The Conqueror’s Shadow by Ari Marmell – review

The Conqueror’s Shadow by Ari Marmell will be released by Spectra on February 23rd of 2010, and after reading it I am a bit conflicted.  How can I be conflicted about a book that I stayed up way past my normal bedtime to read?  How can I be conflicted about a book that I took to work so that I could read during lunch?  Well, to tell you the truth, I really do not know, so let me give you my thoughts.  One item of note, the cover is dope; I love it.

As Robin Hobb puts it, this book starts off where most stories end.  I like that, because we start off after the final battle Corvis has while trying to take over the world.  We get to see the aftermath of what happens to the world, as well as how they deal with the resurgance of another evil in the world.  Marmell does a good job with the whole history will repeat itself theme, and how humans try to look for the known evil rather than something we do not understand.

I always like to start with the good stuff, so where does Marmell excel in this book?  The characters are memorable, and from the standpoint of personality I think Marmell does a good job.  We get to know the characters and can relate to them.   Marmell uses humor with Corvis’s nagging wife busting his chops, and the interaction between the group members, which brings out the characters and keeps the reader entertained.  The humor is not without problems, though, but we can discuss them later.  We all know that I love Steven Brust, and the banter that Corvis and the demon slave, Khanda, have is very Vlad and Loish-like, and I mean that as a high compliment.  The world, while not out of the ordinary, worked with the story, as for me this story was more internal to Corvis than external, so the world just had to be used as background, which Marmell does a fine job with.  The battles ranged from larger conflicts to smaller fights and were very well done. They were some of my favorite parts of the book; I think that this is one of Marmell’s best skills.  I enjoyed the villains, and thought that they were constructed rather well.  We are thrown into this book a little bit, but you do not have that feeling of being forced or left out.  The flow of the story was well done, which is what kept me reading so feverishly.

Now, on to where it fails for me.  Two of the twists at the end of the book just didn’t work for me.  (Obviously, I will avoid spoilers.)  One of them felt too familiar to a comic book movie; the other one made one of the villains look a bit stupider than they should have been.  Also Jasisson lacked depth, and he could have been a stand-out character in the book–his introduction to the story had me excited, but overall the author did not work him in like he could have.  The humor was good when it was good and bad when it was bad.  It was a bit overdone in many parts, and some of the one-liners just did not hit.  If Marmell can cut back on the humor and use it more sparingly, I believe that his best material will also shine through in that regard.  While I enjoyed the introduction of the cast of characters with Corvis, I had a hard time believing their past or how they changed.  Davro was fine, I can understand his situation, but I wasn’t sold on Seilloah being this human-eating witch.  She just seemed, well, too nice.  Tyannon…we did not see enough of the interaction between Corvis and her to really make any decisions, but I was wondering how much of this was Stockholm Syndrome?  Now on to Corvis:  at some points in the story, I just did not buy him as the Terror of the East.  I guess it depends on what you believe on the question of “Can People Change?”.  I just do not think people can change that radically, and, yes, love is a powerful thing, having a family is powerful feeling as well, I was just left doubtful at some points.

Like I said, I enjoyed the book, and it kept me turning those pages.  Marmell puts together a wonderful piece of epic fantasy, and if you are an epic fantasy fan then you would be remiss to not pick it up despite the quirks.  I have not been so enthused to continue reading a book in a very long time, and The Conqueror’s Shadow did that very well.  To say I am excited to read what Ari Marmell has to give us next is an understatement.

They called him the Terror of the East. His past shrouded in mystery, his identity hidden beneath a suit of enchanted black armor and a skull-like helm, Corvis Rebaine carved a bloody path through Imphallion, aided by Davro, a savage ogre, and Seilloah, a witch with a taste for human flesh. No shield or weapon could stop his demon-forged axe. And no magic could match the spells of his demon slave, Khanda.

Now, to rescue the country he once tried to conquer, Rebaine once more dons the armor of the Terror of the East and seeks out his former allies. But Davro has become a peaceful farmer. Seilloah has no wish to leave her haunted forest home. And Khanda . . . well, to describe his feelings for his former master as undying hatred would be an understatement.

But even if Rebaine can convince his onetime comrades to join him, he faces a greater challenge: Does he dare to reawaken the part of him that gloried in cruelty, blood, and destruction? With the safety of his family at stake, can he dare not to?