Shadow in the Deep Graham | L. B. Binding of the Blade Horror Book Review

L. B. Graham started off with a bang in “Beyond the Summerland” and kept the pace up in “Bringer of Storms”.  With an enormous cast of characters, epic scale, and powerful action sequences, he’s created a story roughly comparable to Tad Williams’ The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Book 1).  The question always arises, for any discriminating reader, will he be able to keep it up?  Some authors start slacking off in the middle volumes of their series.  Happily, that is not the case with Graham.


Aljernon begins the book out at sea, having recently saved the people of his city from the armies of Malak.  However, he also has a new task: Valzaan ordered him to travel north in search of the resting place of Sulmandir, the father of dragons.  With a few of his most trusted companions, he’ll begin a quest across the frozen wastes of Nolthanin, where danger lurks at every turn.


Meanwhile, the rest of the characters are fleeing southward, with the Bringer of Storms hard on their heels.  Most of the book will be a mad, extended chases scene, as the refugees barely manage to stay ahead of the pursuit.  Lest that description scare you off, it’s not only action.  “Shadow in the Deep” is surprisingly probing and honest in its portrayal of the characters.  The psychological effects of multiple battles, sickness, injuries, defeats, bad weather, and a nearly hopeless situation are portrayed with unflinching honesty.