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SHADOW’S MASTER on Audio

April 28th, 2014

Hey folks. I know some of you having been asking about the audio books. Graphic Audio just released SHADOW’S MASTER today, so now you can get the entire series on audio.

http://www.graphicaudio.net/shadow-saga-3-shadow-s-master.html

Magic of the Shadows

May 28th, 2013

Shadow Saga

For those who have read my Shadow trilogy, you know that it’s rife with magic and magical occurrences. One of the most integral magics of the series is the ability of the main character, Caim, to control shadows. This power begins humbly, with Caim barely able to manipulate the darkness around him, but grows throughout the series.

 

When I began writing the first book, Shadow’s Son, I didn’t know much about Caim’s magic, but it developed over the course of several writing drafts. The idea that his magic came from another plane of existence was something that just occurred to me during the revision. Because I was creating a low-magic world where magic and magic-wielders were relatively rare, it made sense that the power had seeped into Caim’s world from somewhere else. This place was the Other Side, where extrahuman races such as the Fae and the Shadowfolk originated. Of course, I had Caim’s Fae companion, Kit, to guide my storytelling choices. The key was that Caim possessed these powers because of his unusual parentage. His father was human, but his mother had come from the Shadow Realm.

 

Shadow’s Son also features an insane sorcerer villain, Levictus. Although fully human, he possesses magic similar to Caim due to his apprenticeship to a mysterious sorceress in the north, but it’s not until the second book, Shadow’s Lure, that Caim encounters this sorceress and realizes the threat she poses. And Lure also expands on Caim’s powers, exposing him to more shadow magic. Yet, as his powers grow, his control over them wanes, so this second book is concerned with the delicate balance of power versus control.

 

In the third and final book of the series, Shadow’s Master, Caim comes to the fruition of his power, and this brings new challenges as he faces off against the ultimate power behind the Shadow. Caim has come a long way since his days as a freelance assassin, both in maturity and the scope of his magic. The shadows are a part of him, allowing him to perform such magical feats as transport himself from place to place (shadow-hopping) and wrap himself in shadows to form a protective second skin. Yet, Caim also realizes that he is in danger of losing his humanity. By the end, he has some big decisions to make, and those choices will have resounding effects on his world.

Kind Words

May 21st, 2010

A couple weeks back, I received copies of the Shadow’s Son ARC (advanced reading copy) from my U.K. publisher, Gollancz. On the first page was written a foreword by Gillian Redearn, Senior Commissioning Editor. I’d like to share it.

She wrote:

“Dear Reader,

Shadow’s Son is an extremely entertaining fantasy novel.

If you want to get caught up in an adventure, if you want a book that can make you feel that pause in time that occurs between an assassing taking aim on their target and releasing the trigger, then you’ve found the novel you’re looking for.

This is the story of an assassin. Caim. He’s good at his job. He likes his job, which helps when you’ve had to infiltrate a castle unseen, lurk in the shadows for a day, climb into the rafters of the great hall and perch there for hours — in the cold, the darkness, the silence — waiting for the perfect moment to take out your mark. Caim likes his life, too, which is a shame because if he wants to keep it, he’s going to have to escape from his cold perch on a rafter inside a great hall inside a castle, and do it with fifty of his target’s servants hot on his heels, all eager to avenge their master.

It’s a lot of fun.

[…]I’m delighted to introduce you to the next bloody, twisty, dark author whose novel you simply must read: Jon Sprunk.

Hell hath no fury like an assassin wronged . . .”

Thank you, Ms. Redfearn, for those kind words.




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