Michelle Sagara, Cast In Shadow Review

Overall Rating

Cast In Shadow

ISBN: 0373802366

In the Kingdom of Karaazon, in the capital of Elantra, the river Abalyne separates the fiefs from the rest of society. In the Fiefs, warlords rule over their own domain and have their own laws and armies. Surprisingly, the sentient species on both sides of the river, human, avian, immortal, etc get along with one another. Now there is a crisis brewing that has it roots in a series of killings that happened in the Fiefs years ago when children were killed over a period of three years.

Now the killings have started only this time there are only three days between killings and the victims, like the ones three years ago have strange tatoo like makings on their bodies. Kaylin, who originally came from the Fiefs, also had the mysterious markings on her body before the killings started. Now she works on the right side of the law and is determined to find the killer before the magical ritual is completed and more lives are lost.

CAST IN SHADOW is a magnificent fantasy filled with plenty of suspense, a terrific who-done-it, and a wonderful heroine sacrificing her own needs to provide selfless service to end the killing in the fiefs. Michelle Sagara provides a fantastic realm in which the audience will believe that diverse sentient species exist and live and work in harmony at least until the murders occur leading to everyone pointing fingers at anyone different. Ms. Sagara smoothly has combined mystery and fantasy in this terrific tale. She has the talent to become a star in the fantasy genre.

Michelle Sagara
Luna, August 2005, $13.95, 400 pp.

Harriet Klausner