House of Shadows

Jul 16, 2012 Mitch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading House of Shadows is like watching subtle magic at work. I admit, this is not an easy book to read, be prepared for some fairly dense descriptions and unexpected points of view, but there's just something about the characters, about the writing, that makes this book incredibly charming and compelling. From the very first line, I just knew I was in for the kind of light fantasy that captivates with its detail. "In a city of gray stone and mist, between the steep rainswept mountains and the...more Reading House of Shadows is like watching subtle magic at work. I admit, this is not an easy book to read, be prepared for some fairly dense descriptions and unexpected points of view, but there's just something about the characters, about the writing, that makes this book incredibly charming and compelling. From the very first line, I just knew I was in for the kind of light fantasy that captivates with its detail. "In a city of gray stone and mist, between the steep rainswept mountains and the sea, there lived a merchant with his eight daughters..."

Ok, that line might be a little misleading; the story really isn't so much about the merchant's eight daughters, or even Nemienne and Karah, the two daughters out to find their fortunes, as the summary implies. There's a much bigger plot, involving multiple other characters, jumping around multiple contemporaneous storylines. But Nemienne's is still really good, I really like her because she's such a delightfully charming character. I love how she starts as the only sister without a role in her family and then finds herself as an apprentice to Mage Ankennes. And through her eyes, the mage's magical house, the mage's magical cat, the play of light and shadow leading to a whole deal with finding balance between light and dark, it's all vividly brought to life and completely fascinating. The entire time during Nemienne's scenes, I'm thinking about this awesome house, with all of its twists, turns, corners, rooms, and doors - I could totally get lost in a house like that for days. As as Nemienne's learning about magic, about light and dark, I'm also thinking about how I would totally read a book just about her - that's how awesome she is.

But Nemienne isn't the only character here. Her sister Karah actually isn't a main character, which is good because she's a little too sweet and innocent, but Leilis, not quite a servant at Karah's Flower House, is another major point of view. The entire flower life concept is of course based on Japan's Geishas, and although I was sort of just thrown into the entire thing without any explanation, I thought it was pretty well done after I finally managed to pick up the vocabulary - keisos, and deisas, and keisonnes and all that. (If you're wondering, a keiso is like a fancy female companion for nobles, a deisa is like a keiso in training, and a keisonne is a noble who has taken a keiso as a second wife ... I think.) A lot of interesting stuff, and Leilis is a great guide for it all because she has so much firsthand experience and just takes Karah under her wing, protecting her from the more jealous deisas.

And Taubbe, a foreign sorcerer caught up in a scheme to assassinate the kingdom's Crown Prince, provides the third main point of view. He's a bard, which I thought was pretty cool with all his music and sound magic, and his storyline's actually the most important, because the overall plot involves the assassination attempt. So even though he sort of pops up out of nowhere when the book suddenly switches to his point of view, don't worry, it makes perfect sense within a few chapters because his story intersects the others'. My only complaint is that I could tell Mage Ankennes’s up to go good early on from Taubbe's point of view, but the mage still seems like a perfectly harmless mentor from Nemienne's, so I didn't know what to think. But that's resolved well before the end of the book. Hmmm, actually the ending kind of drags too, the last ten percent could've probably been cut down to two percent.

But anyway, House of Shadows is a delightful light fantasy with well-done characters and excellent world building. It's not the easiest book to get into and the pacing's off at the end, but I still really enjoyed it.(less)

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May 11, 2013 Estara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of character-based, kingdom level intrigue fantasy

Recommended to Estara by: I liked her blog voice and her review of And All the Stars and the Booksmugglers had recommended her books before

Shelves: ebook, read-in-2013

This is more what I wanted Seraphina to be like, actually. It's an intricate kingdom-level intrigue fantasy with three main point of view characters, all of them with personal ties to others, coming across a long-term intrigue plotted by a powerful man in the country of Lirionne, which seems to be on the verge of rekindling a war with a neighbouring country after a 15-year-long truce-treaty is set to run out at solstice.

There's the foreigner mage from the rival country, involved as a tool and sc...more This is more what I wanted Seraphina to be like, actually. It's an intricate kingdom-level intrigue fantasy with three main point of view characters, all of them with personal ties to others, coming across a long-term intrigue plotted by a powerful man in the country of Lirionne, which seems to be on the verge of rekindling a war with a neighbouring country after a 15-year-long truce-treaty is set to run out at solstice.

There's the foreigner mage from the rival country, involved as a tool and scapegoat into the intrigue, there's the girl sold into apprenticeship (the trope of selling members of the household... it seems to be only girls are ever sold, and it isn't really explored for anything but the house where the story sets out) to a local mage because she has an affinity to it (her sister could almost be claimed as the fourth major character, because she is also deeply drawn into the intrigue and connects to the third POV-character), and a young woman raised as a geisha[Keiso], but cursed by a jealous rival to be unable to fulfil the role she was raised for.

