SHADOW OVER AVALON by C.N. Lesley

SHADOW OVER AVALON by C.N. Lesley 

First off, I love the book cover and it’s what made me want to read this story to begin with.  Not enough mention is given to the covers, and I know how hard it is to get one that really Pops and fits your story.

Arthur lives in the underwater city of Avalon.  As an orphan with immense PSI power, he grew up in Sanctuary under the control of the Seers.  Unhappy with his life and future, searching for his parentage, he uses the Archive to access its database.  He becomes obsessed with a Brethren named Shadow and discovers secrets that could destroy him and his world. 

 When I first started reading this story, I felt like I’d been catapulted into the middle of a large lake, lost, floundering around trying to find the nearest shoreline.  I had no idea what or who Shadow was until the fourth chapter.  I’m not an obtuse person, but there is so much vagueness in this story, especially at the beginning.  I had a hard time understanding when PSI powers were being used and why or how.  A little more clarification would help, a lot.  Even when Arthur was in danger from the Archive, I didn’t get that until several chapters later when the characters were actually talking about it. 

I think some the vagueness is due to the lack of Cause & Effect in the writing style, making the reading of the story out of synch.  One of the principles of writing is Cause & Effect.  When you put effect before cause, it leads to long meandering sentences.  Sometimes I had to read a sentence twice to figure out what the author meant. 

Even with the problems, I found the characters solid as well as the underwater world of Avalon and the aboveground world of the Terrans.  This is a nice spin off the legend of Arthur and Avalon, with a mixture of fantasy and sci-fi.  There are the Submariners, Arthur and Ector and the Outcast Brethren, Shadow and Copper.   I really got involved with Shadow and Copper’s relationship and was sorry to see him leave the story.  And through the whole story, who or what are the Nestines / Harvesters?  That question is answered, somewhat, at the end which is a perfect drop off point for the sequel.  Now I’m invested, I’ll have to read the next book.

As much as I want to give 4 feathers, I can’t, because of the above issues.  If you love epic fantasy worlds and people, I recommend this book.  I give it 3 feathers.