I’ve worked with authors Jason Russell and A.S. Charly before, but as an author submitting stories to a publisher, namely Starry Eyed Press. I’ve also read and reviewed books they have previously written. Since I believe one good turn deserves another (and I hope they’ll review some of the stuff I didn’t write for them), I decided to buy and review their latest offering In Shadow Spawned: The Shattered Throne Sequence Book One

It’s available from Amazon in Hardcover, paperback, and Kindle formats. I chose the latter for affordability and instant access.

NOTE: There are some spoilers in my review so keep that in mind before continuing.

The story takes place in the mythical realm of Delandaar, an ancient time of Kings and Empires which also includes wielders of something called Glyphs. These are conceptual objects that existed before the first human languages and adepts can learn to manipulate the power of their meaning.

The novel opens with one such practitioner, Daks, in pursuit of someone or something that has attempted to assassinate his King. He fails to catch it, but whatever force committed the deed is not an isolated occurrence. Other mysterious and terrible events have been happening across the countryside. Those activities spur not only Daks, but a number of other people and groups into the adventures we see in this novel.

Although no group or nation took credit for trying to kill the king, there are those who suspect a rival nation of making the attempt. Thus, a covert plot takes place in hiring two mercenaries to murder that neighboring kingdom’s liege. They end up on a very different path.

An apothecary’s apprentice and her protector have been sent on a quest to a lakeside city to acquire rare materials thought to heal those afflicted by the evil afoot in the land.

Daks and his party journey to the haven of the Vale Allegiant, the order he briefly studied with, to seek the aid of his masters.

Working alongside all this is the resurrection of what you might call a “lesser dragon,” one who had met its death in ages past. He owes a debt of vengeance against the humans who had killed him so long ago and means to fulfill his desire by slaughtering everyone he encounters.

The chapters in the novel are fairly short, maybe a few pages long each, and the action shifts from one group to another and then another very rapidly. It took me a while to figure out who was who and to orient myself to what was happening.

The writing was excellent, the best I’ve seen from Russell and Charly to date. The world building was compelling with details that presented a crisp and vivid experience of characters and environment.

Yes, it was a basic feudal setting for the most part, cities, towns, rural areas, wilderness, and even a castle stronghold. The Vale Allegiant provided the, I want to call them “Jedis” rather than wizards, but essentially the “magical” element of the story.

In fact, Daks reminded me of a sort of Luke Skywalker who, upon discovering that the Jedi Council was destroyed by a powerful insider, attempts to complete the dying request of his master in pursuing a far more experienced and powerful adept, the one who betrayed and murdered them all.

No, he isn’t revealed to be Daks’ father.

I don’t say this as a criticism. It’s more like recognizing an archetypal story element that has a very famous example.

For most of the book, the different groups seem to have little or nothing to do with each other, but in the final act, they all, if not come together, align in the common task of overcoming a great evil.

If I have any complaint, it’s that everything seemed to resolve into too neat and tidy a package. I expected a longer struggle between Daks and the master, perhaps one that extended across more than one book. One the other hand, the battle with the dragon was excellent and I enjoyed the reveal of what brought him back to life and what caused the emergence of other sinister forces as well.

There was some court intrigue that played in the background which was also concluded by the end of the novel. All would have been well, too well for our heroes in the final chapters if a single unexpected event hadn’t occurred on the last page. That one surprised me.

I did something I don’t often do. I gave In Shadow Spawned: The Shattered Throne Sequence Book One five stars on both Amazon and Goodreads. I was privileged to be the first person on both platforms to review the novel.

As a bonus, my ten-year-old-granddaughter commandeered my Kindle Fire and read about half to two-thirds of the book saying it was very good. Various things diverted her from finishing, not the least of which is my reading to her from my own epic fantasy novel (I’m still polishing it) which she also likes (so far) a great deal.

In physical form, the book weighs in at 451 pages, but it seemed shorter than that to me. It’s a quick read, in spite of the sophisticated use of language. I did feel that the authors could have pumped up the suspense even more by providing our heroes with a few additional reverses and obstacles, particularly Daks. Beyond that, there were a few editing issues, but those are hardly worth mentioning.

All that said, if you are a fan of fantasy, swordplay, dragons, and mystical conflicts, you’ll do well to buy and read this book.