Title – The Dead God’s Shadow
Author – Lee Carlon
Genre – Science Fiction
Publication – July 2013
Pages – 160 Pages Approx.
My Rating – 5/5 Stars

Synopsis

Avril Ethanson has left Frake’s Peak and Lord Obdurin’s schemes behind. He hopes to find a member of his cadre at mysterious Lancity which was unaffected by the Cleansing. Unknown to Avril, there are forces waiting for him–Valan the Wolf and the Dead God’s priesthood–intent on using him and his connection to Lord Obdurin and Rhysin.

The Dead God’s Shadow is the third story in the Bastard Cadre series and continues where The Godslayers’ Legacy ended.

Review

This is book 3 in The Bastard Cadre series and for me it’s the best yet.

Yes I’m late to the party with this being released 3 years ago but these tales are absolute gems that need to be read.

We are back with Avril as he set outs from Frake’s Peak to get away from Lord Obdurin. I’m not sure Avril really knows what the plan is but he ends up heading towards Lancity where I can feel the connection of one of his cadre mates.

Lord Obdurin split Avril’s cadre up many years ago, the hope was to make them stronger when they eventually came together but with so many players in the game Avril really doesn’t know who to trust.. or what he really wants out of this whole mess of a situation.

I think the complex plot and motivations is really want makes this book as good as it is. You never know who to trust and with crazy Death Priests lurking in Lancity things aren’t looking good for Avril.

I really enjoyed the basic idea behind the series. Gods exist but pick a chosen one to manifest their will through. This chosen, like Lord Obdurin seem to know that the gods will does affect them but it’s not clear if they truly know how much. These chosen then have their cadre’s to serve and protect them and the loyalty they show just enforces the bonds created.

So far this is the best in the series. It develops Avril so much as the main focus is on him and it’s exactly what i was after.

This tale isn’t perfect and that’s what I love about it.. let me explain. A lot of books I read have a clear/perfect path set out, you may not know the ending when you start reading but by the end you find you’re not that surprised with the outcome.. with this series it’s so different.. it’s a true pleasure to read as you really don’t have any idea where the author will take things.. a refreshing dark, post-apocalyptic tale that has me hooked.

If I remember correctly the author billed this series as Science Fiction without the word count and I couldn’t agree more. The author packs so much into the tale, everything seems well covered and you are given such a good plot that quite frankly I couldn’t believe was under 200 pages.

I said it after I read the first book and I’ll say it again. For me this is a very highly underrated series that ticks all the boxes.

The only thing that could be improved on is the cover. While i like the simplicity of it, it doesn’t convey anything to the reader at first glance and without that hook you might just pass this beauty by.

To find out more head to Goodreads or Smashwords.