The Second Sons : 3 : Lord of the Shadows product reviews

"You need momentous acts to mark momentous occasions"

With authors like this on the market, I am shocked that I have overlooked the Fantasy genre as a source of mental exercise. There is a wealth of talent out there, writing some astounding stories, weaving alterante worlds out of wishes and dreams, science and magic. Jennifer Fallon is amongst these new oracles.

The characters are well developed and have a well-founded history from the previous 2 volumes (which I am simply DYING to find copies of and read) and it shows in this, the climax of the trilogy. Though this book can be read as a stand-alone, it draws on a knowledge of 'the past' provided by the previous volumes. However, it is so well covered throughout, at key points of retrospection and conspiratorial dialog, that the story suffers only slightly for lack of reading them.

I found myself taking every opportunity to stick my nose back between the pages and absorb a few more moments of a history that never happened, but seems as real to me as any other book I have read, non-fiction included. She's good, darned good!

The thing that most drew me to this story was the lack of any overt fantasy really. No magic, no hyper-advanced technology made commonplace, no strange aliens... just people, being people. Devious, selfish, thoughtful, insightful, powerful and powerless, the high-born and the low-born, the luxurious rich and the hard-working poor... a powerful reflection of today's world as seen through a far distant mirror.

Overall, another great read. I sincerely hope to have the chance to read other volumes in this series. It would be good to add them to this list.