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Shadow Prowler (Chronicles of Siala #1)

3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 · rating details · 847 ratings · 97 reviews

After centuries of calm, the Nameless One is stirring.

An army is gathering; thousands of giants, ogres, and other creatures are joining forces from all across the Desolate Lands, united, for the first time in history, under one, black banner. By the spring, or perhaps sooner, the Nameless One and his forces will be at the walls of the great city of Avendoom.

Unless Shadow H...more

Paperback, 396 pages

Published 2010 by Simon & Schuster (first published 2002)

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Jun 29, 2010 Stefan rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, advance-reading-copy, www-fantasyliterature-com-review

Shadow Prowler, the first fantasy novel by Russian author Alexey Pehov to be translated to English, pulls out every fantasy cliché in the book: elves, dwarves, orcs, ogres, goblins, guilds of thieves and assassins, and an evil overlord (the "Nameless One") who is about to awaken and take over the land with an army of evil beasties. Shadow Harold (yes, that's his name) is a master thief who, against his will, gets involved in rescuing the world from said Nameless One. To do so, he must retrieve a...more Shadow Prowler, the first fantasy novel by Russian author Alexey Pehov to be translated to English, pulls out every fantasy cliché in the book: elves, dwarves, orcs, ogres, goblins, guilds of thieves and assassins, and an evil overlord (the "Nameless One") who is about to awaken and take over the land with an army of evil beasties. Shadow Harold (yes, that's his name) is a master thief who, against his will, gets involved in rescuing the world from said Nameless One. To do so, he must retrieve a magical doohickey (the Rainbow Horn) from someplace dark and scary in, yes, the Desolate Lands. If you wanted to play a drinking game, taking a shot whenever Shadow Prowler matches up with entries in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones, you'd be under the table in no time.

Shadow Prowler initially reads a bit like Steven Brust: the thief Shadow Harold narrates the story in the first person, in a style similar to — but much less entertaining than — the assassin Vlad Taltos. (The similarity to Brust helps explain why I persisted through almost 300 pages.) Shadow Harold is a capable, somewhat standard criminal-hero, a bit full of himself but definitely appropriate for the story. However, he has an annoying tendency to switch tenses from paragraph to paragraph; most of the main action is narrated in the past tense, but Shadow Harold's occasional thoughts about the action are told in the present tense.It reminded me of a movie actor who occasionally turns to the camera to address the viewers directly; I found this Ferris Bueller-like narrative technique very confusing and jarring. Strangely, Alexey Pehov abandons this technique later on in the novel, but that only reinforces the impression that this novel could have benefited from more careful editing. (Still, I didn't mind when the present tense interruptions ended, because imagining a thief called Shadow Harold as a mix between Vlad Taltos and Ferris Bueller was giving me spectacular headaches and didn't help me get immersed in the novel at all.)

There are some original ideas and nice city descriptions in Shadow Prowler, and the plot moves along at a pleasantly fast pace, but to balance out those few positives, the dark passages in the novel are unconvincing, the humor is mostly juvenile and predictable, the action scenes just aren't exciting, and the characters are mostly flat stereotypes. There's a goblin court jester who is initially just plain annoying, but who is obviously being set up for a more meaningful role later on (Robin Hobb's Fool, anyone?). The elven princess Miralissa is the only important female character in the otherwise all-male cast, so obviously the male characters have to point out her feminine charms several times.

I lost all interest in Shadow Prowler about 100 pages from the end, started skimming pages to see if could at least get to the end, and finally gave up completely about 50 pages out, because I realized this is only the first book in a trilogy and nothing could convince me to read the sequels. People who pick this up because it was translated by Andrew Bromfield (who also translated Sergei Lukyanenko's books) will be sorely disappointed.

(This review was also published on the Fantasy Literature website --- www.fantasyliterature.com. Come check us out!)(less)

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Feb 03, 2013 KRUSTAL-chan Joanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: xxl10-books

сюжет - 3
идея - 2
герои - 2
жанр - 3
поетика - 3

Още от самото начало книгата грабва читателя със своята тайнствената и мрачна атмосфера. Алексей Пехов дава точна и ясна представа за значението на заглавието и как то е обвързано със съдбата на главния герой - Гарет (Харълд на анг.) - крадец, наемник, убиец или антигерой, нагърбен с тежката задача да спаси света и да направи нещо добро.

