From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up—This muddled sequel to
Shadowmancer (Putnam, 2004) follows Kate and Thomas as they flee to London with the smuggler Jacob Crane, hoping to escape the evil vicar Obadiah Demurral. Their Ethiopian friend Raphah, last seen falling overboard their ship, has made it to shore in the belly of a whale, with the help of Riathamus, "the power of all goodness." He is taking a land route to the capital in the company of Demurral's former servant Beadle. Eventually Kate and Thomas are kidnapped by a sinister alchemist who uses supernatural means to control his child-labor force, while Raphah and Beadle uncover a plot involving the Holy Grail. The development of this story of good against evil is rather slapdash: at one point Kate is force-fed a hallucinogen and instantly starts behaving like an addict at rock bottom. The flashes of inspiration are weighed down by Taylor's awkward prose and heavy-handed moralizing. Fans of the first book will likely welcome a sequel, but other readers of both fantasy and Christian fiction already have many superior resources to call upon.—
Christi Voth, Parker Library, CO Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
With stakes no smaller than absolute dominion over heaven and earth, an epic battle continues in this sequel to New York Times bestseller Shadowmancer (2003), part of a larger series of Christian allegories set in old-time England and written by a former parson. Unlike the intervening Wormwood (2004)and Tersias the Oracle (2006), this book revisits Shadowmancer's main players. Friends Kate and Thomas flee demon-conjurer Obadiah Demurral only to find themselves caught in a sinister trap; a parallel story follows Beadle, Demurral's reformed lackey, as he and the prophetlike youth Raphah sort friends from enemies among passengers on a coach journey to London. From a Hound of the Baskervilles–style subplot to dark, wild fairy magic, Taylor writes arrestingly of evil's many guises, although the overcomplicated plot can be difficult to follow, and the death of one of the main characters will shock some readers. Even so, this should be as popular as its predecessor. There's a scarcityof exciting fantasies that place shivery magic in the context of Christian beliefs and provide heroes guided by heavenly purpose and the "deep magic" conferred by faith. Mattson, Jennifer
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