As is clear from the interview at the back of the book she is a character-first writer, so if you are a reader for plot and interior logic, then I think you may feel somewhat dissatisfied with aspects of the book. But as I am a reader for character first and foremost, I accepted that, of the eight sisters introduced at the start, only two have any agency and only a third is in any way her own person; the current rival apprentice-geisha at the geisha house whom we hardly ever see talking has more real presence in the book via the dread everyone feels about her and the few intrigues initiated by her.

But the three that the book focusses on and their interests and their personalities and the lyrical description of the various magics and the intertwining of the actions because of who these people are - and the eventual opening of the focus to include the sister of the future female mage, the servant of the foreigner mage, the prince and king of Lirionne and the mother of the keiso house - those are what make the book compelling and something you want more of: to find out what the consequences of the roads taken and the trust given in this book are.

But if the author should decide not to write any more in this world with these people, they are still left at a place where a lot of options seem open to them, so I'm fine with that. This is a book I'll be rereading.(less)

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Dec 27, 2012 ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: goodreads-readalong, autographed-copy, coverlove, fantasy, owned-copy, 2012-reads, here-be-monsters, i-cant-fight-this-feeeeling-anymore, a-marysue-by-any-other-name, you-call-it-love-i-call-it-hormones, all-surface-no-substance, le-sigh

3.75 out of 5

There's a lot to like about this - the world, the culture, the various aspects of magic - but there is also a lot that bothered me as I read. The characters are a mixed bag: some are wonderfully complex, and others had me considering renaming the Mary Sue trope after them specifically (credit: Lyn for the Karah Sue crack).

On the whole, this was far from what I had anticipated but I would, and plan to ~~and may have already bought~~ another YA fantasy from Neumeier. Not perfect, but stil...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Keertana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Keertana by: Heidi

Where has Rachel Neumeier been all my life? Seriously, this woman’s novels are written just the way I ~~like~~ love them to be written and needless to say, after reading just one novel of hers, I’m a self-proclaimed fan. House of Shadows is, beyond anything else, a fantasy. In fact, it’s one of the few good fantasies out there to be released this year. While this past year has seen a resurgence in fantasy novels, any ardent fantasy lover like myself will tell you that only a rare few of them have be...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Brandy Painter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, adult-fiction, young-adult

Originally posted at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

I read Rachel Neumeier's The Floating Islands (my review) and really enjoyed it, so when I saw people begin to talk about her latest book House of Shadows I knew I wanted to read it. I bought it rather than wait to see if my library would ever get it, and boy am I glad I did. I was able to read this wonderful story that much sooner.

Did you read the synopsis? No? Doesn't matter. This book is about a lot more than that and, in fact, does not foc...more Originally posted at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

I read Rachel Neumeier's The Floating Islands (my review) and really enjoyed it, so when I saw people begin to talk about her latest book House of Shadows I knew I wanted to read it. I bought it rather than wait to see if my library would ever get it, and boy am I glad I did. I was able to read this wonderful story that much sooner.

Did you read the synopsis? No? Doesn't matter. This book is about a lot more than that and, in fact, does not focus nearly as much on Karah and Nemienne as it would lead you to believe. True the story starts with them and they are used to introduce us to the world, but there's a lot more going on. And two other characters of far more import. (Or maybe they just seemed that way to me.) Taudde and Leilis. Don't get me wrong. Nemienne and Karah are both important to the story, but Taudde and Leilis were what kept me reading and wanting more. I loved both of them so much. Taudde is a conflicted foreigner torn between his honor and a need for vengeance. Leilis is a bitter ensorcelled young woman who has given up on her dreams, but uses her wits to her best advantage with the life she has been left. I could have read a book all about these two and been quite happy. But that would have been a typical book, and Rachel Neumeier's books are anything but typical and so she made this one more. The shifting viewpoints and all the angles shown of every story give a richer fuller picture of what is going on. At the same time, Neumeier manages to surprise the reader from time to time. It's marvelous. The world these characters live in is rich in beauty and detail. I would love to read more about these characters and their countries.

Also there are mages, sorcery, politics, and a dragon. So you know, it's all awesome. If you are someone who breaks out in a cold sweat at the thought of reading High Fantasy, if all the strange long names and places distract you, if you don't like kingdom intrigue and political plotting, then this book isn't for you. If however, like me, you will read anything so described and are over the moon excited when it delivers everything you could want and more, then read this book.

House of Shadows is being marketed as adult but has a definite cross-over appeal for a YA audience which is why I chose to review it here. Nemienne and Karah are both in their teens, and the other characters are in their 20's. (less)

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Nov 06, 2012 Adrian rated it 3 of 5 stars

It took me forever to read this book. It was well written and I enjoyed the plot. It just wasn't a book that I couldn't put down. Instead, I would pick it up at bedtime, read a page or two and fall asleep.
This book was written from 3 different points of view. I had no problems with the way Ms Neumeier handled that.
I was a little lost when trying to understand the keiso life, however the keiso lifestyle was modeled after the geisha lifestyle. Once I realized that, it was a little easier to under...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Kathy Cowley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

I really enjoyed this novel about a foreign bard-magician who is blackmailed into participating in an attempt on the prince’s life. There are three viewpoint characters, and each makes choices that are essential in the plot. The two female characters serve to stand in for the reader and connect us to the story world, while the man’s story truly incites the main action for the novel.