Историята се разказва от гледна точка на Гарет, което не я прави по-малко интересна, но на моменти действието се раз...more сюжет - 3
идея - 2
герои - 2
жанр - 3
поетика - 3

Още от самото начало книгата грабва читателя със своята тайнствената и мрачна атмосфера. Алексей Пехов дава точна и ясна представа за значението на заглавието и как то е обвързано със съдбата на главния герой - Гарет (Харълд на анг.) - крадец, наемник, убиец или антигерой, нагърбен с тежката задача да спаси света и да направи нещо добро.

Историята се разказва от гледна точка на Гарет, което не я прави по-малко интересна, но на моменти действието се развива бавно. Леката нотка на иронията може да разведри читателя и в най-напрегнатите моменти. Сюжетът не е една от най-силните страни на книгата - действията на Гарет, когато "работи", рязко контрастират с меланхоличните разговори и лутания на героя из Валиостра. Губи се интересът на читателя, а очакваната кулминация така и не настъпва.

Светът на Сиала не се отличава с особена оригиналност и фрапантност. Хора, орки, гноми, гоблини, елфи, демони, великани и прочие. Целият микс от всички раси се излива върху читателя като студен дъжд още от самото начало на Shadow Prowler. Много информация за тях липсва. Авторът разчита на нашите фентъзи познания от други книги, което прави светът на Сиала комерсиален. Расите воюват помежду си, съюзяват се, но всичко се свежда до това, че хората са изправени пред гибел и трябва "да спрат злодея" - Неназовимия - прокуден магьосник, решил да отмъсти на всички, като ги унищожи. Неоригинално. А съдбата на света е връчена в ръцете на един крадец - колкото и нелепо, успява да разчупи рамките на типичното. Появата на вторият "злодей" - "Господаря", който се опитва да спре Гарет и мисията му, дадена от краля - разчупва допълнително сюжета.

Гарет - единственият главен герой на историята. Въпреки „Аз”-повествованието за него се разбира твърде малко. Успява да задържи вниманието на читателя. Добър крадец, предпочитащ тихо да действа "в обятията на своята закрилница, любовница" - сянката. Обмисля действията си, избягва да действа открито, но обича да разчиства работата зад гърба си. Гарет среща много и различни герои, но, за съжаление, на сцената никой друг не се задържа за достатъчно дълго време, за да се нарече поне "второстепенен герой". Остава надеждата, че звездата на останалите герои ще блесне в другите две книги. Като например Валдер, мъртвият архимаг, дошъл в съзнанието на Гарет, за да му помогне за мисията.

Най-голямата сила на Алексей Пехов е мрачната и тайнствена атмосфера, която кара читателя да притаи дъх в очакване. Липсата на дълги и подробни описания, заменени с различни метафори и епитети правят текста много по-приятен за четене. Тази атмосфера обаче не присъства в цялата история.

Читателите не биха си изгубили времето с прочита на тази книга, тя не е една от най-добрите в своя жанр - фентъзи (Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy и Dark Fantasy), но има какво, въпреки всичко, да задържи интереса им до края на книгата.(less)

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Jan 03, 2013 Michael S. rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-fiction

The publishers used some clever false advertising to sell this book. It's described as being a grand epic- but it's not. The first half of the book takes place in one city- one boring and predictable city. Epics almost always have the main character setting out on a major quest fairly soon in the story. This author couldn't get to the main plot.
This story should not be favorably compared to Tolkien as the dust jacket blurbs do. It seems that he just took Tolkien's creatures (Elves, orcs,etc.) a...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Stephen rated it 2 of 5 stars

First, a warning: this is book one of a trilogy, and is in no way a standalone work. That said, this book is okay, but not great. It does suffer from being translated: I read this book in English, while it was written in Russian. The translation surely removed some of the author's own writing style. As for the plot - the book's back cover calls it a "truly unique novel". I didn't see that. Shadow Prowler appears to be another version of the Lord of the Rings, of the sort that's filled fantasy li...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Sven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Shadow Prowler was a book I bought on random impulse and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

What I liked

- It uses flashback segments(1st person limited) wrapped into the plot as a mechanism for world building. Allowing the main character and the readers' knowledge of historic events in the world to grow through short stories within the story. I loved this, in large part because I though all of these short stories were really good.

