The Shadow Glass

by Josh Winning

Dark Crystal meets About a Boy in a race against the clock to save the world in this nostalgia-infused adventure!

Jack Corman is failing at life.

Jobless, jaded and on the "wrong" side of thirty, he's facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune.

But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he'll end up a failure just like him.

In the wake of Bob's death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father's creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father's legacy while conjuring the hero within--and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.

• ISBN10: 1789098610
• ISBN13: 9781789098617
• Publish Date: 22 March 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Titan Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781789098617

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Shadow Glass is a standalone contemporary crossworlds fantasy by Josh Winning. Due out 22nd March 2022 from Titan, it's 400 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. The thematic tie-in cover art as DVD case is well done and adds a nice little fillip to the overall vibe.

This is for all the lovers of The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. The plot revolves around the inner lives of the puppets from an 80s cult film by an eccentric genius director/creator who has passed away, his son who is grown up now and still working through issues, a dorky fanboy, and a prickly all-business producer for the current day production company who is representing the creative properties, and, of course, the puppets. It turns out the puppets were alive all along and now the hapless unwilling protagonists have to help them save the world.

This is full of pop-culture references and throwbacks to the original genre material and fans of the movies and ITC/Henson projects will get a lot more out of it than newer fans. It certainly does work well as a straight contemporary fantasy, but the nostalgia aspects were a lot of the appeal for me personally. The entire book has a very offbeat creepy vibe (especially the house!) and the author does a great job of writing creeping dread and atmospheric eeriness. There aren't so many jump scares, but there is some body horror.

The unabridged ebook has a run time of 10 hours and 16 minutes and the final release narration is capably rendered by Colin Mace. He has a gravelly and expressive voice which suits the story very well. He narrates the disparate characters distinctly and it's never a problem to keep them straight. Sound and production quality are high throughout.

Four stars. I enjoyed this one very much, both print and audiobook formats.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.