The Tower of Shadows
by Drew Bowling
Published by Ballantine Books
Click on book
cover to order
at Amazon.com
Reviewed by Jenny Salyers
The Land of Ellenrie is under the threat of a great evil.
Roughly fifteen years before, the wizard Dale, stopped the culmination of an evil sacrifice that would have opened a door between Ellenrie and the demon world.
His flight through the nearby town brings him close to being attacked by the not quite human followers of the watchers who have been empowered by the completed portion of the sacrifical ceremony. On his flight, he is joined by a former mercenary named Wren, Wren's wife and a baby boy who she has saved from death at the hands of the attackers who killed his parents.
Currently, rumors of strange happenings have been through Ellenrie. When Wren's daughter Kayla witnesses the murder of the guardians of an ancient artifact, their life is changed forever. They are forced to flee the capitol, chased by a pair of assassins. When they finally arrive at Dale's lonely cottage, they find that he has disappeared, They eventually join his young apprentice Adriel (now a full-fledged wizard with little control of the magic he carries) in search of the boy Colin, to keep him safe.
For the threat of evil to become reality, his life is to be sacrificed by a mysterious mage living in a tower of shadows. Can the group find and keep Colin safe in time, or will a shadowy doom fall on Ellenrie?
Fantasy is a hard genre to break into--especially the epic fantasy part of the genre. It is easy for new authors to fall back on the writing styles that have influenced them, resulting in stories that while good can be easily picked apart.
However, the Tower of Shadows does not do this.
Drew Bowling brings us a glimpse of a world with little magic left in it--that is being threatened by a very magical source. Also, I loved that everything strange and weird-seeming that showed up, are all shown to have a reason for happening. This epic tale is an extremely strong first novel, and I look forward to reading future works by the author.
Armchair Interviews says: Well-done first novel.