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In Othir, he was at the top of the food chain. An assassin beyond compare. A dark shadow in the night. But Caim left that life behind when he helped an empress claim her throne. And now his past has come calling again. Searching for the truth behind the murder and disappearance of his parents, Caim discovers a land in thrall to the Shadow. Haunted by temptations from the Other Side, he becomes mired in a war he does not want to fight. But there are some things a son of the Shadow cannot ignore, and some fights from which he can’t run. In this battle, all of Caim’s strength and skill won’t be enough. For none can resist the Shadow’s Lure . . .
- Sales Rank: #631749 in eBooks
- Published on: 2010-06-08
- Released on: 2010-06-08
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly
Sprunk's debut novel, filled with the clichés and conventions of heroic fantasy, is amateur in its originality. Caim is an assassin with a tragic and slightly mysterious background. Othir is Caim's adopted city, a city populated entirely by villains and victims. Betrayed by his colleagues, Caim is left with Josephine, the daughter of the man who was to be Caim's next victim, as an unwilling ally against hosts of conniving religious fanatics, conspirators, and evil rival assassins. Sprunk's prose is leaden and riddled with lumps of tedious exposition, his characters are prototypes of the genre, and even his setting is the usual sort of degenerate, decaying imperial city-with no attempt to distinguish his version of this established trope. The result is a journey through a tired plot, with nothing particular to reward the reader for the time invested.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Like many other assassin characters, Caim is an orphan. But he has a ghostlike companion, Kit, whom only he can hear and see, and an uncanny ability to manipulate shadows. Set in a kingdom where the religious are not so holy and the nobility are corrupt, Caim has no loyalties and few scruples. He reluctantly accepts a contract to assassinate a nobleman, only to find that someone else got there first. He and the nobleman's daughter, Josey, become an unlikely pair in the search for her father's killers and the people who set up Caim. The intrigue, action scenes, and ever-more-revealing character insights are masterfully woven together in a book the reader won't want to put down. Questions about the origin of Caim's shadow sorcery and Kit's identity are broadly touched upon but never fully revealed, leaving readers to wonder if there will be another book to tie up the loose pieces. Overall, a first-rate sword-and-sorcery tale, with intriguing characters, that moves at a quick pace. --Rebecca Gerber
Review
“The intrigue, action scenes, and ever-more-revealing character insights are masterfully woven together in a book the reader won’t want to put down.... A first-rate sword-and-sorcery tale, with intriguing characters, that moves at a fast pace.”
–Booklist
“I am a sucker for a great assassin story and Shadow's Son delivers. Lots of great action with some well-developed characters in a believable society made for a very fast and entertaining read…. [It] reminds me of Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy or David Gemmell.... Sprunk is now on my must read list. Great debut novel.”
–Speculative Book Review
"This addition to the sword-and-sorcery genre features both action and magic as well as a tale of unrequited love and unlikely lovers."
–Library Journal
“Any good sword and sorcery story worth its salt has strong writing in it's action scenes.... Shadow's Son delivers impeccably.... [It] never, ever, gets dull.... A shining beacon of the new crop of sword and sorcery novels.”
–SF Signal
“A fast-paced yet evocative narrative that keeps you turning those pages…. An action-packed and fun read."
–Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist
"We'll read [Sprunk's] stuff readily, every time. So should you.”
–Elitist Book Review
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Endearing characters i will meet again
By Brian D. Rogers
I love assassin books so Caim is my kind of character. The book as it moves along developed at a cinematic pace. Both Josey and Kit give our experienced knife wielder a fresh and fun supporting cast. Great villains that take the story and move it along brilliantly. Book two, here I come!
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Shadow's Son
By Roland
In my own private world the assassin with a heart of gold is almost as big a cliche as the similarly-inclined whore, and perhaps even more annoying than the poor wench. I have never been able to understand some people's infatuation with ruthless killers that end up saving the day while being very mean and bad-ass about it. Somehow it always rings false to me. However, I have a soft spot for newcomers, and so I decided to acquaint myself with Jon Sprunk and his debut novel, Shadow's Son.