One of my favorite things about this novel is the setting. So many fantasy novels, even ones set on other worlds, h...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Yune rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of Rachel Neumeier's writing (and I find her taste in reading material surprisingly compatible with mine, which I suspect is not a coincidence), but it took me a while to get to this one because of a remark in her blog which I found rather off-putting. Still, I ended up taking the book on a plane trip and was relieved to find that I still enjoy her storytelling.

The beginning's a bit fairy tale-like (the back cover copy even begins with "Once upon a time..."), with a merchant father...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Andrea Guy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, fantasy, tlcblogtours

This is one of those books you can judge by the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous. Here is a novel that is beautifully written with characters that will draw you into the story.

What sets this story apart is that it is told from 3 points of view, Nemienne, Taudde and Leillis. Nemienne's sister Karah (Moonflower) plays a large part in the story as well. Each has a separate story but they are all connected to each other.

I loved how Rachel created the keiso life from geishas. It really was an intere...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Charlotte rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

It's the story of the old magic at the heart of a city poised at the edge of war, as a fifteen year old treaty with the country to the north comes to the end. In that city, three lives intersect--Taudde, a young man from that northern country, whose magic stems from his music, Leilis, a young woman on whom fate and magic have played a cruel trick, slamming shut the doors of her future, and (my favorite) Nemienne, a girl who finds herself a mage's apprentice, opening doors that lead to darkness.....more It's the story of the old magic at the heart of a city poised at the edge of war, as a fifteen year old treaty with the country to the north comes to the end. In that city, three lives intersect--Taudde, a young man from that northern country, whose magic stems from his music, Leilis, a young woman on whom fate and magic have played a cruel trick, slamming shut the doors of her future, and (my favorite) Nemienne, a girl who finds herself a mage's apprentice, opening doors that lead to darkness.... When these three become entangled in a plot that will shake the kingdom to its core, the choices they make might bring on the war, or make a place for peace.

Why I liked it:

1. Character driven fantasy for the win! It is all about people thinking, and feeling, and making choices. Sure, there's a plot, and danger, and threatenings, but mostly it’s about the people. Nemienne, Taudde, and Leilis all became very real too me, each with their own distinct flavor.

2. Sisters! Nemienne is one of eight sisters, and an older sister, Karah, has an important part to play. Though the family as a whole doesn't get much page time, the love between the sisters is an important foundation stone of Nemienne's character, and has shaped Karah, too.

3. Cool magic. I like it very much when music and magic intersect, without bardic clichés coming into play. I love it when people, like Nemienne, learn to magic by showing up on the doorstep of a house that is much more than it seems...I love it when magic has an ancient heart, hidden in darkness...I love it when magic isn't spells or potions, but craft poured into artifacts, or learning to see things from impossible angles.

4. Beautiful descriptions that make pictures in my mind. The mage's house in particular is one of those twisty places between spaces, with windows looking out onto places that shouldn't logically be there, and rooms that shift, and doors that appear where there were none before.

"Among the windows were three doors. The first was of beech wood, carved with an intricate border of interlocking beech leaves all around its edges. The second, carved of what she thought was red cedar, had fantastic animals twining together in sharply jagged patterns that linked each of its panels to the next. The third door was absolutely plain, made of some ink-dark wood she did not recognize, with no carving at all.

"Ah," said the mage, looking at her face. "How many doors do you see in this hall?" (p.118)

5. And I liked it because the ending wasn't just a stopping right after The Big Showdown part. It went on for a nice little while, as life does, in all its complexities.

Especially and whole-heartedly recommended to fans of Patricia McKillip.

I have, however, one criticism: Nemienne's sister Karah is so wonderfully Nice that she seems almost half-witted. It's a bit too much to take.(less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Lydia Presley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, 2012, young-adult

House of Shadows began beautifully for me. Rachel Neumeier, I've heard, is a master of beautiful description and world-building, and she did not disappoint with this story of eight sisters. Within just a few paragraphs I was enchanted by the story and excited to see it unfold. I even made the comment, 25% in, about how enchanted I was and broadcasted it to the world.

I should have waited a bit longer.

You see, while I loved certain aspects of this story, the politics of it all got too heavy for me...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are three things you can expect from any Neumeier book: complex, compelling characters; lyrical, fluid prose; and an enthralling sense of the numinous, of wonder at the beauty of the world and of magic. HOUSE OF SHADOWS delivers all three in spades.

Nemienne loves her seven sisters, but she's never felt that there's a place for her in her family's well-ordered household. When their father dies and the sisters determine that one or more of them must be sold to provide for the others, she's w...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Jackie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am new to Goodreads and was thrilled to win this book in a giveaway. All I knew about it was the brief synopsis included in the giveaway info which described a story about two orphaned sisters struggling to find each trying to find their own way in their kingdom amidst secrets, magic and plotting, mysterious strangers. This sounded pretty good, but does not accurately summarize the story. The story would more precisely be described as a tale of political intrigue (think: war, assassination, co...more

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Dec 07, 2012 MA rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alright, I was all ready to give this book a kind of shaky 4 stars for being a reasonably enjoyable read. I found the writing rather painfully lacking in subtlety, but Neumeier wove a pretty world.

