Shadow Blade

The first thing I did when I finished reading Shadow Blade earlier this morning was make sure that my memory was correct, and that it was the beginning of a series and not a standalone novel. Not because I didn't like how it ended, but because I was so impressed with Seressia Glass' fully developed and vibrant world rich with ancient Egyptian and Africa history, not to mention the three dimensional characters, zippy narrative, and intriguing plot. I'm thrilled to say that Shadow Blade hit all my happy spots. All of them. I loved it. I'm not going to summarize the plot here, as it's been done sufficiently in the product description and in more depth in other reviews. I just need to express what I most enjoyed about it. I loved the setting, Atlanta. I was really impressed with the flawless blend of history and mythology that never - for me - bogged down the story or stuttered the plot. I found the lead character, Kira Solomon, to be a stunning blend of intelligence, confidence, and aptitude with her work (both jobs), devotional commitment to her calling, and refreshing innocence and sense of yearning with everything else. Some reviews have criticized that dichotomy, but for me, it made perfect sense. The poor girl has been able to touch exactly NO ONE in her entire life without it ending in coma or death or pain. Twenty-six years of complete physical solitude unless she's killing. The wounds on a person's psyche under those conditions are unimaginable, horrifying, and entirely well represented by Kira's responses to events in Shadow Blade. I believed it utterly and I sympathized completely with her, as my admiration for her as written grew and grew. And kudos to Glass for the masterful development of Kira through the arc of the story. And for me personally, the development of the relationship between Kira and Khefer not only worked and was realistic and believable, but it was laden with both tenderness, hope, and at one point, one of the most sizzling kisses I've read in any novel this year. Exceptionally well done, I thought. Also tremendously well done - and refreshing for the very sense it made - was Khefer's reaction to Kira's inquiries and curiosity about his four thousand years on the planet. BRILLIANT scene and truly...finally addressed one of the most niggling issues I've ALWAYS had when books include long-lived races or individuals. I've gotten so used to just accepting that a thousand year old vampire has perfect recollection of his time as a human because that's how it almost always seems to be written. But it doesn't make sense if you think about it. A four thousand year old Nubian warrior who didn't even need to learn to read or write prior to the Roman empire?? EXCELLENT! I can't remember what I was doing fifteen years ago on this day. Why should Khefer remember what he was doing fifteen HUNDRED years ago? Brilliant! And I absolutely loved that line about history happening when you're just living your life. There were some real tru

Kira Solomon, is a shadow chaser. Bernie is like a father to her. Bernie has one of the most powerful daggers in the world. That dagger is the "Dagger of Khefetrum." Enig a Shadow Avatar sends out one of his demons to get the ancient dagger. Kira meets Khefar a 4,000 year old immortal. Khefar is the real owner of the ancient dagger. While Kira is on her way home from her meeting with Khefar she discovers a demon that she has a problem with. She gets out her lightblade, but not fast enough. In and instant, she and her motorcycle are flipped over on to the ground. With her crashed motorcycle on the ground, Kira gets up and reaches for her lightblade, but someone gets to it before her...Khefar. Before Kira can get back to her feet Khefar is fighting the demon destroying it. In the middle of the fight, Khefar is bitten by the ferocious animal. The bite will probably lead to death. Khefar dies that night, but it turns out ht Khefar has an after life, so that means that he wakes up the next morning. In order to keep the "Dagger of Khefetrum" safe they must destroy Enig. By doing that they are going to make a replica of the ancient dagger and try to trick Enig into thinking it is the real one. Will they be able to destroy Enig and keep the dagger safe, or will Enig destroy them first and get the dagger? I thought this book was very well written. It always kept me wanting to see what would happen next. Once I picked it up and started reading it, I couldn't stop!! It was by far one of the best books I have ever read! It had a few cuss words every now and then. Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer Flamingnet Book Reviews Teen books reviewed by teen reviewers

At first the story started out really slow and boring, but eventually came into its own. I first also had trouble relating to Kira, but her growth and progression was great. The last few chapters really ramped it up. Living in Atlanta as I do I'm always interested in stories which are set i.e Kate Daniels series. I laughed at Kira's taking the Marta and envisioning the sights that were mentioned also made things interesting. I was impressed with the world creating and the friendly demi-god Nansee was fascination as was Balm. I would love to know who Balm really is. I'm hoping that there will be a second book for me to read.

