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.

The blurb

It should be a young boy's paradise.  Yes, the Great War is raging, but that can't affect 15-year-old Jack. He's too young and anyway is recovering from scarlet fever. To recuperate, he's been sent by his soldier father to the country house of a friend. When Jack arrives in the West Country to stay in a castle full of lonely women where he is, 'the only thing you'd call a man that isn't long since decrepit in the whole area,' he thinks he looks like something that would cause Dr. Frankenstein  to burst into tears and take up dentistry.

The looks he's getting from young Abigail, the maid, however. .. And is the shy Italian artist, Eleonora, interested in him as more than just a model? Bridie the cook, Miss Brampton the governess, 17-year-old Deirdre and even her mother, the horse-riding Lady Charlotte, all perhaps overly concerned that he should recover his strength.  The stuff of a young man's fantasies?

Well, yes, but Jack is more than the sickly youth they think him to be. In fact, Jack is more than Jack believes himself to be. He isn't troubled by the ghosts who roam the castle and watch his recovery because he can't see them. That voice in the back of his head, though. Jack isn't entirely sure that it's his. And those things in the woods at night, what the hell are they?

Worst, though, is the knife in his bag. It's the kind made only for killing. So how come a fifteen-year-old has a surgeon's knowledge of how to use it? That can worry a boy with a name like his.