Cover art by Larry Rostant

Title: The Conqueror’s Shadow

Type: Novel

Author: Ari Marmell

Publisher: Spectra

Pages: 448

Rating: 4 out of 5

They called him the Terror of the East. His past shrouded in mystery, his identity hidden beneath a suit of black armor and a skull-like helm, Corvis Rebaine carved a bloody path through Imphallion, aided by Davro, a savage ogre, and Seilloah, a witch with a taste for human flesh. No shield or weapon could stop his demon-forged axe. And no magic could match the spells of his demon slave, Khanda. Yet just when ultimate victory was in his grasp, Rebaine faltered. His plans of conquest, born from a desire to see Imphallion governed with firmness and honesty, shattered. Amid the chaos of a collapsing army, Rebaine vanished, taking only a single hostage—the young noblewoman Tyannon—to guarantee his escape. This is the story of what happens seventeen years later.

Since Apex opened its doors to include dark fantasy I’ve looked around for books to review from all across the dark speculative fiction landscape. Ari Marmell’s, THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW, is one of the darkest fantasy books I’ve recently read. Yet while reading it, I felt no pity for those who died (except, maybe, for the prostitute’s children).  Despite this, or mayber because of it, I enjoyed the book very much.

THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW is a high fantasy book that has no true heroes in it—which makes it rare and unusual. All of the characters are anti-heroes or villains with their own particular motivations. Only one, Audriss, appears to be a villain whose sole motivation is power. Everyone else has a personal reason to maim, murder, soul suck, blood suck, and torture as they do. It is an interesting journey through the minds of many morally ambiguous people or those with personal codes of honor.

One thing I did not like was how the prologue was necessary to create the emotional connection to the reader and the emotional impact of the characters on the story that happens seventeen years later. A reader could get up to speed without the prologue but it would not be as immediate or as interesting. However, I do understand why Marmell did what he did. While he uses frequent flashback scenes to establish motivation or to foreshadow the impact of a character’s action, that would not have worked without the scenes and information imparted in the prologue.

Marmell excels at description and setting the scene. I can still see each one of the characters, the battles they fought and the monsters they ‘control.’  One of the things I really like is how Marmell takes known creatures and reinvents them in unexpected ways while keeping them somewhat familiar. I am especially fond of how he turned gnomes from silly, dirty tinkerers into dark, underground dwelling, malevolent things that have no soul.

Another talent Marmell has is to telegraph his upcoming twists and turns in such a way to make you think you know who the hidden bad guy really is—until the last few chapters where you realize you were wrong all along. Then, when you think about it, the clues seem obvious. He also does well on his pacing; keeping the action going while still giving the reader needed information.  This book does have bit of gallows humor in it that appealed to the gamer in me but, unfortunately, that detracted from the storyline rather than adding to it. Perhaps, I read this book with too serious a mind.

THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW is not a light “breezy” affair as some reviews have stated. At least it was not to me. It was a dark look into the minds of men who will do whatever they need to in order to get what they want. The only part that was at all “breezy” is the lack of emotional connection, or empathy, with the victims of these ambitions, but I felt that it accurately echoed the protagonist’s and antagonist’s feelings.

This book has a lot to offer those who enjoy dark fantasy. The world that Marmell has created is rich, well described and vibrant. Those who like anti-heroes will be in heaven and those who like political stories about a decaying nation and what happens to those who try to either save or destroy it will have something to sink their teeth into.  I did enjoy THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

I had a chance to talk with Ari Marmell about THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW.

In my review, I state that there are no real heroes in this THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW; that they are all anti-heroes or villains with specific motivations. Do you agree or disagree?  If you agree, why did you choose to write the story that way? If you disagree, who do you believe is a true hero and why?

I’d say that’s more or less accurate. There are a few minor characters who might quality as heroes—Rollie Micallec comes to mind, and some of the others, such as Rheah Vhoune, are mostly trying to do what they think is the right thing—but yeah, the major characters are all pretty flawed, at best.

As to why… I’d say it was almost mandated by the main character. It’s always tricky to take a character as dark and potentially amoral as Corvis Rebaine and make him sympathetic to the audience. Try to do that when there’s a genuine hero working alongside him—or against him—and you risk the book and characters losing focus.

Plus, let’s be honest… Neither Corvis nor Audriss are exactly in a position to surround themselves with good guys.

