A Shadow All of Light
A Novel
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A good thief barters in goods. A great one deals in shadows.
A Shadow all of Light is a stylish, elegant, episodic fantasy novel by World Fantasy Award–winning author and former poet laureate Fred Chappell.
This stylish, episodic fantasy novel is for fans of epic fantasies and heists. The tale follows the exploits of Falco, a young man from the country, who arrives in the port city of Tardocco with the ambition of becoming an apprentice to a master shadow thief. Maestro Astolfo, whose mysterious powers of observation would rival those of Sherlock Holmes, sees Falco's potential and puts him through a grueling series of physical lessons and intellectual tests.
Falco's adventures coalesce into one overarching story of con men, monsters, ingenious detection, pirates, and the King of Cats. A wry humor leavens this fantastical concoction, and the style is as rich and textured as one would hope for from Chappell, a distinguished poet as well as a World Fantasy Award–winning author.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Poet and novelist Chappell (Dagon) spins the delightful picaresque tale of Falco, apprentice to Maestro Astolfo in the shadow trade in the Italianate fantasy city of Tardocco. Here, shadows are stolen, bought, and sold, and a person can surrender their shadow and don a different one for a special purpose. Astolfo is a master of the business equal parts thief, scholar, magician, and detective and under his tutelage and that of his henchman, Mutano, Falco grows from "a bumpkin trying on the airs of a town bravo" to a shadow adept over the course of a series of episodic adventures. The lush world of Tardocco is full of imaginative details, such as plants that feed on shadows and a gifted dancer whose performance is enhanced by her shadowlessness. Chappell has a deft touch for comedy and for capers, and his witty, elegant prose shows a poet's deep love for words: bruises are "black as onyx and purple as sunset" and a gathering of shadows is "a coterie of umbrae." The only disappointment is the predominantly male cast, with few significant female characters.
