Of Sea and Shadow

3/5

When I read the Sea and Shadow first I was excited for the possibilities of this world and story and loved every minute of reading. Unfortunately it’s counterpart, Shadow and Sea, does not have the same effect at all. It felt far more generic, mostly due to the cast of characters who seem to have little in terms of personality.

Shera specifically, being the main character, should be the driving force of the book but her boring outlook and emotionless responses leave me not being able to root for her cause at all. All she wants to do it sleep, and so do I. The supporting characters do not feel much better except Lucan who actually seems to have some emotions and curiosity.

My biggest disappointment in the Shadow series is how little magic there is, not just actual magic but the magic of the unknown. There is little curiosity about the world as the characters just go where they are told and kill who they are told to kill.

The consultants also seem to have superhuman powers but are just highly trained which feels so jarring. It feels like there should have been something more special about them to give them such super-human feeling abilities to blend into shadows and disappear into thin air. It just feels so incomplete.

Overall I will give this series a fair try and I hope the rest of the series feels better, but the Sea side is certainly a far better story.