It was right after my rather disappointing reading of The Maze Runner series that I decided to go back to the genre I favored most... fantasy. I needed comforting and fantasy was pretty much a sure bet to make me feel better, unless I really chose poorly. I wondered briefly if I should embark on my long-planned re-read of The Wheel of Time series, but decided that it would require a level of commitment and concentration that I currently do not possess. When I realized that male authors outnumbered the fairer sex in my ebook collection, I decided to read the first of the Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara.
Cast in Shadow introduces us to Kaylin Neya, a member of the Hawks tasked with policing the streets of Elantra. Kaylin is always late and her uniform always in various states of disrepair, it's a wonder she hasn't been removed from post or killed outright by her Leontine sergeant Marcus Kassan. But Kaylin hasn't always been a citizen of Elantra, and her past comes back to haunt her when she is tasked by the Hawklord to investigate strange, yet unfortunately familiar, killings in her former home, the fief of Nightshade. What makes matters worse is that not only does she have to perform the investigation in company of the dragon Tiamaris, they are also joined by her former friend and fellow Nightshade resident Severn Handred, who just about incites murderous intent in Kaylin every time she's near him.
I've always favored high fantasy among the fantasy sub-genres, but I particularly enjoyed the mix of high fantasy, urban fantasy and crime procedural in the storytelling featured in Cast in Shadow (and the rest of the Chronicles of Elantra series, since I am about to finish reading its sixth installment). The first book serves well to introduce readers to the city of Elantra that is central to their empire and the different races that live within it. Aside from the humans Kaylin is counted amongst, there are Aerians who have wings and the ability to fly, Leontines who have both the features and temperament of big cats, and Tha'alani who sport tentacles on their head that they use to read thoughts and emotions. Immortals also live among them in the form of the ever beautiful and politically adept Barrani, and a few Dragons, one of whom is Elantra's Emperor. While there're only the barest of descriptions for each race, it's understandable given that it's meant to be an overview and it's only the first installment in the book series.
And really, more than anything, Cast in Shadow is meant to properly introduce us to Kaylin and the complications that she is about to be introduced to in her life. You know, aside from the constant tardiness and deplorable financial state. Kaylin holds her secrets close, even from the Hawklord who vouched for her training as a Hawk and Marcus, who seems to always debate on whether to protect her or use his claws on her. While her fellow Hawks treat her well, albeit with lots of joking and betting at her expense, they know nothing of her life prior to joining their ranks. Her childhood in the fiefs and what brought her to Elantra are details that she would rather not share. She is one who would prefer to put the past behind her, but is always challenged to revisit her most painful memories.
In Nightshade, she revisits the place where Severn had taken her in after her mother's death at a young age and where he performed the ultimate betrayal. But Kaylin is now a Hawk and she enters the fief to try to shed light on the gruesome murders performed on children, who are found disemboweled and tattooed with strange markings. The murders are familiar to Kaylin and Severn, because they occurred during their time in the fiefs, which was also the same time that the very markings on the dead children appeared on Kaylin's body. And in her first meeting with the fieflord, who the fief is named after, Kaylin is marked by the Barrani Nightshade, sporting an image of the flower on her cheek, meant to give her a measure of protection in the fief, but also opens her to animosity to other Barrani who take offense that she is marked by an outcaste. Nighshade is also instrumental in introducing Kaylin to the Ancient Ones, mysterious beings who were responsible for the creation of most life in their world, and to whose voice Kaylin's marks seem to respond to.
Cast in Shadow offers a lot as an initial series offering. With a gruesome serial killing as the core crime to solve and its apparent ties to the lead character, Cast in Shadow hints at a much bigger picture that Kaylin figures in, though she would probably prefer to just worry about performing her daily duties as a Hawk. But even if the killings in Nightshade didn't occur, Kaylin is hardly normal. What she doesn't tell everyone is that, more often than not, she is late for work because she is helping with a difficult birthing the previous night. Not because she is a midwife, but because the strange markings that cover her body and that she keeps hidden in her clothes seem to lend her powers that allow her to save the lives of both mothers and infants.
Cast in Shadow is well-paced and Kaylin is an interesting narrative voice, with a penchant for self-deprecation tempered with grim determination to plod along as best she could. There's a lot of potential in both book series and main character, and with every plot reveal, Cast in Shadow becomes so much more than just a straightforward story. Kaylin's journey is rife with challenges and hard lessons are learned, and facing one's ultimately destiny must be acknowledged if not completely accepted.
Author Michelle Sagara has created a fantasy world that, while limited in geography, is not short on mythology and world building. You might not have all your questions answered in Cast in Shadow, but that's all the more reason to look forward to reading the other eight (so far) books in the series.
Happy reading!!Labels: Adventure, Book Series, Books, Cast in Shadow, Chronicles of Elantra, Fantasy, Fiction, Michelle Sagara, Reading List
