Shadow Magic

Haven Series, Book 3

By: B. V. Larson

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

In Shadow Magic, the third book of the Haven Series, Herla of the Wild Hunt makes his move to gather all the Jewels of Power. Hunting down and killing those who wield them, the undead king is as relentless as death itself. He is not the only interested party, however, as several armies march to meet Brand and his allies in a desperate battle for control of the River Haven.

©2010 B.V. Larson (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

I'm really enjoying this series

This is one of the earliest B. V. Larson series I've listened to and one that focuses on the DnD motif of humans, goblins, elves, giants and other faeries species than his later SciFi genre (which, I also enjoy.) The thing is, Larson is so good of an author, he can move from one genre to the next and still create stories that grab one's interest at the character-investment level. Shadow Magic continues in that vein splendidly.

Without getting into spoiler territory, this book reveals more details about the past conflicts between those species that move away from the unwritten lore into the actual facts of those historical events. It does it by having present day events that end up prying open the real truths of the past, some enlightening and some deeply poignant.

Mark Boyett continues his mastery Bard performance at top tier levels.

Interesting story, but week flow

Would you try another book from B. V. Larson and/or Mark Boyett?

Of course, the Star Force series is a personal favorite

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

There are gaps in the storyline and some interaction between characters just don't flow very well. I would suggest in future that this be improved upon to help the flow of the story should more books be written.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Mark Boyett helps make the book work despite some storyline issues. Anyone else might have impaired the book further, so I was pleased with his performance.

Could you see Shadow Magic being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not in it's current form.

Any additional comments?

Seems like B.V. was branching out into a line of books he might not normally write. So I give him good marks for another effort to please his fans.

An Epic tale!

A fantastic read. The writing and Narration were very colorful and relatable. A wonderful story that has left me enthralled in this Haven Series. A must read or listen.

It finally comes together...

Would you consider the audio edition of Shadow Magic to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print versions of any of Larson's books. So I can't comment.

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

Mark Boyett does a great job. While I still hear him as Kyle Riggs from the Star Force series he does a good job with all of the Larson books he narrates. While I feel his range has limits and he reuses voices throughout the books he narrates it doesn't take too much away from this series and after three books I can't hear anyone else doing these.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The battle at the end. It was more classic Larson than the rest of the series, although I did feel like it could have used more.

Any additional comments?

After the first two books in this series I almost didn't continue on to the third. I really like the Star Force series and Larson's new Undying Mercenaries is growing on me. But this just felt like it fell flat. Short books, not much character detail, plot lines that don't go anywhere and seem disconnected. But in this book things started to come together and make sense. You really started to get a sense of who the characters are and what their purpose in this world is. I can safely say after this one I'll see the series to the end.

As a plug if you haven't listened to Star Force give it a go. You won't be sorry.