logo

Review: Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass (Shadowchasers #1)

logo

Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass (Shadowchasers #1)Shadow Blade (Shadowchasers #1)
Seressia Glass
Published: 2010 (Pocket)
Purchase at: Amazon

Review by: Jo

Rating (out of 5): 3 stars

Shadow Blade, the first in Seressia Glass’ Shadowchaser series, introduces us to Kira Solomon, antiquities expert by day, Shadowchaser by night. Working for the secret Gilead society, Kira has trained nearly her whole life to be in the middle of an ancient battle between the Forces of Light and the Fallen of Chaos. Kira is not just any human Shadowchaser though, she also happens to possess the power of pyschometry. Whilst this ability means she can touch any object and see its past, it also means skin to skin contact with Kira could be lethal. When Kira come into contact with a mysterious dagger, touching it sends her on a journey that changes everything she thought she knew.

The world Glass has created is incredibly rich in mythology and back story. I know very little about Egyptian or African mythology, so had no preconceived ideas about what would be used. Marrying both the established pantheons and her own primordial battle history seemed, to me, an almost Herculean task (if you’ll excuse the cultural crossover!). I thought she did this well, getting most of the important ground work done in first third of the book but I did find myself having to read quite carefully to fully understand it all, which took some of the pacing out of it for me. However, the pacing did eventually pick up and by the end I was turning the pages to find out what happened.

One of my favorite scenes was when Kira first touches the dagger, taking her back in time. I found myself thinking when I was reading it “ooo the possibilities!’… and then it didn’t happen again. As the book went on I started getting a little frustrated that this talent wasn’t being utilized more. I was waiting for races across the world and time travelling, something I really hope happens in the next installment.

Kira is a strong and quite serious character. She’s also doesn’t play well with others. Understandable when you haven’t touched another person in years for fear of hurting them. I enjoyed watching her journey from remote and slightly antisocial to learning to trust and rely on other people again. The mystery of who and what she is was very intriguing and Kira’s desire for answers is something I can see being a huge driving force later on in the series.

As far as the romantic element, Kira and Khefar, the immortal warrior who owns the dagger, were very well suited and challenging each other but it just never really grabbed me. I just didn’t get a burning desire to see them end up together, although events at the end of the book may change that.

Shadow Blade is an opener to a series that has lots of potential with vast world building and a unique premise. Hopefully with the world and characters established some of the elements I really enjoyed will shine though more in the next book.

Sexual Content: Sex

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo
logo
Powered by WordPress | Designed by Elegant Themes
Malcare WordPress Security