Also, it just made for a better book. I’m not someone who believes there’s no place in fantasy for real heroes—but in this particular book, which is partly about examining the soul of a man who’s done horrific things for what he feels are good reasons—a genuine “hero” just wouldn’t have felt appropriate.

Who was your favorite character to write about?

Well, overall I’d go with Corvis—which is a good thing, him being the main character and all. I think he’s got the most depth of all the major characters, and it was his motivations and decisions that drove the entire story. But the most fun character to write was Khanda. Any time I can really cut loose on the venomous sarcasm is a good thing.

Who was your least favorite character to write about?

Jassion. Not because he’s a bad character at all—in fact, he’s vital—but because it’s very difficult to write a character like that. The rage that’s in him because of what happened in his childhood can very easily make him a parody if it comes out the wrong way. He needs to be violent and volatile without coming across as campy, and that made him one of the trickiest characters to write.

So, of course, I gave him a much bigger part in the sequel, because apparently I’m just a masochist at heart.

You do some interesting things with supernatural creatures in THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW. Why did you choose the creatures that you did? In particular, the gnome, the ogre and the Endless Legion.

A lot of my impetus for coming up with this story was to take traditional fantasy tropes, and then turn or twist them. I knew I didn’t want any of the basic fantasy races—elves, dwarves, etc.—but just as importantly, I wanted to do something different with the ones I did have. I chose those three in part because they fit what the story needed, but also in part because I felt I could something cool and at least a little bit different with then, as compared to how they’re usually portrayed. (The gnomes, in particular, came out really twisted—which is what I wanted. And of course, anyone familiar with the classic tropes will recognize what the Endless Legion are, but I wanted to make them operate differently than in most folklore.)

Is there a sequel to THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW? What’s next for Ari Marmell?

Well, I guess I touched on this already, but yes. THE WARLORD’S LEGACY is due out early 2011. THE CONQUEROR’S SHADOW was written to stand alone, of course–but I think people who liked it should definitely get a kick out of the second. Without going into any spoilers, it picks up several years after the first one, and things have absolutely not turned out the way Corvis expected…

As for what’s next? Well, I’ve just completed my first urban/contemporary fantasy novel; my agent’s shopping that as we speak. I’m absolutely ecstatic at how it came out–it may be my best book to date–and I’m really eager to see where it goes.

While we’re waiting on that, I do have two more fantasy novels coming out after LEGACY, both of which will be from Pyr Books. The first, THE GOBLIN CORPS, is sort of a “behind the scenes” of your traditional epic fantasy, in as much as it follows the villains, rather than the heroes. And when I say villains, I mean it. Corvis Rebaine is a dark character and an anti-hero—but he’s positively a beacon of light and hope compared to the protagonists of THE GOBLIN CORPS.

The other, HOUSEHOLD GODS, is my first YA fantasy (though my adult readers should enjoy it just as much). It’s renaissance-era fantasy, rather than the traditional medieval, and the main character is actually more or less a “good guy.” (Or “good girl,” actually.) Yes, I can write those, believe it or not.

And after all that? Guess we’ll see what happens with the urban fantasy, but I have a lot of potential projects on my plate. I’ll certainly find something to do.

Where can we find all things Ari Marmell?

www.mouseferatu.com and twitter.com/mouseferatu

Jennifer Brozek is a freelance author for many RPG companies including Margaret Weis Productions, Savage Mojo, Rogue Games, and Catalyst Game Labs. Winner of the 2010 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game Supplement, her contributions to RPG sourcebooks include Dragonlance, Colonial Gothic, Shadowrun, Serenity, Savage Worlds, and White Wolf SAS. Winner of the 2009 Australian Shadows Award for edited publication, Jennifer has edited 3 anthologies with more on the way. Author of In a Gilded Light and The Little Finance Book That Could, she has more than 25 published short stories, is the creator and editor of the semiprozine, The Edge of Propinquity, and is a submissions editor for the Apex Book Company. She also writes the monthly gaming column Dice & Deadlines. When she is not writing her heart out, she is gallivanting around the Pacific Northwest in its wonderfully mercurial weather. Jennifer is a member of Broad Universe, SFWA and HWA.

You can order Jennifer’s anthology Close Encounters of the Urban Kind from Apex Books.