Waiting on Wednesday – A Shadow All of Light by Fred Chappell

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.