- Creative alterations to Elves
Elves exist in this story...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Jacqie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nothing wrong with this one at all. I've read a lot of thief-viewpoint books in the last year. I think they've proliferated thanks to Scott Lynch(may he soon release another title). Unfortunately, writing a thief means that you've got to somehow generate tension while creating a plausible job/con and seem like you know what you're talking about when it comes to society's shady underbelly. Except for the afore-mentioned Lynch (may his pen never dry), I haven't found anyone who can do all this con...more Nothing wrong with this one at all. I've read a lot of thief-viewpoint books in the last year. I think they've proliferated thanks to Scott Lynch(may he soon release another title). Unfortunately, writing a thief means that you've got to somehow generate tension while creating a plausible job/con and seem like you know what you're talking about when it comes to society's shady underbelly. Except for the afore-mentioned Lynch (may his pen never dry), I haven't found anyone who can do all this convincingly. Usually the thieves seem too naive, dumb, or over the top to convince me.

But Pehov has done it, even in translation! I really like Shadow Harald, who slinks when he can, fights when he must, and keeps up a jovial commentary to his faithful readers every step of the way. I think the translator must have had a difficult job with the idiom used, and I do think he translated the Nightwatch series more dynamically. But this is high fantasy, not urban fantasy, and I'm sure the language he had to work with was different.

The world is interesting. We have orcs, elves, dwarves, goblins and gnomes, but none of them are quite what you'd expect. The shamanic vs. mage magic system is intriguing. And good history, scary bad guy, plus, shadowy bad guy that you can't seem to quite put your finger on.

The problem comes when the book changes from being about Harald to being an ensemble piece. I didn't get a clear enough sense of individual personality in the soldiers that end up going on a quest with Harald. (Of course there's a quest- this is high fantasy!) I also really, really hope that he doesn't end up in a romance with elf-girl. I like how Harald works, and he is likely to be held back by having to interact with a large group instead of solving problems in his own thiefly way.

The other problem is pacing. We don't even get to the object of our quest in this book, after almost 600 pages. The main event still waits, and I wanted more than just set-up.

But this book feels uniquely Russian in its character, and gave me enough pleasure that I will look for the next one.(less)

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Apr 03, 2012 Veronika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Harold Stín je zloděj, dokonce mistr svého oboru. Žije ve městě zvaném Avendoom, kde si v klidu vyřizuje své zakázky. Jedna z takovýchto zakázek mu ale změní život o téměř 180 stupňů. Veliká hrozba celé Sialy se probouzí ze svého spánku a jenom mazaný zlodějíček, jakým Harold rozhodně je, ji může zastavit. Čeká ho velmi nebezpečná výprava, za získáním pradávného artefaktu. Než se ale vypraví na tuto akci, musí se také vypořádat s hrozbami ve městě. Jen samotná příprava ho nejednou málem stojí ži...more Harold Stín je zloděj, dokonce mistr svého oboru. Žije ve městě zvaném Avendoom, kde si v klidu vyřizuje své zakázky. Jedna z takovýchto zakázek mu ale změní život o téměř 180 stupňů. Veliká hrozba celé Sialy se probouzí ze svého spánku a jenom mazaný zlodějíček, jakým Harold rozhodně je, ji může zastavit. Čeká ho velmi nebezpečná výprava, za získáním pradávného artefaktu. Než se ale vypraví na tuto akci, musí se také vypořádat s hrozbami ve městě. Jen samotná příprava ho nejednou málem stojí život a to se ještě ani pořádně nedostal za hranice města. Ale i dál jsou připraveni nepřátelé, kteří usilují o jeho život.