Caim is an assassin with an appropriately tortured past, plying his trade in the corrupt city of Othir - capital of the Nemean Empire, ruled by the Church of the True Faith, after a coup that disposed of the last Emperor seventeen years ago. When a routinely-looking job goes wrong, and people begin to die left and right (that is, without Caim's help), he becomes entangled in the intrigues and ambitions of the nobility and the Church. His only allies are Kit - a mysterious spirit woman that only he could see and hear, who has been his companion since early childhood - and Josephine, daughter of his last target. Now the assassin has to fight not only for his life, but also for the girl he has been tied to, and the city he secretly loves. But to stay alive, Caim might be forced to call upon a power hidden deep inside him - one that he has spent his entire life trying to deny. The power of shadows.
Shadow's Son is a fast-paced action ride. Like most assassin fantasy novels out there, it could easily be put under the Young Adult flag, if it wasn't for the blood, gore and violence factor. The characters are clich... archetypes, their motivations simple and clearly stated in POVs and dalogues. The story is straightforward, and even though the plot is intrigues-ridden, it all really boils down to who is going to murder whom first. Sprunk's style of writing drags a little at the beginning, but the book soon finds its stride and becomes engrossing page-turner. The action scenes (mostly duels with swords and knives) are good, even if they couldn't compare to Scott Bakker's flowing descriptions or David Gemmell's dynamic sequences. However, as someone who has had the dubious honor of translating Richard A. Knaak' s game tie-ins in another language, I think I am qualified enough to say that Jon Sprunk's fighting scenes are among the more successful in the genre.
Where he fails though, is the world-building and history of his world. Although only a part of a series, Shadow's Son should have been able to give way more flesh to the setting, and to some recent events. We get no real feeling of the Empire, and even though certain on-going wars and exotic neighbors are mentioned, they never appear a second time and the reader is left hanging. Even Othir herself gives the impression of being comprised of one poor street, one rich street, a half-finished cathedral, an Evil Castle and Another Evil Castle. Nothing like the fleshed-out Luthadel from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn, or Scott Lynch's Camorr from The Lies of Locke Lamora. The real threat to the Empire is also just vaguely shown - the supernatural Shadow and its servants from the Other Side seem really interesting - but I guess it will play a bigger role in next installments. Then we have the Evil Chirch of Evil, which oppresses everyone and is at the root of all the characters' dramas EVER, but we never learn anything about the regime it replaces (supposedly it wasn't better), or even what the Chirch's dogmas are, beside the fact that it is pseudo-Christian and very corrupt. And we really should have more information, considering how crucial it is to the plot.
In the end, those are not book-ruiners though. True, Shadow's Son lacks depth of world and history, but it more than compensates with non-stop action and an Evil Conspiracy plot (if a bit simplistic one) of the type that makes you devour every page until you reach the inevitable convergence. I have to admit that Jon Sprunk's fascination with sodomy struck me as curiously morbid (or, as Kruppe would suggest, morbidly curious) - as I consider it a really strange city guard, whose members' first instinct when they catch an adolescent thief is to try and rape him - but that is not a book-ruiner either.
What ruined the book for me, was one scene toward the end, where Sprunk crossed the border between violent-but-simple-and-entertaining-assassin-fantasy, and unsettlingly-disgusting-and-"gritty"-showing-the-ugliness-of-the-world. I'm talking full on Terry Goodkind disgusting. I won't spoil the "fun" for anyone. Suffice to say I don't consider myself a prude, and in the right book this kind of development would be perfectly fine with me. Shadow's Son just isn't the right book for it. And I simply didn't like it as much after this scene.
That said, Jon Sprunk's first novel is engaging and light read, and one that leaves you wanting more. I don't expect that Shadow's Son will be among the best debuts I've read this year, but I will definitely read the sequel, when it's out. The author has undeniable potential, and if he develops his world and gives it a few historical layers - and if he could also refrain from gratuitous "grittiness" - this could turn out to be a truly great series.
7/10
P.S. There is a whore with a heart of gold in Shadow's Son. True story.
[...]
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
An Uneven Tale About Getting Even (Spoiler Free Review)
By Poisoned Blade
Shadow's Son is a short tale of revenge, romance, and action with some good scenes and some awkward ones loosely connected by clichés. Although the story is pretty good, it feels flat because the characters don't really have any ambition and just do what they are supposed to do. I'll try and explain what went wrong...
