90 reviews for:

Shadowland

Peter Straub

3.56 AVERAGE


I loved this book from start to finish. I read it a while ago and am just due to meet someone who's actually modelling their house around this book and its rooms, so I thought I'd better refresh my memory. I'm a real fan of this sort of maniacal magic story telling, where nothing is it as seems. The story of Tom and Del and Rose is so interwoven with treachery and teenage angst. I found the one sexy scene in the book, where Rosa reaches into Tom's trousers and gives him relief from the sexual urges he has, without him really even knowing what's happening, to be highly erotic and really well written. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone with the same tastes.
dark tense medium-paced
dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved this as a teenager, now not so much i'm afraid.

Shadowland resembles something that is more a fantasy/fairytale hybrid than any piece of horror. Straub weaves an interesting tale around The Brothers Grimm mythology that is both suspenseful and at times heart wrenching.

This is my second Straub title and much like Ghost Story I found it to be a good read and a book I enjoyed but nothing amazing. It is very interesting how he chooses weave his mythos around many timeless classics that surely helped to influence the genres he touches upon.

If you’re looking for a modern fairytale then Shadowland will fit the bill. Just don’t expect to be floored at the end of the novel.

“What we do here is physiologically impossible. So we must train the body to accept the impossible, and then it will become possible.”

Shadowland by Peter Straub is the coming of age story of Tom and Del who meet at a prestigious boarding school.

The structure of the book splits it into two main parts. The first being the time spent at the boarding school and the events which take place there setting up the creepy and eerie vision of what Shadowland is about and then there is the second part set at Coleman Collins home. A house made of secret doorways and traps which lure the boys to learn about real magic and what’s really happing in Shadowland.

Initially I thought this would be a horror novel but the further I read the more it was obvious its a fantasy one with horror elements. It’s been said that you could compare it slightly to Stephen King’s IT and on some level I suppose you could as the similar factor of Shadowland being of magic, the beings that dwell there, give off that familiar feeling. This book was written in 1980, where the idea of young magicians finding each other to then go on to defeat a sorcerer was fairly new.

The imagery was quite gruesome and shocking on a few occasions. There is a specific badger scene which had me quite surprised, some of the scenes that take place in Shadowland felt like you were on some kind of a trip. Those elements were well written. The first part of the book gave a good build up however it felt like it lagged on more than one occasion. There’s no doubt that the fantasy themes are heavily present throughout, I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was terrifying, this could also be because I’ve read it as an adult, had I read it in my teens maybe I would have felt differently.

The book has received some harsh criticism over not being as iconic as Ghost Story (which i’ve yet to read), I wouldn’t say its a bad novel at all, it was a good read, and if I had to score it out of 5 I would give it a 3.75.
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Shadowland is the last book read for 2013. It's an old favorite I read back in high school for the first time and absorbed as much of my own personal view of the universe as anything in the Dune series.

A story of two boys--no, three boys--two men and a girl. It's almost classic in a sense. It's a story that goes through the difference between destiny and fate, magic and illusion, power and luck. There is a lot of depth to the story. In so many ways, I want to say this is a child's story. But it's an adult story even though the main characters are teens no older than my own son.

Shadowland takes a ride into the imagination that is dark and seductive. It's not the cute and cuddly magician's training of Harry Potter. It is tough as a crucifixion and genuine as first love. Highly recommended.
adventurous emotional funny reflective
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes