Shadows
‘Shadows (The Wind’s Children Book 1)’ by Emma Miles is a MacGuffin quest that is both familiar and fresh.
In 1936, by way of accident and coincidence, a peculiar little book, originally only intended for the entertainment of the author’s own children, fairly exploded into the literary world, not only becoming a massive commercial success but also more or less creating a whole new genre.
It is fair to say that even today, almost a century later, the tsunami of High Fantasy set in motion by J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit‘ and it’s mighty sequel ‘The Lord of the Rings’ has yet to subside.
Just as nothing ever tastes better than Grandma’s homemade cookie recipe, it’s hard to beat Tolkien’s original formula:
Torn from a sheltered life, an ill prepared protagonist sets out with a bunch of unlikely companions to achieve some distant yet noble goal against all odds. Adventure and character development ensue.
- So is that it?
- Can there only ever be one High Fantasy story?
- Must all other books in the genre cower in the shadow thrown by Tolkien’s work?
Yes and no. Whilst many authors have indeed, with varying degrees of success, set out to re-create High Fantasy according to their own vision, others have focused more on finding unique variations on the basic recipe. So it is with ‘Shadows (The Wind’s Children Book 1)’ by Emma Miles. By carefully re-arranging and selectively reversing the basic building blocks, the author has created a MacGuffin quest that is both familiar enough for fans of the genre to fall right into whilst keeping the scenario fresh and the setbacks unexpected.
…sexual frustration is a core theme in this book…
Elves? Check!
Dragons? Check!
Orcs? Check!
Vast and distant lands? A mysterious and brooding force of evil? A vague yet powerful magic system? Check! Check! Check!
These and many more familiar tropes pop up throughout this story, but quite honestly, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? These are all tried and tested elements that are not only loved but fairly demanded by many high fantasy readers.
That’s not to say this book is just the Hobbit by a different name. Though some aspects have been shifted only slightly: rather than the pastoral idyll of the Shire, the story kicks off on the grubby streets of a labour camp / prison colony; rather than a shallow hearted member of the gentry, our reluctant hero is a desperate street orphan; rather than representing a great adversary, the dragons are potential allies, other aspects are new or unique.
By modern standards, Tolkien might be considered both prudish and conservative. He didn’t do romance and sex well (if at all) nor did he ever question the hierarchy of pre-industrial society. In these aspects Shadows is far more progressive. Though there are no explicit or graphic depictions of sex, sexual frustration is a core theme in this book. Coupled with the restrictions and lack of social mobility within the book’s feudal system this tension adds an extra dynamic to the character interaction and development. The story also acts as a vehicle to discuss diversity and inclusivity in general though, to the author’s great credit, this is never overplayed or pushed front and centre.
Of course, wheresoever be cast a light, be cast also a shadow and this book is no different. Though entertaining enough, it’s by no means perfect and the more pedantic reader might find plenty to complain about:
- Despite now being in its third edition, the abundance of typos and peculiar word choices kept tripping me up and disturbing the flow of the action.
- The fight scenes and dialogue attribution were at times confusing.
- The exposition was often heavy handed and unnecessarily detailed.
On a purely personal level, vague yet conveniently powerful soft magic systems are not really my thing and whilst the spell casting employed in this book is somewhat lacking in spectacular shock and awe it still manages to border on Deus ex Machina a little too often for my tastes.
Having said all this, the author has clearly built an extensive and detailed world which will no doubt form a spectacular backdrop to the coming epic fantasy story. In this light, the primary goal of this book is likely to set everything up for the sequel and it does this perfectly adequately.
All in all, if you can’t get enough of High Fantasy road trips filled with sparkly magic and fearsome monsters, you could do far worse than this book. If you do decide to give it a try, please leaving a short comment to let me know what you think about my review.
Even better, if you have already read it, let me know if you agree with my assessment or if you think I have grossly misrepresented something, but do remember NO SPOILERS! We don’t want to ruin it for others.
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