Z počátku jsem se velmi bála, že nebudu schopná se do knihy začíst. Přišlo mi to jako něco na způsob Pána prstenů, kterého jsem musela po první kapitole odložit. Teď se tam na něj jen práší, protože jsem nedokázala překousnout ten styl. Ale Pechov to podle mého zvládl na výbornou, samozřejmě s občasnou chybičkou. Za jeho styl by se nemusel stydět nejeden klasik.
Troufnu si říci, že Pechov je celkem slušným mistrem všelijakých opisů, přirovnání, metafor, personifikace. To se dnes vidí jen u velkého mála knih. "Mraky jsou těhotné deštěm", no koho dnes v těch knihách taková personifikace napadne? Téměř nikoho. Určitě by se našlo více takových věcí, které autor ve svém díle použil. Ale občas to pro mou osobu bylo trochu přehnané a ubíralo mi to na čtivosti. Musela jsem se tím občas prokousávat. Místo "Prší" jsou "Mraky těhotné deštěm". I tak je to ale velmi originální (pro mě).
Dnes se totiž snaží autoři (alespoň u YA apod.) vyvarovat dlouhým popisům a všemu možnému, co by mohlo čtenáře nudit a většinou jdou přímo k věci. Bez zbytečných "okecávaček". Možná proto se mi to u Tuláka ve stínech líbilo. Že to neslýchám často. Není to tolik ohrané.

Více na: http://veeeebookshelf.blogspot.com/20...(less)

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Oct 26, 2012 Luinalda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bin eigentlich eher zufällig auf dieses Buch gestoßen.
Es gab die Kindle-Version zu dem Zeitpunkt grade gratis, und da ich bevorzugt Fantasy lese und die Beschreibung doch recht gut klang, habe ich einfach mal zugegriffen. War damit dann jetzt auch mein erstes auf dem Kindle gelesenes Buch. :D

Habe zwar eine Weile gebraucht bis ich mich etwas reingelesen und an den Schreibstil gewöhnt hatte (übrigens auch mein erstes Buch eines russischen Autors), aber dann gefiel es mir wirklich mit jeder „Seite“...more

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Jun 27, 2011 Ranting Dragon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: guests

http://www.rantingdragon.com/shadow-p...

Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov is the first book translated into English from The Chronicles of Siala trilogy, an award winning series in Russia. The book was translated by Andrew Bromfield, who also translated the popular Night Watch series.

Shadow Harold is a master thief in the great city of Avendoom. He’s done his best to remain in the shadows; however, after one particularly difficult heist, Harold is given a choice — assist a group of heroes in a desp...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Mikael Hansson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-my-library

This book is like a spaggethi bolongese , you have eaten it a hundred times before, but it is filling and with excellent cooking skill it is a feast. The book is true and pure fantasy vanilla. It uses some slightly differen shades on standard tropes and archetypes, but do not actually add anything to the genre. Instead it rests comfortably on on the standrards and the thing that saves it from blending into the faceless soup of fan writing is the prose. Even if the translation certainly has kille...more

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Mar 02, 2010 William Bentrim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-giants-ogres-dwarfs-go

Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov

Pehov may be well known in his native Russia but I had never heard of him until I read this book. I think the quality of this book will insure that Pehov will be known far and wide as well as in Russia. Shadow Harold, a master thief, finds himself enmeshed with the establishment to save the world as they know it.

Shadow Harold is an enjoyable rogue. Harold is a master thief of exceptional skill and a healthy interest in avoiding heroics. Pulled into quest to avoid t...more

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Mar 18, 2010 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shadow Harold is a master thief who has no intention of being a hero, but is drafted into a rag-tag group of men, elves, a gnome, a dwarf, and a goblin. He is kidnapped and taken to the King who tricks him into taking a commission – a sacred agreement to thieves –to find the rainbow horn, so it can be used against the returning threat of the Nameless One.

As someone who hasn’t read a lot of fantasy, I expected the characters to take off on this quest immediately, but I’m glad they didn’t. My favo...more Shadow Harold is a master thief who has no intention of being a hero, but is drafted into a rag-tag group of men, elves, a gnome, a dwarf, and a goblin. He is kidnapped and taken to the King who tricks him into taking a commission – a sacred agreement to thieves –to find the rainbow horn, so it can be used against the returning threat of the Nameless One.

