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brents 's review for:
The Shadow Casket
by Chris Wooding
A Solid Follow-up
I read The Ember Blade back at the end of 2021 and had a great time so this was a pretty highly anticipated release. One concern I had being that I had read the first book over 2 years ago was remembering the finer details of the story and characters. This book offers no recap or dramatis personae either in the book nor online. I just decided to jump in anyway, and I did think lacking that context made the beginning a bit more of a struggle than it should have been. I can't imagine what readers who read TEB upon release 5 years ago would feel like if there memory is like mine. So suggestion to all authors, put a recap somewhere for your readers especially if you're going to release books in a series this infrequently. That being said, as I continued the author does put some gentle reminders in the narrative that eventually I was able to get immersed.
As for what I liked here I would say first of all, despite its length, this book reads very fast. It has short chapters, digestible but solid prose, and something is always happening to keep you interested. I wish more fantasy books were like this. Second, I love a story with a good crew banding together to accomplish something with some found family vibes. You get that here just like in book 1 and I'm here for it. Grub is probably one of my favorite characters in fantasy. Anytime he's on the page it's a good time. Third, I'm a sucker for books about a revolution and underdogs sticking it to an Empire. It's done well here. Finally, and this is difficult to talk about without spoiling, but there are some chapters here that exceed my expectations for what you normally see in fantasy in terms of how it mixes plot, character, and emotional moments by A LOT. The type of thing where you have to put the book down for a minute and think, "Damn, did that really just happen like that? What did I just read." Those parts shine like diamonds in what at other times kind of feel like more pedestrian fare. Let's get into that.
I think this book has more flaws than The Ember Blade, or maybe I set my expectations higher for book 2. Either way I don't think it quite gets there. Early on the author chooses to add kind of a cringe romance subplot that hints at going full blown Degrassi Jr High bullshit complete with live triangle. It's mostly averted but what's there adds nothing and is a net negative especially for one POV who seemed to do very little but think about romantic interests and later another development I won't go into. It hurt my enjoyment because it made that character and perspective one dimensional. Luckily the page time for that was pretty limited. Secondly, while something is always happening to keep the pages turning, at points it starts to feel repetitive with little forward plot movement for the overall story. This is the kind.of pedestrian fantasy thing I was talking about. Like oh were going to a new location where the enemy won't find us. Ope betrayal guess we have to run again. Lastly, for a book named The Shadow Casket I wish it had been more important to this book and to the story. It might be important to the overall series eventually in 10 years or whatever when this is finished, but will I even care by then? The sections (few though they are) are really cool and interesting, but I needed and wanted more.
Overall still really enjoyed this book and series. One thing I do need to give it credit for is having a really good complex and layered villain POV. Those chapters added a lot to this book and kept it in 4 star territory at parts when it was flagging a bit. Those chapters also added horror elements which were great and unexpected. Add to that the last 150.pages or so being absolute gasoline in terms of a climax I'm definitely going to be coming back for more. Let's just maybe get the next one a bit sooner eh Chris Wooding?
I read The Ember Blade back at the end of 2021 and had a great time so this was a pretty highly anticipated release. One concern I had being that I had read the first book over 2 years ago was remembering the finer details of the story and characters. This book offers no recap or dramatis personae either in the book nor online. I just decided to jump in anyway, and I did think lacking that context made the beginning a bit more of a struggle than it should have been. I can't imagine what readers who read TEB upon release 5 years ago would feel like if there memory is like mine. So suggestion to all authors, put a recap somewhere for your readers especially if you're going to release books in a series this infrequently. That being said, as I continued the author does put some gentle reminders in the narrative that eventually I was able to get immersed.
As for what I liked here I would say first of all, despite its length, this book reads very fast. It has short chapters, digestible but solid prose, and something is always happening to keep you interested. I wish more fantasy books were like this. Second, I love a story with a good crew banding together to accomplish something with some found family vibes. You get that here just like in book 1 and I'm here for it. Grub is probably one of my favorite characters in fantasy. Anytime he's on the page it's a good time. Third, I'm a sucker for books about a revolution and underdogs sticking it to an Empire. It's done well here. Finally, and this is difficult to talk about without spoiling, but there are some chapters here that exceed my expectations for what you normally see in fantasy in terms of how it mixes plot, character, and emotional moments by A LOT. The type of thing where you have to put the book down for a minute and think, "Damn, did that really just happen like that? What did I just read." Those parts shine like diamonds in what at other times kind of feel like more pedestrian fare. Let's get into that.
I think this book has more flaws than The Ember Blade, or maybe I set my expectations higher for book 2. Either way I don't think it quite gets there. Early on the author chooses to add kind of a cringe romance subplot that hints at going full blown Degrassi Jr High bullshit complete with live triangle. It's mostly averted but what's there adds nothing and is a net negative especially for one POV who seemed to do very little but think about romantic interests and later another development I won't go into. It hurt my enjoyment because it made that character and perspective one dimensional. Luckily the page time for that was pretty limited. Secondly, while something is always happening to keep the pages turning, at points it starts to feel repetitive with little forward plot movement for the overall story. This is the kind.of pedestrian fantasy thing I was talking about. Like oh were going to a new location where the enemy won't find us. Ope betrayal guess we have to run again. Lastly, for a book named The Shadow Casket I wish it had been more important to this book and to the story. It might be important to the overall series eventually in 10 years or whatever when this is finished, but will I even care by then? The sections (few though they are) are really cool and interesting, but I needed and wanted more.
Overall still really enjoyed this book and series. One thing I do need to give it credit for is having a really good complex and layered villain POV. Those chapters added a lot to this book and kept it in 4 star territory at parts when it was flagging a bit. Those chapters also added horror elements which were great and unexpected. Add to that the last 150.pages or so being absolute gasoline in terms of a climax I'm definitely going to be coming back for more. Let's just maybe get the next one a bit sooner eh Chris Wooding?