The Rise of the Red Shadow (The Book Of Deacon Series)

Of all the characters in THE BOOK OF DEACON, the malthrope Leo/Lain captivated me most, so when I saw THE RISE OF THE RED SHADOW on Amazon, I had to check it out. This book is now on my list of All-Time Favorites.A terrified toddler cowering near the body of his brutally murdered mother, the young malthrope was captured by slave hunters and thrust into the deplorable existence of a plantation slave, where taskmasters and fellow slaves alike compounded his abuse because of what he was. Alone and despised, he quickly bonded to the one person who did not mistreat him--an old, blind slave named Ben. This bond, along with his natural curiosity, prompted the young malthrope to shadow the old man and try to emulate his actions. Quick to learn and through Ben's patient guidance, he learned how to speak well and developed an aptitude for making tools and nurturing crops. Yet when events expelled him from the plantation, the skills that should have aided him in the world of men meant nothing. He remained, in the eyes of non-malthropes, a monster--feared, hated, and marked for death. But he never abandoned the values Ben had taught him. He became a warrior--indeed, a champion, possessing exemplary qualities lacking in most of the humans surrounding him; namely, a code of honor and a purpose in life.This spellbinding fantasy kept me turning the pages. Joseph Lallo's polished writing style lends a medieval vibe to the story and vividly depicts both the setting and the characters without bogging the action in a lot of cumbersome detail. A definite must-read for fantasy lovers!

A year or two ago, I stumbled upon The Book Of Deacon while checking out the books Amazon was offering for free. Itsstayed in my Kindle line-up undisturbed for probably couple months before I finally decided to read it. After that I was hooked and wasted no time buying the next two in the trilogy, which proved just as good as the first. When I discovered the short "Jade" set in the same world, I immediately devoured it, as well, and was saddened I'd apparently finished all the books from this world and moved on.The other day as I was wishing for something excellent to read and remembered my romance with the talent of Mr. Lallo, so on a whim, I typed in his name and up pops The Rise of the Red Shadow. I didn't hesitate to make the purchase and found myself in love all over again!The Red Shadow is full of the same beautiful world building and fascinating characters as I've come to expect from this author. He has yet to disappoint and I look forward to the next time I look and find he's released another, but I'll be keeping a much closer check for new releases! His books are among my favorites that I've found, and since I've already read them all in this series, I do believe I'll start again!After writing this review, I realized he has also published books in the sci-fi genre and will be reading then, as well.

This has easily been one of my favorite reads in recent years. From the very start of the book, your thrown into a very unique and different world, full of magic, heroes, and villans. The story follows the life of a half-fox, half-human creature called a Malthrope, who is orphaned only months or less into it's life. Thrown into a life of slavery and brutal physical labor, he learns what it is to have a purpose, and what it is to be more than what the cruel world labels him as.The story itself is paced very well, and has plenty of action and adventure to keep you reading well into the early morning hours. There are certain times that I'm not as easily sold on the characters, especially later into the story. I also question the disposition of the main character at several points during the story, but I need only to remember his hard life to justify. I can't wait to read the next books in the series, and I highly recommend you give it a read.

I absolutely love all the books of this series. I love the setting. This book was much better edited then the previous books. the story is totally refreshing and, as far as I've noticed, completely integrated. There don't seem to be incongruencies between this pre-quel and what we learn of this setting in the other books. I was super happy that there was more time spent in Entwell and giving more information on Lain's name and his place at Entwell. I am also really glad to have spent some more time on the warrior side. I was very curious about that side. I am hopeful that there will be more books following Lain's family. Perhaps Myranda tracks them down? Does Jade somehow encounter the twin's children? The book answered so many questions about Ben, Lain, Croyden (although I'd love the story on Croyden's first days out of Entwell and his romance). Very, very, very good. Couldn't be better. If you loved the other's in the series you will love this too.

