An undying king. A relic of rune-carved bronze and ivory flames. A war for powers only a god could fathom.
In the centuries since rising up against a cruel, twisted dynasty, the Seven Cities have done much to move past their horrid histories, the memories of ancient monarchs who once fed on the life and blood of their own people. Those with a talent for magic are no longer hounded and slain. The lands beyond the Cities are safe, spared the atrocities the Alescuans once wrought upon them. For 300 years, there has been peace.
Then Eska de Caraval, head of the prestigious Firenzia Company, finds herself framed for murder.
Soon hunted for the strange bronze disc she most certainly did not steal, Eska is forced to pit both wit and blade against all manner of adversaries who would eagerly see her dead. An assassin in the shadows. A monster in the deep. A rival looking to burn her alive. From sword and fang and flame Eska must defend herself, struggling all the while to prove her innocence and unravel the mysteries of a dangerous artifact.
But unbeknownst to Eska and her enemies, the cruelest of those tyrants of old is stirring in his grave.
Jared
Two archaeological adventurers, members of feuding noble families, are competing to find a collection of lost antiquities. Their competition has political – and perhaps even theological – repercussions. Various powers and potentates are all interested, and our two adventurers are caught up in a rather tangled mess.
Shadows of Ivory is indulgently pulpy, a gloriously senseless series of hijinks. The two characters essentially bounce from one ‘ain’t it cool?’ scenario to another, from secret libraries to high-stakes dinner parties. There’s oh-so-witty dialogue!, twists!, turns!, and pirates!!!
The writing occasionally oozed into an arch-ness that I found personally grating – a sort of self-conscious, overly-composed cleverness. Entire scenes seemed composed solely around the delivery of a single killer line. I suppose this is satisfying enough, but the contrivance ruined the immersion. There’s also an entirely extraneous point of view: an archivist with a singularly grating tone of voice. They exist largely to unveil an entirely extraneous plotline; although one that presumably sets up the course of the book’s sequels.
But, again, Shadows is pleasantly readable. It is pacey and bouncy, and the two (largely, and perhaps intentionally, interchangeable) main characters are fun to follow as they get into trouble in various implausible ways. The whole thing is peppy enough that you don’t even realise that the entire plot is about Macguffins (What are these things? Do we know? Do we care?) and that the most important character motivation is not to be found (Why are these families even feuding? Do we know? Do we care?). Pulp is what it is, and there’s nothing wrong with that. (5/10)
Nb. Covers don’t matter to the review or the scoring, and, due to the way SPFBO functions, I don’t really even see them. But it is worth noting that the cover to Shadows of Ivory has absolutely nothing to do with the book, the characters, or even its tone. It is clearly a well-executed piece of art, but, in this case, don’t judge the book by it.
Kopratic
There’s one scene in this book that I thought was a blast to read. It’s the historical trivia for other people’s lives one. If you know, you know. It was witty and took itself just seriously enough without going overboard on either aspect. What I found as a whole, however, is that I was loving individual scenes more than the book itself. It was a book that I was enjoying while reading but not necessarily one I was itching to pick back up. To me a lot of the scenes just felt disconnected. So while it was a fun read for sure, I ultimately have some mixed feelings.
(6/10)
Adam
Shadows of Ivory is an archaeological adventure in a renaissance Italy inspired setting. A race for six ancient magical macguffins ensues amid old rivalries and secret plots.
We mostly follow Eska, an archaeologist and noble with two highly placed parents, and Manon, her rival, a treasure hunter struggling after the sins of her family have brought them low. Their travels set them on the path of some ancient and mysterious disks. Both are driven, but Manon is at the end of her tether, while Eska has the advantage of privilege and a loyal crew.
It’s an exciting ride, although I never quite understood why the race for the disks was starting at that time. Similarly to Kop, I found the individual scenes to be strong, but that was something about the overall plot that felt weaker, the individual threads not quite making a compelling whole.
The characters all had enough spark to be compelling for sure – and a particular element I liked was Eska’s conscientious archeology – rather than ‘it belongs in a museum’, Eska is more likely to say ‘it belongs with the people it was stolen from’!
It’s an interesting one for me to score, as there’s nothing wrong per se with a series of good scenes without a strong connective tissue, but we’re clearly supposed to care about this overarching narrative. The interludes support this, each being extracts of some in-world text or similar, and while they are again, solid in isolation, they felt disconnected from the story despite their plot relevance.
So, for those looking for an Indiana Jones esq archaeological adventure set in something resembling renaissance Italy and all the trappings that entails, I think there’s a decent chance you’ll enjoy this.
7
