I wouldn’t usually choose fantasy to read, but, luckily for me, I didn’t know this was fantasy when I bought the book, which just goes to show you should always tread outside your comfort zone. I did know it was adventure though, and I do like an adventure.
I have to say I was a little dubious during the prologue as I wasn’t quite sure what was going on with Michael Farren but then neither did Sienna Farren, his granddaughter, who turned out to be the main character in this story. Stick with it because once we meet her in chapter 1 I was on safer ground and enjoyed finding out about her true gifts, as indeed she did, sort of.
I liked the fact the story is set in a real place, Bath, as I felt that grounded everything when the story dipped into, and then fully submerged, in the darkness of the Borderlands, a shadowy parallel world.
This story is wonderfully visceral, and in places, sickening. It is true escapism to another world, one far darker than our own, where the borders are held precariously in place by the magic of a few. The other characters were well-rounded too – Bridget, Mila, Perry, Xander and Finn. The fact I can name them from memory tells me that.
For me, Map of Shadows showed terrific imagination, it had a good pace throughout and brilliantly descriptive writing. It is the start of a series and while it is a complete story itself with no horrendous cliff hanger you can tell there is so much more to come. Sienna finding her true path after being so lost in her previous life, and the passion of a love, torn apart. This is a rollicking good read; I highly recommend it.
J F Penn’s books are available worldwide and on all platforms but here are a couple of links so you can find out more and see what others have to say about this book:
J F Penn is also running this generous offer running throughout September 2020:
50% off my ebooks and audiobooks for the whole of September 2020
Thank you for buying and enjoying my books! It means I can continue to make a living as a writer.
I love to have promotions available on every store that you might choose to buy my books from, but that is hard to manage. My books sell in 190 countries and coordinating promotions by store, format, and location can be difficult!
But if you buy direct from my store, you can get ebooks and audiobooks at a 50% discount until 30 Sept wherever you are in the world.
Just use coupon code: SEPT20 on checkout for 50% off everything (until 30 Sept)
Click here for my Payhip store
Once you click to purchase, you will see the price and underneath the price it will say, ‘Have a coupon code? Add coupon.’ Click Add Coupon. Enter SEPT20
The price will be reduced by 50%.
If you buy ebooks, you will be sent the files to download and a link from BookFunnel that you can use on any device. If you buy an audiobook, you will get MP3 files that you can download and listen to. Instructions included! Just hit reply and email me if you have any questions.