I thoroughly enjoyed this side novel to the Book of Deacon series, which explains how Leo/Lain became who he is. However, unlike the first book in the series, which was almost without typographical errors, I was driven almost to distraction by the frequent missing words. A simple reading of the manuscript before publication would have caught most of these errors. When I come upon a missing word in text it brings me to a complete stop. I have to pause and figure out what the author meant to say before I can continue. So frustrating! Otherwise, five stars for story content. One star for quality control, but at least there were no typos.

I have read all of the previous novels in this series. So, this book is kind of a pre-quel of sorts. It gives you a full back ground of where Lain came from and his motivations for his actions throughout the series. Plus it allows you to see more than one side of his character. Having said that I think this book could stand on its own without the series following it. Joseph Lallo has always done a good job of writing his characters so they have depth and dimension. The pace of the book rarely became slow or tedious. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy and good solid story telling. I hope to see more in the future.

'The Rise of the Red Shadow' is an excellent prequel to 'The Book of Deacon' trilogy ( The Book of Deacon  being the first installment thereoff), focusing on the back story of Lain. While some elements are typical of fantasy novels (the apprentice assassin, hard trials and tribulations leading him to become the expert...) the book is still fresh enough in my opinion to warrant a read and to generate enjoyment even in hardened fantasy readers.Lain - the malthrope (a creature with fox- and manlike features / elements) - is captured as a kit and through life on a slave farm & subsequent adventures slowly rises to become the 'Red Shadow'. There are many 'coming of age' elements in the book, together with praised virtues of relentless work and purpose, mixed with increasingly frequent action sequences in the second half.The book perhaps takes some time to really get into and is not a frantic page turner from the start but it still works at many levels in my opinion and at least presents a protagonist who is torn and insecure just like most growing adolescents are likely to be. What you will not get much of is world building - the focus seems to lay so strongly on the character development that this aspect gets somewhat neglected. You do glance that the author has a medieval level society in mind, with elves, dwarves and some other creatures (with some magic thrown in) in mind but will probably have to wait for later books to learn more on this.Having read the book before starting on the main 'Book of Deacon' trilogy I cannot yet comment on how it connects to the latter or whether there is a natural reading sequence one should follow but the book is certainly written in a way to make it a solid and reasonably self contained read independently of the others.So if you are looking for either an insecure but evolving and multifaceted protagonist, and a potential taste of what is to come in the main trilogy, or simply for additional background information (if you are through the trilogy already), the book works quite well in my opinion. The Book of Deacon

What a story. I read this after the first three and it all clicked into place why Lain was as he was. The absolute racism and hatred that he suffered from all but one person until he went to Entwell left a bitter scar. Even when he was treated significantly better he found it hard to accept. I am so pleased he found a mate and like to think that his little family ate living somewhere safe on the Northern Crescent.It is hard to equate this intelligent being with the description of 'creature', which is used from time to time through the book. I felt that maybe this was a bit harsh.I would highly recommended this book.

Great character prologue to the Book of Deacon series. Red Shadow (the character) is solely the reason I continued to read the series (the other characters weren't as defined or as gripping and wouldn't have continued reading if it weren't for him. Once the books ended I was very pleased to find this to elaborate on him and his life and it didn't disappoint.5 stars

I loved the book of deacon series,so when i came across this book,i was a bit sceptical.you know how most writers try to squeeze a new book out from an existing story?well that's not the case folks!true, it is the story of Lain from the series,but at the same time it's so much more!!! It can be read autonomously.it has so much information and action and..heartbreak . honestly if you dont cry while reading it,you have no heart!Thank u Joseph for another brilliant book!!i am waiting for one on Trigorah;there is so much I want to know!!!

Could have happily continued reading this for at least another 1000 pages. I read the trilogy first and was a little dubious about going back to just Lain but this story was absolutely perfect. Hugely entertaining and typical exceptional storytelling that I have come to expect from Mr Lallo. Couldnt put this down and devoured in 2 days.