The Shadow Within

September 1, 2004
In this follow-up to the 2004 Christy Award-winning allegoriacal fantasy, The Light of Eidon, Abramm returns home to claim his throne, but he first must face danger and grow spiritually. Hancock lives in Arizona.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2004
Hancock's " The Shadow Within " is the second entry in her Legends of the Guardian King series, following " The Light of Eidon" . The series is a heavily plotted medieval epic distinguished, as is all of Hancock's work, by intricate world building. The story opens with the epic slaying of a sea monster that is part " Beowulf," part " Moby Dick, " but mostly " Star Trek, " since despite all the gore, there's little sense of menace. Nonetheless, young Abramm's heroism in killing the monster shows that God--or Eidon--is on his side and enables him to return to his home kingdom to claim the crown. His authority is unimpeachable, but plots abound; in fact, the bulk of the novel deals with the slithering intrigues that Hancock first showed a knack for in " Arena" (2002). (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)