Except now I'm at the climax, and just appalled. Not-really-a-spoiler alert: The book's touted heroines are almost completely useless when it matters. In 2012, a modern female writer can't give a single one of her female characters a more interesting way to help save the day than by "loving someone"?...more

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Jul 10, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: notable-reads-of-2012

Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers

In the sea and mountain shrouded city of Lirionne, a prosperous merchant raises his eight daughters in a home of love and happiness. When the merchant dies, however, his daughters are left to fend for themselves - and most urgently, they must figure out a way to run the stone masonry (though legally, they cannot, as women) and to pay off the mounting debt following their beloved father's debt. With no other alternative and the possibility of imminent war...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Anna (Pocketful of Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Life is so unfair. Why do I live in a place where there are no houses that slant into another realm? Why do I have to live in something called a 'country' rather than expansive 'lands'? Why can't I be a magician's apprentice and be able to call light into darkness and read languages without learning them? UNFAIR.

As you can probably tell, the setting and world building in this novel rather appealed to me. I loved everything about the world Rachel Neumeier created, from the Geisha-esque 'Keiso Hou...more Life is so unfair. Why do I live in a place where there are no houses that slant into another realm? Why do I have to live in something called a 'country' rather than expansive 'lands'? Why can't I be a magician's apprentice and be able to call light into darkness and read languages without learning them? UNFAIR.

As you can probably tell, the setting and world building in this novel rather appealed to me. I loved everything about the world Rachel Neumeier created, from the Geisha-esque 'Keiso Houses', to the ominous darkness of the Kerre Marraddras mountains, to the strange crooked house belonging to the magician/mage that gives birth to doors in a rather sporadic fashion and which only lets you find the room you are looking for if it wants you too. I love the thought of houses and buildings so huge or so magical that they hide rooms no one has discovered and secret passageways to get lost in. And this one has an added bonus: a gorgeous, ethereal cat whose white back foot can always lead you back through the darkness. Cats play an important role in this novel, as well they should because we all know they are the most superior animal of them all.

The main characters in the novel are ultimately what makes you want to keep picking up the book and keep reading just one more page before going to bed and then, inevitably, keep reading for many more. The story begins with eight sisters who, after the death of their father, must find a way to acquire money but find themselves at a loss. It is eventually decided the two of the girls must be sold to a respectable Keiso House in order to give them enough money to live on. A Keiso House is a place where young girls are bought for their beauty and qualities, which will then be refined and perfected so that wealthy men will give them gifts and, hopefully, take them as a 'Flower Wife'. A Flower Wife is like a mistress, except the man must acknowledge his Flower, buy her property to live in, and acknowledge any children she bears by him. The women can choose to accept or decline these offers and some even never accept a man. One of the sisters is accepted into the most respected of all the Keiso Houses. The other, recognised as having magic behind her eyes, become a mage's apprentice which is a kind of magician or sorcerer. The rest of the story looks at what happens to the sisters, and another resident of the Keiso House, and how their stories become interconnected.

I loved the sisters. I really like books where there are strong, loving bonds between women, and genuinely caring characters who aren't completely selfish. All of the eight sisters are very different and unique, which is what reminded me very strongly of a fairy tale in the opening section. You are given an info dump of the different girls names, ages and their special skills/qualities and expected to remember them which I find is something that a lot of fairy tales do! I am hardcore so I wrote all their names down and made a little chart about what was special about each of them...but, you know, I'm just a geek and it is not required! I hardly referred to it later in the novel because you quickly pick up on who is important and who isn't. The other resident of the Keiso House who becomes a main character, is a very mysterious and fascinating woman who has secrets connected to the house itself. I can't give too much away about her but she really captivated me and I wanted to find out more about her.

The other part of the story focuses on a young nobleman named Taudde who has come to the city illegally and has found himself in grave danger because of the fraught relations between his country and this one. He finds himself in the middle of a huge conspiracy that he must entangle to know where his allegiances lie. I loved this story, particularly because of the particular skills Taude has and how they are described: so moving and beautiful. His story keeps you guessing and you want to know as much as he does who you're rooting for.

The downside of this novel is the climax and the ending, in my opinion. I liked the reveals and the action that the ending brings, but after things have kinda been concluded there are lots of drawn-out speeches and repetitive exchanges between characters that really didn't need to be there. I found myself scanning the pages because it became quite dull. However, it didn't tarnish the book as a whole for me and, even though the ending is a bit too slow, the rest of the action is perfectly paced and exciting.

