..Book Reviews..

It's your basic good vs. evil tale, though this one has the obvious intention of equating all things magic (i.e. tarot cards, spells ... Harry Potter) with evil and showing that God shall triumph. Take a corrupt 18th century vicar who wants to overthrow God and a trio of righteous teens, the devout Raphah and his two nearly orphaned converts, Thomas and Kate, and you have a cosmic battle of good vs. evil, God vs. Satan.

That's the idea, but the execution is lacking.

The dialogue is heaped with phrases lifted straight from the Bible, and characters somehow have time for mini-homilies in the midst of life and death action. The plot has no sense of timing and tries to hurl forward at breakneck speed throughout most of the novel. The characters are predictable and thin, hardly believable.

While Taylor claims it isn't a Christian book, pointing to the people of many different faiths who have appreciated the book, it's without a doubt a very thinly veiled Christian story. He may use clever pseudonyms for God and Satan, but it's all there, from the numerous paraphrases of the New Testament to the reenactments of Revelation to the death and resurrection of a Christ figure.

Voyeurism is the only reason I finished the book. I needed to know how bad it was. As a writer, that serves as tremendous inspiration. As crappy as I think Shadowmancer is, Taylor at least had the motivation to write his novel, and then go so far as to publish it himself. So what am I doing?!

More:

Has Harry Potter Met His Match? - Taylor talks about the rise of the occult and the failure of the church.

rejesus interview

G. P. Taylor quotes:

"Shadowmancer is NOT a Christian book. I get emails from Muslims -- Hindu's and all sorts of faith thanking me for the book. ... As far as religion is concerned -- I am not very religious. I am a believer but don't care for all the religious trappings and man made traditions that go with it. I follow Riathamus." (Riathamus means 'Lord of lords and King of kings') - The Shadowmancer Informer fan site

"Shadowmancer is not a Christian book, it is a book about good and evil and appeals to Jews and Muslims as well as atheists. I was ordained after youthful experiments with punk rock, druidism, the occult, and transcendental meditation. I read the Qu'ran before reading the Bible and I am just as happy to talk about the Talmud. My writing is informed as much by Judaism and Islam as it the by the Christian tradition. It is the account of an eternal truth." - The Wee Web

"As for gay priests, I was led to ordination by one. We should be interested in what goes on in a man or woman's heart, not their bed. Anyway who did Jesus mix with? He says nothing about gay people or women priests. He was concerned with much more important matters." - The Guardian