pace drops abruptly as several years are skipped over. This reminded me a little of the Monty Python episode: a gentle tour through the English countryside ends up, after increasingly improbably twists, with our heroes facing a firing squad, then - tada!- 'Reel missing', there they are back home. 'Phew, that was a lucky escape!' Now I daresay four years in the Shadowland would have been a very different story, and not the one the author wanted to tell, and undoubtedly snippets will be revealed over the course of the trilogy (the mysteries of Shadowland are obviously central to everything), but I still found it a bit disappointing.

The world-building is fairly broad-brush: there's the decaying Romanesque empire with its slaves and decadent way of life, and the religious empire, with its blood sacrifices and fanaticism, now on the rise, and a few bits and pieces on the periphery. The Roman aspects are quite detailed (almost too much so for my taste; I don't really like a setting that feels too close to the real world), but the rest is just sketched in. The real star of the show, however, is the Shadowland, the mysterious interior of the continent, filled with evil inhuman creatures and now spreading at an unnatural rate. Then there are the Waystalkers, the strange beings said to have been created by one of the gods to fight the evil, enslaved to humans and compelled not to harm them. It's a very intriguing setting, although there isn't a great deal of detail.

With the background a fairly blank canvas, the characters need to shine and I'm not sure these quite do, not yet. Marcus is a likeable enough bloke, but there's nothing much about him to make him stand out. His experiences in Shadowland have obviously left him traumatised, so that he seems almost unnaturally calm. Tyacles and Lokan are interesting but nothing special, and Sheena (or Jinx) - well, let's give her time to bloom. Simply having a traumatic or difficult past doesn't necessarily add interest to a character, but this is the first part of a trilogy, so it may well be that both Sheena and Marcus will develop over the full course of the story.

A lot of new characters appear in the second half of the book, and there's an air of setting things up for the remainder of the trilogy. The few glimpses we get of Sulia and its people are only just enough to get a flavour of their very different world, without really fleshing them out very much. By far the most interesting characters are the inhumanii - the Waystalkers and their families, kept as slaves in Prast, trained to kill the evil creatures in Shadowland but not allowed to harm humans without driving themselves mad. Parellio Redhands is absolutely fascinating - creepily menacing, with his own agenda, very powerful and he may (or may not) be able to kill humans. And his connection to Marcus is very intriguing. A terrific character.

The writing is literate and well-edited, on the whole, although the book is sprinkled with that curse of the self-publishing author, the sound-alike spelling ('reign' instead of 'rein', for instance, or my favourite - 'grizzly' instead of 'grisly'), and a few other minor typos. [Edit: removed reference to typos already fixed.] I'm not mad keen on the author's policy of putting the reader into the head of a new character who then disappears for ever a few pages later. It's disconcerting at first, and then it just gets irritating. Nevertheless, the plot flows seamlessly from chapter to chapter, and it's clear that this is all very carefully planned.

The plot, it has to be said, is a little slow. It seems to take a long time for Marcus to find out what's been happening back home while he's been off battling beasties and the whole nightmare of Shadowland, and there's a fair amount of angsting going on as well. This is quite useful, since it shows us the turmoil inside the calm exterior, and perhaps suggests that Marcus is not so much passive as numbed by his experiences, and almost unable to feel any emotion at all, and that gives some potential for things to change, but still, there was a little too much angst for my liking. Nevertheless, the story was trundling along quite well, the journey to Agotha was good, there was Jinx and Parellio to keep everything jumping and I was really enjoying it, and even beginning to get interested in Marcus and friends.

And then it all went wrong, in the last few chapters. It's a shame, because it was great up until that point, an enjoyable, well-written story, with enough interest and mysterious backstory to keep me turning the pages and a whole swathe of cliff-hangers to ensure I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy, heading for a good four stars - and then, whump. Sorry. Can't give it more than three stars. I daresay it's just me being contrary, and others wouldn't care about it at all, but for me it just didn't work. Mind you, I'm still probably interested enough to read the rest of the trilogy.

Here's the detail of the ending that I disliked:
Well, first of all, there's this invasion of strange northern barbarians, who have apparently travelled the length and breadth of the continent to trash a random Prastian city. Well, fine. I can buy that, I suppose. Even though they've hardly merited a mention beforehand. Even though it makes no real sense. Whatever. This is fantasy, after all.

And then there's Evrethia. She's the one who arranged for Marcus to go on his ill-fated jaunt into Shadowland, the one he spent years planning revenge on, the one who (he has discovered) has taken all his father's money and left him to die in squalor, the one Marcus himself has travelled for weeks to catch up with. And finally he does. And the conversation goes something like this:
Marcus (brandishing large dagger): I hate you, you stole my money and killed my father, and now I want my revenge!
Evrethia: Yes, SO sorry about all that. My father made me do it.
Marcus (putting dagger away): Oh. Well, that's all right then.
W-e-e-e-l-l. OK. I suppose. Whatever.

