• Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Tahlia Newland

Editor, Author & Artist

  • Editing Services
  • Me & My Creative Life
    • My Books
      • Metaphysical Fiction
    • My Poetry
    • My Masks
    • My Hats
    • Permaculture, Forest & Garden
    • Performing Arts
  • Blog
  • Contact

Review: Skein of Shadows by Marsheila Rockwell

October 15, 2012 by Tahlia Newland

Title: Skein of Shadows

Author: Marsheila Rockwell

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

Genre: Fantasy

Skein of Shadows is a tight, fast-paced quest set in a world of dwarves, earth dwelling elves, wizards, living constructs, shifters, dragons, highly evolved spiders, and various classes of demons among others. The story follows Sabira, a human marshal with a magical sword, on a mission underground into Tarath Marad to find Tilde, her old flame, Ned’s sister, who is missing after going into the caves with thirty men. None of them came back.

Nevertheless, Sabira, like all heroes in traditional fantasy, is happy to take on ridiculous odds. She enters Tarath Marad with a small motley band of fighters that she picked up along the way, and it soon becomes clear that even if they manage to find Tilde, getting out again is extremely unlikely. People die, some retire wounded, but Sabira goes on, driven by the need to cleanse her conscience and repay her debt to his family after failing to prevent Ned’s death at some previous date.

Sabira’s main companions are a dwarf with a magical charm bracelet and a not entirely trustworthy guide. Their journey through the caverns has them battling human foes, creatures that are a kind of cross between spiders and humans, and murderous magical mushrooms. Added to this is a prophecy which, like all good prophecies, needs a bit of working out. The pieces only fall into place at the end of the book, just before the inevitable battle to the death with the evil queen(ish thing).

The end has a nice twist that left this reader happy and showed that Sabira had grown from her experience. It’s a well-written book, with strong well-rounded characters and a plot that keeps you reading—a  great read for lovers of traditional fantasy. A touch of humour lightens the load of the terrible odds stacked against our heroes and stops the book imploding under its own weight like a lot of heavy fantasy.

The only difficulty I had with Skein of Shadows was the plethora of strange names thrown at the reader early in the book. Coupled with a dearth of description, I didn’t get a good feel for the setting until we got to the outpost at the entrance to the caverns. Plot wise, I also felt that Sabira found her ‘men’ too easily and that they were too willing to go into a place that was clearly a death trap. Do people (sentient machines and assorted creatures) really risk almost certain death for money and the thrill of adventure? In this book they do. Regardless, it’s a great book if you’re looking for action in an exotic setting. 5 stars.

US Kindle store

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: 5 stars, Fantasy, Reviews Tagged With: 5 stars, Book Review, Fantasy novels, Fantasy novels review blogs, Skein of Shadows by Marsheila Rockwell

« Review: The Guardian’s Wildchild by Feather Stone
Review: The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore »

Search

Recent Posts

  • Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin
  • Book Genres – What you Need to Know.
  • How to See Edits in Word Documents
  • Finding an Editor You Can Trust
  • Review of ‘The Guild Codex Spellbound Series’ by Annette Marie

View Posts by Category

Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. 

DOWNLOAD  NOW

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Free Book Download  
Get Lethal Inheritance free when you sign up to my new release email list.  I won’t share your details and you can unsubscribe at any time.

My Latest Books

  • Fallout: Recovering from Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism
  • The Elements of Active Prose: Writing Tips to Make Your Prose Shine
  • The Locksmith's Secret
    Rated 5.00 out of 5

Alliance of Independent Authors

Alliance of Independent Authors

Click HERE to see all my books.

Books
Reviews, Writing, Cats & Contemplation
Editing

Click HERE to subscribe to my newsletter and get my fantasy novel Lethal Inheritance FREE. 

How to Meditate – the crucial points

See more

Hi I’m Tahlia Newland

I can help you express yourself and share your story with the world.

 

Do you want to write a really good story and have it professionally polished and published?

As an editor, I help you be the best writer you can possibly be. I strengthen your voice, support your vision and can assist you all the way to publication.

On my blog you’ll find book reviews, writer’s tips, contemplative articles on meditation and working with your mind, and occaisonally pictures of my Burmese cats.

If you’re interested mostly in my contemplative articles then  Sign up to the Living in Peace & Clarity Newsletter to get those articles delivered by email. And check out the resources on my Living in Peace and Clarity Page.

I do a lot of community work involving blogging and general support for Buddhist students processing revelations of abuse in their spiritual communities.  Please consider supporting me to continue this work.

Occiasonally, when inspired and not too busy with community work, I make masks.

All my books are

Visit my Mask & Steampunk Accessories Shop

2015-03-19 15.46.12
Blue Burmese
Like cats in stories? Check out my books. And click the photo to read the cat colomn.

Click Here for More Articles in This Series

Book reviews – sci fi, fantasy, literary fiction, Buddhist fiction and related non-fiction

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

The High Priestess: Persephone’s Return is the third book in Val Tobin’s Tales from the Unmasqued World Series, and in it she deepens and expands the stories from the previous two book. The book has two central story arcs based around characters we’ve met before. One arc follows Kelsey (a human) who is with Josh […]

More Posts from this Category

My gorgeous Burmese cats

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Yesterday I did a photoshoot for my renovated website. Take a look around, particulary at the home page (Click on my name at the top to go there). It’s designed for editing clients with my books secondary because I need to focus on the part of this publishing business that actually earns me more than […]

More Posts from this Category

Seven of my novels have an Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence

Four of my books earned BRAG Medallions

I abide by the ethical author code

I'm an Ethical Author
Alliance of Independent Authors

Copyright

All material on this website is under copyright to Tahlia Newland and cannot be shared without written permission.

  • Editing Services
  • About Me
  • My Books
  • My Masks
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Amoré Theme by Oh, Hello Designs on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

FREE Novel Revision Checklist

Written a book? Need some help reviewing and revising it? Download my Novel Revision Checklist for step by step guidance.  

DOWNLOAD NOW

no thanks

{"cookieName":"wBounce","isAggressive":false,"isSitewide":true,"hesitation":"120","openAnimation":false,"exitAnimation":false,"timer":"","sensitivity":"","cookieExpire":"7","cookieDomain":"","autoFire":"","isAnalyticsEnabled":false}

Please note: I am closed for holidays from Christmas day until Jan 30th 2023. Dismiss