Hi everyone. Welcome back to Bibliophilia Book Reviews.
Today, I’m going to review The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. Let me preface this review by saying that the Obsidian Mountain Trilogy is a re-read for me. I first read it in the early 2000s, and really liked it. And this time around, the experience was just as enjoyable. So enjoyable that I recommended the first book to my sister. She did not like it. Now, let me also say that my sister and I have completely different tastes in books, which is not a bad thing, but it goes to say that twin sisters are not always that similar.
Anyways, let’s get back to the book. Why did my sister not like The Outstretched Shadow? Her main complaint was that it was too slow. And, unfortunately, this is true. You need patience to read this book. Here’s why: This is the first book of a new (when it was first published) trilogy/series, and like all first books it introduces the reader to a new world, and the authors take their time building it. And you can tell. It’s a chunky book, coming in at 608 pages in the hardcover edition (this is the edition that I am basing my review on). And here is where I get into specifics, so there are spoilers.
In Chapter 1, a few things happen: (i) We’re introduced to the main character, Kellen Tavadon, (ii) we are told where he lives, and how he lives. He lives in Armethalieh, the City of Mages, and he is the son of the Arch-Mage of Armethalieh, so he has a privileged life. But being the son of the most important person in the city has its downsides too. He is expected to become a High Mage, a profession he is really bad at, and to become his father’s heir. And he is expected to not ask questions about High Magic and the way the Council of Mages—his father—runs the city. Things are just the way they are. But Kellen doesn’t want to conform, and he asks questions. A lot of questions, and that gets him into trouble. And finally, (iii) at the end of the chapter, Kellen finds—or do they find him?—the forbidden books of the Wild Magic, a different type of Magic that Kellen doesn’t know but seems to be a little better at, though he is still not good at it, than High Magic. This is the event—or inciting incident, for us book nerds—that that will change Kellen’s life forever. However, we have to read up to almost 100 pages more into the book before the plot of the story moves along. And the pages are dense. The font is tiny. So, like I said, patience.
But, it’s also important. Those 100 pages are part of how the authors build their world. We have to know what it’s like to live in Armethalieh to understand the bigger picture later. We know—by simple deduction—that Kellen won’t be able to hide the books forever, and that his father will find them eventually. It’s inevitable. And we also know that Kellen will be banished from the city because of it. The problem is, it takes a while for that to happen.
Another issue that readers have with this book, and the trilogy in general, is the writing style. Keep in mind that this is high fantasy, and the way fantasy is written today has changed with newer generations. This book is almost twenty years old, and there a lot of new readers for whom the older generation writing style just doesn’t work. But that doesn’t mean that the book is bad. It’s not, in my opinion. It’s just not for everyone.
“Now, if you’re quite through staring”, the unicorn said acerbically, “I believe we need to get on with this.”
Now, after Kellen is banished from Armethalieh, there is another lull in the plot to introduce new characters and continue building the world of the Obsidian Universe. We are outside of Armethalieh now, and life outside the city walls is completely different from what Kellen is used to, so the authors take their time to show us how he has to learn to live in it and adjust to all the changes. This is something that I liked, despite the fact that it was a slow endeavor. Why? Because showing us how Kellen has to learn to live in a new world at such a slow pace made it more believable. I would not have believed that he’d adjusted to living in the Wild Lands with Idalia after only a week, two weeks or even a month of first getting there. Not after knowing how he grew up and lived in Armethalieh, which is what the authors showed us in the first part of the novel. Armethalieh is a city of humans, no other race is allowed in it so learning that there are in fact other races in the world besides humans and learning to accept them and live with them is a big adjustment for anyone. Also, women are practically anathema in Armethalieh so living alone with one, even if she is your sister, is something that also needs getting used to, especially since women are not allowed to do pretty much anything—except marry—in Armethalieh and mages are ‘discouraged’ to have any contact with them at all until they absolutely have to in order to procreate. So, it goes without saying that someone who does not interact with the opposite sex at all would not know how to behave with a woman or man when faced with one. And if the authors had shown us that Kellen was perfectly at ease living with Idalia in the Wild Lands after only a few weeks, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
The way women are portrayed in this story is probably another reason why readers—especially women—don’t like this book. But, here’s the thing, all fiction is based on reality and at a certain point in our history women were considered anathema. It is true that as women, we have fought for our rights throughout the years and the scenario for us today has changed; we have more opportunities and can choose to be independent from men if we want to or not, but the fact remains. It was true once. It doesn’t matter that other people say this is a poor argument. All fiction is based on reality, even if that reality no longer applies today. And I do not think it is fair to fault the authors or the book for this. And I do not think it makes the book any less worth reading because of it.
The slow pace in this book also serves the purpose of building tension. At this point in the story, we have already been introduced to the Endarkened, who have waited eons to destroy humans and every other creature of Light. They do not consider time as the humans in Armethalieh, and that gives the book the sense of a ‘slow burn’ building up to the climax when all Darkness will fall on the Creatures of the Light. Hence, the name of the third book ‘When Darkness Falls’. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…
The next thing he saw was the bright flash of sun as it struck a polished surface, and then Kellen saw his first Hound, surging up over the edge of the gully. Behind it came more, a dozen, twenty, too many to count. The City had sent a second Outlaw Hunt. Against all Law and Custom, they’d sent a second pack of Hounds, a second Hunt, to kill him…
When the Council of Mages in Armethalieh, and Lycaelon, find out that Kellen did not die with the Outlaw Hunt they sent after him after he was banished, and that he is living in the Wild Lands, they decide to hunt him down by extending the borders of the city into the Wild Lands. So Kellen and his sister, Idalia, run away to the Elven Lands. This is the event in the plot that sets the main story in the book going: Their encounter and eventual battle with the Endarkened and Darkness.
Once again, however, Kellen has to adjust to a new way of living and adjust to a new society. And once again, the plot slows down. The problem is the Elven Lands are dying. There is an unnatural drought or Blight that nobody knows where it’s coming from or how to end it. The other problem is that Kellen still hasn’t figured out how or where he fits in in all of this. He’s a Wild Mage, yes; he has accepted that now. But he isn’t a really good Wild Mage. Not like Idalia, who is a gifted Healer. It is she who figures out where the Blight is coming from: Shadow Mountain, later referred to Obsidian Mountain, and it is she who says that they must go to Shadow Mountain to destroy the Blight (flashes of TLOR and Frodo going to Mordor to destroy the ring, anyone?) So she sends Kellen and Jermayan, the elf that she is in love with. And it is here where Kellen finally understands who he is, a Knight-Mage Wild Mage, and Jermayan, an Elf-Knight, is the one who starts teaching him how to be a warrior and to help him understand his destiny.
But, by the time Jermayan and Kellen find Shadow Mountain—with the help of a new character, Vestakia—Kellen is in no way a full-fledged warrior despite having started his training after leaving the Elven Lands. So the book’s slow pace is kept through to the very end, and we reach the climax of the book when Kellen faces himself at the top of the mountain. The Kellen he would have been had he stayed in Armethalieh…and then it starts to rain.
This is where the book ends.
Like I said, slow burn. And honestly, I think it was very well done. Kellen’s character arc develops in tandem to the plot and both of them culminate in the same place: Shadow Mountain. I liked this and understand now why this book was the winner of several awards when it was first published. However, it is a lesser known fantasy work today, and I think it has not received enough hype as it deserves. I think it should be in the shelf of every die-hard fantasy reader and cannot recommend it enough. If you haven’t read it, I recommend you add it to your already exorbitantly big TBR pile. It’s worth it.
Rating: New Favorite
