Shadowmancer: What can stand against an ancient evil. . . - Hardcover

Taylor, G.P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591856132 ISBN 13: 9781591856139

Publisher: Charisma House, 2004

Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

This novel, Shadowmancer, reached #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List in 2004 and has been translated into 48 languages. The second novel, Wormwood is another New York Times best seller which was nominated for a Quill Book Award.  G. P. Taylor also authored The Shadowmancer Returns: The Curse of Salamander Street, Tersias the Oracle, and Mariah Mundi. 

Obadiah Demurral no longer wants to worship God...He wants to be God! 

Vicar Obadiah Demurral isn't satisfied running the affairs of his village—he foolishly wants to control the world.  And if his plan works, he will obtain a weapon so powerful that all of creation will fall down at his feet.  Demurral will stop at nothing—even commanding restless souls to do his bidding. 

Who will stand against him?  Raphah, a young man on a godly mission, has come a long distance to reclaim the ancient relic Demurral has stolen—dangerously volatile in the wrong hands—but he can't do it alone.  Even younger are Thomas and Kate, accidentally drawn into this ongoing war between good and evil.  Their struggle against Demurral brings them face-to-face with the powers of darkness in this unforgettable epic battle.  G.P. Talyor's first novel takes readers on a breathtaking voyage, full of suspense and intrigue, where fallen angels and demonic forces come in the night and where the ultimate sacrifice might even be life itself.

About this title

Review:

An apocalyptic battle between good and evil is vigorously, violently fought in British author G.P. Taylor's suspenseful, action-packed fantasy. The story, set in the 1700s on the Yorkshire coastline, revolves around Vicar Obadiah Demurral, a corrupt-but-inept, dead-conjuring "shadowmancer" who desires to control the universe by overthrowing God, or Riathamus. When two hard-luck near-orphans, (13-year-old Thomas Barrick, a bitter enemy of Demurral, and his troubled friend Kate Coglund) band together with a young African stranger named Raphah, they spend the rest of the book trying to stop the wicked Vicar as if their very souls are at stake...they are. Along the way, the three youths meet an enormous cast of friends and foes, some agents of Riathamus, others of Satan (Pyratheon), and some godless (but not for long) smugglers like Jacob Crane.

Readers who love fanciful storybook characters will find mermaidlike Seloth, smelly hobs, leg-dragging servants, goodhearted whores, and benevolent boggles. Age-old superstitions abound, though old magic and witchcraft are clearly denounced here as the work of the devil. Indeed, the author, an English vicar himself, tells a very Christian story and his often deliciously dramatic adventure lapses into stiffly presented glowing-halo Touched by an Angel moments(readers will be lured into the Enchanted Forest, but tricked into Sunday school). Nonetheless, Shadowmancer, the first of a series, is a pageturner bursting with magic and myth, and will appeal to fantasy lovers who don't mind the Bible mixed in with their boggles. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson

From the Inside Flap:

In this spine-chilling tale set on the 1700's Yorkshire coast, Obadiah Demurral is a vicar set on gaining control of the highest power in the universe. The only people in his way are two children, Kate and Thomas, and their mysterious friend Raphah, a shipwrecked sailor who has come from his home in Africa to reclaim a stolen icon and who offers a tantalizing glimpse of another culture. Their struggle against Demurral ultimately brings them face-to-face with the powers of darkness in an epic battle packed with suspense.

About this edition

• Publisher: Charisma House
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1591856132
• ISBN 13: 9781591856139
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 275