Dreams and Shadows: A Novel

( 4 )

Overview

Screenwriter and acclaimed film critic C. Robert Cargill makes his fiction debut with Dreams and Shadows, taking beloved fantasy tropes, giving them a twist, and turning out a wonderful, witty, and wry take on clash between the fairy world and our own.

Something is missing from Ewan and Colby’s lives. Residing in the corners of their memories is their time in Limestone Kingdom, a realm filled with magic and mystery, a world where only some may ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Screenwriter and acclaimed film critic C. Robert Cargill makes his fiction debut with Dreams and Shadows, taking beloved fantasy tropes, giving them a twist, and turning out a wonderful, witty, and wry take on clash between the fairy world and our own.

Something is missing from Ewan and Colby’s lives. Residing in the corners of their memories is their time in Limestone Kingdom, a realm filled with magic and mystery, a world where only some may travel amongst the menagerie of mystical souls and sinister demons.

Cargill offers well-crafted characters and an absorbing, intricate plot that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Lev Grossman. Dreams and Shadows pulls you into an extraordinary universe of darkness that exposes the magic and monsters in our world, and in ourselves.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Colby Stephen and Ewan Thatcher share a secret that makes them different from most other youngsters in Austin, Texas: They both have a past in the faerie realm of the Limestone Kingdom. As they grow to adulthood, the mystics, goblins, demons, wizards and curses of that former world shape their futures in unexpected ways. C. Robert Cargill's debut novel has earned critics' praise for its "exceptional world-building, sure-handed plotting and well-rounded characters." (P.S. Screenwriter Cargill won plaudits for his critically acclaimed fall release horror film Sinister.)

Publishers Weekly
In this beautifully written debut, Ain’t It Cool News Web site contributor Cargill chronicles the friendship and adventures of Ewan, stolen as a baby by the fairy–goblin crossbreeds called Bendith Y Mamau, and Colby, an eight-year-old who encounters a djinn, with an unhurried storyteller style that provides total immersion. The two boys travel from the faerie lands known as the Limestone Kingdom, a realm filled with creatures of myth—Coyote, changelings, the Wild Hunt, and more—to Austin, Tex., where they must learn to navigate the often treacherous path to adulthood. Legends and faerie lore are given a dark urban twist with a raw, honest, sometimes violent edge. The universe is richly detailed, and issues of destiny and sacrifice give the story depth. Readers with delicate sensibilities should leave this one for those who enjoy a roller-coaster ride into the depths of strangeness and despair. Agent: Peter McGuigan, Foundry Literary + Media. (Mar.)
Library Journal
A noted screenwriter and film critic (his Sinister hits the big screen this month), Cargill launches his fiction career with the story of a supernatural world lying right up against our own, separated by only a thin veil. Ewan and Colby have been there and still remember angels, wizards, and fairies (I especially like the whiskey-toting genies). Now the magic is calling them back. Some twisty stuff here; pitched to fans of Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Erin Morgenstern, and Kim Harrison and boasting a 40,000-copy first printing.
Kirkus Reviews
Contemporary fairies-among-us yarn; screenwriter and film critic Cargill's debut. Baby Ewan Thatcher, abducted by fairies and taken to live in the Limestone Kingdom, a magic realm outside Austin, Texas, has little idea who he really is and no idea at all why the fairies grabbed him. Young Colby Stephens, meanwhile, meets Yashar the djinni and obtains the usual three wishes, the most important of which is that Yashar make him a wizard. Yashar doesn't tell Colby that he's under a curse such that all the wishes he grants come to bad ends. The changeling left in place of Ewan, a repulsive and viciously vindictive creature named Knocks, causes Ewan's parents to kill themselves. Later, in fairyland, Knocks hatches unpleasant schemes to injure or kill Ewan, particularly after Ewan unwittingly steals Mallaidh, the fairy girl Knocks erroneously believes to be his. On the day Ewan is assured he will become a fairy, Colby and Yashar are on hand, and when they understand the fairies' true intent, they intervene. Ewan is cast out of the Limestone Kingdom and ekes out a living in Austin as a second-rate musician, with only vague memories of his time among the fairies. But this is just the beginning of a relationship that continues over the years--it's not possible to enlarge further without giving the game away--involving Austin, all manner of strange fairy creatures, hard-drinking fallen angels, Ewan's parents, Coyote the trickster god and hell itself. Exceptional worldbuilding, sure-handed plotting and well-rounded characters, even the nasty ones, abound, and the whole impressive enterprise moves smartly along through a fairy culture with a structure and motivations sharply different from that of humans. A mesmerizing and highly original debut.
Booklist
“Richly imagined...an auspicious debut.”
Starburstmagazine.com
“A thoroughly enchanting debut novel”
BookPage
“As a result, Dreams and Shadows is a potent introduction to a world where the wondrous is rarely wonderful, the best intentions are guaranteed to roam farthest astray, and the reader is destined to keep turning the pages until the (somewhat) bitter end.”
StarburstMagazine.com
"A thoroughly enchanting debut novel"
Tor.com
“Dark, comedic, and unsettling, Dreams and Shadows is everything an urban fantasy sets out to be.”
Breitbart/Big Hollywood
"Cargill proves with Dreams and Shadows that he’s not just a writer capable of creating and presenting dense mythology well
SFRevu
“The rich language, world building, and moral questions posed make for fascinating reading. Much of the novel is dark, but hope and redemption form the bedrock of the complex characters.”
Breitbart/ Big Hollywood
“Cargill proves with Dreams and Shadows that he’s not just a writer capable of creating and presenting dense mythology well
MTV Geek
“Screenwriter and former film critic C. Robert Cargill’s urban fantasy novel creates a rich universe full of dangerous and fascinating characters....the world that Cargill has created here is too rich to abandon.”
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062190420
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 2/26/2013
  • Pages: 433
  • Sales rank: 112927
  • Product dimensions: 6.46 (w) x 9.08 (h) x 1.44 (d)

Meet the Author

C. Robert Cargill has written for Ain't It Cool News for more than a decade under the pseudonym Massawyrm, served as a staff writer for Film.com and Hollywood.com, and appeared as the animated character Carlyle on spill.com. He is the screenwriter of the film Sinister. He lives and works in Austin, Texas.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 4 )
Rating Distribution

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  • Posted Wed Feb 27 00:00:00 EST 2013

    I received this book as an advance reading copy from the publish

    I received this book as an advance reading copy from the publisher and am thrilled that I did. What an amazing book! C. Robert Cargill has created a living, breathing world filled with supernatural creatures that live both among us and in the wild lands around us. This is the tale of a young boy who, with the aid of a Djinn, makes a wish or two that alters the future of not only himself, but of the entire Fae world. The story flies along, and reached a conclusion that is both satisfying and left me wanting more at the same time. The world Mr. Cargrill creates is one that I would gladly visit again and again.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Wonderful book! Read a review of this in the paper and thought i

    Wonderful book! Read a review of this in the paper and thought it sounded interesting. Could not put this down. Absolutely loved it!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Mar 07 00:00:00 EST 2013

    Loved it!

    Was looking for something new and different. Glad I took a chance on this read. Definitely recommend to anyone.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

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