Book review
Written by Alexey Pehov
Simon & Schuster paperback
Release date 31 March 2011

Shadow Harold is one of the city’s master thieves, but he’s under pressure to join the local guild. Then there’s the small matter of the demon that wants to suck the marrow from his bones. Not forgetting the King, who has just commissioned him to recover an artefact from a place of legendary danger and evil…

Shadow Prowler is a straight up, by the numbers high fantasy, translated from the original Russian. As such you should expect the full compliment of Dwarves (who are good with their hands), Gnomes, Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, eccentric wizards and Nameless Evil.

Perhov offers few twists on the genre. In fact, the only deviation from traditional fantasy I was able to discern was with the Elves (but I won’t spoil it). So much of this novel is standard template fantasy it makes you wonder if Pehov didn’t put his imagination in neutral and just raid the Dungeons & Dragons handbook and Monster Manual. It won’t surprise you for a second to know that Shadow Prowler is part of a trilogy, The Chronicles Of Siala.

Perhaps I’m being unfair, but when the King sends the protagonist off to retrieve a powerful magic item from a dungeon – sorry, “a series of layered catacombs” – you have to wonder if this book doesn’t belong with Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms fiction.

The central hero, Shadow Harold, doesn’t make a huge impression either. He doesn’t have the cocky arrogance or charismatic flair to be particularly interesting, he lacks any flaws, and the motivation for his life of crime is never explained. He is simply a master thief because the narrative needs a master thief to pinch something later on. Den Patrick

VERDICT: 4/10
There’s little particularly challenging here. Shadow Prowler may be better suited to Young Adults or those who prefer cosy fantasy that sticks firmly to the trappings and tropes of the genre.