Of Shadow and Sea (The Elder Empire)

Note: This is the same review I posted for "Of Sea and Shadow." If you've read the two series you understand why. :) Will Wight is pretty well known, but mostly for Cradle and the Traveler's Gate series. Deservedly, as those are both great. That said, my favorite series by him (and his favorite, incidentally) are the Shadow/Sea books. I won't go into a ton of detail at the moment, but they feel deeper and more complex than his other stuff. The characters are wonderful, the action is fantastic (as it always is with him), and the world feels more grounded than in his other novels. The series has a gimmick, though, and it's one that I was highly skeptical of going in. He pulls it off, though, in spades. It's actually two series that occur concurrently, from the perspective of two opposing characters who are on opposite sides of a conflict. The storylines weave back and forth, into and out of each other, and seeing the same scenes from a different POV is a fascinating experience. Putting the characters on opposing sides keeps it from being a rehash of stuff you've already read; if the characters had been on the same side, it would have been hard to make the second viewing of the scenes interesting. But what really hooked me were the characters, and how he makes you love or hate them by turns. When you read a book from the Shadow series, you find yourself viewing the characters of the Sea series as the enemy, and root against them and want our heroes to triumph. Going into the concurrent book, I found myself wondering how the hell he would make me care about characters who'd been the antagonists for an entire book. But man, he does. Calder and Shera are both fascinating characters, and you really care about both of them. The supporting casts are great, too, with Calder's cobbled crew a standout in the Firefly, banter and badass way. They're great books, and I found that reading the first of each series before moving onto the seconds worked really well for me. They have issues, some pacing stuff and such, but they're definite 5 star books for me. And it's basically impossible not to love Urziah. You'll see.

I really, really enjoyed Will Wight's Traveler's Gate Trilogy. I thought that the world and magic were so unique and very entertaining. I was mildly put off by all of the Amazon reviews that raved about how "funny" the books were. I would definitely say that the books were amusing at parts, but I don't think I would describe them as "funny". Irreverent, certainly. And that continues with his new series, The Elder Empire:First Shadow. A lot of epic fantasies carry themselves with a sort of high-minded seriousness; everything is super important. However, Wight's characters tend to shun that attitude with varying degrees of casualness. For example, Shera, the main character in Of Shadow and Sea, is constantly pining for her next nap. As a man who enjoys a good nap, I can certainly relate. If you're reading this, then you probably know that Wight actually wrote 2 "first books" of the series, the other being Of Sea and Shadow. They both cover roughly the same time period and intersect at various points, but follow two different main characters, allowing us to see the same events through two different perspectives. There is no suggested order to reading these books, but I imagine that whichever you read first will color your bias towards the other character. This book features a flashback system that is very reminiscent to Sanderson's Words of Radiance. The perspective is almost all the main character Shera with a few other POV's sprinkled in, but there are regular flashbacks that flesh out Shera's back story. Similar to Words of Radiance, there are momentous events in Shera's life that have greatly shaped who she is in the present that are hinted at throughout the book and are built up to in the flashbacks. Also, there are short asides at the beginning of each chapter that help us to learn how the world and its magic work, which is a good thing because we're tossed into the deep end, so to speak. I'm reading the companion book, Of Sea and Shadow, now, and it will be interesting to see if my pro-Shera bias is maintained as I read the perspective of the other main character. I admit, I was sad to see that the world of The Traveler's Gate trilogy wasn't going to be expanded upon, but I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

I wasn't sure how I'd take to this double book1, 2 &3, but I've started with this one & I haven't enjoyed a book so quickly in ages, & already have the next one & am about to start it. This blew me away with explosive violence &awesome battles, great magic system that ties in with the assassins beautifully. I really can't wait to start the rest & am so happy they're all out & on Kindle Unlimited, I am so glad to have that!

I’m sure my word are echoed elsewhere so won’t bore you. Epic fantasy at its finest. I hope that the twin of this book is as good.

This is my second reading of this book, and Shera the Consultant remains one of my favourite fantasy characters together with Amra Tethys and Aragorn from LoTR. The world depicted in Elder Empire is vast and entertaining, and I really hope Wight will not stop with a trilogy, because the potential for more and more good books is there, waiting to be delved. I highly recommend it to lovers of fantasy: there is depth, and fun, and thrill, and more to be found here.

My 1st time of reading this author and the story took off and absorbed me from the get go weaving a complex tale of different characters/times and views that was skillfully put together and totally brilliant. Everything about the pace and the characters drew me in and as it was in a kindle unlimited free 3 month sample I sped through this and onto number 2 as I was keen to find out what was going to happen

This is what I want from a good fantasy book. Interesting world building and a well paced story without too much explanations or descriptions.