And finally, we have Marcus traipsing off into Shadowland, the one place in the world he never wants to see again. Why? Because the women need rescuing from the barbarians. Which women? The one who tried to kill him in the night, and the one who stole his money, killed his father, etc, etc. Now, Marcus is the guy who's been through so much in Shadowland that he is completely passive, uncaring, devoid of feeling. This has been underscored for the entire book, it's his defining characteristic. And suddenly he cares enough to go to the rescue? And for these two women, of all the women in the world? It's bad enough to resort to the women in peril routine as motivation at all, but for these two, it would be much more believable for Marcus to say - screw them, the barbarians can have them.

Now I suppose, if I'm being fair, this is all to show that Marcus isn't, in fact, the emotionless character he's been portrayed as, that a beautiful woman or two (even women who try to kill or cheat him) have the power to soften that iron heart of his, and if that works for you, that's fine. It just didn't work for me, it was too abrupt a change. And I would love it, actually, if Sheena/Jinx and Evrethia were to extricate themselves from their captivity, pulp a few barbarians and turn up, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, to greet Marcus before he's gone ten paces into Shadowland, but somehow I don't see that happening.

[Sky Corbelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent read. Not just because it was a fantastical Roman-esque setting, which I liked, or because the author has an engaging style and a strong narrative voice, but because it was a great story.

But let's back up a bit. First of all, the world. It's dark and it's gritty and it's mysterious and it's intriguing. It's the kind of world that captures the imagination, the kind of world that's bigger than the story being told. It is inventive, unique, and a pleasure to explore.

And then the writing. The author brings his characters to life, from the spoiled rich kid who fought his way through a virtual hell to the broken farm girl with personalities to spare. It's exciting to read what they do, see how they interact, and adventure right beside them through the rich landscape of a well-imagined world.

Finally, the story. Now, don't get me wrong. This book wasn't perfect. There were a few typos, a few missed/wrong words, but half-way through the book I realized that I really didn't care. The prose is engaging, the plot is enticing, and the read is a treat. The good guys are flawed, the bad guys are mysterious, and you get the distinct impression that there's more going on just behind the curtain, that something bigger is going on. Even better, you actually want to know what it is.

So if you're looking for a good read, take a walk down The Shadowed Path. You'll be glad you did.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadowed Path takes place in a Roman like world starting out with a gladiatorial scene that unveils the most unique race of the book, the inhumanii. This race specializes in guiding people through the horribly dark forest that separates the Parsian Empire from the rest of the world. The warriors are called waystalkers and they are completely unable to raise their arms against the empire ensuring their continuing slavery.

The story follows a group of merchants travelling through the forest in order to make their fortunes. When their inhumanii guides turn out to be fake the caravan gets attacked and almost wiped out. There are only three survivors who have bonded for life after making it through the trials in the forest.

I really enjoyed the book as the similarity to Roman times has always intrigued me. The characters were well done although towards the end I really didn't like the way that Tyacles started to act. The special armor that the waystalkers used was also a very cool idea that I would like to see some more info on as the series progresses. This is one that I will be following this series for certain.

Review copy provided by the author.

[Lorraine Versini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This first part certainly has the feel of an epic story. A whole new world, strongly influenced by the empires of the past and the kind of lives those peoples used to lead back then.

The novel certainly has its fair share of characters and places, so really it's best if you don't read it lightly or keep being disturbed, but even if you do, thankfully the lavish descriptions and the specific vocabulary will really draw you into the story. I did struggle a bit at first, until I realised that this was not a book where you can catch 5 minutes of reading here and there. Once I really got into it, the story literally flowed. The book deserved all my attention. And I did feel rewarded for it :)

I'm really looking forward to part 2 now. There are so many questions left unanswered, it's going to feel like a long wait !

And "Xore's Arse" has so been added to my list of rude expressions. Don't know if I'll ever get to use it without people thinking I'm a weirdo, but I love it nevertheless!

[Niel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I acquired this book from Goodreads Firstreads.

I give this book 4.5 stars. This is a really good fantasy book.
Shadowed Path mixes a failing Roman-like civilization with a mysterious dangerous forest with unimaginable horrors. As Prast falls another empire becomes stronger,Sul. These two empires are about to go to war, but will they see the real danger before its to late, and the Shadowland destroys both.
This book had great characters that were well detailed. Stone was able to show the good in a person along with the evil that lies within. Each character has to deal with how the Shadowland has affected them, and changed them. Two characters Marcus and Sheena are changed so much that they have to rediscover who they really are and where they belong. The end of the story left readers on a bit of a cliffhanger with people being kidnapped and friends trying to rescue them before its to late. Overall a good fantasy story with deception and action throughout.

[Marcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is definately a dark fantasy genre. Quite a bit of violence but the story line is very engaging and the characters draw you in. I look forward to the second book.