Review – Shadowmagic (Shadowmagic, Book 1) by John Lenahan (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 290 pages
Publisher: The Friday Project
Release Date: August 6, 2009
ASIN: B002RI9EY6
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Shadowmagic series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Conor thought he was an average teenager. OK, so his father only had one hand, spoke to him in ancient languages and was a bit on the eccentric side but, other than that, life was fairly normal. Until, that is, two Celtic warriors on horseback and wearing full armour appear at his front door and try to kill him. After that, things get pretty weird.”

This is the first book in the Shadowmagic trilogy and was a fun and fast read. I loved journeying to the Land and enjoyed Conor and his interactions with his family over there. There’s a lot of humor in here and it was very fun. I do think that middle grade kids are going to enjoy this more than adults; the plot and level of writing were pretty simple.

Conor lives with his very odd father until one day some Celtic warriors show up at their house to kill them both. Connor and his father end up being captured and brought to The Land. Little does Connor know this is his home world. While there Connor finds out he’s part of a prophecy that makes everyone want to kill him..from there things really get weird.

This book is written in a very light-hearted and humorous style that had me laughing out loud a number of times. There is a lot of action and adventure and the book is a very quick and easy read.

I enjoyed the characters and action. I also loved all the interactions between Connor and his family.

I thought the plot was a bit too simple and at times the writing could have used a bit of editing, sometimes it was just a tad awkward or too flippant. In the end, although the story was a fun read, I didn’t find myself wanting to read more about these characters and this world.

However, I do think my 11 year old son would really enjoy this book a lot and will give it to him to read. In general I think this is a book that middle grade/teens will enjoy more than adults.

Overall this was a fun and easy read. I enjoyed it but wished that the writing and story had a bit more complexity to it. I think this is an adventure fantasy that kids will enjoy a lot and adults will breeze through and think “eh, that was fun…moving on.”