This book was the first book I have read in ages that has MADE me want to keep going back for more and really investing in the characters' well being. I definitely want to read more of Rachel's books if they are as well paced and glorious as this one! Oh, and it has a dragon in it. A cool one.
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Jul 29, 2012 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my first book by Rachel Neumeier and I have to say, I loved it! The world building in this book is second to none. It was easy to "see" the areas she spoke of, without droning on and on about every small detail as some books do. In other books, I've found myself skipping over constant descriptions, as they become boring. In House of Shadows, I hung on every word. There are three main characters in this book and they're surprisingly not the two sisters and the bard. They're actually one o...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Kimberly Souza rated it 4 of 5 stars

“House of Shadows” by, Rachel Neumeier

This story begins with a merchant and his eight daughters living a peaceful and happy life at home in a city called Lonne. When the girls loving father unexpectedly passes away they are forced to make some very difficult decisions in order to save their family’s home and business. The decision is made to sell one sister (Karah) to a keiso house or house of flowers. In a keiso house yound women are groomed to be cherished flower wives (Second or left hand wiv...more “House of Shadows” by, Rachel Neumeier

This story begins with a merchant and his eight daughters living a peaceful and happy life at home in a city called Lonne. When the girls loving father unexpectedly passes away they are forced to make some very difficult decisions in order to save their family’s home and business. The decision is made to sell one sister (Karah) to a keiso house or house of flowers. In a keiso house yound women are groomed to be cherished flower wives (Second or left hand wives) and are treated with the greatest care. A second sister (Nemienne) is sold to be an apprentice to a powerful mage named Ankennes who will teach her magic and other skills.
We are also introduced to Taudde who is a bardic mage from Kalches (Kalches is a neighboring land that has a temporary peace treaty with Lirionne) and to Leilis who is a servant in Cloisonne house (The keiso house that Karah is sold to).
“House of shadows” is a beautifully written fantasy story about love, trust, and the power of following your heart. The four main characters are all very different and complex.
*Taudde is clever and complicated. He loves his family and his home, and he is a magnificently powerful mage. What attracted me most to him was his purity of heart and his desire to learn and grow.
*Leilis is probably my favorite character. She is strong and determined, and even when life sucks she doesn’t cry about it. I love that she has this quiet way of making others listen to her and she stands her ground even when she is scared. Leilis is someone I would love to sit and have tea with. I think I would enjoy her quiet company and her quick mind.
*Nemienne is eager to learn and find her place in the world. Her eagerness to improve herself and be better everyday is very endearing. Nemienne embodies the hope that our hearts will always show us the right thing to do.
*Karah is not exactly a main character but she is a very sweet character. You can’t help but fall in love with her and her innocence. Karah is that part in all of us that still thinks that rainbows are magic.
“House of shadows” took me into a world that I want to explore further. I want to stand on the cliffs and listen to the music of the ocean. I want to watch Taudde play his magic pipe and then go have dinner at a keiso house. I want to walk the streets of Lonne and marvel at the magic that is woven in the very air. I really, really hope that the author writes more stories based in this world. I loved this story!
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Aug 03, 2012 Terri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed Neumeier’s other two young adult fantasy novels, The Floating Islands and The City in the Lake. Neumeier has a way of writing fantasy so that it feels sticky, like her book is a big bowl of honey and as you read, you sink down into this crystalline, ethereal place and when you come back up for air, you feel like the world is dripping with magic you feel but can’t see. Her books sell other worldliness in a way that I usually find lacking in most fantasy n...more Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed Neumeier’s other two young adult fantasy novels, The Floating Islands and The City in the Lake. Neumeier has a way of writing fantasy so that it feels sticky, like her book is a big bowl of honey and as you read, you sink down into this crystalline, ethereal place and when you come back up for air, you feel like the world is dripping with magic you feel but can’t see. Her books sell other worldliness in a way that I usually find lacking in most fantasy novels. House of Shadows does this splendidly; Neumeier’s prose was fluid and rich, pleasant to read and honestly, one of the saving graces of the novel.

That said, House of Shadows was good, but not great. The blurb presents the novel as if you’ll get two perspectives: Karah: facing games and betrayal in the flower house, making allies and enemies and girl drama, and Nemienne: learning magecraft and living with a powerful and mysterious master. Neumeier splits up the story into three points of view: Nemienne, Taudde, and Leilis. Rather than Karah, who was sweet and uncomplicated and would have been boring to follow, the author chose to present that part of the narrative through Leilis’ perspective. I felt this was a good move, as Leilis was older, more experienced and therefore more jaded, and had the added benefit of a interesting, if unresolved, back story.

