A Dance of Cloaks

By: David Dalglish

Narrated by: Elijah Alexander

From USA Today bestselling author David Dalglish
The Underworld rules the city of Veldaren. Thieves, smugglers, assassins. . . they fear only one man.

In book #1 of the Shadowdance series, Thren Felhorn is the greatest assassin of his time. All the thieves' guilds of the city are under his unflinching control. If he has his way, death will soon spill out from the shadows and into the streets.

Aaron is Thren's son, trained to be heir to his father's criminal empire. He's cold, ruthless -- everything an assassin should be. But when Aaron risks his life to protect a priest's daughter from his own guild, he glimpses a world beyond piston, daggers, and the iron rule of his father.

Assassin or protector; every choice has its consequences.

Fantasy author David Dalglish spins a tale of retribution and darkness, and an underworld reaching for ultimate power.

Critic reviews

"Fast, furious, and fabulous."—Michael J. Sullivan, author of Theft of Swords

"[A] winning combination of A Game of Thrones, sword-and-sorcery RPGs, and vivid description...Dalglish puts familiar pieces together with a freshness and pleasure that are contagious."—Publishers Weekly

"Strong characterization as well as detailed action...a believable tale of a young man's coming-of-age and the difficult decisions he must make. His saga should appeal to fans of R.A. Salvatore and Richard Lee Byers."—Library Journal

Good book, terrible narration.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I just could`t handle the really bad Scottish brogue the narrator uses for some of the characters. Really annoying.

new narrator please

Nice story despite minor logical flaws, however the narration is horrendous. Terrible fake inconsistent accents. Very annoying and detracts from the story. Still the story is fun.

OK, but I'd like to take a crack at re-writing it

This is a pretty enjoyable book, following a pretty tried and true (if not a bit tired) formula for fantasy novels.

It falls into my "past the time" on the long drive category. It is written for adults and is done well. Didn't really come up with anything original (and missed a few opportunities for an interesting twist on the coming of age story of a young criminal with a heart of gold).

I haven't gone on to the sequel yet. But I'll consider it if I can't find another more interesting option.

Not what I was hoping for

This book is about fighting between thieve guilds and the grooming of a teenage heir of a guild who is to eventually assume his fathers place. Magic is mentioned just a few times in passing. It's nothing that is developed, or anything that happens with any frequency. I had high hopes for a new sword and sorcery epic fantasy, but was truly disappointed. I made it through the entire book only because of the excellent naration. I'd give the narrator 9 stars out of 10 if that was possible.

Good, brutal fantasy, but the reader? Ack!

A busy coming of age fantasy. Some characters well developed, others unfortunately two - dimensional. (one is greedy, one naive, one brutal, one stupid etc) that would have been fine if the narrator had been better with secondary characters. Weird, fake accents, high pitched voices, set my teeth on edge. I understand he was trying to differentiate this assorted bunch, but it grated more often then not. Will not be listening to the next, though I might read it.