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hawkeyegonzalez's review
3.0
This was a quick, fun read. It doesn't bother with a lot of world building or filler nor do I think it really needs to. It's a pretty straight-forward story with a little bit of mystery thrown in, but nothing to dwell on after it's over. I'm interested enough in Caim's backstory to keep going.
sniperpumpkin's review
2.0
I'm not sure why I didn't care for this book. It didn't click for me on any level.
mediumdave's review
2.0
This was a 3 star review for most of the book. It's light and disposable fantasy, a "gritty" one, that seems like it stole it's grittiness from Terry Goodkind, with stock characters and situations and really unfortunate female characters. And then the last, oh, quarter or third happened and it just sprinted down the cliff.
I will never say this again in my life, but if you want a gross kinda dark fantasy novel that's less that 400 pages that adds no value to your life...go read a Sword of Truth novel instead. I'm sorry I just said that.
I will never say this again in my life, but if you want a gross kinda dark fantasy novel that's less that 400 pages that adds no value to your life...go read a Sword of Truth novel instead. I'm sorry I just said that.
sunsoar25's review
3.0
*Note: I won a free copy of Shadow's Son through the Goodreads First Reads program.*
While reading Shadow's Son I found I really enjoyed Sprunk's writing style - fast-paced, no holds barred, and very readable - and his world-building - familiar but laced with the fantastic the more one delves into the story. The world building's not overly excessive since it mostly takes place in one city, but it's very clear there is a lot more to Caim's world. Sprunk's really good at keeping those pages turning because to be honest Shadow's Son is a bloody fun read.
All that said, I don't feel comfortable giving it more than 3 stars. Mostly because it's stuffed full of fantasy cliches. Usually Sprunk manages to hit the right notes with them in the story, but as a result Shadow's Son felt pretty predictable. I don't know if I would go so far as to say unimaginative, but I let's just say I wasn't all that surprised by the "twists" in the story.
As for the characters, Caim is essentially an assassin with a heart of gold, or at least that's how I read his character, because I also kind of got the impression that he was supposed to be very hard at first and then becomes sympathetic with the introduction of Josephine. So for me, Caim didn't develop all that much as a character, sure he learns a little more about himself and his family, but he still felt like the same guy at the end. I also thought Caim was supposed to be in his 30s rather than only 24 as we learn.
In the beginning, I didn't care for Josephine but as the story progressed I'll admit she grew on me. However, from her introduction I never would have expected her character to change as much as she did - from a useless pretty little rich girl to spoiler alertthe freaking empress of the city who can really hold her own . As for Kit, she's a very fun character, but I didn't really grow that attached to her. Her relationship with Caim seemed to exist primarily for the purpose alerting the reader to Caim's otherness. On a similar note, Caim's hits and other character deaths didn't seem to have enough emotion behind them to pack enough of a punch. In a way, it reminded me of a video game where you just keep jumping from target to target as the game dictates.
Overall, Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk is an action-packed read full of mindless bloody fun for fans of sympathetic assassins, swordplay, and magic. It was very interesting to read this so closely after [b:Darkly Dreaming Dexter|17231|Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1)|Jeff Lindsay|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1334404607s/17231.jpg|2113743] which allowed me to draw some interesting parallels between Caim and Dexter.
While reading Shadow's Son I found I really enjoyed Sprunk's writing style - fast-paced, no holds barred, and very readable - and his world-building - familiar but laced with the fantastic the more one delves into the story. The world building's not overly excessive since it mostly takes place in one city, but it's very clear there is a lot more to Caim's world. Sprunk's really good at keeping those pages turning because to be honest Shadow's Son is a bloody fun read.
All that said, I don't feel comfortable giving it more than 3 stars. Mostly because it's stuffed full of fantasy cliches. Usually Sprunk manages to hit the right notes with them in the story, but as a result Shadow's Son felt pretty predictable. I don't know if I would go so far as to say unimaginative, but I let's just say I wasn't all that surprised by the "twists" in the story.
As for the characters, Caim is essentially an assassin with a heart of gold, or at least that's how I read his character, because I also kind of got the impression that he was supposed to be very hard at first and then becomes sympathetic with the introduction of Josephine. So for me, Caim didn't develop all that much as a character, sure he learns a little more about himself and his family, but he still felt like the same guy at the end. I also thought Caim was supposed to be in his 30s rather than only 24 as we learn.
In the beginning, I didn't care for Josephine but as the story progressed I'll admit she grew on me. However, from her introduction I never would have expected her character to change as much as she did - from a useless pretty little rich girl to spoiler alert
Overall, Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk is an action-packed read full of mindless bloody fun for fans of sympathetic assassins, swordplay, and magic. It was very interesting to read this so closely after [b:Darkly Dreaming Dexter|17231|Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1)|Jeff Lindsay|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1334404607s/17231.jpg|2113743] which allowed me to draw some interesting parallels between Caim and Dexter.
prationality's review
4.0
Part of me thinks if I hadn't just finished Brent Week's "Night Angel" trilogy I would have been less pre-disposed to say 'Another super special assassin!' and played the compare game between Kylar (of Night Angel) and Caim (of Shadow's Son). I'm a creature of habitual likes so this isn't a problem for me--I have more super special assassin books in my fantasy collection then almost any other trope.