The problem I had with the story, though, is that the characterization is very shallow. Neumeier never went beyond the surface level of each character’s thoughts. Nemienne is perhaps the least developed of the characters and provided the most disappointing narrative. She doesn’t wonder about Arkennes and whether she should trust him until about 2/3 of the way through, even though that’s presented as one of her biggest worries in accepting the apprenticeship. She doesn’t grieve for her recently dead father or talk about missing her seven sisters while she struggles to learn to call the light. It’s like the only emotions she has are the ones that serve to move the story forward. What really makes me like a hero or heroine is that they have a thing to do, they’re scared or tired or hungry or grieving and they press those emotions down, they move forward, and they slay their dragons, metaphorical or not. Nemienne is pivotal to bringing the plot arcs together at the end, but then she fades into the background and Taudde does most of the interesting stuff. There is some interesting dialogue between her and the Mage Arkennes about water and sound and light, but it’s mentioned in passing, and after The City in the Lake, I was expecting a more developed representation of magery. Leilis has this intricate, interesting back story that’s only partially described and mostly attributed to the jealously of the head of the flower house’s daughter. Something happened to her, and she’s not a keiso, she’s not a servant, but she’s obviously important and influential. She thinks about her personal tragedies blandly, as if they happened to someone else instead of herself, and rather than being a strong, tortured heroine who overcomes persecution, she mostly just seems impassive. Taudde is a bardic sorcerer, manipulating magic through music, and the novel reads like he’s got secret, unexplained reasons for being in the city, but you don’t find out much of anything until the last few chapters and it’s not nearly as interesting as it could have been.I get the feeling that once the action is over, he’ll be a pretty boring, forgettable fellow.

Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by Sanderson with his detailed magic systems, and by Rothfuss with his rich characterization and almost excessive back story, but the magic system here is never really broken down and described, just used. It reminded me a lot of the “magic through music” system used in the “Singers of Nevya” series by Louise Marley. Marley’s novels, however, were entirely based around the music creating warmth and light on their icy, dark world and therefore keeping them all alive, while Neumeier uses hers only as a means to an end. Taudde came all the way to a foreign land, in disguise because there is a war that might possibly be renewed between his homeland and this land, so that he could listen to the music of the sea and try to harness its magic … and it doesn’t get any more complicated than that. He’s drawn into the scheming of the other characters and that distracts him from pursuing the sea in greater detail. He uses magic, but the reader is not really sure how it works and how it’s different from the magecraft of Arkennes and Miennes (another mage).

All in all, House of Shadows was enjoyable, but shallow characterization caused it to fall far short of its potential. Having really enjoyed The City in the Lake, this book was disappointing. The rich prose and the excellent world building saved it from being totally lackluster, so I’m giving this book 3 stars.(less)

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Jul 03, 2012 Matthew Galloway rated it 5 of 5 stars

Neumeier always intrigues me with the details she reels in her world. Now, she's not one of those writers that creates a novel that's half encyclopedia as they go out of their way to explain every clever idea they've had. Rather, Neumeier explains only what's important for the character to know and leaves the rest as life's little mysteries. This makes her fantasy worlds feel even more real and immersive.

The characters in this novel were all wonderful and I hope there will be more books that tak...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: feel-good-fantasy, young-adult, dragons

With House of Shadows, Neumeier has created a gorgeous stand-alone YA fantasy story, like a fairy tale sung in a minor key.
In a city by the sea ruled by a powerful warrior king, a 15-year truce over a disputed boundary is about to expire, and war seems inevitable. Young people, as always, are engrossed in their own concerns, but end up swept up in larger events and plots. Taubbe violated the city's ban on foreign mages in order to study the magic of the sea. But he's not as incognito as he thou...more With House of Shadows, Neumeier has created a gorgeous stand-alone YA fantasy story, like a fairy tale sung in a minor key.
In a city by the sea ruled by a powerful warrior king, a 15-year truce over a disputed boundary is about to expire, and war seems inevitable. Young people, as always, are engrossed in their own concerns, but end up swept up in larger events and plots. Taubbe violated the city's ban on foreign mages in order to study the magic of the sea. But he's not as incognito as he thought, and consequently is blackmailed into joining machinations against the royal family. A family of eight sisters lose their father, and the only way to avoid destitution is to sell two of them, the most beautiful (Karah) and the one who never quite fit (Nemienne). Karah is sold to a Flower House, which trains and houses keisos, who are geisha-like companions for powerful men. The glamorous and talented keisos are not prostitutes, and must be taken as Flower Wives, a socially acceptable kind of mistress, in order to take their virginity. Nemienne's grey eyes mysteriously make her acceptable at a house of a wizard, where her oblique view of the world suddenly makes sense. A fourth protagonist, Leilis, is not quite a servant at the Flower House, and whose subtle influence impacts all three of the others.

With Rachel Neumeier you can always count on interesting magic systems (here, very different between the two neighboring countries), gorgeous description and setting, and characters that you can believe in. With Nemienne, Neumeier perfectly captures what it's like to be a dreamy child, with odd thoughts tangential to everyone else's. Leilis' brooding, painful isolation masked by brisk competence is very easy to relate to, and you root for her as her heart slowly thaws and finds hope. Taubbe's inner dialogue as he wrestles with the influence of his mentors, his selfish desires, long-held hatred, and new information gives him just the right mix of hero and anti-hero. (view spoiler)

You have to admire the craftmanship of this novel; the editing must have been murder. Neumeier deftly blends a fairy-tale feel with the more detailed politics and personalities that you see in wars-and-thrones style novels, without teetering too far toward one style and losing the other. With the ensemble of main characters, how did Neumeier decide which pieces of story and backstory to have center stage, in the wings, or offstage? Where to allow characters to be complicated and where to stick to simpler fairy-tale standards?(Torture!!) There were definitely times when I yearned to know more -- especially about how Karah felt as she transitioned from a loving and supportive family to the competitive, self-contained world of the deisas in training to become keisos. But at the same time I can see why Neumeier made the choices she did in order to keep the flow of the story moving. And by not telling you everything about everyone, she leaves space for you to have your own reactions to characters. For example, do you see the Dragon Prince as a straightforward Prince Charming, or does he make you more . . . uneasy? Are you convinced Disney princess-like happiness is Karah's fate, or not?

