David Gemmell
Paperback | Pages: 326 pages Rating: 4.18 | 4473 Users | 134 Reviews
Mention Books Toward Wolf in Shadow (Jon Shannow #1)
| Original Title: | Wolf in Shadow |
| ISBN: | 0099534703 (ISBN13: 9780099534709) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Jon Shannow #1, Sipstrassi #5 |
Representaion To Books Wolf in Shadow (Jon Shannow #1)
Hmmm.First off I should declare myself as a card carrying long term fan of David Gemmell's work. I've read a dozen or so of his books and variously loved or very much liked them.
Technically I like all the components of this book. It's post apocalyptic, its gunslinger-y.
I'm not sure why the book didn't really work for me. Possibly it's having read Blood Song, Fool's Assassin, and The Name of the Wind back to back, setting me up for a book-hangover of epic proportions.
Many of my Goodreads friends have read Wolf in Shadow and they give it a remarkably high 4.41 average!
And yet...
The book reminded me of The Gunslinger by Stephen King to some degree and came out only a few years after that work (which I loved). For some reason though I kept getting a Michael Moorcock vibe off this story - the writing and the density of new ideas seemed Moorcockian to me. I like Moorcock - though perhaps less than I did 30 years ago when I really loved his work.
So, I'm still saying it was like these things I like but...
OK a list:
i) It's a short book with a hell of a lot going on. Strange new encounters rush at you. A lot of it felt quite brief without enough flesh on the bones to be real.
ii) Lots of the communication between the major characters is by magic and that makes the world feel small to me and the distances arbitrary. The big bad and the big good basically teleport/hologram in for a chat whenever they feel like it and ... I don't like it. It feels random and removes tension.
iii) I don't like the magic. The Sipstrassi stones ... I just don't buy into it, the ESPers (hate that name)
Gah. I don't know. It just didn't gel for me.
There were some things I did like - Gemmell's too good a writer for it all to be miss. So 3* is how I feel about it.
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Declare Epithetical Books Wolf in Shadow (Jon Shannow #1)
| Title | : | Wolf in Shadow (Jon Shannow #1) |
| Author | : | David Gemmell |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 326 pages |
| Published | : | December 10th 1987 by Arrow (first published 1987) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Apocalyptic. Post Apocalyptic |
Rating Epithetical Books Wolf in Shadow (Jon Shannow #1)
Ratings: 4.18 From 4473 Users | 134 ReviewsCritique Epithetical Books Wolf in Shadow (Jon Shannow #1)
An excellent story of good vs evil after Armageddon comes.Wolf in Shadow is David Gemmell's most effective exploration of the persistent western influence found in much of his work. This is the story of post-apocalyptic gunslinger Jon Shannow, dubbed the Jerusalem Man due to his obsessive quest for the now fabled biblical city where he imagines he will find peace after a lifetime of violence, Shannow ranges across a future earth where geological upheaval has reversed the position of the world's oceans. Shannow is a gun for hire isolated by his fearsome
"What will you do now?""I'll find the Ark and then Abaddon.""And you will try to kill him?""Yes, God willing.""How can you mention God in the same breath as murder?""Don't preach at me, woman," he snapped. "This is not Sanctuary, where your magic fills a man's mind with flowers and love. This is the world, the real world-violent and uncertain. Abaddon is an obscenity to both God and man. Murder? You cannot murder vermin, Ruth. He has forsaken all rights to mercy.""Vengeance is mine, saith the
Enjoyable, but not as much as I remember enjoying it first time around. Parts of it felt deeply silly.
You can read my review here: http://embracingmybooks.blogspot.be/2...
David Gemmell comes up trumps again with WOLF IN SHADOW, the first of his Jon Shannow trilogy. These books are slightly set apart from the rest of his writing because they're post-apocalyptic science fiction efforts rather than straightforward fantasy.Fans, however, will quickly realise that it's business as usual for the author, with flawed heroes wandering through a dangerous countryside and facing insurmountable odds in their quests for justice. This time around, the action is mainly inspired
Hmmm.First off I should declare myself as a card carrying long term fan of David Gemmell's work. I've read a dozen or so of his books and variously loved or very much liked them. Technically I like all the components of this book. It's post apocalyptic, its gunslinger-y. I'm not sure why the book didn't really work for me. Possibly it's having read Blood Song, Fool's Assassin, and The Name of the Wind back to back, setting me up for a book-hangover of epic proportions.Many of my Goodreads
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