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Shadows Of Falling Night (2013)

by S.M. Stirling(Favorite Author)

3.2 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0451464516 (ISBN13: 9780451464514)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Roc Hardcover

series

Shadowspawn

review 1: This is the final installment of Stirling's "other" series. I've read the first 2 books and largely enjoyed them.Stirling does an admirable job of weaving together ancient mythology, folklore and occult with notions of quantum physics and other high end theoretical sciences to create a pretty unique world-setting.In addition his attention to detail is impressive, almost like walking through the streets of Istanbul, Rome and Florence. There were, however, a couple of aspects which prevented me from enjoying the work completely;- Some of the dialogue was so insipid and pointless to the story, it became amusing. While being chased by bad guys the two protags would muse upon the nature of a particular architecture or discuss other esoteric topics. - While the fight scenes were... more very detailed, they also became tedious at times. Just because a character has heightened perceptions we don't need to be provided with exhaustive details during such action scenes.- The climax of the book (series?) was predictable and seen hundreds of pages before via heavy handed foreshadowing, like a heavyweight champ actually winding up their right arm to throw a haymaker. The series itself is worth it in terms of pure originality and scope. Furthermore some of the technical aspects Stirling uses in his books are worth reviewing just for the novelty of how an accomplished author can "bend the rules" of writing to create a good story. But, all in all, I'm afraid this final book was the weakest of the three.
review 2: OK, the title's a bit silly sounding. But it's also quite deliberate that it could be a synonym for twilight. Because you can't do a supernatural romance (and this is one, just with Stirling's typical nasty twist to it) without people thinking of Twilight (and there's even one direct reference in the story). The stakes are pretty high on this one as Ellen and Adrian must chase down their former ally before he can set off a nuke under the Council of Shadows. Which sounds like a pretty good idea, until you realize he got it from Adrian's utterly evil twin sister, who certainly has something sinister in mind. Oh, and of course the Council is meeting in the middle of a city, so lots of "collateral damage" is likely. Perhaps a bit overly focused on what people are wearing or eating at times and you know it's obtrusive if I took notice of it, but still a pretty good installment. Certainly not a finale however. less

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