I have few complaints, about world building details glossed over. I had a hard time believing in how good keisos had it when they married and became flower wives. We are told at the beginning of the story that women are not allowed to run businesses alone, yet keisos becoming flower wives expect to be given businesses. Why the discrepancy? Also, what happens flower wives get old, or even just slightly less fresh? I suspect that this patriarchal culture would have some mechanism for putting a flower wife aside and claiming a younger one, without continuing to support an endless stream of discarded mistresses. I would love to see an adult novel in this world, to get into these questions and others about the darker, more sordid aspects of the city - the lives of non-keiso prostitutes, the murders, betrayal and the cost of living under the dark power of the mountains that are just hinted at in House of Shadows. I hope House of Shadows will not stand as the only novel set in this world for long.(less)

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Nov 20, 2012 Gina (My Precious) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fairytale

A merchant with eight young daughters unexpectedly dies leaving his girls in a financial crisis. The eldest sisters brainstorm for a sustainable means to support their "super sized" family. Slowly it becomes evident the only way the family can survive is to actually sell (yes sell) a couple of the sisters. Karah, the most beautiful of the girls is sold to a keiso house and Nemienne, one of the more odd ball girls in the family is sold to a mage who thought she may possess magical powers. As both...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dropbox, fantasy, fiction, arcs

I have conflicted feelings about this book. The bones and essence of the story are so well done, magical and lyrical and exciting. Mixed around it, however, were undeniably long stretches that just didn't interest me at all. Neumeier did her initial work too well, meaning I was focused Karah and Nemienne's fates and not at all in the mood to change perspective to Leilis and Taudde. I tried not to hold my disappointment against the story, as I tend to get attached to a few characters and disregar...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Asheley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

House of Shadows is a true fantasy story. I love a great fantasy setting, especially when there are lands that are spread out over mountains and the sea (with a map!). I love when a fantasy includes a royal family or two. I love when a fantasy story has great characters - really great characters - especially strong female leading characters that not only make good decisions but show growth over the story, even when they start out strong. I love when a fantasy story takes a few twists and turns a...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Lyn (The Heartless) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, fantasy

Read along with Jessie!

House of Shadows wasn't a terrible book. Neumeier wove together her plotlines with a cleaver hand, and some of her female characters broke the fantasy mould and contributed to the storyline instead of simply standing back to allow more room and action for their male counterparts. Her culture and her mythology inside of the story was highly compelling and somewhat beautiful.

However, I cannot ignore the fact that the writing was flat out lazy. There was too much discussion a...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Hayley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, highschool, historical, middleschool, romance

I loved The Floating Islands and, while this wasn't quite as good for me, House of Shadows is a similarly satisfying elegant fantasy. The characters are attractively flawed, the world building is stunning and the plot revolves around politicking rather than action. I found it a little slow to start with and could really have done with a list of characters (complicated naming system with several characters having more than one name) and a map (all good fantasy books should have a map as far as I'...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Caitlin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I've been saying this a lot lately about the things I've been reading, but I absolutely loved this book. I'm having a good run of books and I'm very happy about that.

Lots of people have recorded fairy tales and turned them into literature - not just within the past decade or so, but from the beginning. Lots of people have taken fairy tales as their inspiration and have taken the essential bones of the tale twisting them into new shapes while maintaining the overall sense of the original tale. Ot...more I've been saying this a lot lately about the things I've been reading, but I absolutely loved this book. I'm having a good run of books and I'm very happy about that.

Lots of people have recorded fairy tales and turned them into literature - not just within the past decade or so, but from the beginning. Lots of people have taken fairy tales as their inspiration and have taken the essential bones of the tale twisting them into new shapes while maintaining the overall sense of the original tale. Others have written entirely new things with a fairy tale lurking behind the scenes. This has become more and more popular over the last 15 years and this makes me very happy. Some of these stories are great, some - not so much. What's rarest of all, it seems, is someone not just creating a new fairy tale (yes, this is in a sense what all fantasy writers do), but writing this fairy tale like a fairy tale - writing in the language and cadence of storytellers. House of Shadows is just such a book and this pleases me even more.