As someone who hasn’t read a lot of fantasy, I expected the characters to take off on this quest immediately, but I’m glad they didn’t. My favourite parts of this book are Harold’s solo adventures as he prepares for the mission. But even as he is in familiar territory the mission is encroaches on his life as he scrambles to get ready on time. It is my favourite because Harold is in his element, he knows Avendoom, and describes it with such familiarity and assurance that you can’t help but feel his love and sense of adventure, and his allergy to the death that seems to be dogging him.

At the time, I thought there was so many breaks in narrative to describe the specifics of the town, but that made richer world, and I loved Harold’s relationship with his new friend, the librarian called Bolt, his former teacher, For, or even the inn keeper, Gozmo. The religion of world, and the missing statue, perhaps all this spoiled me for the latter part of the book where he is out of his comfort zone because he doesn’t know what to do with this sort of people, where he fits into the party, and the danger is merely the looming sort, so Harold becomes a bit passive.

Part of the problem is the not many of the Wild Hearts aren’t as distinct as characters who pop-up in third person sequences. Maybe it’s the shift in perspective, or maybe it’s because we’re told about those people in defining moments of their lives, whereas our party is on a long, tiring, journey on desolate roads. I think the dragging writing in this part suits the mood of the people, and I think this is done on purpose as it picks up towards the end of the book when the plot requires it.

Kli- Kli, the King’s Jester, stands out because the fools in literature often have a keen eye, and are hiding behind the foolishness. This seems to be the case with the Goblin with the shaman ancestors. But the elfess, Miralissa also stands, if only because Harold thinks of her, a lot. Characters from the party do become distinct when given a plot, so because this is the first of a trilogy, I think there is a promise of things to come from the less defined ones.

Verdict:
I’m conflicted, but I have enough love for the heart in the start of the story to keep reading more of the books as I am convinced the travel sequences were meant to drag. I favoured the first half of the book, where the writing style, pacing, and Harold’s panache is fun, and slightly episodic. But the latter part has enough plot elements signposted to make me come back and hope for the pay-off and return to form when they reach a new city. There seems to be a few fantasy clichés here, but as I’ve said, I haven’t read enough to be aware of too many, but I like how the races are related. Shadow Prowler is by a Russian writer so I can forgive certain things; like Shadow’s tendency to refer to himself in the third person in his narration, which may be a result of translation. And I just looked at the travelling part of the book, and it was much shorter than I thought!
(less)

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May 02, 2011 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this fantasy. The review on the front cover states that it's "Toothy, gritty, and relentless." I found it light and pleasant and fun.

The protagonist, Harold, is a happy-go-lucky professional thief. While we all know stealing is wrong, Pehov's portrayal of Harold charms the reader into pulling for him. The book is not what I'd call plot driven, since it ambles along at a slow pace. And it's never graphically violent or vicious. It's more like reading THE HOBBIT than THE LORD OF THE RING...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Yvonne Boag rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Shadow Prowler is the first in a series by Alexey Pehov. Harold is a thief and not just a good one but the best. He is commissioned to steal something from a Duke's house only to be a witness to the Duke's death. Escaping with the object in question Harold is soon arrested and brought before the king. The king has a commission for Harold to retrieve an object desperately needed in the coming war. Given no choice to accept the commission Harold sets out on a journey with an interesting group of m...more

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Oct 19, 2012 James Lavelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

The first book I've managed to read that is written in first person and strangely enough I had no trouble where they would normally put me off.

The main character Harold is skilled, funny, likable and increasingly unfortunate for a master thief. Pacing was great focusing on getting to know Harold in the first couple of chapters before increasing the range of characters to include the usual tropes that go in to make up high fantasy.

