Two reviews

Shadowlands Reviewd by J. McGuire

I enjoyed this very much. I am not a regular reader of science fiction, in fact it is more than twenty years since I read any, but I found this absolutely intriguing.

Of course the fact that it is extremely well written helps enormously. You have a wonderful way with words. Phrases like: '..trees swayed like graceful women...; 'That grin ...is one the devil'd buy at auction'; 'She'd slapped the word down like a fish full of lead weights' and in particular '..he knew the tick each would have' I love them all. Minor point: I'm not quite so sure about 'Sweet, summer sweat' Is sweat ever sweet?

The hero, Jack, is fascinating. Though obviously not at his physical best he is nevertheless attractive, possibly magnetically so, to women. This intrigues. There are intimations of sexuality to come which adds to the already potent mix. I want to read more.

Shadowland

I absolutely loved this work. You write incredibly well, from the minute I started I was hooked in. The pace of the story is rather slow, although broken up by some different-and mysterious-points of view, however I was so in love with the characterisation and the description that I didn't care. What I like best about this is the wit and humour you write with. The ghostlike figures pop up enough to keep the reader wanting to know what happens next and I would love to read more about Mrs Maguire-by far my favourite character :-)
Thats not to say it was perfect, some of the description is a little overloaded with metaphors and adverbs and would benefit from you choosing the best and cutting the rest, however it wasn't enough to stop me reading. Best of luck, I hope this does really well.