Play of Shadows
By Sebastien de CastellPublisher Description
Swordplay, magic, intrigue and friendships stronger than iron: the first volume in the new swashbuckling fantasy series set in the universe of THE GREATCOATS.
Damelas Chademantaigne picked a poor night to flee a judicial duel.
He has precious little hope of escaping the wrath of the Vixen, the most feared duellist in the entire city, until he stumbles through the stage doors of the magnificent Operato Belleza and tricks his way into the company of actors. An archaic law provides a temporary respite from his troubles - until one night a ghostly voice in his head causes Damelas to fumble his lines, inadvertently blurting out a dreadful truth: the city's most legendary hero may actually be a traitor and a brutal murderer.
With only the help of his boisterous and lusty friend Bereto, a beautiful assassin whose target may well be Damelas himself, and a company of misfit actors who'd just as soon see him dead, this failed grandson of two Greatcoats must somehow find within himself the courage to dig up long-buried truths before a ruthless band of bravos known as the Iron Orchids come for his head.
Oh, and there's still that matter of the Vixen waiting to duel him . . .
Readers love Play of Shadows!
'De Castell's masterful writing weaves an impressive tale with a fantastic plot, intriguing characters, and wondrous storybuilding. Another masterpiece' - 5* reader review
'If you are looking for a swashbuckling adventure with a dash of romance and a leaven of humour, then go out and get a copy of this book' - 5* reader review
'Everything that you come to expect from a Greatcoats world book - swashbuckling, emotional rollercoaster, a hero to root for and a great cast of characters some you will love and some you will hate' - 5* reader review
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities22 Reviews
Sara
Created 10 days agoAbby⚔️Book World📚🐉
Created about 1 month ago
“I really enjoyed this, this was a great come back to the greatcoats world. I always enjoy the characters that Castell creates. And these characters were no exception. They are flawed but charming and well developed. As always he has created great relationships filled with banter and wit.
It's hard to say what I loved about the plot without spoilers but I do think this is an unique book in ways and the way the story pieces together was incredible.
This partly feels like a love letter to theatre. Parts of this story are told through their performances and honestly I loved it. What I will say is its set in a renaissance time period and most our characters are actors. Alot of the dialogue comes across melodramatic. To me this added to the books charm but I can see how that wouldn't work for everyone.
His fight scenes and battles are fantastic. I adore anything musketeer inspired. I don't know what it is about it but I love it and like the greatcoats series I just adored that vine.
My one critic is I think the first half was a bit slow. Now I love slow books but it kind of felt like we going round in circles for a while there.”
JennaBoBenna
Created 3 months agoMeg
Created 3 months ago
“This was an interesting reading experience for me. I’ve never read a book by this author and I really enjoyed his prose. I will be picking up his books in the future. That being said, I’m not that interested in theater and I struggled at points to continue with the story. Ultimately it was engaging enough and I liked the mc enough to continue. I can’t wait to see what this author can do when I’m actually interested in the storyline. 😅”BlueWater2447
Created 3 months ago
About Sebastien de Castell
Sebastien de Castell had just finished a degree in Archaeology when he started work on his first dig. Four hours later he realised how much he actually hated archaeology and left to pursue a very focused career as a musician, ombudsman, interaction designer, fight choreographer, teacher, project manager, actor and product strategist. His only defence against the charge of unbridled dilettantism is that he genuinely likes doing these things and that, in one way or another, each of these fields plays a role in his writing. He sternly resists the accusation of being a Renaissance Man in the hopes that more people will label him that way.
Sebastien's acclaimed swashbuckling fantasy series The Greatcoats was shortlisted for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy. the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut, the Prix Imaginales for Best Foreign Work and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His YA fantasy series Spellslinger was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and is published in more than a dozen languages.
Sebastien lives in Vancouver, Canada with his lovely wife and two belligerent cats.
Other books by Sebastien de Castell
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