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cris_m 's review for:
Shadow of the Conqueror
by Shad M. Brooks
Alright, I’ll try not to rant but I make no promises not to rage about this book. For an in-depth review check out UTT's video on Shadow of the Conqueror.
First of all, its premise - an aged old tyrant, repentant of his ways seeks and finds redemption - could be a great story if executed well. Was this executed well? NOOOOOO! Instead what I got was an aged old pedo rapist tyrant who is sick of being old and impotent (in more ways than one because omfg his ability to obtain an erection is like a plot B in this story, judging by how often it’s mentioned) decides to end his life in the most convoluted way possible but instead the Light decides to make him young again and grant him superpowers for having some mild-vague-barely-there regret. He takes this as a sign that he should start playing vigilante by brutally murdering any wrong-doer, sometimes with no prior proof. It’s like any problem he sees, he tries to solve through murder or maiming.
The book’s biggest problem is that the author loves his MC and his world-building too much. Every time Daylen does anything related to his powers, even if it’s supposed to be an action-filled fight, everything is put on pause for a physics lesson. It effectively kills any momentum in the story, pun intended. Also, if you took a shot every time someone gasped in shock and awe at something Daylen did, you’d be comatose halfway into the book.
Nothing in this book is thought through. The author contradicts his own thesis at every step and misuses his own concepts. Here I’m referring mostly to the whole inner light doesn’t equate to goodness idea. Honestly, I’d have loved it if light was like a natural resource/human need like water and air. It would have tied so much better with the way people become Shades. It would also have worked better with how he got his powers without taking any vows or doing any vigil. Instead, it’s a measure of someone’s confidence in their actions, so a murderer who is convinced he’s doing the right thing by killing has a brighter light than a guy stealing to feed his family. And right after he explains this to us, he promptly starts using it as a tool to determine who should be killed and who should be spared. Why does he think he should be judge and jury? And how does this fit in with his whole "I'm a changed man and I'll try to live a better life"? He's doing the exact thing he did as a dictator: excusing any means for an end. He's not changed, he's not better, he's the same bad guy, only now the Light has validated his life choices by making him young and giving him superpowers.
I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that this book’s/author’s view on women is disturbing. The only women we meet are either being SAed, have been SAed, are shamed for wanting to have sex or are dedicated to being wives and mothers. There isn’t a single woman with speaking lines in this book that falls out of these categories. Additionally, it’s implied that women should keep their rape babies and that motherhood is the only way a woman can be truly fulfilled. I don’t need to explain to anyone why this is wrong on so many levels.
To close this out, I also have to point out the one thing that I thought was kind of neat was that the way their world worked made me think that they were living inside a black hole. Unfortunately, that was it. There are some interesting nuggets of world-building buried in the book, but they never got polished into a finished product.
Because I think I've already spent too much time on this book, I'll end my final thoughts here. This book didn't work for me and is a cautionary tale for authors who love their MCs too much.
First of all, its premise - an aged old tyrant, repentant of his ways seeks and finds redemption - could be a great story if executed well. Was this executed well? NOOOOOO! Instead what I got was an aged old pedo rapist tyrant who is sick of being old and impotent (in more ways than one because omfg his ability to obtain an erection is like a plot B in this story, judging by how often it’s mentioned) decides to end his life in the most convoluted way possible but instead the Light decides to make him young again and grant him superpowers for having some mild-vague-barely-there regret. He takes this as a sign that he should start playing vigilante by brutally murdering any wrong-doer, sometimes with no prior proof. It’s like any problem he sees, he tries to solve through murder or maiming.
The book’s biggest problem is that the author loves his MC and his world-building too much. Every time Daylen does anything related to his powers, even if it’s supposed to be an action-filled fight, everything is put on pause for a physics lesson. It effectively kills any momentum in the story, pun intended. Also, if you took a shot every time someone gasped in shock and awe at something Daylen did, you’d be comatose halfway into the book.
Nothing in this book is thought through. The author contradicts his own thesis at every step and misuses his own concepts. Here I’m referring mostly to the whole inner light doesn’t equate to goodness idea. Honestly, I’d have loved it if light was like a natural resource/human need like water and air. It would have tied so much better with the way people become Shades. It would also have worked better with how he got his powers without taking any vows or doing any vigil. Instead, it’s a measure of someone’s confidence in their actions, so a murderer who is convinced he’s doing the right thing by killing has a brighter light than a guy stealing to feed his family. And right after he explains this to us, he promptly starts using it as a tool to determine who should be killed and who should be spared. Why does he think he should be judge and jury? And how does this fit in with his whole "I'm a changed man and I'll try to live a better life"? He's doing the exact thing he did as a dictator: excusing any means for an end. He's not changed, he's not better, he's the same bad guy, only now the Light has validated his life choices by making him young and giving him superpowers.
I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that this book’s/author’s view on women is disturbing. The only women we meet are either being SAed, have been SAed, are shamed for wanting to have sex or are dedicated to being wives and mothers. There isn’t a single woman with speaking lines in this book that falls out of these categories. Additionally, it’s implied that women should keep their rape babies and that motherhood is the only way a woman can be truly fulfilled. I don’t need to explain to anyone why this is wrong on so many levels.
To close this out, I also have to point out the one thing that I thought was kind of neat was that the way their world worked made me think that they were living inside a black hole. Unfortunately, that was it. There are some interesting nuggets of world-building buried in the book, but they never got polished into a finished product.
Because I think I've already spent too much time on this book, I'll end my final thoughts here. This book didn't work for me and is a cautionary tale for authors who love their MCs too much.