Kira Solomon works for the Gilead Commission (an ancient global organization that governs and upholds the balance between Light [angels, gods, goddesses, spirits, guardians] and Shadow [the Fallen= spawns of Chaos] in the universe) as a shadowchaser; someone of light who is trained to and uses their "extrasense" abilities to track and eradicate Shadow. Kira has the ability of the "touch"; she can see/experience the history of any person/being/object she touches. However, in the accordance with the universes principles of balance, her gift has the adverse effect of siphoning the life-force and destroying any being she makes a physical contact with. By day Kira is a freelance antiquity expert but at night, she transforms into a shadowchaser with death-dealing tendencies. The story starts off with Kira's mentor Bernie Comstock, requesting she authenticate an Egyptian blade he speculates to be over four millennia. Unfortunately for Kira and Bernie, their find attracts the owner of the blade, Khefar, an ancient Nubian warrior who served in Pharoah's army. Khefar has been on the warpath searching high and low for his blade. But even worse, the power of the blade attracts the Avatar for a powerful fallen who wishes to possess the blade's chaotic energy of creation and unmaking. Despite Kira's many strengths, her fight with the avatar takes a dismal turn when she becomes poisoned with shadow. The infection threatens to alter the mostly light essence running through her veins and replace it with the destructive alien energy of chaos. Time is running out for Kira, and the terms failure and retreat are not in her vocabulary. Looking for an alternative, the old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend is Kira's only option when she is forced to team-up with the warrior, in order to try and defeat the avatar. This book's idea of other dimensions of time and reality existing outside of earth and of the concept of the universal balance fascinates me. That a war took place outside of earth's reality and in the aftermath powerful otherworldly-beings, are trapped here on earth. And thus, have become incapable of manifesting in the flesh, and are forced to fuse their essence with humans and form avatars. I was completely entertained and intrigued from my first plunge into this book until the very end. The story appealed to and satisfied my appetite for novels that are creatively authentic and dark. The background shadow creatures as such, had a menacing and eerie vibe to them; like they stalked and lurked around every corner. Kira is a kick-butt heroine and a deadly force to be reckoned with. She is powerful in her own right and always gets the job done. For those wondering what genre this book falls into, I would categorize it as an urban fantasy with a smidge of romance. I savored this story and loved the fact that it was different from the commonly used European culture of fantasy but instead went against the grain and focused o

Kira Solomon's cover is an antiquities expert. However, although she is a guru on ancient artifacts, the Gilead Commission found her as an Atlanta tweener with incredible psychometric skills. They trained her to fight the Fallen Shadows who cause havoc and disenchantment. Now thirteen years since they found her, Kira prefers to focus on her antiquities work. Once her teacher and mentor, Bernie Comstock arrives with a four millennia old Egyptian blade that he needs her special touch to authenticate its age. Kira does just that and knows instantly that the blade belongs to an immortal Fallen Nubian warrior who searches for it throughout Atlanta. When a demon kills Bernie, Kira confronts Khefar the immortal, who looks her age rather than someone four thousand years old. Surprising herself, she agrees to team up with Khefar as evil Shadows want the blade that call out to both of them as much as their attraction does. Filled with great spins, the first Shadowchasers urban fantasy is a terrific tale due to the heroine. Her current case is personal in several ways, but also could lead her into the Shadows of darkness. Atlanta proves a great landscape for a battle between shadow and shadow-hunters, but it is the teaming of Kira and Khefar as she learns there are plenty of shades of gray between light and dark. Harriet Klausner