That cover art, btw, is done by the same artist that did the Mythago Wood and Lavondyss covers (the Fantasy Masterworks editions) that I might have shown before somewhere.
Really, stunningly beautiful work by polish artist Grzegorz Domaradzki, whose work you can take a look at on his site iamgabz.com
Alright. I have a thing that I do for every book that I review.
Whenever I begin a new review post I tend to completely rewrite the book's back blurb.
It's something that helps me put everything in perspective, refreshes my memory, gets me in the writing-zone and plants my mind firmly at the start of the book, so that I can keep my review spoiler-free.
Here, however I'm going to have to do it a little different.
For a normal book, my blurb doesn't give away much, has something to say about everything, while establishing names, motives, places and other crucial information. I try to let it flow smoothly and that can be quite a challenge. The whole blurb can take some time, let me tell you.
Here in this blurb however, it hints at, but not confirms where everyone's individual stories are going and because of this, helps resolve some of the aimlessness of Ombria in shadow's plot; which was my intention. As a side-effect It also lends it an epicness that isn't quite present in the story. From Fairy Tale to Epic Fantasy, which is absolutely a bad thing if that's what you're expecting going into this book.
It also, maybe, takes away the appealing mystery that the Fantasy Masterwork's blurb gave it.
That blurb, specifically, was the reason why I picked this novel to read next. A really well done bit of writing that shows that less is better.
In more ways than one, it fits the book marvelously.
I'll show it here, and I'll put mine after it. Then, if you care to read mine, (but be aware that it might give some slight stuff away if you DO want to read the novel) tell me which one you prefer.
"The prince of Ombria is dying, and already his sinister
great-aunt is plotting to seize power. The Black Pearl
is feared throughout the land, and the city folk know
is feared throughout the land, and the city folk know
her reign will be a terrible one. Only the prince's son
can stop her from seizing the throne but he's just a
boy - barely worth the trouble of doing away with.
Ombria, it seems, is doomed. And yet, beneath the
streets, in a buried world of shadows and ghosts, a
mysterious sorceress is weaving new spells, watched
over by a girl sculpted entirely from wax..."
Mystery and shadows. Enticing huh?can stop her from seizing the throne but he's just a
boy - barely worth the trouble of doing away with.
Ombria, it seems, is doomed. And yet, beneath the
streets, in a buried world of shadows and ghosts, a
mysterious sorceress is weaving new spells, watched
over by a girl sculpted entirely from wax..."
And here comes my bit of blurb. Again, be mindful of slyness involving possible spoilers and hints.
In the ancient city of Ombria, in a castle riddled with forgotten rooms and hallways, hidden wealth and dangerous secrets, the city's king and the ruler of the noble house of Greve lies dying.
Meanwhile, his mysterious great-aunt, the evil sorceress Domina Pearl, schemes to isolate his young son and heir, kyel.
She sends away the boy's closest friend, Lydea, a tavern waitress turned king's mistress and abandons her to the hostile streets of Ombria. Alone in the world, cut off from the people she loves, with her fate uncertain, Lydea will have to grow fast and so very far away from the flighty girl she was, into someone capable of navigating Ombria's shadowy dangers, Someone capable of saving Kyel from the unfathomable evils of Domina Pearl.
In the castle, Kyel's uncle, Ducon Greve, is the boy's last remaining ally. But, as a bastard, with no power and no claim to the throne, his influence is limited. Yet, for some reason, he is feared by the evil sorceress and goes where and when he pleases. Alone, he stalks the forgotten places in Ombria, drawing with coal and paper, he sees every shade of light and dark and not even Domina Pearl can tell how many of the ancient city's secrets he has unearthed.
Beneath the city, unknown to most and not understood by any, in a world of shadows and ghosts, between memories and dreams, a shapeshifting sorceress sells her spells to the highest bidder.
Aided by her wax girl, she deals in callous death and her magic may yet strike out at the drama playing out above.
But will these things even matter, in the end?
Because learned men, reading between the lines of history, have foreseen that an event is impending. A burgeoning darkness is moving the fate of Ombria out of balance and forward into a catastrophic metamorphosis that when it is over, will have left nothing the same.
Heh, I really am inordinately pleased with that.
Anyway, now that's done with, onwards;
Ombria in Shadow is a beautiful reading experience. A World Fantasy Award Winner for a reason.
The story flows, seemingly without direction. Like an exhausted reader's subconsciousness, filled with magic and intrigue, simply content to drift for a while.
The characters wander, and wonder at their darkening world. A figurative and literal darkness.
When I say figurative I of course mean emotional, and though the characters frequently exist in a state of emotional despair, it never becomes overbearing. This is mostly because the feelings of loss and hopelessness are countered by love. And with that I don't mean traditional romance, but rather the love between family members and the love that parents have for a child. It's something that I can't recall ever having read before, at least not as the driving force for the main characters' actions.
The worldbuilding is seamless, effortlessly sprinkled within the narrative with vague scene setting relying both on the interplay between light and dark and a heavy dose of a melancholy entropy. And the gloom of the city of Ombria itself is just as much backdrop as it is one of the principal characters.
The writing is mesmerizing and like a dream, occasionally jumps around (even within sentences) and if you're not paying attention you'll be flitting from scene to scene without realizing it. It's like that way in which your dreams transition from one scene to another, the transitions are only noticable when you look back at them.
It really is quite well written.
I'd like to add that, like a dream, when it's over it's quite hard to actually recount anything that happened in the book. Sure yes, you can talk about the various characters and the key plot events spring easily to mind, But when it's all over, the page count seems far too large to actually fit with your memory of what happens in the book. There's a specific reason for this, but to tell would definitely be spoiling it. Suffice it to say that it's pretty good.
Ombria in Shadow is a beautiful book and reading it can feel like a dream.
Don't go looking for answers though, because like in a dream the truth is hidden and up for interpretation, if any interpretation is even necessary. Because sometimes how the book makes you feel is more important than how it all fits together.
-----
But just in case you're looking for an explanation.
I spent some time trying to figure it out myself and I'm reasonably satisfied with where I eventually got. It's quite a read.
Go here: Ombria in Shadow; an Interpretation
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