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Shadows Fall

Shadows Fall

List Price: $5.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Something Green This Way Comes
Review: Shadow's Fall is one of those books that defines genre labeling, so it often gets overlooked by mainstream readers. It's a neat little story, combining elements of a modern fantasy, which reminded me of a meeting between Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes", and Baum's "Oz" stories. The mythical universe of Shadow's Fall comes alive in this book and the reader experiences the best feeling that one could have when reading such a book: you wish you could go there and visit the place for yourself. Higher praise is simply not possible. Green is better known for his fun, romping Deathstalker stories, but this one shows that the author can branch out and write a less traditional story (although in one of the Deathstalker books, there's a couple of chapters which reminded me of Shadow's Fall). All in all, a good story and highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This book is for anyone who never wanted the story to end.
Review: SHADOWS FALL begins as that little string hanging from your sweater. You tug, and pull, trying to find the source, and before you know it, you have a whole sweater unraveled in your grasp. You didn't expect a heap of unraveled sweater, just as you won't expect the twists and turns Green takes you on in his novel. SHADOWS FALL is for the reader who still knows where all of his/her favorite childhood books are...who still tiptoes to that long-forgotten storage place and re-enacts old scenes with favorite toys. SHADOWS FALL is for the reader who ever believed in and still harbors some secret belief that there are Faerie in the world, that Father Time is alive and kicking, and that the imagined fantastics of humankind are as near or far as you would have them to be. Read this book with an open mind, not too many constraints with Time, or magical boundaries. Reading THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA is a good start. Be not deceived, however by the fantastical aspect of the book. There are enough modern day occurences which hit strikingly to home dealing with religious, astrological and even militant views of modern day society. SHADOWS FALL is a recommended 'good read' for those who have maintained a sense of fun yet fairness in the world. Enjoy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Shadows Fall is a must read!
Review: Shadows Fall is a fantastic combination of religion, fantasy, sci-fi, and literature. It is by far the best work of fiction I have ever read. A man returns to a town that is dazzling and full of mystery, only to find that it is in trouble. Green tells the story in a way that causes the reader to forget his or her world. I myself took ten months to read the book. It wasn't that it was boring, but that I didn't want it to end. Shadows Fall is a masterpiece and everyone should put it on their booklist

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Very engrosing, highly readable book!
Review: Shadows Fall is now rated easily among the top ten books of the Science Fiction/Science Fantasy category, partly because it melds both of them together in one book. It was an amazing story and Simon Green was able to give every character in the book a memorable personality that made you actually want to keep track of everything that happened to them at every moment. Definitely an amazing book, and an awesome talent!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Murder In the Shadows
Review: Shadows Fall is the first novel in a loosely connected set of urban fantasies. The town of Shadows Fall is "where dreams go to die. A place where nightmares end, and hope itself can rest ... You can find all sorts of things in Shadows Fall. There are doors that take you to anywhere ... Mostly, though, it's a town where people go to die. People, and other things."

In this novel, it is Carnival once again in Shadows Fall. Leonard Ash stands alone watching the people come and go. He has been dead, a revenant, for three years now, but he is still not quite ready to go through the Forever Door. He hasn't talked to the Mayor, Rhea Frazier, since his death and he takes the time to do so now, discussing various people, including Lucas DeFrenz, who was killed in a freak traffic accident and then came back possessed by the angel Michael, God's Assassin. As they are talking, Suzanne Dubois interrupts them with a message from Richard Erikson, the Sheriff, to come quickly. They find Lucas DeFrenz lying dead in Suzanne's shack. Someone has killed God's Assassin.

A few weeks later, James Hart returns to Shadows Fall after his mother and father have died in a car crash. He has been gone for twenty-five years and doesn't recognize anything. He watches the daily dogfight between World War I biplanes (the English pilot crashes and burns this time), walks down a Parisian street and then one out of the European Dark Ages, and finally sits down on a wooden bench in a park. There he meets Leonard Ash, tells him his story, and receives some answers to his many questions. When they go to a bar, the sheriff joins them and remembers Hart's parents, telling him that his parents were linked to some sort of prophecy concerning the destruction of the Forever Door and they had packed up and left shortly thereafter.