Story:
The story begins with Caim preparing to assassinate a perverted, gluttonous, black hearted, greedy, wicked, cruel nobleman from the rafters of his palace. Accompanying Caim is Kit, a mysterious girlish ghost. Things don't go as planned and Caim must improvise. After some action, Caim's next assignment gets him drawn into a power struggle between corrupt government officials. He ends up protecting a stunningly beautiful maiden with a noble birthright against some powerful enemies. The book is only about 250 pages and the story is fast paced. But, the characters are very stereotypical and their motivations are weak at times. It's as if the author wrote some plot points for a "good guy" assassin story and wasn't really sure how to get the characters from A to B to C to D... The story is a solid one and you can root for the good guys, if you don't think too hard.
Characters:
The characters are very cookie cutter and 1 dimensional because their motivations are never really explained. It's as if X character does evil things because he is supposed to be evil, and not X character does evil things because his ambitions and opportunities are forcing him to act in this manner.
Caim, the kind hearted assassin who only kills bad people and becomes the perfect gentleman when the situation calls for it.
Josie, the beautiful helpless young maiden with the mysterious past and noble bloodline.
Levictus, the evil sorcerer who does evil things because he is evil.
Ral, a rival assassin and a traitorous traitor who betrays for the sake of betrayal.
They're all pretty basic. The one exception is Kit. She's a mysterious ghost and is only visible to Caim. They're best friends and she is extremely useful on missions because she can pass through walls and scout ahead. Unfortunately, their relationship is never fully explained and she vanishes for most of the book without a reason, aside from, "She just does that sometimes." It would have been really interesting to read about how an assassin with magical shadow powers got paired up with a ghost.
The characters feel flat because they've all been plugged into "The hero fights the villain for the girl" formula.
If Caim was a ruthless cold blooded killer who had a mean streak, but we still cheered for him in spite of this, the story would be much more interesting. (Malus Darkblade Omnibus)
Or if Caim was put into situations where he had to murder, but felt his soul slipping away from him with every evil deed he would have our sympathy as we felt his pain. (Erevis Cale Trilogy)
In this story, if we turned Caim into a knight and gave him a sword and shield, he wouldn't do anything differently.
World:
The world can best be described as typical fantasy set in Medieval Europe, with a bit of shadow magic thrown in. Shadows can hide the caster from enemies, or can be used to summon items, or beasts. There's really nothing out of the ordinary here. Castles, farmland, nobles, a church... No elves, dragons, fantastic ancient ruins, etc... It's pretty basic. It would have been nice if there was something memorable about this world.
On the plus side, this book doesn't spend pages upon pages describing simple things like tables and chairs, so that's a good thing.
Writing Style:
The writing style of this book is hit or miss. Some scenes are very entertaining, the dialogue is good, the action is exciting...
But there are other times, when the prose awkwardly misfires.
"The snake threatened to squeeze him in two." - When has a snake ever cut someone in half?
The color red is described as "The color of blood flowing out of a lung wound."
The feeling of sitting in sewage water is described as "sitting in a giant raspberry pie." - Yeah, I know that feeling.
"She knew he was strong when she saw his thick corded muscular wrists." - Not shoulders, biceps, chest... but wrists? Have you ever gone to a gym and seen a guy with buffed wrists?! Ever?!
"Somehow happened," shows up quite a few times as well, which is the ultimate copout word. "And somehow the knight rescued the princess." Oh, I guess I need to figure this out, instead of the author. Ok, I'll get right on that.
So the story flows at a fast pace, but many of the descriptions and metaphors will have you stopping and thinking, "Wait... what?!"
Action:
There are plenty of fantasy action scenes and assassination attempts. Most of the fight scenes are good and flow well, but again, some are a bit awkward. If you know anything about fighting, martial arts, or anatomy, some of the actions, fighting techniques, and combat details won't make sense.
Maturity:
This would be a good young adult book because it's streamlined, simple, and straightforward, but there's lots of swearing in the book. There's also violence, gore, rape... So this limits the audience to late teen or adult.
Overall:
If you're looking for a fast paced tale about a 'good' assassin that you can skim, this is it. If you want complex characters, complex plots, intrigue, great action, high fantasy with elves and dragons, you're going to have to look elsewhere. But right now this book is only $2, so it's a bargain.
If you like assassin stories, check out the Erevis Cale Trilogy or the Twilight War Trilogy by Paul Kemp, the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks, or the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. If you like Vampire Assassins, read the Ulrika books set in the Warhammer Universe.
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