Review - - Bride of the Shadow King

Bride of the Shadow King

by Sylvia Mercedes

Publisher: Ace Books

Release Date: November 12, 2024

Reviewed by Nancy

 

Though she is the oldest daughter, Princess Faraine lives in the background, shunned from court and kept out of sight. She’s told her gods-gift makes her a liability to the crown, and has learned to give place to her beautiful, favored younger sister in all things.

When the handsome and enigmatic Shadow King comes seeking a bride, Faraine is not surprised that her sister is his choice.

King Vor is not eager to take a human bride, but he is willing to do what is necessary for the sake of his people. When he meets the lively Princess Ilsevel, he quickly agrees to a marriage arrangement. 

So why can’t he get the haunting eyes of her older sister out of his head?

 

Nancy’s Thoughts: 

Bride of the Shadow King is the first of three romantasy novels under a series banner of the same title. The forbidden love romance is nearly flawless, and the worldbuilding is different and intriguing despite occasional sparse descriptions. 

Princess Faraine, the heroine, has been banished to a distant convent far from the court of Gavaria, her homeland, because she inadvertently wrecked her father’s plan to marry her to a prince she loathed. We meet her as she is returning home to convince her sister Ilsevel, who has locked herself in a tower and is throwing crockery at anyone who approaches, that she must marry the Shadow King, Vor, for the good of their kingdom. They’re at war with Prince Ruaven, a fae, and they need the fierce soldiers of the trolde realm. Vor needs the human magic to vanquish the deadly beings intruding into his kingdom. 

Prince Ruaven’s fae attack Faraine’s entourage. Faraine isn’t trained to fight, but she displays courage and determination to survive in the face of these lethal foes. Her party is outnumbered and suffering casualties at a rapid pace. Fortunately, the trolde king and his escort, who are en route to Gavaria so he can woo Ilsevel, come across the battle and wade in. They rescue Faraine and her brother. 

Faraine has the gift of sensing the emotions of those around her. She can also affect their emotions. To keep the flood of feelings she senses from overwhelming her, she has a crystal necklace she grips to help her stay centered. Despite the carnage of the fight surrounding her and Vor, all she picks up from him is calm. That has tremendous appeal for her. He admires her poise and finds the hint of song he senses around her intriguing. 

Faraine knows, however, that her father, King Lorangar, would not want her to become friendly with Vor. Lorangar intends Vor to wed the lovely Ilsevel. Faraine has been summoned home only to convince her sister to go along with this plan. 

After they arrive at Beldroth, the Gavarian king’s palace, Vor remains intrigued by Faraine and seeks her out. She feels drawn to him but gently discourages his interest, which could lead him to prefer her to Ilsevel. Her father would be furious at the mere idea. 

The push/pull of their shared attraction is well done. Faraine’s fear of offending her father is understandable in context and sets up the situation that leads to disaster later in the story. Discouraged from pursuing her, Vor turns his attention to Ilsevel. Faraine continues to intrigue him, but he needs this alliance to gain access to human magic. If that means he must court only Ilsevel, he will do so. 

Both Vor and Faraine are resolved to do their duty despite the personal cost, but they aren’t whiny about it. Their matter-of-face acceptance of the situation despite their disappointment is sympathetic, and I was rooting for them both. 

The betrothal goes forward. Faraine returns to her convent. Vor resolves to put his feelings for Faraine aside, stop thinking of her, and devote himself to Ilsevel. After Vor returns to his own realm to prepare for his bride, who’s going on a pre-wedding pilgrimage, tragedy strikes. I won’t spoil the story by saying what happens, only that King Larongar’s focus on Ilsevel and his refusal to trust Vor lead to a sequence of dire events that sweep up Faraine, Vor, and his court. 

The supporting characters are individuals with layers, not cookie-cutter figures. A character who isn’t especially sympathetic in the beginning of the story comes into her own by the end, and I’m now interested to see what happens to her in the next two books. 

All that is great, so readers may wonder why I’m giving the book 4.5 stars instead of five. It’s because there were too many stoppers for me. Otherworldly creatures aren’t fully described, unfamiliar terms aren’t explained, and I don’t know why I what the problem is that leads to Prince Ruaven’s incursions except I’m told he’s the bad guy—and not much else. There’s a big inconsistency about the rules of travel between realms at a crucial moment. 

Every time I hit an unfamiliar term in a book, it stops me unless its meaning is obvious from context. Every time I encounter an unfamiliar creature, I need a description to get a visual in my head. Without it, I don’t have a clear picture of the action in the scene and am frustrated. If I’m stopping to wonder about the meaning of a term or the appearance of a creature, I’m not reading the story. I’m pulled out of it. 

The trolde kingdom is a brilliant concept, and the characters we meet there are well-drawn and varied. The landscapes are nicely done, with clear, detailed imagery and contrasts between the Under Realm and Gavaria. The problems I had were in smaller moments. Because I hit so many points where I wanted more—a couple of adjectives, a short phrase—to give me a picture, I often felt frustrated. 

The following are just a few examples. 

Casualties need “an ugghra healer,” but what is that? What sets them apart from other healers? Or is there even a difference? 

The trolde ride shadowy creatures called morleths, which are interdimensional and can manifest from shadows, which is really cool. For description, though, we’re told they have sinuous, barbed tails and snort smoke or sparks. They have fur over scales on their withers and flanks. All that’s great, but we don’t know what shape or size their heads or bodies are or how tall they are or how many legs they have. Presumably they have at least four since people sit on their backs, but it could be six or even, like Odin’s legendary mount, Sleipnir, eight. 

There are numerous references to roag poison. Is that the creature or the plant that produces the poison? If so, what kind of creature or plant is it? I’m assuming roag doesn’t mean poison because that would be redundant. 

At the point when Vor’s bride is about to cross into his lands, the Under Realm, her attendants make a big fuss about the rule that she can only take with her what he has given her. She therefore wears a new gown he sent for her. A companion lies to the trolde woman in attendance about something  the bride wants to take having been a gift from Vor, so she gets to take that. Yet the bride wears a veil she brought from home and no one says anything about that. 

For some readers, a cool-sounding term and a vague description suffice, and that’s fine. But I need more. Rating this book overall, I give the romance plot a five and the worldbuilding a four, solely I was so often stopped by needing more explanation. 

The story moves at a good pace except from the bits I stumbled over, and it kept my interest. Despite the stumbles, I would’ve continued reading even if I hadn’t committed to review the book. 

The story ends on a cliffhanger. That isn’t an issue for me, but readers who prefer a complete story may want to wait until the next two books are released to read this one. 

4.5 stars 

~Nancy