The sheriff recommends that Hart ask Old Father Time about the prophecy and his parents, but has to leave to quell a disturbance between overweight pixies and biker grizzly bears. Ash volunteers to accompany Hart to see Old Father Time and they cross the park to the Sarcophagus, converse with their dopplegangers just leaving the slab of stone, and then enter through a snowdome into a blizzard and hurry through the open door to get out of the swirling snow. Before reaching Time, they have to traverse through the Gallery of Bone, an unsettling experience in itself, and then pass Madelaine Kresh, Time's assistant. Time is currently a gaunt man in his late fifties or early sixties, dressed in Victorian finery. Old Father Time doesn't really explain the prophecy, but states that, since his return, Hart is at the heart of the matter. Hart also gets to meet Jack Fetch, a scarecrow with a carved turnip head, who has incredible strength and is fascinated by Hart, finally bowing to him.

Doctor Mirren performs autopsies on all seven victims -- to date -- and finds nothing helpful. When he tries to raise the spirit of the last victim, he receives more than he expected and barely gets rid of it. Something very powerful has ensured that the dead tell no tales.

Sean Morrison, resident bard, troublemaker and Sidhe groupie, visits Suzanne Dubois, seeking advice. He is thinking of asking the Unseeli Court, the rulers of Dark Faerie, to investigate the murders. While he is at Suzanne's shack, Lester Gold, an old hero from a canceled comic, drops by to get her advice as to how he can help. Suzanne suggests that the two team up to visit the Unseeli Court.

This novel is a mystery quest of sorts, with more twists and turns than a mountain goat path. After accepting the underlying premise, one begins to be curious about the ever expanding cast and the bouncing ball plot. Then one begins to wonder how all these threads are going to be reconciled. After that, the hook is set and one is committed to finishing the book. The story really starts rocking around the half way point and turns into an action adventure about three-quarters through.

In some ways, this story is the fantasy equivalent of Farmer's Riverworld. Somewhere/somewhen in Shadows Fall may be every character from every story that was ever told, published or filmed. The primal fears of the cavemen are probably wandering around the town right now!

Highly recommended for Green fans and anyone who likes an urban fantasy story with elements of a mystery quest during a bloody invasion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Murder In the Shadows
Review: Shadows Fall is the first novel in a loosely connected set of urban fantasies. The town of Shadows Fall is "where dreams go to die. A place where nightmares end, and hope itself can rest ... You can find all sorts of things in Shadows Fall. There are doors that take you to anywhere ... Mostly, though, it's a town where people go to die. People, and other things."

In this novel, it is Carnival once again in Shadows Fall. Leonard Ash stands alone watching the people come and go. He has been dead, a revenant, for three years now, but he is still not quite ready to go through the Forever Door. He hasn't talked to the Mayor, Rhea Frazier, since his death and he takes the time to do so now, discussing various people, including Lucas DeFrenz, who was killed in a freak traffic accident and then came back possessed by the angel Michael, God's Assassin. As they are talking, Suzanne Dubois interrupts them with a message from Richard Erikson, the Sheriff, to come quickly. They find Lucas DeFrenz lying dead in Suzanne's shack. Someone has killed God's Assassin.

A few weeks later, James Hart returns to Shadows Fall after his mother and father have died in a car crash. He has been gone for twenty-five years and doesn't recognize anything. He watches the daily dogfight between World War I biplanes (the English pilot crashes and burns this time), walks down a Parisian street and then one out of the European Dark Ages, and finally sits down on a wooden bench in a park. There he meets Leonard Ash, tells him his story, and receives some answers to his many questions. When they go to a bar, the sheriff joins them and remembers Hart's parents, telling him that his parents were linked to some sort of prophecy concerning the destruction of the Forever Door and they had packed up and left shortly thereafter.

