The Shadow War is a vastly different take on a World War II novel. Set in Europe, this book overlays real-world events with a resistance that incorporates fantasy elements of magic and other possible universes to right the wrongs of the Nazi regime.
The cast of characters is quite varied for this historical fantasy. While several characters are expected, such as two Jewish young adults, we also encounter: an American genius who is attracted to the same sex, a lesbian Algerian refugee, and an affluent African American who willingly joined the United States Army for a secretive mission. Certainly not the average cast of characters you would expect in a World War II based novel. At the outset of the book, the characters are a bit difficult to keep straight, but by the midpoint each had distinguished themselves enough that identifying point of view became less of a struggle.
The fantasy elements in this novel trend toward the dark side–not entirely surprising given the subject matter deals with the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II. But be prepared for this book to have very few sunshine and rainbow moments. The fantasy is more science based and readers should be prepared for portions of scientific explanations. The science isn’t overly complex, which I was grateful for, and the author did a good job of not getting lost in the technical which could have easily occurred.
The hardest part for me to grasp in this book was the back and forth jumping in the timeline. The chapters are divided by point of view, so each chapter change is a change to a different character’s point of view. But within the chapters there are also shifts from the present timeframe of the novel to past points in the person’s life. While these help to develop the characters, they are a little confusing at times and in some instances are a distraction from the current storyline.
This is a dark historical fantasy novel and targeted toward older readers. Overall, a decent historical read especially for those interested in a different take on the World War II era.
Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Philomel Books
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 22 religious exclamations; 53 mild obscenities, 11 religious profanities; 13 derogatory names; 21 scatological words;4 anatomical terms; 11 f-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: Multiple graphic gunshots to head both self and non-self-inflicted; 8 verbal threats; blood depicted on hands, faces, and extremities; dismembered corpses found; house burned down to hide corpses; recap of beaten woman’s injuries; multiple instances of throats being slashed or people being stabbed to death; numerous multi-page instances of demons/monsters being unleashed in world that maim, dismember and kill humans; three instances of buildings either burned or explosions with some human death; men killed with cyanide gas; documentation of torture and death in concentration camps; woman is hit multiple times in face during interrogation.
Sex/Nudity: 10 kisses between different and same sex couples; 4 instances of hand-holding; 2 touches/caresses to face; 2 multi-page sexual encounters between same sex couples with moderate amounts of detail; man sits in another man’s lap.
Mature Subject Matter:
Racial and religious conflict; death; suicide; physical spouse abuse; magic; ethics; murder; same-sex relationships; genocide.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Adults drink various forms of alcohol and smoke.
