Shadow Prowler (The Chronicles of Siala, #1)

by Alexey Pehov

After centuries of calm, the Nameless One is stirring. An army is gathering: thousands of fellcreatures joining forces from across the Desolate Lands, united for the first time in history under one black banner. By the spring, or perhaps sooner, the Nameless One and his forces will be at the walls of Avendoom.Unless Shadow Harold, master thief, can stop them. Epic fantasy at its best, Shadow Prowler is the first in a trilogy that follows professional thief Shadow Harold on his quest for a long-lost artefact that will save the Kingdom of Siala. Bound by oath to fulfil his commission, even if he dies trying, Harold is accompanied on his quest by a mysterious elfin princess, ten Wild Hearts -- the most dangerous fighters in the world -- and the King's court jester (who may be more than he seems ... or less). His journey will lead Harold towards a destiny greater and more perilous than he could imagine...

• ISBN10: 1847396712
• ISBN13: 9781847396716
• Publish Date: 31 March 2011 (first published 16 February 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

Until I was about 80 pages from the end I wasn't sure I was going to bother reading the next in the series, now I want to know what happens next.

[elysium]

This is the first book in a popular Russian fantasy serie. There were times that I regretted that I haven’t read Russian so I could have read the original edition. It started little slow but got better towards the end. Mainly because it took far too long to Harold to actually leave to the quest, but after he does things started rolling smoothly.

A thief called Harold is framed into stealing an object before being recruited by the king to the most dangerous burglary in his life. He has to steal a Horn from Hrad Spein. He gets help from people from different races; dwarf, gnome, goblin, elves and human warrior group called The Wild Hearts. The elves are no Tolkien-elves but are nearly as ugly as orcs with fangs.

I liked the snarky, quirky Harold. The story is told from his point of view in first person so we get good look what goes on in his head. It reminded me of David Edding’s Belgarion-serie.

All in all, I found the book good and I’ll definitely read the next one!