David Gemmell: Wolf in Shadow

Hi

Wolf in Shadow is the first book in the Jon Shannow series by David Gemmell.
The series was a gift from my husband and this book has 326 pages.

“Jon Shannow, The Jerusalem Man, lived in a world that had toppled on its axis. Civilization had been replaced by ruthlessness and savagery. Relentless in his quest for peace, Shannow followed a path that led only to bloodshed and sorrow.
Abaddon, the Lord of the Pit, sought to plunge mankind into a new Satanic era. His Hellborn army spewed forth from the Plague Lands with an unholy force stemming from human sacrifice. For it was the blood of innocents that fueled the corrupted Sipstrassi Stones of Power--the source of Abaddon's might.
But the Hellborn made a fatal mistake--they took the woman who had stolen Shannow's heart. He would move Heaven and Earth to save her or he would die trying.”

                                                *    SPOILERS    *

I didn’t love this book as much as I had hoped to.

First of all, the whole book felt very rushed.
The characterization and worldbuilding isn’t as in-depth as I would have liked and that makes it hard to get into the story or care for the characters. The book just couldn’t captivate me.
What worldbuilding we do get, I loved. The book is set years and years from today and it was absolutely great to see the things that are left to them from our world. Not only weapons but certain words and places are recognizable. The world is fascinating.

Some things were a bit too convenient. A few characters can appear anywhere they like and I just don’t like that. With abilities like that, it’s very hard to create tension or suspense and to have us wonder what will happen next.

The Titanic. Why? Gemmell completely lost me there.

And there’s not one strong female character. Shannow’s love-interest is the only female character in the whole book. She has three men over the course of the book and she’s only there to serve the plot; to get kidnapped for a specific reason. That’s all there is to her and I find that very sad and honestly, it makes me mad.

The book reads very fast and there’s a lot happening.
I liked the mix of Western, Fantasy and Post-Apocalyptic elements in the book.
But the book was too much focused on religion to be interesting and not make me roll my eyes most of the time.

2 STARS

Happy reading!
Helena