Shadowplay (Volume Two of Shadowmarch) : Tad Williams
By: Bryndian Dhai | 07.02.07 | 
A year ago, the March Kingdoms were at peace, the Eddon family held the throne, and all was right in Southmarch Castle and the north of the world.
Now the family has been shattered. King Olin Eddon is a prisoner in a faraway land. Olin’s heir Kendrick is dead – slain by treachery and dark, bloody magic – and Kendrick’s younger brother and sister have barely escaped several attempts on their own lives.
With their father and brother taken from them, the royal twins Barrick and Briony have done their best to hold the kingdom together, but now Barrick has been captured in a failed war against the immortal Twilight People and Briony has been forced to flee the castle. Everywhere in the north the fierce Twilight People, led by the ageless warrior-witch Yasammez, hold sway. Old magics are stirring beneath the ancient castle and behind the Shadowline, and the machinations of gods, fairies, and mortals threaten to spread devastation across the entire world.
Meanwhile, the Autarch, the insane god-king of the southern continent, has set in motion his plan to bring the entire northern world – and most especially Southmarch Castle – under his sway.
Behind the Shadowline, Prince Barrick Eddon of Southmarch is lost and spellbound in the land of the fairies. Though he has barely begun to uncover the strange secrets of his own past, Barrick must also solve the mystery of his even stranger destiny – a destiny which will lead him to places no man has ever gone and force him to take on a burden even the greatest hero couldn’t bear – preserving the lives of all humans and fairy folk.
As she flees Southmarch, Princess Briony finds both allies and deadly enemies in unexpected places far from the land of her birth. In her quest to survive and win back her family’s throne she encounters spies and murderers, traveling players, and ancient gods.
During their desperate journeys the twins discover that even a land’s rulers may know little of its true history, and that both families and nations can hide dark and terrible secrets.
But even if Barrick and Briony survive learning the astonishing truths at the heart of their own family and of Southmarch itself, they must still find a way to do the impossible: they must reclaim their kingdom and rescue their home and people from a multitude of powerful enemies – from traitors, tyrants, a god-king, and even from the angry gods themselves.
I will admit that while I have loved everything Tad Williams writes, I regularly find that the initial books in his series are difficult for me to read with any speed. Actually, this is one of the things that bring me back to his works again and again; I read so fast that it is refreshing to find a book I have to work to read. Don’t get me wrong; reading his books isn’t work, per se. His books challenge me, make me pay attention, and really capture my imagination. Shadowmarch, the first volume in this series, was true to everything I’ve learned to expect from Tad Williams. Complex, twisting, darkly imaginative, and amazingly diverse, I devoured it as quickly as I could and waited impatiently for the next book to arrive.
My impatience has been rewarded. Shadowplay was every bit as satisfying as I could have hoped. From page one I was captivated by the continuation of this saga. At first glance, an unknowing reader might think it’s a simple story of fairies versus humans, but it is far, far more than that. The worlds Mr. Williams creates are rich and varied, the “fairy” folk creatures from the darkest tales, the characters complex and subtle and deep.
This book was, as I expected, an easier read for me than the first. It picks up right where the first leaves off and develops several storylines more fully. It is a quintessential middle book. It is packed full of adventure and cliffhangers and psychs the reader up for the conclusion to the story. Tad Williams is a master storyteller who knows how to deliver a tale worth reading and a tale worth waiting for.
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Hardcover: 672 pages
Publisher: DAW Hardcover (March 6, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0756403588
ISBN-13: 978-0756403584
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