The adventure from here doesn't disappoint and action rolls along...more

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Mar 27, 2010 Erika rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shadow Harold is a professional thief. His latest Commission (thieving job) has gotten him in a bit of trouble. He hasn’t exactly gotten caught, just noticed by the wrong people. The kingdom of Siala is overrun with a mysterious yellow fog and demons that hunt in the shadows. Everyone thinks the Namesless One is to blame--a figure of darkness both evil and powerful who sends his minions forth to carry out terrible deeds. The Order of Magicians bring Harold forward with a proposition: journey to...more

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Mar 29, 2010 Kayanna Kirby rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Good

Shadow Prowler is an epic fantasy trilogy written in first person detailing a professional thief, Shadow Harold's reluctant acceptance and beginning trek to save his Country from an evil that promises to annihilate humans existence on earth. whew! That is the book in a nutshell. Shawdow Prolwer is action packed from beginning to end. It takes place in a time and period similar to The Lord of the Rings. I got a real "Middle Earth" type of feeling. It was northern as it was cold more than...more The Good

Shadow Prowler is an epic fantasy trilogy written in first person detailing a professional thief, Shadow Harold's reluctant acceptance and beginning trek to save his Country from an evil that promises to annihilate humans existence on earth. whew! That is the book in a nutshell. Shawdow Prolwer is action packed from beginning to end. It takes place in a time and period similar to The Lord of the Rings. I got a real "Middle Earth" type of feeling. It was northern as it was cold more than it wasn't. There is almost every type of creature in shawdow Prowler. Ogres, Orcs, demons, ghosts, etc. The only thing that's not around are Vampires or werewolves.

You are told the story through Harold's life, but when you need to know something that Harold couldn't possibly know, the author makes Harold have out of body experiences so you the reader would know. These out of body experiences were an integral part of the story even if they seem a little convenient.

There were many instances where I re-read a sentence because it sounded really good. Some of the language flows really nicely. Shawdow Prowler is not a Literary book in my opinion but it flows like literature in some spots which is nice. I think there would be more, but I think some things were lost in translation.

The Bad

This book was translated to English from Russian and they made for a few quirks in the book. The names of streets or people are unusual. For example there is a person name "For" when reading it can throw you off. Other that the fact that this seemed like a standard epic fantasy, you know, middle earth, pending evil, suicide journey of a commoner to get an object to quell the evil that is imminent, it read nicely. lol. Towards the end, I was just trying to finish. I didn't want to put the book down until I finished although I got a little bored and the book felt drawn out. I would say things felt a little predictable.

Verdict

Shawdow Prowler is a well written epic fantasy book that has heavy undertones of the Lord the The Ring Trilogy (movie, I didn't read any of the books). If you like the Lord of the Rings, you will like Shawdow Prolwer.(less)

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Jul 02, 2011 arjuna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Somewhat dry narration (function of translation?) which sat a little oddly at times; Harold is an interesting/engaging central character, but the story loses momentum about half-way through (about the time one realises the plot/quest so beautifully set up is going to take place in another book entirely). A bit more movement/actual story in this volume would have been nice - somewhat less lovingly/laboriously described battles (especially in flashback/vision mode) might be a place to start, perha...more

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Mar 25, 2010 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

First person is one of those things that seems really easy to write (after all, we all think in first person, and using “I” and “me” is all very natural to us) but in reality it is much more difficult to do well. As well as having to deal with issues such as a limited perspective, to me the real thing that first person does (to make it all difficult) is reveal a very boring and lackluster main character. Narrating from third can help hide this, but when a reader can see directly into the mind of...more First person is one of those things that seems really easy to write (after all, we all think in first person, and using “I” and “me” is all very natural to us) but in reality it is much more difficult to do well. As well as having to deal with issues such as a limited perspective, to me the real thing that first person does (to make it all difficult) is reveal a very boring and lackluster main character. Narrating from third can help hide this, but when a reader can see directly into the mind of the main character, everything is visible.

That train of thought, plus the fact that first person seems more the domain of urban fantasy than more epic fantasy, got me interested – I like first person a lot, but for me it takes a character with real spark to pull it off well. The narrator of Shadow Prowler, Shadow Harold is a very strong personality, full of vibrancy and life – not to mention snark. He has his own little quirks, such as his occasional tendency to refer to himself in third person, and they help him leap from the page and make him a very attention-grabbing and entertaining narrator. Shadow Harold’s voice was the real charm of Shadow Prowler, and it really makes it stand out from other works because of it.