In truth that's the only similarities between the two, well technically there's another, but its a spoiler in both cases so I can't mention it here, but suffice to say Kylar and Caim both indulge in royal politics. Caim is self-assured, resourceful and intelligent. When handed a too easy job he's immediately suspicious and questioning. When told a convenient sounding lie he mulls it over and deciphers the meaning. He is very disciplined. In short he was a little dry for my tastes. Its not that he was boring or stuffy, he didn't do anything that gave him joy.
True, he was an assassin and killed people for a living, but that was the totality of who he was for much of the mission given to him by Mathias. Sometimes he bantered with Kit and he certainly grew impatient with Josey more than once, but he didn't relax very often.
I found myself more interested in Kit and what exactly she was and her role in Caim's life. She was some kind of spirit, who only Caim could see and interact with and could not really effect the physical world. Who and what she is evolves as the plot thickens and Caim realizes that who he is matters to the schemes at hand more than he could have guessed. I liked that she gave Caim attitude, but was dedicated to his protection as well.
Josey took a little while for me to like, she seemed like a spoiled kid with a permanent petulant attitude. Her ability to grasp the bigger threat was deficient and I wanted to smack her. Just scream at her and say 'Don't you see? Can't you understand?' She had a good heart though and as the book went on it became apparent that she also was very perceptive and quick on her feet when she did understand.
The world building is a little more shallow then I was used to and Sprunk had this fixation on making us care for a character (good or ill) and then many horrible things would occur. It made me wary of investing in any character, a little paranoid that as soon as I came to a conclusion in regards to them everything would change.
In truth that's the only similarities between the two, well technically there's another, but its a spoiler in both cases so I can't mention it here, but suffice to say Kylar and Caim both indulge in royal politics. Caim is self-assured, resourceful and intelligent. When handed a too easy job he's immediately suspicious and questioning. When told a convenient sounding lie he mulls it over and deciphers the meaning. He is very disciplined. In short he was a little dry for my tastes. Its not that he was boring or stuffy, he didn't do anything that gave him joy.
True, he was an assassin and killed people for a living, but that was the totality of who he was for much of the mission given to him by Mathias. Sometimes he bantered with Kit and he certainly grew impatient with Josey more than once, but he didn't relax very often.
I found myself more interested in Kit and what exactly she was and her role in Caim's life. She was some kind of spirit, who only Caim could see and interact with and could not really effect the physical world. Who and what she is evolves as the plot thickens and Caim realizes that who he is matters to the schemes at hand more than he could have guessed. I liked that she gave Caim attitude, but was dedicated to his protection as well.
Josey took a little while for me to like, she seemed like a spoiled kid with a permanent petulant attitude. Her ability to grasp the bigger threat was deficient and I wanted to smack her. Just scream at her and say 'Don't you see? Can't you understand?' She had a good heart though and as the book went on it became apparent that she also was very perceptive and quick on her feet when she did understand.
The world building is a little more shallow then I was used to and Sprunk had this fixation on making us care for a character (good or ill) and then many horrible things would occur. It made me wary of investing in any character, a little paranoid that as soon as I came to a conclusion in regards to them everything would change.
behindthepages's review
4.0
Well this book did not turn out to be how I thought it would. Instead of focusing on the assassins it instead carries on the story of Caim and his mysterious powers. Sure he is an assassin, but this isn't the point of the story, simply a secondary trait. Was I disappointed? Nope. I think the character building was great and the slow unveil of his abilities was executed well.
The only gripe I do have with this book is with Caim and his ability to somehow never need to close wounds. He will be patched up, then soon be off fighting without the mention of bleeding or torn stitches. I wonder if this was just a point overlooked by the author, or a way for Sprunk to prove Caim was tough. Either way, it was a bit too unrealistic.
I look forward to the next book, as this one was dedicated to character growth and introducing us to Jon Sprunk's world. I have a feeling we've only begun to see the dark magic Caim can control and I can't wait to learn more about its source.
The only gripe I do have with this book is with Caim and his ability to somehow never need to close wounds. He will be patched up, then soon be off fighting without the mention of bleeding or torn stitches. I wonder if this was just a point overlooked by the author, or a way for Sprunk to prove Caim was tough. Either way, it was a bit too unrealistic.
I look forward to the next book, as this one was dedicated to character growth and introducing us to Jon Sprunk's world. I have a feeling we've only begun to see the dark magic Caim can control and I can't wait to learn more about its source.
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