The Shadow Casket

I picked this booked up unintentionally. I had read the previous book The Ember Blade a number of years back, but I had completely forgotten about the series. Normally I do a quick refresher of the previous books if they aren't fresh in my mind. This was not the case with The Shadow Casket.

It took a little while to get caught up with the story given that the previously books was a faint memory, but I don't think this diminished my enjoyment of the book in any way. There is a bit of a time jump so you are thrown into a new series of events rather than a quick continuation of the previous book.

The Shadow Casket has one major point going for it: the characters are vibrant and interesting. Wooding has a great sense of a character's arc. Whether it is the druid Vika's desperate search for power, Harod's loss of his great love Orica, or Grub's quest to become a hero, we see decisions consistent with their fundamental drive and we get to see all the glorious consequences along the way.

Klyssen is another stand out, and is so compelling that I was legitimately frustrated that he is so sympathetic while being so awful. He's truly a villain done well.

I found the other characters less well developed while never fully becoming uninteresting. The back and forth between Aren and Cade is predictable yet I feel like Wooding gets it right in a way that redeems the whole thing. Fen and Mara both struggle with find their place in the world, and Wooding gives both of their stories time to breathe without overstaying their welcome.

The Shadow Casket also gets points for a book finally having an interesting final battle sequence. Often the conclusion is already apparent and it's tempting to skim for just the major events. The Shadow Casket had me captivated. 

While The Shadow Casket has its strengths, it suffers from a number of flaws. 

1. Given that the first book was entirely about the Ember Blade, I found that it was absent from this book (even if there was meta-commentary about its absence) and that Aren's decision with it was completely illogical and legitimately unwise. I almost put the book down. 

2. The return of Cade. Having Cade "killed off" at the end of the last book only to have him return put a bad taste in my mouth early on in the book. While it makes sense for the story I feel like it could have been handled with more grace.

3. The all-too-common way that the book treats women is an unfortunate compromise that diminishes the story. Having fantasy women that are the equal to men in all things yet still deal with issues that real women deal with is discordant. Wooding seems to understand women, and the characters that he writes seem like people I've actually met, yet they only truly make sense in the real world where the physical discrepancy between men and women exist.

4. While Wooding avoids the cynicism of grim-dark -- where often the story is uncaring about the characters -- he errs too much on the other side. The characters have plot armour, not in the sense of what they are needed for in the overarching story, but rather their own story. There is a feeling that until a character's story is complete, they are exactly where they need to be consequences to the story be damned. This leads to several moments in the book that feel forces, as well as moments that veer into preachiness.

Overall I would recommend this book. The plotting and story is a bit of a mess, but I think it is a masterclass on how to write compelling characters.