The follow up to Shadow Prowler. This sees Shadow Harold and his companions trying to take the key to Hrad Spein.

There's a lot happening along the way, with spies for The Master being found in all corners, and enemy forces being gathered to try and take the key from the group.

Quite a few surprises along the way showing how dangerous a quest they are on.

Shadow Chaser is the third book in the Jonah Stone, Son of Angels children's book series by Jerel Law. This novel is unapologetically Christian in nature and also in its hero’s resemblance to one Percy Jackson.  If you are either a follower of Jesus Christ or a lover of half-blood heroes then you might enjoy this YA story of modern day, angelic conflict and Godly messages.

 

The world of Son of Angels is basically the modern day.  In the preceding installments of the series, Mr. Law introduced Jonah Stone:  a teenager who is the son of a minister and unbeknownst to him a “Quarterling” because his mother is half angel, or a nephilim.  The revelation of his true nature is unbelievable to Jonah and so is his discovery that the earth is still the center of a great conflict between the angels of God, or Elohim, and the fallen angels of Satan, or Abaddon.  A conflict which is unknowingly raging around the world as these spiritual beings fight in a dimension encompassing our own.

 

Naturally, the discovery of another quarterling draws the attention of not only the “good” angels but also the “bad” angels, who wish to either turn Jonah to Abaddon or kill him.  Demons therefore begin to attack not only Jonah but his family and friends as well, so he - like all other quarterlings  - is encouraged by the angelic hosts to attend a special “school” in New York City, where he will be trained to defend himself from the constant attacks (both physical and spiritual) of these fallen angels. 

 

With that back story out of the way, we now turn to Shadow Chaser.

 

Jonah and his two siblings are safely ensconced in the Angel Academy for training. Jonah himself has been doing well, growing in his angelic powers and trying to cope with his newly discovered gift of prophecy, but he has a lot on his plate: not only is he still expected to master a “normal” education but an angelic one as well.  Plus, let us not forget that Jonah is still a teenager; one who seems especially hard hit by the onset of acne.  These teenage blemishes cause him both physical pain (they later turn into really painful sores) but also makes him the butt of everyone’s cafeteria joke and quickly turns our pizza face teenager into a social outcast.  But the fun doesn’t stop there because it is time for angelic testing, which means Jonah finds himself competing against a few other students who have become his “rivals” for best quarterling at the school.

 

The story that ensues from this setup is an engaging one.  Plagued by intense visions and actual pestilence, our young quarterling embarks on his own inner journey for understanding and peace, dismayed by the sickness that invades his body and the turmoil raging in his pubescent soul.  Soon, the story turns into a modern day (though watered down for 8-12 year olds) version of the Biblical story of Job, and Jonah has to decide whether to place his trust and faith in Elohim (God) or throw in his lot with Abaddon (Satan).  It is a life changing decision that our young hero faces.

 

After finishing this story, I have to admit that I liked Jonah. He reminded me a lot of Percy Jackson.  (Please remember imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.)  Our young quarterling is confused, dense to most everything around him, committed to his family and friends, and sincerely wants to do the right thing.  However, just like Percy, Jonah is having a hard time finding the right combination of youthful enthusiasm, godly ability, and hard-earned wisdom to actually make the correct decisions.   But while he may annoy a reader with his cluelessness, Jonah always comes through when he needs to and saves the day.  What else could anyone ask for in a YA hero? 

 

Outside of Jonah, however, I have to point out that this book had some issues. Issues which affected my ability to enjoy this very compelling story as much as I otherwise would have.  The three main problems are as follows:

 

1) The rhythm of the storytelling was a bit inconsistent.   We all know life is like a roller coaster:  big ups then big downs, but spaced between these highs and lowers are times of normalcy.  In Shadow Chaser, there never seemed to be any of those regular moments.  One minute Jonah would be having a huge fight with evil fallen angels then he would be over in a corner in the cafeteria having an emotional meltdown because his acne had gotten worse or his friends were making fun of him.  While I realize that is very teenage-like behavior, there was too much of this up and down behavior and not enough normalcy for my tastes.

 

2) There was no real mystery in this book.  One thing Rick Riordan did an amazing job of in Percy Jackson was to keep leading a reader around through repetitive quests while promising a big payoff; the payoff being the answer to a prophecy or the reveal of the “bad guy” or whatever.  Even when these reveals were not earthshattering, they still gave a reader a feeling of reward for reading yet another installment of Percy’s story.  In Shadow Chaser, there was no real mystery for Jonah and the Quarterlings to solve, since you already know that Abaddon is behind everything.

 

3) While the supernatural world of the angels of Elohim are mentioned numerous times throughout the book, a reader never learns much about them.  In fact, the angels are written in such a way that they seem much like any other teacher or military instruction in the real world and their otherworldly dimension just an invisible New York City.  I personally would have loved Mr. Law to have fleshed these divine creatures and their spiritual world out in all their supernatural glory, making me sit in silence as I read about the divine splendor of it all, but instead I found myself told over and over again that this person - who acted like and talked like any other person - was a divine and glorious angel.  That did not work for me.

 

All in all, this was an interesting book.  It leaned heavily upon the Christian Bible and little know sections of that work, and it was also unabashedly a morality play for a Christian YA audience.  However, Mr. Law added in enough action with quarterlings fighting fallen angels or quarterlings vs. quarterlings during their Angel Academy mid-term exams that things never got dull.  So, for someone looking for a Christian version of Percy Jackson, this is a good read, but I can see where it might not appeal to everyone.

 

Netgalley provided this book to me for free in return for an honest review.  The review above was not paid for or influenced in any way by any person, entity or organization, but is my own personal opinions.

