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The Crowded Shadows (2000)

by Celine Kiernan(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1847171117 (ISBN13: 9781847171115)

languge

English

genre

Romance

series

Moorehawke Trilogy

review 1: Two words: terrifyingly human.The Moorehawke trilogy has officially become my second favorite book series ever - right after Harry Potter, who will always remain my first love.One thing I noticed again and again as I read The Crowded Shadows, is the difference between characters like Christopher Garron and other characters of any other book I've read. I kept thinking, 'Why is he this afraid? Why is he ACTING afraid? Why won't he just man-up and face his fears?', because that's what other characters who have suffered similar hardships would normally do in other books. And then I came to realize that the way that Christopher was acting is the way WE would act - not as book characters, but as actual people who have been as tortured and roughed-up as he has. I realized that it... more was the depiction of OTHER books I've read, and not of this one, which are faulted and inaccurate.My most striking example of this is in the Mortal Instruments series. When Clary Fairchild, the main character, is faced with the transformation of her childhood best friend into a vampire, and more specifically when he ATTACKS her and tries to kill her because of his hunger, Clary's reaction is a little poor, at best, compared to how a person would really react if they were attacked and attempted murder on by someone they have known and loved for over ten years. In comparison, Christopher's fear, his distress, were, as I said before, terrifyingly human.I have found myself loving the character of Christopher Garron, more so than any character of any other book I have ever read. His fear became mine on a number of occasions, my heart beating as loud and as precipitately as his as I gripped the edge of my table and creased my forehead and eyebrows in an effort to keep from crying in public.A particular scene that I will forever retain in my mind was the sacrifice of Embla and Ashkr. Oh Jesu! I was sitting beside a friend of mine as I read that scene, and he could not stop himself from asking me what had happened when he saw my face as I read anxiously on. I was agonizing when Embla fell, and was left reeling in horror and dread and pain when I thought about the pain that the twins would have had to go through had Christopher not been there and had not cut short their suffering. To watch your brother, your twin, someone you have lived with all your life, be burned alive, to hear his screams and shrieks of pain and to be unable to help them and or even to touch them and comfort them... I was broken by the read. Few scenes have ever made such an impact on me; three in all, and The Crowded Shadows has one of them. I will not forget.Inevitably, for every book I read, there is at least one point, during my read, where I stop and frown and think, 'Why did the author do that? She/he shouldn't have done that. This book had great potential without this.' Happens every time. For example in James Dashner's The Maze Runner, when Theresa was first introduced, I felt an immediate animosity towards her. However, I have not felt this, neither in The Poison Throne nor in The Crowded Shadows. Those two books are, in my opinion, works of perfection.A beautiful, horrowing read. As with the first book, I was hooked from the very first words. Read in three days, and left panting and aching for more. Unfortunately, my school's library does not at the moment have the third book on its shelves, but our librarian ordered it almost as soon as I came back with The Crowded Shadows and told her of my fascination and love for the Moorehawke trilogy.Passionate.
review 2: The Crowded Shadows continues the story of Wynter, Razi and Christopher as they search for Razi's brother Alberon, who they belive is the key to getting the kingdom back on track.The entire book takes place on the road, but it manages not to become monotone due to the many different happenings and people we meet underway. The only thing that annoyed me while reading this book was the fact that although our main characters by now know and trust each other, they for some reason will not listen to or do as the person who knows most about the present situation suggest. Instead they do the opposite and then don't understand why the knowledgeable person is angry or behaves a little insulted. There was particular one place where this was prominent and I was litterally screaming at the book at least two times per page.But this is a great book and I would definetly recomending giving it a read if you enjoyed the first in the series. less

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