Shadow's Master

by Jon Sprunk

Overview

Jon Sprunk delivers blood, betrayal, and “sword and sorcery action of a high order” in the thrilling conclusion to his epic fantasy adventure trilogy (SF Signal).

In the far wastes of the Northern Marches, the assassin Caim lies in wait. Though he and his allies have defeated the monstrous witch Sybelle, there is a greater threat looming ahead… The Master--a being of nightmarish power who rules the Shadows and holds the answers that Caim has been searching for all his life.

But before he can meet his greatest enemy, Caim must face an assassin whose skills and strength eerily match his own. Meanwhile, Empress Josey and the land of Nimea have fallen prey to an unforeseen attack by a barbarian army.

Even if he somehow survives, the truth Caim has been seeking for so long may not offer solace. For the destiny he has sought for so long may be the very thing that curses him to a life of eternal darkness and damnation…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625673855
Publisher:	JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
Publication date:	10/12/2018
Series:	Shadow Saga , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
File size:	817 KB

About the Author

Jon Sprunk is the author of Blood and Iron, the first book in the Book of the Black Earth fantasy series. He also wrote the Shadow Saga (Shadow's Son, Shadow's Lure, and Shadow's Master.) Shadow's Son was a finalist for the Compton Crook Award and also a nominee for the David Gemmell Award in two categories.

Jon lives in central Pennsylvania with his wife and son. When not writing, he enjoys travel, collecting medieval and ancient weaponry, and pro football. Visit him online at www.jonsprunk.com, or on Facebook or Twitter.

Editorial Reviews

“Darker, bloodier, and better than its predecessors.... There's plenty of action and combat, and Sprunk handles it with finesse.  Fans of action oriented sword and sorcery will find plenty to cheer about here.”
— Adventures Fantastic

"Sword and Sorcery action of a high order.... If you have any interest in sword and sorcery, you owe it to yourself to check out Sprunk’s work.... You will be glad you did.”
— SF Signal 

“Go buy Sprunk's novels. They are great pieces of assassin-themed fantasy that everyone should be enjoying.”
— Elitist Book Reviews

From the Publisher

Searching for answers to questions about his origins, the assassin Caim leaves his adopted city of Othir to travel to the forbidding landscape of the northern wastes. Accompanying him are Malig, the brothers Aemon and Dray, and Kit, his ghostly lover. Able to manipulate shadows to do his bidding, Caim realizes that his quest will lead to a confrontation with no less than Shadow's Master. This concluding volume to Sprunk's trilogy (Shadow's Son; Shadow's Lure) brings Caim to the brink of death and to a new self-knowledge, leaving enough unfinished business for more series titles. VERDICT Sprunk sets old-fashioned sword and sorcery in a noir fantasy that should appeal to fans of Michael Moorcock's Elric novels and the "Thieves' World" stories by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey.

Library Journal

Third in the series (Shadow's Lure, 2011, etc.) in which knife-wielding, magic-powered assassin Caim Du'Vartha tries to figure out what's going on. Caim's magic derives from his control over mysterious shadow-entities that crawl all over everything; sometimes they heal him, sometimes they kill people (or wait for Caim to do the job) and drink their blood. He sets off to the north, along with some warrior friends, following a psychic lure that he hopes will bring him to the secret behind his mother's disappearance and his power over the shadows. He leaves Josey, his lover, now Empress of the Nimean Empire and pregnant, to consolidate her power--but instead she faces a new invasion from the north by barbarian warriors who vastly outnumber her own forces. Caim is also accompanied, or haunted, by a disembodied sprit, Kit, who turns out to be an immortal Fae and more often an annoyance than a help; how she manages to float around like a ghost remains unexplained. Another character, Balaam, also a magic-powered assassin but in service to the Dark Lord whom Caim is destined to confront, is beginning to have doubts. Sprunk writes effective action prose and makes worthy efforts to develop his characters, but Josey's political backdrop is naïve. The evil shadows have some strikingly original touches, yet their motivations could have been wielded much more effectively; instead we end up with a rather trudging showdown, as if Aragorn learned that Sauron was his grandfather and stopped to chat before battling it out. The good news is that Sprunk continues to improve. Series fans will dive right in; curious newcomers should begin at the beginning and avoid at least some of the confusion.

Kirkus Reviews