Shadowmancer by G. P. Taylor

Craving power and wealth, vicar Obadiah Demurral enlists the powers of darkness and uses his powers as a shadowmancer, a sorcerer who commands the souls of the dead, to become all-powerful, and Raphah, a young wizard who has come to reclaim a priceless stolen artifact, is the only one with the hope of defeating Demurral and his demonic forces. Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Review An apocalyptic battle between good and evil is vigorously, violently fought in British author G.P. Taylor's suspenseful, action-packed fantasy. The story, set in the 1700s on the Yorkshire coastline, revolves around Vicar Obadiah Demurral, a corrupt-but-inept, dead-conjuring shadowmancer who desires to control the universe by overthrowing God, or Riathamus. When two hard-luck near-orphans, (13-year-old Thomas Barrick, a bitter enemy of Demurral, and his troubled friend Kate Coglund) band together with a young African stranger named Raphah, they spend the rest of the book trying to stop the wicked Vicar as if their very souls are at stake...they are. Along the way, the three youths meet an enormous cast of friends and foes, some agents of Riathamus, others of Satan (Pyratheon), and some godless (but not for long) smugglers like Jacob Crane. Readers who love fanciful storybook characters will find mermaidlike Seloth, smelly hobs, leg-dragging servants, goodhearted whores, and benevolent boggles. Age-old superstitions abound, though old magic and witchcraft are clearly denounced here as the work of the devil. Indeed, the author, an English vicar himself, tells a very Christian story and his often deliciously dramatic adventure lapses into stiffly presented glowing-halo Touched by an Angel moments(readers will be lured into the Enchanted Forest, but tricked into Sunday school). Nonetheless, Shadowmancer, the first of a series, is a pageturner bursting with magic and myth, and will appeal to fantasy lovers who don't mind the Bible mixed in with their boggles. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson From School Library Journal Grade 7 Up-The atmospheric Yorkshire coast is the setting for this good versus evil fantasy. Local vicar Obadiah Demurral desires the power to command God. To do this, he needs an angelic figurine called the Keruvim and its human equivalent. As he uses his considerable powers to acquire the Keruvim, a young man named Raphah comes seeking an object stolen from his African kingdom. It is soon obvious that Demurral's angel and Raphah's stolen prize are one and the same. Once Demurral has it and Raphah under his control, he believes he will be master of the universe. Thomas and Kate, two local children, are inadvertently drawn into the struggle. Soon their lives are in jeopardy. The plot twists and turns, revealing that Demurral is not the ultimate evil but merely a tool in the hands of a fallen angel. The book is rich with detailed descriptions that sometimes threaten to overwhelm the story. There are a number of fantastic creatures warring on the side of evil, but at bottom this is a seriously religious story clothed in the trappings of high fantasy. Biblical allusions abound, sometimes bordering on direct quotes. The theme of the triumph of love and light over pure evil reflects the Christian gospel message, with overtones from Paradise Lost. Thomas has dreams or visions of someone who can only be Jesus. Raphah heals a deaf boy and casts out demons. He is also brought back from death. Whether teen readers will understand all this is a matter of conjecture.-Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library Journal Grade 7 Up-The atmospheric Yorkshire coast is the setting for this good versus evil fantasy. Local vicar Obadiah Demurral desires the power to command God. To do this, he needs an angelic figurine called the Keruvim and its human equivalent. As he uses his considerable powers to acquire the Keruvim, a young man named Raphah comes seeking an object stolen from his African kingdom. It is soon obvious that Demurral's angel and Raphah's stolen prize are one and the same. Once Demurral has it and Raphah under his control, he believes he will be master of the universe. Thomas and Kate, two local children, are inadvertently drawn into the struggle. Soon their lives are in jeopardy. The plot twists and turns, revealing that Demurral is not the ultimate evil but merely a tool in the hands of a fallen angel. The book is rich with detailed descriptions that sometimes threaten to overwhelm the story. There are a number of fantastic creatures warring on the side of evil, but at bottom this is a seriously religious story clothed in the trappings of high fantasy. Biblical allusions abound, sometimes bordering on direct quotes. The theme of the triumph of love and light over pure evil reflects the Christian gospel message, with overtones from Paradise Lost. Thomas has dreams or visions of someone who can only be Jesus. Raphah heals a deaf boy and casts out demons. He is also brought back from death. Whether teen readers will understand all this is a matter of conjecture.-Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist In a post-Potter world where Oscars accrue to films set in Middle Earth, publishers' big books (the ones that receive the lion's share of publicity) are often fantasies. Such is the case with this debut novel, which was purchased by Putnam in a $500,000 three-book deal after it made headlines in the UK, having given Harry Potter a run for its money. Expect requests for this novel, especially after the author appears on the Today show, but the real question is whether it will continue to circulate after the initial buzz fades. Originally self-published by a country vicar (a quaint fact that contributed mightily to the media cachet in the UK), Shadowmancer , set in an English village of the 1500s, pits two children against a corrupt vicar. We're not talking skimming from the collection plates; a lust for power has led the vicar to devil-worship, which is hastening the world to Armageddon. A visitor from Africa serves as the children's comrade and spiritual guide, proselytizing a religion with the maxims (In our weakness we will find his strength, in our poverty we will find his riches) and symbols (healing of the sick, breaking of the bread) of Christianity, though Taylor substitutes the names Riathamus and Pyratheon for God and Satan (a device also employed by C. S. Lewis, although many readers may find such poetic license more difficult to accept in this less fantastical setting). But issues of doctrine aside, is this a good story? Not particularly. The characters are either ecstatic believers (It's as if I was blind, and suddenly the blindness is gone), candidates for conversion, or evil adversaries, and although Taylor introduces some deliciously scary demons and monsters, the moments of high drama are merely interruptions in what amounts to a rather ponderous sermon, suffering from characters too overshadowed by pyrotechnical plots and thematic enthusiasms to fully fire the imagination. -Jennifer Mattson Jennifer Mattson Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved Review Pullmanesque fantasy, set on the haunted Yorkshire coast. -- Kirkus Reviews There are enough surprises to keep readers madly turning the pages. -- Publishers Weekly Well written and highly imaginative. . . . Young readers will like its pace, and adults will enjoy its complexity. -- VOYA Review Pullmanesque fantasy, set on the haunted Yorkshire coast. -- Kirkus Reviews There are enough surprises to keep readers madly turning the pages. -- Publishers Weekly Well written and highly imaginative. . . . Young readers will like its pace, and adults will enjoy its complexity. -- VOYA About the Author G. P. Taylor has spent the whole of his life searching for the hidden secrets of the universe. He lectures on the paranormal and folklore, and lives in a secluded graveyard. Now Taylor is the Vicar of Cloughton, a village in Yorkshire, which is close to the spooky setting of Whitby, the location of many a devilish tale rich with a spiritual heritage.