Stonecutter's Shadow

A coup has thrown the kingdom of Farshores into turmoil, and one of the pretender’s first moves was to order mercenaries to invade the Mage District and put all its inhabitants - men, women, and children - to the sword. There is one survivor: Horace Stonecutter, the youngest son of the Stonecutter family. Though a member of a stone-cutting mage family, his stone-cutting gift had yet to manifest itself. Instead, he had a talent he first used playing hide-and-seek with other children. He discovered could hide “inside” shadows, and the other kids nicknamed him “Hyder”, because no one could spot him once he hid. Embarrassed to tell his family about this seemingly useless talent, he kept it to himself.

But his ability to hide saved his life when the soldiers came to kill his family. Though there was no love lost between him and his five elder brothers, he dearly loved his mother, and the mercs killed her. That night, vengeance - in the form of an enraged Horace - moved from shadow to shadow, killing the attackers without mercy. After all, it takes no arms training to bury an axe in the back of an enemy’s head when attacking from deep shadow.

Consumed with anger and a hunger for retribution, he journeys out to find who ordered the murder of his family. He owes someone a blood debt, and he wants to collect.

Along his bloody journey, he meets kings, princes, princesses, noblemen - and not so noble men. He learns that in troubled times, few are to be trusted. Join him as he becomes a fully developed Shadow Mage and follow as his abilities and powers grow while he seeks to collect the blood debt he is owed. May God have mercy on his enemies - because he won’t.

©2021 James Haddock (P)2021 James Haddock

excellent

very nicely done. intriguing story and plot twists. I hope there will be more coming from the author

Not bad

It’s not bad and a bit different than other stories Mr. Haddock has done. The multiple twist in the plot at the end was quite interesting. I am not sure if that was put in to make it different than other stories he has written a whether it was done just to throw a curveball at the end.

Began with strangely

I was puzzled at the first chapters prose style. The exposition seemed rushed, fooling me into settling into an uncomplex story. That changed. The main character ain't your average hero's journey naif. Lots of twisted turns.

Excellent Read

I truly enjoyed this book. this story is like stepping into the Twilight Zone. I will read this many times and never get tired. Best of all there are no sappy love lies to make you hurl up your lunch....lol. Enjoy constant reader.

Great action fantasy

Really enjoyed this book. It started quickly and was interesting all the way until the end. There was a twist that I absolutely did not see coming and it made me rewind like wait what?!

No modern politics that authors seem to love throwing in their scifi and fantasy books. Just a fun run through a fantasy world.

Highly recommend.