The Crowded Shadows – Celine Kiernan (Moorehawke Trilogy #2)
Allen & Unwin, 2010
518 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 978-1-74175-870-2

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

The Crowded Shadows is a well-written second instalment in the Moorehawke Trilogy. Like the first novel, this has lovely characterisation, pacy action and interesting ideas. It does, however, suffer a little from being the middle child, as the story doesn’t come to a satisfying conclusion in this book, needing the third to finish the story.

The story starts with Wynter, now Protector Lady, travelling alone to find her childhood friend Alberon the Rebel Prince through dangerous mountain country. She encounters many nefarious bandits and rebels before thankfully meeting up with Razi and Christopher who help to guide her through meetings with new and old enemies and some possible friends.

Wynter starts to grow up a little in this novel. In the first, her feelings for Christopher begin to develop, but they mature in The Crowded Shadows and we see her becoming a woman. We also find out her real name. Razi also finds love in this story, being captivated by a lady of the Merron, Christopher’s adopted culture.

But things all seem too easy, and there must be a few complications to throw into the mix. The Loup-Garous, slavers who mutilated Christopher, make a devastating appearance. The Merron also have some interesting cultural differences to add to the plot. In terms of the overarching narrative for the series, this novel didn’t really add much more than character development and suspense, but hopefully that will be rectified in the third instalment.

I enjoyed this novel, although it did seem to be a bit of a holding pattern for those waiting for the final in the trilogy. Thankfully, The Rebel Prince is due out this year. Those who relish medieval-style fantasy with some magic and interesting characters will enjoy this series.