First Light (Shadowlands #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 29, 2024 Monadh rated it really liked it

An uneven beginning, but has potential

I was very excited to get my hands on the first book of an all new series by one of my favorite authors.

After months of blissful happiness, Cary’s lover Lachlan mysteriously disappears, leaving all his stuff behind. Cary fears that something has happened to him, and even if not, she wants to know why. So, she follows him from California to Scotland, where he has family. There she discovers that not only does he have a brother he never talked about, but that An uneven beginning, but has potential

I was very excited to get my hands on the first book of an all new series by one of my favorite authors.

After months of blissful happiness, Cary’s lover Lachlan mysteriously disappears, leaving all his stuff behind. Cary fears that something has happened to him, and even if not, she wants to know why. So, she follows him from California to Scotland, where he has family. There she discovers that not only does he have a brother he never talked about, but that Duncan is actually his twin. Although Duncan claims that Lachlan is ok, he initially refuses to take Cary to see him and tries to get her to leave. But Cary persists and that is when she discovers that there exists a whole world beyond the one she has known all her life, inhabited by a host of magical creatures and that her missing lover is part of it, too…

*contains some spoilers from here on*

I am not the biggest fan of portal fantasy, but the premise of this story really intrigued me: the idea that there exists a type of mirror world, peopled with the genetic twins of the mundane world. Even as I found the magical world fascinating, I was also repulsed by some of the implications that went along with it, particularly the complications that arose when you crossed from one world to the other and encountered your own mirror image or the mirror image of people that had died (in the mundane world, or vice versa). And on top of that, it led to a kind of love triangle situation, which I found somewhat icky.
The mystery storyline was interesting; the resolution came as a surprise to me (and to the heroine as well). After an enticing beginning the story slumped quite a bit in the middle, and I had a difficult time connecting with the FMC, even though she is exactly my type: a thirtyish, nerdy academic. After slogging thru the middle part of the story – which at times felt almost interminable – the pace luckily picked up towards the last quarter of the book and I started to feel for the protagonists (even the villain). The story ended with Cary going back to her world, but determined to learn more about this alternate world of the shadowlands…

Although I found this first instalment a bit uneven in terms of pacing and didn’t connect that strongly with the main protagonists (I found some of the supporting characters more interesting), I am intrigued enough that I will probably pick up the second book when it comes out. So an optimistic 4 stars from me. ...more

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Nov 06, 2024 Susan Jackson rated it really liked it

A delightful start to a new series! The idea of two worlds - Brightkin and Shadowkin was enjoyable and reminded me of the TV shows Fringe and Counterpart. Dragons, Fae, wolves and hot Scotsmen. What more does one need? I’ve already pre-ordered book 2.

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