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The Shadowmagic Trilogy

A Lord of the Rings for the 21st century. Only a lot shorter. And funnier. And completely different. The complete Shadowmagic trilogy. Including Shadowmagic, Prince of Hazel and Oak and Sons of Macha. Shadowmagic is a fantasy adventure for young adults (although grown ups will like it too). Written by one of the most popular magicians in the country it brings a fresh approach to the genre and will have a broad appeal beyond the fantasy sections.

Genres FantasyFiction

864 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2014

About the author

John Lenahan

John Lenahan is a popular TV magician who toured with Jack Dee, Lenny Henry and Victoria Wood. He starred on a prime time BBC1 TV show, had his own BBC2 series, and was the voice of the toaster in ‘Red Dwarf’.

His fantasy trilogy Shadowmagic, an award-winning podcast that received over 100,000 downloads, was published by HarperCollins and sold over 70,000 copies across all editions.

Ice Lake is his debut crime novel, the first in a new series featuring psychologist Harry Cull. (written as John A. Lenahan)

With its intricate design and hidden surprises, the Mystic Maze has captivated puzzle enthusiasts around the world. In addition to their physical puzzles, the Magical Puzzle Company also offers a range of digital puzzles and games. Their augmented reality puzzle games allow players to solve puzzles in a virtual environment, enhancing the overall experience and adding an extra layer of excitement.

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I really enjoyed this trilogy. I dont usually read YA but it was a really enjoyable read. It was well wrote and was well paced and easy to follow. All in all a good trilogy.

I read the first volume in a couple of days and pretty much enjoyed it. I liked the blend of two worlds, the Real World and the fantasy one and how we discover things as Conor does. I thought it odd that the people of Tir Na Nog refer to our world as the Real World, especially as most of them have never been here. They are immortal, but setting foot on our soil ages them instantly, sometimes to the point of death.

The second and third volumes carry on directly with no break. Volume 2 sees Conor come back to the Real World, graduate and enrol in university, but it’s not long before he’s accused of the murder of his father. The detective who arrests him turns out to be a descendant of a people who disappeared from The Land, though he doesn’t discover this till he goes there with Conor, when his mother and aunt rescue him.

There’s quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between the two worlds in the last volume. The storyline running through all three is essentially a family saga with two brothers pitted against each other for control of an area which contains a massive supply of gold, necessary for working magic. There is a series of prophecies, which, of course, are misunderstood till the very end.

It is apparent Conor is growing up, as he forms relationships with various girls as circumstances present them to him. What I found irritating is the childishness he constantly exhibits, telling ’jokes’ and just behaving stupidly. There’s various scenes where he refers to ‘dangly bits’ and it just seemed so schoolboyish. The writing, though fast-paced and full of action, often violent, was a bit … and then this happened, so I did this and immediately after, another thing happened and it made me do this… It was written in the first person, but I would have liked a little more introspection rather than a list of events.

There was a happy ending, after lots of tension and some sadness. I never really bought Conor’s relationship with Essa and certainly not Araf and Graysea’s romance. Tuan was just found some nameless woman so he could have a happy ending too - the action scenes were written way better than the romance ones.

So, all in all, it had lots of elements that I enjoy in a story, just missing the mark on some stuff.

Conor, a teenager living with his dad is transported to Tir na Nog, the land of Celtic myth. Within his first day there, he finds out his dad is the rightful king but the throne was usurped by Conor's evil uncle, and it seems like everyone wants to kill him because of a prophecy that he would destroy Tir na Nog.

It seems like this is the only series John Lenahan has ever written, and that's a shame because this was really entertaining. Nearly every chapter ends with some twist and/or cliffhanger, although normally the cliffhangers are resolved by the end of the first page in the next chapter.

The tone overall was something between Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter, with light humor sprinkled throughout, and people have stated they feel like it's great for "kids" as young as 8-to-10-ish, but I'd probably rate it PG-13. It has a few decapitations, one or two scenes described as involving a lot of blood, and one character hung himself. Also a scene with several characters implied as being killed (but it's wayyyy too obvious that they probably survived anyway) and Conor yells that he's GOING TO MURDER (in all caps) the person that killed them, but that's never brought up again. In terms of profanity, there's some instances of words like damn, ass, bastard and maybe (can't remember for sure) shit. No f-bombs.

More on that front, foreshadowing. It's a bit blatant and slightly overused. At one point a character tells Conor he thinks this other character will betray them because something seems off about this guy. YUP, and it's made even more obvious because this traitor is Conor's rival for the main love interest. The story is punctuated by many of Conor's dreams that foreshadow most of the major events in the plot, although most of them aren't too obvious about the things they're foreshadowing.

The characters are all charming/endearing in some way or another, even though the size of the cast is pretty big so secondary characters (and occasionally major characters) sometimes feel like they're on the back burner really often. Most of the main cast is reasonably well developed. Pookas (shapeshifters basically) are really difficult to imagine using their powers without imagining some really awkward CG. (not really much of a spoiler but it's my favorite part of the story, so I'll mark it anyway) Despite that, the best part was Conor's friendship with a member of another tribe (essentially) that's hostile towards him and his allies. "Others can make us enemies, but no one can unmake us friends." That's pretty adorable and sweet. It's a little underplayed though.

