Book Review: The Shadow Revolution by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Shadow Revolution by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Crown & Key
Publisher: Del Rey (June 2, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
If summer blockbuster action movies existed back in the Victorian era, they would look a lot like The Shadow Revolution. This book doesn’t mess around. It makes its goals very clear right from the beginning, and that is to stuff as much fun and excitement as it can into its three hundred or so pages.
Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith take readers on a wild ride through Victorian London in this feisty, ass-kicking adventure about magic and alchemy and werewolves and mad science. Spell-casting scribe Simon Archer and his mentor Nick Barker have an unfortunate run-in with a lycanthrope one night, and the hunt for it leads them to discover something bigger and so much more disturbing stirring within the city’s shadows. Meanwhile, the brilliant alchemist Kate Anstruther’s younger sister Imogen is snatched by a werewolf, prompting Kate to join forces with Simon, Nick, and a Scottish monster hunter named Malcolm in order to stage a daring rescue.
Being a fan of the authors, I was really excited when I first heard about this book. I saw the kind of magic the Griffiths worked with historical fiction, fantasy and adventure in their Vampire Empire series, and it looks like they’ve dialed things up even higher here for Crown & Key. This first installment wastes no time throwing readers into the thick of things, going straight for pure fast-paced and unadulterated fun. Sometimes it felt like the story only took breaks long enough to push things along, and then we’re plunging right back into the action again. As you’d expect, this makes for quite a page-turner.
Of course, this also makes the book a bit weaker in other areas, most notably in the character development and world building departments. That’s not to say these aspects are completely lacking, just that we get the minimum to satisfy the story and to care about our protagonists. In spite of this, I still found the characters fascinating and memorable, and a great air of intrigue permeates the setting. Simon Archer captured my attention with his roguish charm, and I loved Kate’s cleverness and stalwart determination. The story even leaves plenty of room for characters to grow and relationships to develop. Already I’m looking forward to finding out what secrets Nick might be hiding from Simon, or whether or not Kate and Imogen will ever be the same again, or how Malcolm will fit into the equation in future books.
So maybe it’s not a terribly deep or sophisticated experience, but so what? It’s not really meant to be. Entertainment value is what this novel is all about, complete with snappy dialogue, tons of throwaway violence and a sweet little romantic subplot. It’s fun as hell. The book and its two sequels following right on its heels will make the perfect 2015 summer beach reads for lovers of steampunk gaslamp fantasy and urban paranormal mysteries, count on it. The story might not stay with you for very long, it’s true, but you’ll definitely want to pick up the next book straight away and get right back into the world.
All told, The Shadow Revolution is an exciting introduction to a series that knows exactly what it wants to be, and it’s scarily good at what it does. If you’re willing to go with that, then you’ll probably enjoy this one as much as I did. I’m already excited to dive into book two, The Undying Legion. Highly recommended if you’re in the mood for something fast, pulpish and wicked cool to brighten up your day.
The BiblioSanctum 
Yes, definitely a super fun read. All that action is definitely exhausting at times, but still worth reading this series.
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Yes, absolutely, I am probably going to request book 2 soon!
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I saw this on Netgalley and really did fancy it but it was only available in the US. Thanks for the review – 3.5 – not your best read then? I still quite fancy it – although I admit that I’m a sucker for characterisation over plot.
Lynn 😀
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Ratings are strange beasts, for me a 3 is a very good rating so 3.5 actually means it’s a thoroughly enjoyable read! Usually the star rating is more objective, taking in account everything including writing, story and character development etc. But don’t let the rating do all the talking, because as you can see from the written part of the review, I had a great time with this 🙂
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Basically – I’m crap with ratings. Really badly crap! So, I tend to look at a 3 and think – ‘run away’. I still quite fancy this at 3.5 – but, and I did read your review – seriously I did – the part about more plot and less characterisation would deter me a little as I do like to read well developed characters.
Lynn 😀
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Yeah, that’s the danger with ratings! They mean different things to everyone. Even on Goodreads, 3 stars means “I liked it” but Amazon treats it as a critical review! Sometimes very confusing. I hope you’ll give this one a shot though, despite the hurried pace and being light on characters, it’s worth it. Excellent beach read 🙂
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This looks so much fun, and after reading your review, I don’t regret pre-ordering this at all 🙂
From what I gather, this is right up my alley – well, one of my alleys, that is.
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Yeah, it’s a real page turner all right! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!
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I am still sad NG did not approve me
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Definitely a geographical/regional thing. Hope it gets released in Europe around the same time!
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This sounds like a great audiobook pick! 🙂 I’ll have to keep it in mind.
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Yes, I think I saw they will be publishing audiobooks! They’ll be quick listens too 🙂
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Dammit! I just made my summer reading list. Oh well – lists are meant to be ignored after all. The “makes me want to immediately pick up books two” is a great recommendation – that’s usually a sign for me that I’ve really been sucked into the story and I so love finding books like that!
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It’s a relatively short book so maybe you can fit it in. Haha, that’s how I justify going off my own reading lists 😉
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I only stumbled across this book recently and was really taken by the beautiful cover and the synopsis. Now I really want to read it 😀 I think a fast, entertaining read is just what I need while struggling through my dissertation!
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It’s perfect for some down time. A relatively short book and a quick read too, so it won’t get in the way of your work too much either 😛
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I requested it on NetGalley but it got rejected 😦 Too bad!
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“A summer blockbuster” in a book – what a great description! I’ve not read this one but somehow I can tell exactly what kind of book it is based on that statement. I was avoiding this one because of its cover art (I’m shallow, I know) but I like the sound of a stalwart heroine and some secretive and dashing heroes. And who doesn’t love a good Victorian romp?
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You don’t like the cover? Aww! It’s nothing too earth shattering but I do have a penchant for the photo realistic painted covers 🙂
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I agree the amount of action does make it suffer in other areas, I am a big action junkie tho most of the time.
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Me too, I love action, though I probably have to spread it out between my different reads 🙂
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