Shadow Prowler does contain a lot of the stock tropes and, yes, cliches of epic fantasy but that is not a bad thing. Others might disagree, but I see tropes/cliches as being a bit like magic: on their own they are neither good nor bad – it just all depends on the person using it. And besides, these things are used so often because they very often work. Sometimes it plays tropes straight, other times Shadow Prowler subverts/averts them. And fortunately, this first book of the trilogy is not so much a tale of questing (or at least jumping straight into the quest one has been charged with) but about letting Shadow Harold do what he does best: thieving, and getting in trouble for it. Listening to Shadow Harold’s narration snarking away as he finds himself in trouble yet again is definitely a highlight of the whole story.

Overall Shadow Prowler was an enjoyable adult fantasy story made even more so by the strong personality and humourous first-person narration of the main character. The first in a trilogy, I will most definitely be waiting for parts two and three, however long it may take.(less)

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Oct 12, 2012 Pn rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a book I think many would give either one star or five. So why did I give it 3? Well, I actually gave it one star (for tense mix-ups early on and random bits of what seemed like weird editing or translation, also a few flat bits in the plot and some characters that seemed a bit too cliched, as other reviews have pointed out). I also gave it five stars because it is just fun to read! A lot of fun, once I really committed to forgiving the errors, or what I perceived as errors, then I real...more

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May 29, 2010 Elysium rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, fantasy, read-in-2010

This is the first book in a popular Russian fantasy serie. There were times that I regretted that I haven’t read Russian so I could have read the original edition. It started little slow but got better towards the end. Mainly because it took far too long to Harold to actually leave to the quest, but after he does things started rolling smoothly.

A thief called Harold is framed into stealing an object before being recruited by the king to the most dangerous burglary in his life. He has to steal a...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Tom Garbe rated it 5 of 5 stars

I greatly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of classic fantasy novels. Shadow Prowler is ultimately an attempt to recapture the essence that made the works of Tolken, C.S. Lewis, and Philip Pullman such utter classics. The presence of the typical fantasy themes is comfortingly familiar and yet they are presented in such a way as to seem fresh and unique, some of which utterly change the original concept into something new entirely. The characters themselves are wel...more

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May 02, 2013 Tessa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-classic

This is a famous russian author, or so I'm told... I've read the Night Watch ect books so my experience with Russian fantasy authors is a good one so far (although they do dark dark dark fantasy like noone else except the skandinavians...have you ever read Let The Right One In??) .

This particular story is more in the traditional fantasy vein, not so much dark urban fantasy. It's a classic master-thief-turns-reluctant hero story, livened by what I think is an interesting style in storytelling. Si...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I enjoyed Alexey Pehov’s Shadow Prowler very much, but I would not recommend it to everyone. Obviously, our own Stefan didn’t like it (see below), but I have some specific reasons why I did. I’ll do my best to explain so that you, dear reader, can decide whether or not Shadow Prowler is for you.

First let me mention that the author, Alexey Pehov, is Russian and that Shadow Prowler has been beautifully translated by Andrew Bloomfield (he also did the Nightwatch series). I think the translation pla...more I enjoyed Alexey Pehov’s Shadow Prowler very much, but I would not recommend it to everyone. Obviously, our own Stefan didn’t like it (see below), but I have some specific reasons why I did. I’ll do my best to explain so that you, dear reader, can decide whether or not Shadow Prowler is for you.

First let me mention that the author, Alexey Pehov, is Russian and that Shadow Prowler has been beautifully translated by Andrew Bloomfield (he also did the Nightwatch series). I think the translation played a role in some of the quirkiness of the descriptions and names.

Shadow Harold is a master thief who lives from contract to contract in the capital city of Avendoom. The story truly starts when Harold, somewhat unwillingly, takes a contract of the highest importance. The greatest of thieves has been tasked with obtaining an item from an impossible location. A nameless wizard is building a force just beyond a weakening magical barrier. The item Harold must retrieve is the one thing that may be able to keep the evil army at bay.

