Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to let us share our excitement for books coming out soon.
This was recently featured on my Anticipated Books for 2016, but with so many books on there, I wanted to highlight it by itself. I am doing my best to not hold the cover against it and focus solely on the blurb (I’m sorry, but am I the only one that feels like the guy on the cover is doing some bizarre Macerana danxe with a weapon in hand?). Wry humor? CHECK! Con men? CHECK! Apprentice Shadow Thief? Yep, I’m intrigued. And to top it off, the author is a poet, so I am guessing the prose will be well done as well.
A Shadow All of Light: A novel by Fred Chappell
Published by Tor Books on April 12th 2016
Pages: 384
In the province of Tlemia, where human shadows are powerful commodities, an apprentice shadow thief embarks on an extraordinary adventure.This stylish, episodic fantasy novel, in the mode of classic Jack Vance, follows the exploits of Falco, a young man from the country, who arrives in the port city of Tardocco with the ambition of becoming an apprentice to a master shadow thief. Maestro Astolfo, whose mysterious powers of observation would rival those of Sherlock Holmes, sees Falco’s potential and puts him through a grueling series of physical lessons and intellectual tests.
Falco’s adventures coalesce into one overarching story of con men, monsters, ingenious detection, cats, and pirates. A wry humor leavens this fantastical concoction, and the style is as rich and textured as one would hope for from Chappell, a distinguished poet as well as a World Fantasy Award-winning fantasy writer.
I do like the sound of this. But I have to agree, the cover is a little weird, LOL. I swear I have a couple of older Fred Chappell books on my shelves, hasn’t he been writing for a while?
Tammy @Books, Bones & Buffy recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday [179] – RED QUEEN: THE CHRONICLES OF ALICE by Christina Henry
Yep, Mogsy said/guessed since the 70s? I had no idea. 🙂
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday – A Shadow All of Light by Fred Chappell
I added this one on my watch list, but it didn’t quite catch my attention right off the bat (and I agree, that cover really doesn’t help its cause) so I’m hoping as we get closer to release, we’ll get more info on it so I can make a better assessment. And yes to Tammy, Fred Chappell has been writing a while! I think since the 70s at least.
Wow, that’s quite a career. 🙂 I am definitely eager to hear some early reviews of this one.
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday – A Shadow All of Light by Fred Chappell
I actually like the sound of this one – although I suppose it could go disastrously wrong! The cover is an interesting choice for sure – the guy looks like he has a halo at the back of his head and he’s about to break out into Russian folk dancing. Still humour, pirates, con men – ingenious detectives! Why yes, I think I will keep an eye out for this one!
Lynn 😀
Yep, lots going for it as long as its executed well, sounds quite promising.
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday – A Shadow All of Light by Fred Chappell
This cover art for this look very similar to the style of the new covers for the first 3 books of the Mistborn series that were released last year… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518827-the-hero-of-ages
Looks like the same artist?
DJ (@MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape) recently posted…2015 In Review
heh … well I guess my opinion of the art is consistent. Although, at least the other covers don’t feature a man doing some kind of huggy dance. I don’t know, maybe I’m being harsh. But, I like the synopsis better than the cover. 🙂
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday – A Shadow All of Light by Fred Chappell
As a self-proclaimed cover ho, I’m glad you highlighted this one because the cover art probably would’ve led me to pass on this one. But this sounds like a lot of fun – and even if I don’t read it myself, I’m sure my guy will pilfer my copy since he loves “apprenticeship” fantasy novels! 🙂
Danya @ Fine Print recently posted…Review: Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier