Greatshadow Book One of the Dragon Apocalypse eBook James Maxey
Download As PDF : Greatshadow Book One of the Dragon Apocalypse eBook James Maxey 
A classic sword and sorcery dungeon crawl to hunt a dangerous dragon!
After stealing a priceless relic from the Church of the Book, Infidel is the world’s most infamous mercenary. Now she’s got her eyes on a new prize, the fabled treasure trove of the dragon Greatshadow. Joining forces with a band of dangerous rogues, can she survive her own allies long enough to face the dragon?
Now available in audio, narrated by Jake Urry!
What critics are saying
"This one is worth reading right now." - Orson Scott Card
'Greatshadow's level 30+ adventure is charming, not po-faced, with a group of fl awed, sarcastic, quick-witted and oddball adventurers that are equally comfortable with set-piece battle and rapid fire sarcasm.' Pornokitsch
'A magnificently entertaining romp bursting with charm.' SFX
Greatshadow Book One of the Dragon Apocalypse eBook James Maxey
Reviewing books has its ups and downs. On one hand you are given free books to read and asked to give your opinion of them. Reading and stating my opinion are serious hobbies of mine. On the other hand, sometimes you are asked to read books about dragons. Dragons. I do not like dragons. I have not enjoyed reading about dragons for a long, long time. You'll imagine my surprise then, when I completely fell in love with James Maxey's GREATSHADOW.The elements have been tamed by dragons. Through powerful magic the dragons of bound themselves to nature. Of these dragons Greatshadow is feared most of all. As the primal dragon of fire, Greatshadow's merciless influence is universal. In order to finally slay Greatshadow once and for all the Church of the Book assembles a team of mercenaries and adventurers unlike any other. A team so unorthodox it might be able to get the job done.
Dragons. Groan. Magic. Yawn. Mercenaries. Curse you conventions of fantasy! But then I start to read GREATSHADOW and I realize that it is far from a traditional adventure. The world the story takes place in is not some pseudo-Medieval Europe. Instead readers are introduced to the Isle of Fire, a lawless volcanic tropical paradise replete with ancient history. Maxey gives tantalizing glimpses of a wider world across the ocean but focuses primarily on the verdant wonderland that is the Isle of Fire. This sort of pirate-aesthetic goes a long way toward separating GREATSHADOW from the endless masses of Tolkien knockoffs. The inhabitants of this world range from pygmies to ogres and all manner of fantasy creatures. Most surprisingly of all is just how cool Maxey's take on dragons is. Multiple magic systems are also present and though they are only vaguely defined they all operate within the constraints of fictional universe.
And the characters! The eccentric band of adventurers that set out to slay Greatshadow resemble exactly the sort of team of heroes a kid might gather from his favorite action figures. The cast is really an accumulation of superheroes plucked from comics and plopped down in this fantasy setting where they flourish. Under a lesser author this approach would be really cheesy but rather than being campy it comes across as endearing. There is a woman who is nearly impervious to damage, a holy knight who is protected by armor prayed into existence and wields a hammer that allows him to fly, an ice-ogress shaman, a cleric whose magic comes from truth, a heretic whose magic comes from deception, a shape shifter, a faceless man, a man with skunk genetics, and more.
Despite the relatively short length of the novel for such an epic quest, character development does not suffer. Though Maxey doesn't go into intense detail with each individual character he does make it evident what their motivations and relationships are. Each character is propelled by something different and each character has their own set of flaws. Perhaps my favorite character would be Lord Tower, the holy knight with conflicting feelings of lust and shame. I also really liked the cleric, who despite his intolerant nature, remained a true follower of his faith. And faith really becomes a big part of the relationship dynamic amongst the characters. Each person has their own beliefs and ideologies to go along with their motivations. Many of these faiths clash, creating an unstable alliance amongst the adventurers. Maxey never tells which belief is correct and it's easy to wonder if perhaps all of them have their own merit.
GREATSHADOW is told from a limited first person perspective that is really a sort of third person perspective at the same time. Stagger, the narrator, is not the main character of the novel. Instead he dies in the first chapter and follows around Infidel, the lead protagonist and his heart's desire, for most of the story. As a blood-ghost Stagger is primarily an observer but he also occasionally has the ability to act over the course of the story. I found this distinctive PoV style to be very compelling, especially when it comes to developing a bond with Infidel and the world as a whole.
GREATSHADOW is a remarkably charming quest, set in an invigorating new world. As the opening to a series, GREATSHADOW succeeds at grabbing the heart and piquing the interest for future entries.
Recommended Age: 14+
Language: Present but minimal.
Violence: Very comic-like in nature but there are a few grisly deaths.
Sex: There is a bit of innuendo and one actual scene that is described with class.
Nick Sharps, Elitist Book Reviews
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Greatshadow Book One of the Dragon Apocalypse eBook James Maxey Reviews
The first in a new series by James Maxey, Greatshadow managed to be both a very original book and a rather familiar one. Let's start with the original part. The book had a very original take on the narration. While the protagonist is Infidel, she is not the narrator; no, that place is beholden to Stagger, her erstwhile - and currently very dead - partner. This approach is one I hadn't seen before and one that's very effective in keeping us appraised of happenings Infidel couldn't have known about. Told in first person with Stagger referring to himself as I, Greatshadow is actually mostly a third person story as Stagger relates Infidel's story. I really enjoyed the way the book was narrated and Stagger is a very funny point of view.
Now for the rather familiar part the characters surrounding Infidel. The cast of people along with Infidel on her quest is very cool and I really liked them, but if you squint hard enough at them you can just assign them their relevant D&D classes and you have a relatively traditional adventuring party. However, this only occurred to me after finishing the book, so it might just be nitpicking. My favourite members of Infidel's group were the Three Goons, Relic and Aurora. The Three Goons were just really funny and interesting, Relic rather creepily mysterious and Aurora is just a wonderful character, whose background as a high priestess to the primal dragon Hush was very interesting and also key to the story.
Infidel is completely kick ass. She's an intriguing juxtaposition; despite being physically mostly invulnerable, she's still very human and emotionally breakable. Her back story is awesome and very well done, we slowly learn more about where she comes from and how she acquired her magical protections. I loved how she only realised how she felt about Stagger after she lost him and hits herself over the head for it. So yes, there is a sort of romance in the book, but definitely not of the traditional kind. Infidel also showed growth during the novel, going from a rather barbaric artefact looter to wanting a more 'normal' life. I'm curious where Maxey will take this in the next book.
While the basic plot of the book is rather linear - a group of people get together and go off to slay the dragon - it's the side plots and the characters' motivation that make the story captivating. The world building, while relatively limited - we're on an island - is interesting. We get enough glimpses of the world off island to not feel too isolated, but Maxey mainly focuses on the Isle of Fire itself. We do meet some interesting races and learn some excellent dragon lore. This book mainly focused on Greatshadow, the primal dragon of fire, but in the next book we'll meet Hush, Rott and Glorious and I imagine we'll meet others in the third book, Witchbreaker. I can't wait to learn about other parts of this world and more dragon lore in the coming books.
Greatshadow was a fabulous read, which kept me turning pages and just finishing one more chapter before doing whatever I was supposed to do. Besides, any story that can legitimately clothe its main character in a chain mail bikini and make it functional can only be genius! If you like straight up adventure novels, kick ass heroines and dragons - lots of dragons - then you can't miss Greatshadow. I know I'm already impatient for the second book in the series called Hush, planned for release in July. Greatshadow is out from Solaris Books this week.
This book was sent to me for review by the publisher.
Reviewing books has its ups and downs. On one hand you are given free books to read and asked to give your opinion of them. Reading and stating my opinion are serious hobbies of mine. On the other hand, sometimes you are asked to read books about dragons. Dragons. I do not like dragons. I have not enjoyed reading about dragons for a long, long time. You'll imagine my surprise then, when I completely fell in love with James Maxey's GREATSHADOW.
The elements have been tamed by dragons. Through powerful magic the dragons of bound themselves to nature. Of these dragons Greatshadow is feared most of all. As the primal dragon of fire, Greatshadow's merciless influence is universal. In order to finally slay Greatshadow once and for all the Church of the Book assembles a team of mercenaries and adventurers unlike any other. A team so unorthodox it might be able to get the job done.
Dragons. Groan. Magic. Yawn. Mercenaries. Curse you conventions of fantasy! But then I start to read GREATSHADOW and I realize that it is far from a traditional adventure. The world the story takes place in is not some pseudo-Medieval Europe. Instead readers are introduced to the Isle of Fire, a lawless volcanic tropical paradise replete with ancient history. Maxey gives tantalizing glimpses of a wider world across the ocean but focuses primarily on the verdant wonderland that is the Isle of Fire. This sort of pirate-aesthetic goes a long way toward separating GREATSHADOW from the endless masses of Tolkien knockoffs. The inhabitants of this world range from pygmies to ogres and all manner of fantasy creatures. Most surprisingly of all is just how cool Maxey's take on dragons is. Multiple magic systems are also present and though they are only vaguely defined they all operate within the constraints of fictional universe.
And the characters! The eccentric band of adventurers that set out to slay Greatshadow resemble exactly the sort of team of heroes a kid might gather from his favorite action figures. The cast is really an accumulation of superheroes plucked from comics and plopped down in this fantasy setting where they flourish. Under a lesser author this approach would be really cheesy but rather than being campy it comes across as endearing. There is a woman who is nearly impervious to damage, a holy knight who is protected by armor prayed into existence and wields a hammer that allows him to fly, an ice-ogress shaman, a cleric whose magic comes from truth, a heretic whose magic comes from deception, a shape shifter, a faceless man, a man with skunk genetics, and more.
Despite the relatively short length of the novel for such an epic quest, character development does not suffer. Though Maxey doesn't go into intense detail with each individual character he does make it evident what their motivations and relationships are. Each character is propelled by something different and each character has their own set of flaws. Perhaps my favorite character would be Lord Tower, the holy knight with conflicting feelings of lust and shame. I also really liked the cleric, who despite his intolerant nature, remained a true follower of his faith. And faith really becomes a big part of the relationship dynamic amongst the characters. Each person has their own beliefs and ideologies to go along with their motivations. Many of these faiths clash, creating an unstable alliance amongst the adventurers. Maxey never tells which belief is correct and it's easy to wonder if perhaps all of them have their own merit.
GREATSHADOW is told from a limited first person perspective that is really a sort of third person perspective at the same time. Stagger, the narrator, is not the main character of the novel. Instead he dies in the first chapter and follows around Infidel, the lead protagonist and his heart's desire, for most of the story. As a blood-ghost Stagger is primarily an observer but he also occasionally has the ability to act over the course of the story. I found this distinctive PoV style to be very compelling, especially when it comes to developing a bond with Infidel and the world as a whole.
GREATSHADOW is a remarkably charming quest, set in an invigorating new world. As the opening to a series, GREATSHADOW succeeds at grabbing the heart and piquing the interest for future entries.
Recommended Age 14+
Language Present but minimal.
Violence Very comic-like in nature but there are a few grisly deaths.
Sex There is a bit of innuendo and one actual scene that is described with class.
Nick Sharps, Elitist Book Reviews
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