FA+
Shop
'The Shadows That Linger' by M. Andrew Rudder: A Review
9 years ago
I read this book recently and enjoyed it, and felt like sharing some of my thoughts. Be warned, I'll be trying my best to avoid giving too many spoilers, but a few may creep in.
So what is it about, you may ask? 'The Shadows That Linger' is a gay furry superhero romance novel with a rather interesting idea at it's core, namely a romantic relationship between a superhero and a supervillain.
The villain in question is Puppeteer, a criminal mastermind with psychic mind-reading and controlling powers, a wanted terrorist and head of supervillain group the Consortium. When circumstances leave him critically injured, his life is saved without hesitation by Pariah, a young superhero with healing powers and newest member of superhero team the Protectors. Fascinated by the hero and the details of Pariah's life he accidentally reads in his mind, Puppeteer sets out to try and get to know him better. But as their relationship grows and with a dark and malevolent new villain threatening the world, the main question they must face is can a relationship between them actually work out?
I won't go into the story any more than that to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say, it is a great story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not perfect by any means, I personally would have liked to have seen a little more of Puppeteer and Pariah's relationship as it developed than we actually got, but what we did get was still very good and satisfying. And that goes for the book as a whole.
What really helps the book be such a good read are the wonderful set of characters the author has created here. The two main characters really work well, in some ways so very different from each other, but in others very similar. They complement each other well, making their relationship believable and compelling.
Pariah's innocent naivety was rather adorable, and I loved the fact that he'd been through some terrible things, but hadn't let it compromise his morals or damage his good-natured sense of altruism. Puppeteer's moral and emotional complexity was fascinating. He's not straight up evil, he wants to make the world a better place, he's just willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it, up to and including villainous, terrorist acts and associating with and making use of supervillains who are dangerous and/or psychotic.
Beyond the two leads, there are a nice variety of great characters, both heroes and villains. The author manages to do a good job of making them all very distinct and unique. I particularly liked the flamboyant and fun White Magus, a character its hard not to love. The villains of the Consortium also stood out to me in how they're not all simply evil, they had different goals and desires and reasons for what they do, making them more interesting characters in the process.
I really liked the diverse nature of the cast as well. They're not all American, there are a variety of ethnicities among the characters. For example, both main characters, Pariah and Puppeteer, are Iranian. Coupled with the fact that the story takes the characters to various places around the world, it gives the book a nice bit of international flavour that adds to its charm.
So overall, this is a great book, it does a very good job of establishing it's world and characters and telling a good story with some good ideas. It's a fun and very enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend giving it a try.
Printed version: http://furplanet.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=790
Ebook version: http://baddogbooks.com/?product=the.....ws-that-linger
If you do read the book, afterwards be sure to check out the free short story 'Comfort and Joy'. It's set after the events of the book, so I would recommend reading that first. But the story is available from Bad Dog Books here: http://baddogbooks.com/?product=comfort-and-joy
So what is it about, you may ask? 'The Shadows That Linger' is a gay furry superhero romance novel with a rather interesting idea at it's core, namely a romantic relationship between a superhero and a supervillain.
The villain in question is Puppeteer, a criminal mastermind with psychic mind-reading and controlling powers, a wanted terrorist and head of supervillain group the Consortium. When circumstances leave him critically injured, his life is saved without hesitation by Pariah, a young superhero with healing powers and newest member of superhero team the Protectors. Fascinated by the hero and the details of Pariah's life he accidentally reads in his mind, Puppeteer sets out to try and get to know him better. But as their relationship grows and with a dark and malevolent new villain threatening the world, the main question they must face is can a relationship between them actually work out?
I won't go into the story any more than that to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say, it is a great story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not perfect by any means, I personally would have liked to have seen a little more of Puppeteer and Pariah's relationship as it developed than we actually got, but what we did get was still very good and satisfying. And that goes for the book as a whole.
What really helps the book be such a good read are the wonderful set of characters the author has created here. The two main characters really work well, in some ways so very different from each other, but in others very similar. They complement each other well, making their relationship believable and compelling.
Pariah's innocent naivety was rather adorable, and I loved the fact that he'd been through some terrible things, but hadn't let it compromise his morals or damage his good-natured sense of altruism. Puppeteer's moral and emotional complexity was fascinating. He's not straight up evil, he wants to make the world a better place, he's just willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it, up to and including villainous, terrorist acts and associating with and making use of supervillains who are dangerous and/or psychotic.
Beyond the two leads, there are a nice variety of great characters, both heroes and villains. The author manages to do a good job of making them all very distinct and unique. I particularly liked the flamboyant and fun White Magus, a character its hard not to love. The villains of the Consortium also stood out to me in how they're not all simply evil, they had different goals and desires and reasons for what they do, making them more interesting characters in the process.
I really liked the diverse nature of the cast as well. They're not all American, there are a variety of ethnicities among the characters. For example, both main characters, Pariah and Puppeteer, are Iranian. Coupled with the fact that the story takes the characters to various places around the world, it gives the book a nice bit of international flavour that adds to its charm.
So overall, this is a great book, it does a very good job of establishing it's world and characters and telling a good story with some good ideas. It's a fun and very enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend giving it a try.
Printed version: http://furplanet.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=790
Ebook version: http://baddogbooks.com/?product=the.....ws-that-linger
If you do read the book, afterwards be sure to check out the free short story 'Comfort and Joy'. It's set after the events of the book, so I would recommend reading that first. But the story is available from Bad Dog Books here: http://baddogbooks.com/?product=comfort-and-joy
