3.0
Shadows
ByPublisher Description
A compelling and inventive novel set in a world where science and magic are at odds, by Robin McKinley, the Newbery-winning author of The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword, as well as the classic fantasy titles Beauty, Chalice, Spindle’s End, Pegasus and Sunshine
Maggie knows something’s off about Val, her mom’s new husband. Val is from Oldworld, where they still use magic, and he won’t have any tech in his office-shed behind the house. But—more importantly—what are the huge, horrible, jagged, jumpy shadows following him around? Magic is illegal in Newworld, which is all about science. The magic-carrying gene was disabled two generations ago, back when Maggie’s great-grandmother was a notable magician. But that was a long time ago.
Then Maggie meets Casimir, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen. He’s from Oldworld too—and he’s heard of Maggie’s stepfather, and has a guess about Val’s shadows. Maggie doesn’t want to know . . . until earth-shattering events force her to depend on Val and his shadows. And perhaps on her own heritage.
In this dangerously unstable world, neither science nor magic has the necessary answers, but a truce between them is impossible. And although the two are supposed to be incompatible, Maggie’s discovering the world will need both to survive.
“A delightful read.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Bound to appeal.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Maggie knows something’s off about Val, her mom’s new husband. Val is from Oldworld, where they still use magic, and he won’t have any tech in his office-shed behind the house. But—more importantly—what are the huge, horrible, jagged, jumpy shadows following him around? Magic is illegal in Newworld, which is all about science. The magic-carrying gene was disabled two generations ago, back when Maggie’s great-grandmother was a notable magician. But that was a long time ago.
Then Maggie meets Casimir, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen. He’s from Oldworld too—and he’s heard of Maggie’s stepfather, and has a guess about Val’s shadows. Maggie doesn’t want to know . . . until earth-shattering events force her to depend on Val and his shadows. And perhaps on her own heritage.
In this dangerously unstable world, neither science nor magic has the necessary answers, but a truce between them is impossible. And although the two are supposed to be incompatible, Maggie’s discovering the world will need both to survive.
“A delightful read.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Bound to appeal.”
—Kirkus Reviews
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesShadows Reviews
3.0
Desiree Hicks
Created about 1 month agoShare
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Bridget
Created 2 months agoShare
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“I really loved Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Shadows (unrelated) was a good audiobook. I enjoyed the dogs and there was a Greyhound :)”
Rachel
Created 3 months agoShare
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“Another great Robin McKinley fantasy book; this one is more contemporary, and the magic system is cool. Would like to read more about these characters!”
Gumonyershoe
Created 8 months agoShare
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“Robin McKinley has long been one of my favorite authors. I recently was thinking I hadn’t read anything of hers in a long time so I looked to see what she had that I hadn’t read.
This was a nice, 1st person book. It’s kind of futuristic, but not really. “Real world” aspects are there as well as sci-fi and magical.
Very fast paced book. The whole thing is over like 3 days. Nice read. Yet again Robin McKinley put out a great story.”
Brennan Jennings
Created 9 months agoShare
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“Overall score: 3.5/5
Impressions: This is the second Robin McKinley book I’ve read and my thoughts on both were pretty similar. Summarized quickly: vibes>plot. McKinley (at least in this book and in ‘Sunshine’) seems to have a tendency to write books where the plot very often feels like an afterthought to the worldbuilding. This isn’t to say that the plots of her books are bad—they aren’t. They just don’t ever feel like the real focus of the story. Some books are plot driven, some are character driven, and McKinley’s are world driven.
The world of ‘Shadows’ is one in which technology and magic are struggling to coexist. The tension between the two was really interesting although not quite as engaging as the world of ‘Sunshine’. Ditto for the plot and human characters. All good, just not spectacular. The best part of ‘Shadows’ is definitely the motley crew of critter sidekicks (predominantly rescue animals). They’re all delightful, and, slight spoiler here for anyone who may be worried, all make it out okay.
However, there were a few clear issues with the plot and world. The main character’s romance seems to happen out of nowhere, and generally the story kind of feels like nothing happens for most of the book until everything happens all at once right at the end. I’m not sure if McKinley had ever been planning a sequel for this one, but it definitely ends in a way that really only works for a series. I don’t mind open endings, but this didn’t feel open, it felt unresolved.
As far as the world issues go, the big problem here was that the inclusion of certain elements seemed to be at odds with the way the world was set up. For example, while Newworld is probably America and Farworld is probably Asia, calling it Farworld and then mentioning Japan explicitly was strange. Especially considering the characters from Oldworld (Europe) all come from made up countries (I’m afraid I can’t remember their names exactly, but they all sound vaguely eastern European). Why make up new names for the continents and create new countries only to include ONE real one? Nitpicky, I know, but when worldbuilding is such a focus, you really notice these things.
Tarot Card Drawn: N/A—ebook so no tarot bookmark necessary
Song: will add later.”
About Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley (www.robinmckinley.com and robinmckinleysblog.com) has won various awards and citations for her writing, including the Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown and a Newbery Honor for The Blue Sword, both about the magical country of Damar. Her other books include Chalice; Dragonhaven; two novel-length retellings of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and Rose Daughter; Deerskin, which was inspired by the Perrault fairy tale Donkeyskin; a retelling of the Robin Hood legend, The Outlaws of Sherwood; Spindle’s End, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty; and two volumes of Tales of Elemental Spirits, Fire and Water (with Peter Dickinson). Her Imaginary Lands won the World Fantasy Award for best anthology and her novel Sunshine won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature.
Robin lives in England with her husband, the English writer Peter Dickinson, two hellhounds, a hellterror, an 1897 Steinway upright, and too many rosebushes.
Robin lives in England with her husband, the English writer Peter Dickinson, two hellhounds, a hellterror, an 1897 Steinway upright, and too many rosebushes.
Other books by Robin McKinley
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