I like dark fantasy and I can not lie. You other readers out there might deny the lure of a good dark fantasy but for many the dark fantasy is closer to reality. I know, that seems like an oxymoron. The downside of my love of dark fantasy is that I end up reading some pretty terrible novels, just because they are ‘darker’. A recent experience with another trilogy left me somewhat unwilling to try to read Alexey Pehov’s Shadow Prowler, but I got over that. I was too interested to see what a dark fantasy told in first person would be like. It is not often any fantasy is told in first person, let alone one that is dark. Also, I was curious to see what the Russian idea of a dark fantasy was. Alexey Pehov, if it isn’t obvious, is Russian. He books have done very well and have been translated into english now. I have had pretty good experiences reading European fantasy, like Markus Heitz, for example. As far as Shadow Prowler is concerned, well, I wasn’t astounded, but I had fun.

I would describe this novel as fantasy noir, like some forties crime noir novel, the likes of Captain Picard would get into. Or, a Mickey Spillane novel. The story is told through Master Thief Harold, I know, pretty lame name for a master thief. I feel that is part of the charm though. Harold lives in the ever gloomy, twisted city, Avendoom. Yes, doom is in the name, and it is not surprising considering a whole quarter of the city is cursed with ghosts and closed off to the living. Avendoom is like a medieval D.C., with just as much corruption and secrets, but without shutdowns. Not to mention a slight infestation of demons that seem to be growing in number, thanks to the return of the Nameless One, who of course is a prophesied evil. There are also goat people who very aren’t bright, but very strong and are very displeased with Harold. Avendoom is dangerous for anyone, but for Harold it is even more so, but he calls it home.

What is Harold’s place in all this? Well, he seems to be a part of the prophecy as well. No surprise there, right? After being tricked into a job that is really a setup, Harold is forced by the King to accept a job that will have him stealing a magical artifact for the salvation of Avendoom, or punishment for said job. Of course, the location of the artifact is hard to get to and is old and spooky, and is filled with deadly things that just keep getting deadlier as one goes further in. So, of course, Harold takes the job and off the adventure gets going, well, sort of. Shadow Prowler is the first book of the trilogy, Chronicles of Siala, and therefore is not a stand alone novel. Pehov also paces he story somewhat awkwardly. So, Harold’s big adventure is no where near being concluded at the end of the novel. In truth, he barely seems to get anywhere. 

While the novel moves fairly fast it does so through disjointed starts and stops. Harold is informed early on what is happening, I am trying to not give anything away here, but spends some time performing other tasks other than leave the city to find this magical artifact. While all the actions taken are in preparation for this, it does seem a little bogged down. In the end I thought this was a good thing, because the charm of this book is Harold, and the cast of characters he gets to deal with. Harold has a master, who is something of a religious man and a drinker, because of course thievery, religion and alcohol have a special relationship. There is the group of hard men Harold gets put in with by the King’s orders to help him make it to the artifact. They are all blase about killing and all very efficient at it and all with a sense of humor concerning their trade. Not to mention a couple elf like people who include a cold woman that Harold seems to have a thing for. Of course, I cannot forget to mention Goblin, the comic relief. Goblin is a jester that wraps wit and wisdom up with silly pranks and general buffoonery. He insists on following Harold on his perilous journey and not being of much help. His favorite thing to do is annoy those around him, most of all Harold, but often some help is hiding within his actions.

As I said before, I was not impressed, but I had a lot of fun. Pehov, perhaps because of writing in first person, captures a similar feeling to other dark fantasy authors, while not copying them outright. This novel ‘felt’ like older R.A. Salvatore novels, or Glenn Cook’s The Black Company. Pehov is frequently compared to Michael Moorcock, who wrote the Elric books. I wouldn’t go that far, however, Moorcock was pretty surreal, and Pehov’s writing is very grounded in a dirty, dangerous world. While the pace of the novel is offbeat, it still moves well, with plenty of breaks in the tension, thanks to characters like Goblin. While not trying to give anything away, there is one very well written battle scene that a surrealist like Moorcock couldn’t have pulled off. That is why I think the comparison of Pehov to Cook is more reasonable. 

This novel is not for everyone. If you are not a fan of dark fantasy, pass this up. If you are a fan of dark fantasy, please read it, but remember not to get your expectations up to high. While is might have an over abundance of cliches, this is a pretty fun novel read. It is an easy read, something to burn through quickly without much thought and just enjoy. It is the equivalent of a popcorn crunching summer movie, not too much depth, but enough to entertain. It is a solid novel that is not that original in conception, but innovative in it’s delivery. I had enough fun that I will be reading the second novel, Shadow Chaser, and watching Mr. Pehov’s career develop. 

Jonah reminds me of Job. Really, when you read this book, you will quickly relate Jonah's life with that of the Biblical Job.

 

Jonah is a quarterling, a child who is descended from a human and an angel. He is constantly being tested. The suffering the character faces can be difficult for the reader. This is the third in the series, and the hardest to read. I've grown to like these characters. It's tough to see them suffer through the various trials heaped upon them.

 

This is the best book in the series so far, Each book is better. Jerel Law has found a wonderful way to explain faith to young readers.

As with the first book, Shadow Prowler, I was enchanted with this tale because it is not your typical epic fantasy. The Elves are brutal and none too pretty. The goblin is petite, ridiculous, and cunning. The humans, especially the talents band of Wild Hearts, are a mix of deadly and horribly vulnerable. Ogres, first born children of the world, seek domination and will not be easily turned back. Harald has been sucked into this affair and doubly bound to see it through. In this particular installment, a theft of a key object is required.

While the first book basically had a single female character, Miralisa the elfin princess, the second book features a second female character (a naughty vixen who may be the death of part of the party). There are a handful of other very minor female characters…….but, yeah. Many, many males, 2 ladies. But the ladies absolutely kick ass – and that only makes me wish there were more of them.