A Shadow All of Light

January 11, 2016
Poet and novelist Chappell (Dagon) spins the delightful picaresque tale of Falco, apprentice to Maestro Astolfo in the shadow trade in the Italianate fantasy city of Tardocco. Here, shadows are stolen, bought, and sold, and a person can surrender their shadow and don a different one for a special purpose. Astolfo is a master of the business—equal parts thief, scholar, magician, and detective—and under his tutelage and that of his henchman, Mutano, Falco grows from “a bumpkin trying on the airs of a town bravo” to a shadow adept over the course of a series of episodic adventures. The lush world of Tardocco is full of imaginative details, such as plants that feed on shadows and a gifted dancer whose performance is enhanced by her shadowlessness. Chappell has a deft touch for comedy and for capers, and his witty, elegant prose shows a poet’s deep love for words: bruises are “black as onyx and purple as sunset” and a gathering of shadows is “a coterie of umbrae.” The only disappointment is the predominantly male cast, with few significant female characters. Agent: Jennie Dunham, Dunham Literary.

February 15, 2016
A picaresque, Italianate shadow-magic story sequence--several elements of which have previously appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine--from poet and fantasist Chappell (Dagon, 1968, etc.). Country bumpkin Falco arrives in the port city of Tardocco hoping to apprentice himself to shadow-dealer Maestro Astolfo. Here, shadows can exist even when detached from their primaries, and so they may be stolen, bought, sold, surrendered, borrowed, and preserved; another person's shadow may be donned for particular effect. Astolfo, reputedly once a shadow-thief, now operates as a scholar, tutor, magician, and astute detective. Mutano, Astolfo's hulking assistant, a mute former solder, fosters a rivalry with Falco as the latter develops his physical and mental abilities and learns the business over an episodic series of adventures or, better, capers. The early stories, slight and rather mechanical, serve as an introduction. Thereafter, the pace and complexity increase as the shadow-brokers ponder an ethereal dancer who has relinquished her shadow in order to enhance her performance. Mutano and Falco feud openly as they quest for enormously valuable but deadly plants that feed on shadows. Best of all, the pair set aside all contentions and attempt to recover Mutano's lost voice, which was stolen by a cunning rival and stored, of all places, in a cat. The final piece, long and overinvolved, concerns an ancient ceremony and an elaborate piratical plot to capture and enslave the city. Often amusing, then, without real heft; Chappell's frequent ventures into Elizabethan dialogue annoy rather than illuminate, though his prose shows a poet's touch for comedy and description. One curious lacuna: the lack of significant female characters. Given Chappell's stellar reputation as a fantasist, more than a little disappointing, although readers who enjoyed the magazine stories will dive right in.

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April 1, 2016
In Chappell's world of shadow magic, shadows can be removed from their caster and used to imbue objects and even people with special properties. The stories that make up this episodic volume follow the adventures of Falco, an apprentice shadow broker, as he acquires the skills of his trade through investigating (and sometimes perpetrating) a series of cons, capers, and cases. Falco is aided by Astolfo, a legendary shadow thief and expert consultant, and Mutano, Astolfo's assistant. Among other cases, they examine twins who share a shadow; identify the provenance of a stolen, supposedly valuable shadow; and handle the vengeful shadow of a murder victim. Story lines run through several episodes, such as Mutano's amusing quest to retrieve his voice, stolen and placed in a truculent cat. Several stories appeared previously in Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine and the anthology Cat Tales (2008). Flowery language, archaic speech patterns, and low-intensity conflicts create a languorous pace that can be wearying, though the detective elements and shadow-trade details are entertaining nonetheless. This unusual fantasy will appeal to old-fashioned fantasy fans and cat fanciers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)