Ormeshadow

by Priya Sharma

[Quirky Cat]

Ormeshadow is the latest novel from the mind of Priya Sharma, and once again readers will find themselves transported to a fantastical world. This novella is a blend of coming of age storytelling, and magical lore. It’s beautiful, powerful, and just ever so slightly dark.
Gideon Belman has had his entire life uprooted. He and his parents have had to suddenly move back to the Ormeshadow Farm – the family farm. Gideon isn’t happy about that, being that he was never well suited to that sort of labor. And he’s even less suited to putting up with the temperaments of his uncle and cousins.
But Gideon’s imagination is captured when his father tells him the tale of Ormeshadow. It’s the legend of his family, one they’ve been tasked with guarding. And the legend contains a sleeping dragon. A beautiful metaphor if ever there’s been one.

“You fill his head with stupid stories and keep him ignorant of everything important.”

Ormeshadow was both beautiful and heartbreaking. This is a novella intent to rip emotions from the readers, forcing us to sympathize with Gideon and his plight. It’s moving and proof that tales do in fact have power.
The combination of coming of age and fantastical world-building was really something else. It made Ormeshadow feel so alive – like something moving just outside of the corner of your vision. It’s not a feeling I’m use to having while reading, but I have to admit it was beautifully done. I’m completely blown away from Sharma’s writing.
There were two major elements to this plot. First, there’s the legend itself. That was elegantly told. It truly did feel like an old legend, the sort that a family would pass down from generation to generation.
And then there’s Gideon’s tale. Now that was just a lesson in heartbreak. It was bittersweet, but in the way that any coming of age story truly should be. And thus it was exactly what it promised to be. And I’ll be honest; this story did move me to tears a time or two.
I ended up reading Ormeshadow in one sitting, and I have no regrets about that fact. Except perhaps that I wish there was more to read. At least I have the rest of Sharma’s writing to work my way through. So that’s something.

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