The sheriff recommends that Hart ask Old Father Time about the prophecy and his parents, but has to leave to quell a disturbance between overweight pixies and biker grizzly bears. Ash volunteers to accompany Hart to see Old Father Time and they cross the park to the Sarcophagus, converse with their dopplegangers just leaving the slab of stone, and then enter through a snowdome into a blizzard and hurry through the open door to get out of the swirling snow. Before reaching Time, they have to traverse through the Gallery of Bone, an unsettling experience in itself, and then pass Madelaine Kresh, Time's assistant. Time is currently a gaunt man in his late fifties or early sixties, dressed in Victorian finery. Old Father Time doesn't really explain the prophecy, but states that, since his return, Hart is at the heart of the matter. Hart also gets to meet Jack Fetch, a scarecrow with a carved turnip head, who has incredible strength and is fascinated by Hart, finally bowing to him.

Doctor Mirren performs autopsies on all seven victims -- to date -- and finds nothing helpful. When he tries to raise the spirit of the last victim, he receives more than he expected and barely gets rid of it. Something very powerful has ensured that the dead tell no tales.

Sean Morrison, resident bard, troublemaker and Sidhe groupie, visits Suzanne Dubois, seeking advice. He is thinking of asking the Unseeli Court, the rulers of Dark Faerie, to investigate the murders. While he is at Suzanne's shack, Lester Gold, an old hero from a canceled comic, drops by to get her advice as to how he can help. Suzanne suggests that the two team up to visit the Unseeli Court.

This novel is a mystery quest of sorts, with more twists and turns than a mountain goat path. After accepting the underlying premise, one begins to be curious about the ever expanding cast and the bouncing ball plot. Then one begins to wonder how all these threads are going to be reconciled. After that, the hook is set and one is committed to finishing the book. The story really starts rocking around the half way point and turns into an action adventure about three-quarters through.

In some ways, this story is the fantasy equivalent of Farmer's Riverworld. Somewhere/somewhen in Shadows Fall may be every character from every story that was ever told, published or filmed. The primal fears of the cavemen are probably wandering around the town right now!

Highly recommended for Green fans and anyone who likes an urban fantasy story with elements of a mystery quest during a bloody invasion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A marvelous mix of satire and fantasy, this is a must read!
Review: Simon Green paints a glorious image of a town in which forgotten people go to die. Bringing back memories of such memorable characters as Bruin the Bear, the book entices the reader to engage in one's own day dreaming about the past. Not stopping there, he goes on to tell a tale of how such memories are corrupted, and brings together a tale of action and adventure with a most gratifying climax. A must read!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing!
Review: Simon R Green is a man who knows the longings of everyone who ever wished for a happy ending. The deeply touching childlike fantasy of a town where we find all our dreams that we thought lost is very powerful. His characters are well realised and no-one who reads the book will fail to relate to at least one of them. I liked Jack Fetch! Please make this the first of many!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderfully realised piece of fantasy
Review: Simon R Green is a man who knows the longings of everyone who ever wished for a happy ending. The deeply touching childlike fantasy of a town where we find all our dreams that we thought lost is very powerful. His characters are well realised and no-one who reads the book will fail to relate to at least one of them. I liked Jack Fetch! Please make this the first of many!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fantasy meets twisted reality in Shadows Fall
Review: Simon R. Green has certainly shown that the imagination knows no bounds. Shadows Fall, a fantasy novel about a town where dreams go to die, is so well-written and creates such a wonderful bond between the cast and the reader that I was almost irritated when the book ended, quite abruptly. The story touches all areas of science fiction and fantasy and I found myself lost in wonderment of how each of the book's characters would react in various situations. If you're at all a fan of stories such as The Dark Crystal or even Battlefield Earth, you'd appreciate Shadows Fall.


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