Summary:
Once the heir to an empire. Now just a shadow.
Throne stolen by her traitorous brother, chased to the edge of the world, Sellane has only her beloved sword, a penchant for ruthlessness, and four elite ‘blade dancer’ bodyguards to her name. Where once she lived a life of courtly duels, decadent feasts, and palace intrigue, she now finds herself weathering the dust of a wild frontier populated by pioneers and warlords.
The food has run out, shelter is scarce, her followers are on the verge of mutiny, and she can’t even communicate with the inhabitants of this alien land: the humans. But when she captures Copper, a down-on-his-luck mercenary who happens to speak her language, she seizes a razor-thin opportunity to reverse her fortunes. Her band has the bladecraft, he claims to have the connections, and the frontier will never have enough mercenaries.
But can her new ally be trusted? Can her old allies? Will her dysfunctional troupe tear itself apart before they’ve earned a single coin?
Review:
Troupe of Shadows by Jennings Zabrinsky is a solid mash up of fantasy and weird west. It’s got a Magnificent Seven vibe where a rogue heir and her blade warriors protect a small town while various groups of villains are closing in.
The world is fun as it’s pretty much a western populated by some interesting species. You got some feathered birdlike humanoids, some unique fauna, but most importantly, a race of people who have the ability to change their flesh colors at will. The qaelids, or shadowmen as the humans call them, have flesh that can be any color of the spectrum, especially when their emotions take over. But the blade dancers, the fiercest qaelid warriors and main characters of the story’s cast, utilize their hues to camouflage themselves prior/during battle. I thought this concept was quite nifty.
The cast of character is pretty solid. We start off with the human Copper, a pretty awful mercenary, and not awful as in he’s a jerk, but in that he kinda sucks at the job. His merc team is waylaid by the rogue qaelid heir, Sellane, and Copper can speak the qaelid language so offers to help her in a wily exchange for his freedom. Her blade warriors run the gamut of insanely loyal captain to new recruit to the positive sexpot of the group to the openly hostile yet still loyal older warrior. And each has a distinct voice and part to play as we get POVs from each warrior in the troupe. Then throw in the human gang leaders of the area and another set of qaelids and all hell is about to break loose on one tiny little farming community.
Copper is a fun character. He kinda is a jack of all trades and master of none. He’s funny but also got a snake oil devious streak in him, and is pretty much the main source of humor. Sellane is a great character because she has fallen from grace and it’s always interesting to see someone be brought down a peg or ten. She’s deeply flawed and has to learn some pretty basic traits along the way if she is going to get her throne back. Of all the qaelid warriors, Enessa is the most interesting as she is loyal to Sellane only because she is loyal to her oaths. She can’t stand Sellane as a leader and her open disgruntledness was a great source of tension. The gang leader, Straing, was a great antagonist, very Curly Bill from Tombstone (not as charismatic though).
The plot is simple, not flashy but very fun and action packed. You got your heroes surrounded in the little town and a big battle ensues. Can’t go wrong with this type of story! There is also a lot of baggage with Sellane being the displaced heir so there is excellent character growth by the end, especially with her struggling to keep her own blade warriors in line. We have a lot of good interactions interspersed with some awesome battle action, a great balance between the two. The prose is solidly written and is paced well, not much downtime in this story as it’s a brisk 360ish pages.
Troupe of Shadows is one heck of a ride and it sets up a bigger story so I’ll be interested to see where it goes next and if Sellane will claim her throne or get her troupe killed in the process.