Jon Sprunk

Part of me thinks if I hadn't just finished Brent Week's "Night Angel" trilogy I would have been less pre-disposed to say 'Another super special assassin!' and played the compare game between Kylar (of Night Angel) and Caim (of Shadow's Son). I'm a creature of habitual likes so this isn't a problem for me--I have more super special assassin books in my fantasy collection then almost any other trope.

In truth that's the only similarities between the two, well technically there's another, but its a spoiler in both cases so I can't mention it here, but suffice to say Kylar and Caim both indulge in royal politics. Caim is self-assured, resourceful and intelligent. When handed a too easy job he's immediately suspicious and questioning. When told a convenient sounding lie he mulls it over and deciphers the meaning. He is very disciplined. In short he was a little dry for my tastes. Its not that he was boring or stuffy, he didn't do anything that gave him joy.

True, he was an assassin and killed people for a living, but that was the totality of who he was for much of the mission given to him by Mathias. Sometimes he bantered with Kit and he certainly grew impatient with Josey more than once, but he didn't relax very often.

I found myself more interested in Kit and what exactly she was and her role in Caim's life. She was some kind of spirit, who only Caim could see and interact with and could not really effect the physical world. Who and what she is evolves as the plot thickens and Caim realizes that who he is matters to the schemes at hand more than he could have guessed. I liked that she gave Caim attitude, but was dedicated to his protection as well.

Josey took a little while for me to like, she seemed like a spoiled kid with a permanent petulant attitude. Her ability to grasp the bigger threat was deficient and I wanted to smack her. Just scream at her and say 'Don't you see? Can't you understand?' She had a good heart though and as the book went on it became apparent that she also was very perceptive and quick on her feet when she did understand.

The world building is a little more shallow then I was used to and Sprunk had this fixation on making us care for a character (good or ill) and then many horrible things would occur. It made me wary of investing in any character, a little paranoid that as soon as I came to a conclusion in regards to them everything would change.… (more)

I can say without hesitation that I enjoyed this book more so than the first. Maybe this is because Sprunk took more time to detail the world or because my two favorite characters (Josey and Kit) proved themselves more than Caim's match in dealing with the unknown.

Our Merry Band of Miscreants have gone in different ways after Caim's decision to head North (to help his people) and Josey became Empress of Nimea. I was relieved that Sprunk didn't spend too much time on Josey becoming acclimated to being Empress; having been raised in a noble house she fell into the role of Empress easily enough (as far as manners and customs). Caim for his part didn't spend a lot of time moping that he had to leave Josey despite their feelings (and the beginnings of a relationship). At odd moments he will regret not being with her and accepting the easier road (as her husband), but he's doing what he knows to be right and that sustains him.mostly. By contrast Josey spent more time silently cursing Caim for leaving her, but she had a slightly better reason to do so.

Caim's family history is deeply discomforting. It would be better to say that the culture of his people makes it hard to be comfortable around them. Kit relays news to him that could be construed as good news, but straight on the heels of that revelation she reports about a family member that puts everyone else's Crazy Aunt Judy to shame. Sprunk spends time going from character to character to round out the worldview--we follow Caim, Sybelle, Josey, Kit and a small host of minor characters when they're viewpoint adds something different to the proceedings. This was frustrating at times because not everyone is given equal time--Caim will sometimes have entire chapters to himself while Josey is given only a small portion of one, or Sybelle will repeatedly show within a few chapters.

I think what pleased me the most was in between Caim and his new Merry Band of Miscreants fighting their way further North to purge the menace threatening everyone, we had the time with Josey and the Court machinations. Reading about Josey handling the precarious balance of power and unrest in Nimea, while being hunted by a creature of murderous intent, was more entertaining than the constant battles Caim found himself in. Sprunk definitely upped the body count for this book.

The various plot threads all end with the same purpose in mind--to get North and resolve things one way or another. I look forward to a reunion between Josey and Caim, as well as the nature of Kit and Caim's past being fully revealed. There's a showdown a-brewing and I'm rubbing my hands in glee for it.

review originally posted at Night Owl Reviews… (more)

The good news is that except for the character growth of Caim, if a reader happens upon SHADOW'S MASTER before the first two novels (SHADOW'S SON and SHADOW'S LURE) they won't be lost. More so than the first book into the second, Sprunk gives a better accounting of things so that a new reader stumbling in won't be scratching their head and grow frustrated.

The other piece of good news is that this book pays off for readers of the previous two volumes. Caim's heritage, the nature of his otherworldly powers and his role as the 'Scion' are given center stage as he travels north to find out about his (not quite human) mother. A resolution is also found for the love triangle that is Josey-Caim-Kit, though I'm less keen on that aspect (I was never actually invested in either relationship, though I felt keenly for Josey's predicament during book 2).

The less good news is that because Sprunk seemed to make this more standalone than the previous two novels (despite being the third and final part of the trilogy), Caim's behavior seems off somehow. He's brooding, angsty and bothered by things that would have made more sense in book 1 then now in book 3.

My favorite parts, which probably say’s a lot about where my priorities were and how skewed they were, involved Josey and her schemes and machinations to keep her throne. Fortunately even without Caim around to help her do sneaky things, Josey forges alliances and has a number of people she can trust to help her stave off death and dethronement. By the end of the novel she finds her place in the world and finds herself able to come to terms with the changes she's undergone and I applaud her for it. Josey was never a weak character (irritating at times, but not weak) and her growth throughout the books has made me smile.

I'll give Sprunk credit, in what could have been a sentimental book dealing with the nature of families, history and love he still packs in enough fighting, bloodshed and action to keep just about anyone happy. Between Caim's battles in the north and Josey's battles to protect her throne, there's very little downtime for our heroes. It made for a quick-paced read that keeps the reader entranced until the last page.

In all this was a good farewell to the world and Caim in particular. I was satisfied by the conclusion, though that's not to say I would be averse to Sprunk writing short stories about Nimea and how Josey's reign goes on in the future however.

Review originally posted at Night Owl Reviews… (more)