Like the fellow who meme’d me (Neth from Neth Space) I’m not a big fan of chain letters (which is essentially what this is). They always scared me as a kid… because they told me I’d be cursed if I didn’t send it to 27 people… and when you’re only 10 you definitely don’t know 27 people. In any case, out of respect for Neth and my fellow bloggers, I suppose I should follow along with the crazyness.
So, here goes.
The Tower of Shadows – Drew Bowling
Hardcover
Page Count: 304 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: December 12, 2006
ISBN-10: 0345486706
ISBN-13: 978-0345486707
In an era where Christopher Paolini, young author of the immensely successful Eragon and Eldest, is king, one would think that a flood of young authors would hit the market. This hasn’t really been the case. One such author who did benefit from Paolini’s success is Drew Bowling and his first novel, The Tower of Shadows
First and foremost, Bowling’s biggest strength lies in his almost lyrical ability with the english language. Prose is one area in which Bowling absolutely trounces Paolini, he has an ability to string together words in a fashion that quickly made me question whether Bowling really was as young as he was being made out to be. His prose is a pleasure to read and I’m excited to watch as he and his writing matures even more.
The Tower of Shadows is a short, punchy book, something that is desperately needed in a fantasy market that is quickly becoming over saturated with door-stoppers series of books stretching over 10 volumes in length. Bowling moves the story forward at breakneck pace and keeps it up for the entirety of the novel. This can, however, be a bit of a double edged sword. While the pace keeps the reader always pushing for one more chapter it also doesn’t allow Bowling to focus as much on the development of the characters. This is especially true of Cade, the main antagonist, who could have used a deeper look into his motivations and emotions. Given another 100 or so pages, Bowling could have added much needed character depth to his short novel.
All in all, though, Bowling has put together an impressive debut novel that will appeal to fans of light, swords and sorcery fantasy. It’s full of action, moves at a very respectable clip and is written with an engaging and lyrical prose. Bowling will definitely be an author to watch as he grows and refines his storytelling abilities.
Want to buy The Tower of Shadows?
Keep an eye out for an interview with Drew coming up in the next few days!
So, in my previous post I mentioned that some upcoming content would include some mini-reviews. You may or may not have been wondering why I specifically differentiated these from just plain old regular reviews.
Well, when I first envisioned this blog I intended only to bring reviews of the most current and hottest books, ones that were just hitting the scene or getting a lot of buzz in the industry, such as Terry Brooks’ The Elves of Cintra and Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind. Well, this all well and good, but I soon realized that I have a lot more to say about a lot of other books!
So, this is where the mini-reviews come in. The purpose of them is to allow me to bring reviews and share my thoughts on books that are maybe a little old and lead into a major review (such as a mini-review of Robin Hobb’s Forest Mage leading up to an official review of the sequel Renedage’s Magic), reviews of books that I really enjoy (Such as Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora), or books that may not be on the leading edge of things right now, but still deserve to be reviewed (such as my upcoming mini-review of Tad William’s Shadowplay).
These mini-reviews are also something I hope to do at least a couple of times a week, to help provide a constant stream of great content for my readers.
Look for the first of these mini-review to go up as soon as this evening!
Alright everyone!
So, you’ve found my blog, read my reviews… and now what? Right?
I thought I’d let you all in on a little bit of what’s coming in the near future to A Dribble of Ink, just as a little thank you for checking me out in the first place and to give you reason to add me to your favourite RSS Feeder!
Beyond my reviews of Terry Brooks’ The Elves of Cintra and Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind I have a whole slew of cool things lined up.
Here’s a nice little preview.
Reviews:
David Anthony Durham‘s Acacia
Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself and Before they are Hanged
Robin Hobb‘s Renegade’s Magic
Scott Lynch‘s Red Seas Under Red Skies
Mini-reviews:
Robin Hobb‘s Forest Mage
Tad William‘s Shadowmarch
Scott Lynch‘s The Lies of Locke Lamora
Drew Bowling‘s The Tower of Shadows
Interviews:
David Anthony Durham
Patrick Rothfuss
Robin Hobb
As you can see, A Dribble of Ink has some really cool stuff in the pipeline… and we’re only about a week old! Be sure to check back for new content as I plan to keep it coming as quickly as I can get it! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
Welcome to A Dribble of Ink!
Why should you care about this blog when there are so many others out there? I’m sure you’re asking yourself that very question right now.
Well, it’s kinda simple… here at A Dribble of Ink I hope to bring some cool stuff to the table that will not only help me satiate my desire to geek out and talk about something I love (reading and writing), but I also hope to help other people out, too.
The fantasy publishing market is an extremely competitive place and there is a lot to slog through, what I hope to do is help out some of those authors who I appreciate and admire. I want to help those authors find the audience they deserve, especially when it comes to all the new and exciting authors entering the field right now. I’ve been reading fantasy for a long time now, and I can’t remember a time when the genre had so many young, exciting voices entering the field as there are now. Whether it’s Joe Abercrombie or Patrick Rothfuss, Eldon Thompson or David Anthony Durham these great authors deserve to have their wonderful books read, so if I help them find even one more reader, then I’ll feel my time has been worth it.
This also means I’m looking to help you, the reader, out, too! Hopefully I’ll expose you to some work you may not have heard of before or otherwise.
Besides all this I plan to do reviews: I have a couple of big ones lined up, including the world’s first official review of Terry Brooks’ latest book The Elves of Cintra; interviews: again, I’ve got a couple of big ones lined up already and my blog has only just launched! Look for Patrick Rothfuss and David Anthony Durham in the near future; Author retrospectives: I’ll look back at the careers, lives and works of some of the writings most well known figures; even musings on the art of writing: I know a few writers, both published and struggling who can help put the world of writing and publishing into perspective.
Hopefully I’ll be able to excite and intrigue you enough to add me to your RSS feed. You may not agree with everything I have to say, but hopefully I can at least make you think a little.
But most of all, I’m just pushing off on my voyage now, taking the first step of my thousand mile journey, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the journey takes me… and hopefully you’ll be along for the ride, too.
~Aidan Moher