Harold is joined by a coalition of races who deem it in their best interest to assist him. Pehov took classical races and gave them his individual style. There are shamanistic Dark Elves, beardless Dwarves, hyper-active Goblins, and Wizards prone to colossal failure. I found each character charming, and they all hinted at more depth to come in later books.

Shadow Prowler is classic epic high fantasy which uses common fantasy characters – elfin princesses, cantankerous dwarves, burly warriors, and even a selection of enigmatic wizards. This fact alone will be enough to turn off some readers. Add in the fact that they are on a quest for a unique magical item in order to stop a faceless evil wizard and his army, and that just might be all you need to know to give Shadow Prowler a pass (see Stefan’s review below for his opinion). I, however, enjoyed how Pehov turned these classic themes into an enjoyable story with its own unique personality.

My biggest complaint is that most of the story is spent getting to know the characters and in preparation for the quest, so I was disappointed that Shadow Prowler ends not long after the actual journey begins.

http://www.fantasyliterature.com/peho...(less)

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Jul 02, 2010 Cornelia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Even as I didn't have the time to read, this book forced me to read on and on. The Russian author is doing a really good job and the first person style, which usually gets annoying pretty quickly, doesn't bother me at all. The main character, Garrett, is introduced well, the glossar at the end of the book tempts to look up each foreign appearing word and explains well. The story does take its time to describe, to invent more characters, to make the reader familiar with the world, but never in a...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Monica! marked it as abandoned

Shelves: the-sparkles-mean-its-magic, manly-man-man-man, but-wait-theres-more

I'm definitely going to have to go back and re-try this book at a time when I'm feeling less short-tempered and impatient. As it was, I could not get into the darn thing. I can't decide if it's the fault of the translation ("Mmm. I could really cut loose if only I could have this place to myself for just a few minutes" (33)), or if it's the way Mr. Pehov writes, or if I couldn't handle first-person narration, but... meh.

And it's so depressing, guys, because I was REALLY PUMPED for the book based...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Jim Hatcher rated it 3 of 5 stars

I tried the book based on the fact that it was narrated by MacLeod Andrews. I enjoyed his narration in two other books, and he did not disappoint with this book. This is an epic fantasy novel with a wide breadth of characters (including fantasy creatures and various non-human races). To successfully narrate a book of that size and scope is impressive to me.

As for the book itself, it is an interesting read. It has certain Tolkien-like tendencies, but it also exhibits some creativity in this clich...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This is an enjoyable read for any fan of fantasy/adventure. A highly skilled thief finds his life suddenly spinning out of control and very little of it is his fault. The storyline is good and there is good use of "stories within the story" that add depth and detail to the plot. The characters are well developed and enjoyable.

There are times that the plot seems strangely familiar but then it suddenly veers off in a new direction.

I would recommend this book and I intend to buy the next in the s...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Joseph rated it 4 of 5 stars

A lot of fun, this one. If you just list the ingredients (famous thief is recruited by the King to fetch a macguffin in exchange for not being made dead, sets out on a journey with a group of misfits, world races include elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, gnomes, ogres) it'd look like the most generic thing you could imagine. And at some level I suppose it is, but it's still charming and engaging, primarily because of Shadow Harold's somewhat snarky narration, and because a bit of strangeness creeps...more

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May 09, 2011 Carla rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-read

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is very well written and the story grabs you from the very beginning. So descriptive you feel like you have been transported to another world. Very interesting characters to say the least. For anyone that likes fantasy you will enjoy reading this book. For those that enjoyed The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings, you may find that it is kind of similar but only to certain degrees. A quest has been put forth and the events in this first book are developing...more

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About Alexey Pehov

Alexey Pehov is the award-winning author of "The Chronicles of Siala," a bestselling series in his native Russia. SHADOW PROWLER (first published in Russia in 2002 as STEALTH IN THE SHADOWS) was the first book in the series THE CHRONICLES OF SIAL, and became one of Russia’s biggest, most successful debuts. His novel UNDER THE SIGN OF THE MANTIKOR was named "Book of Year" and "Best Fantasy Novel" i...more

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Shadow Blizzard (Chronicles of Siala #3)

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