Shadow Hunt

Shadow & Dagger #2

by Anne Logston

Determined to recover a stolen jewel from the wizard Baloran, Shadow must rely on the help of Blade, an assassin who can guide her to the sorcerer's lair. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Demons, Fae

181 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Erica Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slutty elf walks through swamp with assassin girlfriend.

[Calvin Coqui]

The sequel to Shadow, once again following the hedonistic elf thief of the same name! This book unfortunately has less sex in it than the previous one because Shadow's quest to retrieve a stolen artifact and clear her name has taken her out of the city and far away from easy access to horny men, but she does spend a significant chunk of the book wishing to be back home in a warm bed with a bottle of wine a lusty fellow.

My queer heart sometimes wishes Shadow were bi, because she has such excellent dynamics with women, her longtime friend the warrior Donya and her new suspicious and mysterious traveling companion Blade the assassin, and either of those relationships could easily get sexy too. As much as I am dreaming up lesbian liasons for her, Shadow seems to be having so much fun being decidedly heterosexual that I really can't fault it when her free-loving sexuality is written so joyfully and non-judgmentally.

This is my sort of cozy fantasy. No world ending stakes, but enough trouble to keep the plot moving on an adventure through a magical world.

[Scott Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Say you'd been back East visiting family, and found a book you'd left in your childhood room in the mid-90s. And you picked it up, and decided to read it on the plane flight back. This is the PERFECT book for that. Or well, it's the book where I did that, anyway.

A perfectly serviceable, late 80-early 90s style fantasy novel for an airplane ride. Nothing remarkable or daring, it moves along and has the standard fantasy tropes - weapons that drink souls! Words that are like English but slight different, so you know it's another world! (it's not a crocodile - it's a "daggertooth"!). A rouge/thief with a heart of gold! I'm sucker for those breezy rogue-thief stories, so fair enough. It won't win any awards, but it'll get you through that flight.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purchased from Powell’s City of Books, September 2024

Cute, fun beach read

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the swamp. Another nostalgia read

[KyleeJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Shadow Hunt" is one of eleven books by Anne Logston. It is the second book in a seven book series. The first book is "Shadow". Shadow, a small Elf in a world where most Elves are taller than humans, is the mistress of the Guild of Thieves. Blade is a human assassin, the best in her field. The two team up, somewhat reluctantly on both parts, to track down a magician/sorcerer and the gem that he is believed to have stolen. Most in their community believe that Shadow herself has stolen the gem. Knowing that Blade has a past grievance against the magician, Baloran, Shadow propositions Blade for her help. Shadow dangles in front of Blade the opportunity to pay Baloran back for however he has wronged her. I did not, unfortunately, read the first book before reading "Shadow Hunt". There were a handful of places in the book that left me feeling like I was missing a piece of information. This in no way, however, made me confused or took away any enjoyment for me. "Then there was another faint sound, even less than before - perhaps only the rustle of clothing or a hiss of breath - but it was enough for Shadow's sensitive ears. She imagined a line through the fog and, without another thought, followed it directly toward Spirit Lake." What does Shadow find when she reaches Spirit Lake? You'll need to pick up the book and read it! I'm not going to TELL you. This is a terrific adventure story. I love the fact that both lead characters are female. They are not damsels in need of rescuing. Shadow and Blade are the "kick butt and don't bother taking names" type. This is a book I would gladly let my 13 year old daughter read. Books with wonderful, strong, witty female heroines are something I enjoy reading and something I want my daughters to read. Girls need that. And as a woman myself, it is something I enjoy reading and unfortunately do not get the chance to read very often. This book would be enjoyed by anyone who, like me, is already a fan of the fantasy/adventure genre. Especially for those who like books by Elizabeth Haydon and David and Leigh Eddings.

[House Hesson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As noted in the review I just wrote for Shadow Dance, this is *not* the third book as GoodReads claims. Read this before Shadow Dance.

Following up a couple of years after the original, someone has stolen a holy object from the Temple of Urex - the same ones who have a hate-on for Shadow, and everyone is saying that no one else could pull off the theft. So, naturally, it becomes her job to investigate.

The Eye of Urex originally belonged to a mage named Baloran and Shadow somehow, offstage, manages to connect him to Blade's magical dagger. So, naturally, she has the unenviable job of convincing Blade to help her.

Before Donya shows up at Baloran's castle with a portion of the City Guard to ask him to surrender the gem, which he must have taken back. Which would go so well!

Guess what: Murphy's Law applies.

The book at least borders on dark comedy and is definitely an entertaining read, if one keeps in mind the caveat that it's rather lightweight, as we wrote about the first book.

I don't know that it's so much the fact of being an oldschool YA book, especially considering that rereading *this* one reminded me that not only is the protagonist a thief who has semi-casual sex with half her friends, but the use of a drug called dreamweed is condoned. It's a mild hallucinogen with no stated side effects except a really bad hangover if one overindulges and unspecified but presumably temporary doooom if one tries to smoke something too potent. Shadow warns Donya away from a variety that's too potent for the average human. Clearly a case for responsible use but not what we'd expect to find in a random, oldschool YA book.

Really, it reminds me more of Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom series, except without the sexism and racism: good fantastical romance, albeit "romance" more in the sense of romanticism in this case.

-Kearil

[Ilana Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting, sexy, and a little scary. Everything you could want in a book about magic and elves, with a great twist (or two) at the end. The author does an equally good job with the plot as she does with character development, dialogue, and worldbuilding. Every time I read a Logston novel, I'm reminded of what a well-rounded author she really is.

[Kate H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always loved this book and all the author's other stories. I wish she had written more books. Her characters are approachable and yet also wonderfully foreign. The land is just obscure enough to not be ours but also familiar enough to make it believable. I love her humor and her characterization.