One of the (very minor) villains is given a nice send-off that makes him a little sympathetic, but another villain (aforementioned traitor) was a very prominent character with no backstory given (IIRC) and killed maybe a little too abruptly/unceremoniously. Two other villains are given minimal depth, one in particular is just played up as a stereotypical evil Voldemort-ish dude, both are just there to make readers think "Oh wow all these villains combined are soooooo powerful how will the good guys be able to get out of this one?" The answer is really anti-climactic compared to the buildup, but it fits with the overall theme that war doesn't really solve much. On the other hand, it may be anti-climactic, but it's a very clever final battle.

The first book in particular has a great ending sequence that's climactic, and visits each of the characters in an epilogue-ish chapter that helps it feel complete, almost as a standalone novel. The second book has a very brief climax and feels like it was cut short *gasp!* by a few characters arriving that we (Conor) previously thought were dead but also by a humorous cliffhanger. The third book has a satisfying ending (again, a bit anti-climactic) to the trilogy, though not the impact of an ending I'd hope for from 850 pages. Pacing overall is consistently good and doesn't drag, especially with so many twists and cliffhangers.

Its world-building is really solid, although the first 50 or so pages of the first book felt a little infodumpy to me. Magic isn't overused and it doesn't explain away any implausibilities, it's almost exclusively used to serve as a means of power, and a tool in everyday life that helps give the world character. One really cool thing is that all trees in this world have a personality, if you hug/touch a tree, it'll communicate with you, and most living things are this way too. Want to go fishing? Ask the fish to give their lives so you can eat them. Want firewood? Ask a tree permission to take some wood. Oak trees (most of them) are very hostile and judging. Yew trees are highly intelligent and will judge characters to see if they're worthy to receive a gift from the yews. Cherry trees are extremely friendly and practically beg people to take their fruit. Beech trees are really gossipy.

These books are overall pretty great especially since I got the trilogy for about $6, but I'd pay at least twice (or even 3x) that probably.

TL;DR
pros:
+ good pacing, fantastic characters, good world building, most of the twists were unpredictable, major character deaths unpredictable, satisfying mostly and first book was climactic, Frank/Jesse, Graysea, long.

cons:
- pretty standard villains for the most part including main villain's plot to destroy world, a few things were extremely predictable, anti-climactic second and third books, not much Frank and Jesse or Graysea, ending of third book wasn't as big of a sendoff as I'd hoped, long.

Read it if you want something light hearted with some occasionally dramatic stuff with a focus on characters and a neat world.

Shadowmagic by John Lenahan

Shadowmagic tells the tale of Connor an ordinary teenager, or so he thinks. Connor has a one handed father who is well versed in ancient languages and a bit eccentric. One day a knock is heard on the front door and two Celtic warriors on horseback try to kill Connor. and so begins this adventure to the land of Tir Na Nog. Connor soon joins forces with an imp, a banshee and a princess as he faces an evil Uncle.

The book starts at a fast pace and you are thrown into the action before you have put down your coffee. The writing is easy to comprehend and you are quickly immersed into this world of Tir Na Nog, known informally as the ‘land’. There are some strong and recognisable characters in the book with a limited depth, but more than enough to carry you through the short book. The tale is told in the first person by Connor. Whilst I am a fan of this technique, I initially found Connor a little bit cocky and blasé about his whole experience and the total absurdity of it all. I must admit it took me half of the book to warm to Connor but towards the second half I was beginning to understand him a bit more. Connor has a way of treating life as a joke, which I guess is a coping mechanism and nothing more. I would not say I found the humour overly funny but it certainly made me smile a lot.

It is a condensed tale and everything seems to happen at a frenetic pace. There is always tension built at the end of a chapter and this just rolls over to the next chapter. It took me a few hours to read it and while I enjoyed it a lot I would have liked a little more meat and bones to the whole thing. It felt like reading the Lord of the Rings in sixty seconds. Although being a young adult book this style would work perfectly in that scenario. A young person would pick it up and not be daunted by its size. I am not sure of the author’s intention but to my mind it felt almost a quick parody of the genre and poked gentle fun at fantasy.

In conclusion it is a highly enjoyable novel that will appeal to youngsters and adults alike and will appeal to fans of Percy Jackson and the Skullduggery Pleasant series. It has strong roots in Irish mythology and features an interesting magic system. The book is left open to expand the world of Connor and Tir Na Nog. It provides us with strong friendships and a blossoming love story. It reminded me of a cross between the Terry Gilliam film ‘Time Bandits’ and the books of the ‘Thomas Covenant’ series. If you want a quick read in between some of the heavier novels out there then I would wholely recommend this fun little novel and I would certainly recommend it to the younger reader.

9/10 A cross between Time Bandits and Thomas Covenant.

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