I grew up reading fairy tales and folk tales and mythology of all kinds. My mother was (among many other things) a storyteller and she turned me to many different tales - from The Jack Tales by Richard Chase to the stories of the tricksters from different cultures - Anansi and Raven most prominent. I explored a lot more on my own and learned to tell stories with her and with the children's librarians she worked with at Memphis Public Library. I am thrilled to have had this reading experience because it continues to inform my reading to this day - I can see where the fairy tale is lurking behind the scenes, peeking out from behind the birch trees. Through fairy tales the world of fantasy and science fiction opened up to me, but also the world of literature and modern folklore - this foundation makes me an adventurous reader.

House of Shadows tells the tale of what happens with a family loses its father and must sell out two of its daughters to contracts to keep life and the stone business going. One daughter is contracted as a keiso at Cloisonné House - a world that is derived from the geisha world. The other daughter is apprenticed to a mage and shows a talent for magecraft, but maybe more. I say "maybe more" because Ms. Neumeier has also acknowledged differences between different kinds of magic that are written into folklore, but also into much of the lore of role-playing games such as D&D or Rifts of Telara (a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game). I love the fact that there are mages in this book, but their power is different than that of a bardic sorcerer - derived from different places both physically and philosophically.

Neumeier has written a story of two young girls, placed in the midst of change and conflict, who are able (each in their own way) to play an important part in resolving that conflict. And yes, there is a prince. And a dragon. Beautifully told - highly recommended.

More on books at: chaotic compendiums.(less)

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Aug 06, 2012 Charty rated it 4 of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed this. There was no huge, epic plot, and the book spends time equally with three different characters so it felt to me like a bit of slice of life novel. The readers is dropped into the story with little background and you sort of follow along with their lives for about a 3 to 6 month period. Even so, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and world. It reminded me a little of a Patricia McKillip book, a quiet sort of fantasy. It seems to be marketed as a straight adult fantasy...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finishedreviewcopy

Originally posted here.

House of Shadows was not at all what I was expecting. From the description and the opening sections, I was expecting a fairy tale told from the perspectives of Karah and Nemienne. According to Goodreads, I was expecting YA, too, but I really don't know that I would classify it that way, despite the teenage heroines, not that these classifications mean too much at this point. While there are some fairy tale elements to this, House of Shadows felt much more like a traditiona...more Originally posted here.

House of Shadows was not at all what I was expecting. From the description and the opening sections, I was expecting a fairy tale told from the perspectives of Karah and Nemienne. According to Goodreads, I was expecting YA, too, but I really don't know that I would classify it that way, despite the teenage heroines, not that these classifications mean too much at this point. While there are some fairy tale elements to this, House of Shadows felt much more like a traditional high fantasy to me than a fairy tale.

I was wrong, too, about how the story would be told. Karah and Nemienne are both important characters, but there are others only hinted at or not even mentioned by the description. Karah, in fact, receives the least page time, despite being given top billing. Nemienne actually is a very important character. The other two main characters are Leilis and Taudde. Leilis works in the Flower House where Karah finds employ, bound by a curse that causes great pain when she touches anyone. Taudde, the sole male MC, seems to be, perhaps, the most important character. Without him, this story could not happen, whereas the others probably could be removed, with some re-allotment of plot points.

What brought this book down to a 4 for me was the characters, and the way the narrative was apportioned to them. Though I at least liked all four, I simply was not as interested in Karah and Taudde's narration. I didn't feel particularly bonded to them, and found my attention wandering a bit during those parts. I think that I might have liked this book a bit more were it told either following just one or two of our actors, or if first person multiple POV was used, rather than third person.

Fortunately, there was a lot of crazy cool stuff to keep me entertained. Neumeier's world building is just great. Obviously, there are tons of books out there with magic in them, but I still felt like she managed to do something rather original with hers. Taudde's music-based magic totally blew my mind. (Maybe if I were going to hook up characters from two different books I would link him up with Seraphina and they could make sweet music together.)

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the cats. There are several cats in this story. Though they do not DO much, they have a serious presence. Enkea was one of my favorite characters without a doubt. You know I love me some clever animals. I would actually really like to know more about Enkea. That cat obviously has a back story and I want to know what it is.

The city itself with the Flower Houses and everything reminded me heavily of Japan. The names certainly don't indicate this at all, but the inspiration was no doubt drawn from Japanese geishas. Since I love Japanese culture, I enjoyed getting a small view into the life of the keiso (so totally geishas). I will say, though, that the opening chapter where the daughters resolve that there is no solution but to sell two of the eight made me laugh heartily. Who decides that in like twenty minutes?

House of Shadows is a gorgeously-written high fantasy with music, strong heroines and oodles of magic! If you're on the fence about this one, go read more reviews or just give House of Shadows a chance, since I know most readers enjoyed this even more than I did.(less)

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Jul 25, 2012 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-julia

It’s always disappointing when a much anticipated book doesn't meet expectations, which is probably why I fought so hard to like HOUSE OF SHADOWS more. A gorgeously written adventure fantasy, this book has magic and true love, knowledgeable cats and hidden passages, a mysterious old house and the gracious bowers of pleasure houses… and yet, despite all the things I loved, there were also long passages where I wasn’t interested at all.

Part of the issue was the initial change of character perspect...more

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