Lord of the Shadows

by Jennifer Fallon

Book Overview

Darkness threatens Ranadon again in the form of an eclipse. The Goddess wants to give the people of Ranadon a sign--and only Dirk Provin can interpret it. To do so, Dirk has systematically betrayed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 055358670X
• ISBN13: 9780553586701
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Spectra Books
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.3" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

I Would Love to see a Sequel

This entire series was excellent. It was filled with twists and turns and the characters stay with you. I also loved that brains were the main weapon for the hero. Bravo Jennifer Fallon.

Great Series

I love all of Jennifer Fallon's books, I have read everything she has written and I love how they all intertwine. Some information you don't get in one series and you find explanations in a different Series. I am half through the last book of hers called Harshini which is also great. I will miss her writing when I move on to read something else. If you like Scifi you will love this.

Lord of the Shadows

I was tempted to give this one four stars, but couldn't make myself do it. I have so thoroughly enjoyed this series. The characters were so well put together and realistic. The world was intriging. My only complaint was the character Tia. She was beyond annoying and I could just not imagine someone as wonderful sounding as Misha falling for her. The ending was great, one of the best climaxes I read in a novel in a long time! I'm looking forward to see what else Fallon has up her sleeve.

"Neris had once told him he needed to be a better liar"

After the first two books I was afraid that the conclusion of the trilogy would not be as good as I was expecting, since just keeping up with the quality level set before seemed to be almost impossible. Luckily, my fears were set to rest as soon as I started reading this book and I could enjoy one of the best fantasy works I have read so far. Fallon delivers a conclusion that has the reader constantly guessing about Dirk's plans, Marquel's machinations and the complicated relationships among the different characters. At the end of the second novel I found myself running to the bookstore to get the final installment, since there was too much excitement in the story. Marquel had just murdered the High Priestess, Belagren, and was playing her games to obtain the position. Dirk, following his plans, has just betrayed Tia after sleeping with her, but then helped her escape. She is back in Mil, certain that Dirk betrayed her and is trying to convince everyone else in the Beanlands of Dirk's trickery. There is one person though, that sees clearly through Dirk's plans, none other than Neris! In terms of our main character, Dirk, we find a man that is tormented by the doubts about whether his plan is going to work and also whether the sacrifices he is making are justified. Besides the games of politics and deception in which he is involved, he has to deal with the Brotherhood, a group of assassins that have been hired by the Baenlanders to kill him. He also has to be careful with the way he handles his relationship with the most powerful man in the kingdom, the Lion of Senet. If you have read the first two books, I know I do not have to convince you to read the last one, because no one could refrain from doing it. I can only assure you that you will not be disappointed by the conclusion of the trilogy. If you are not familiar with the series, I recommend that you get "The Lion of Senet" right now and immerse yourself in the wonderful Second Sons Trilogy.

An electrifying conclusion that won't let you go.

One of the common problems with trilogies is that the third book feels anticlimactic. The ending never lives up to the 1000+ page set-up. Jennifer Fallon thankfully does not fall prey to this in the Second Sons Trilogy. Lord of the Shadows is just as exciting and interesting as the first two books. I said in my review of Eye of the Labyrinth that I haven't read a book that fast in a long time. Lord of the Shadows broke even that record. I literally could not put it down, taking enough of a break to eat and that was about it.Dirk Provin has apparently betrayed everything, and every one, he holds dear to return to the Shadow Dancers, the religion of the Goddess. Unbeknownst to everybody else, though, Dirk has his own plans to bring their religion down around them. His intricate plan involves reaching the highest levels and destroying it from within. To do so, however, everybody must think the worst of him, and he is forced to use the extremely amoral Marqel, a girl who would like nothing better than to destroy Dirk. Dirk walks a razor-thin edge to achieve his goals, and one wrong move will send him plummeting over the edge. He's a man alone, cutting himself off from everybody to do what he sees as the greater good. As he does so, the world teeters on the brink. Love blossoms, and then is destroyed. A crippled prince attempts to fulfill his destiny, a destiny that his power-hungry father never dreamed of. Will Dirk succeed in his quest, or will all of his plans crumble at the whim of a bratty child who would do anything to consolidate her own power?It hit me after I put down Lord of the Shadows. After reading over 1500 pages of this series, there had only been two scenes of battle, and both of those had been very small. The only "magic" was a trick played on everybody in the kingdom. The entire Second Sons trilogy was a story of political intrigue on a grand scale. Lord of the Shadows is a lot more streamlined then the first two books, however, as everything revolves around Dirk. He even dominates the scenes that he's not in, as the discussion is often about him or how he relates to the characters in question. Dirk has asked his cousin, Queen Alenor, to trust him no matter what happens, and she does. Tia Veran, the woman who was more intimately betrayed by Dirk, continues her skepticism and hatred of the man, despite the fact that others seem to think he may have more up his sleeve then meets the eye. Lip service is given to the Lion of Senet's schemes, but even those are mentioned mostly in relation to how Dirk will defeat him. It's a better book for this precision, as every chapter leads inexorably to the final conclusion. Even the subplots (such as Prince Misha and his imposed addiction to poppy-dust) eventually run up against Dirk's plans.I found the characterization even better then in the first two books, as the two minor annoyances (Marqel and Tia) have their edges filed down just enough so that they're interesting w