I couldn't even finish this book. I am a big fan of Mercedes Lackey, I am an avid reader of all things fantasy, and high fantasy is some of my favorite reading, but holy hell. This book dragged on like nothing I've ever read. When you've hit the 500th page of a book and nothing of note has happened, we've got a problem. I know it's part of a series, but the first book has to hook me into the story, otherwise I'm not going to waste my time with later books. Also, what's with the nonstop use of th...

If you enjoy Tolkien, The Wheel of Time series, and classical fantasy - then do yourself a favor and PICK 👏🏽 THIS 👏🏽 UP 👏🏽. That is all.

This is a good book...in spite of the fact that it just sort of "ends". Yes plan to get the next volume as this is indisputably the first in a series. I'm not really a dyed in the wool Lackey fan. I've found her books very much a mixed bag. Some of her books I've loved others I've not been able to get through. Many people seem to snap up and love anything and everything she writes (and I'm happy for you). I've often wished I felt that way. In this book (if you're familiar with her work) you'll s...

I adore high fantasy. Sadly, very few books match up to my wishes. The last significant one I read was the Green Rider series, and I absolutely loved the first book, but then the rest of them plummeted thereafter in terms of quality. And I'm always looking for replacements, and so far, this rather fits the bill.In this story, we meet Kellen, son of an archmage, who starts feeling the consequences of his restricted city life, the pressures put on him, and the strict rules and codes the town's inh...

I seem to differ from other reviewers in that I found the first part of this book to be the most interesting. The authors display the City and its culture for us, rebellious hero Kellen learns about Wild Magic, etc. After a while, the discovery slows, and the story becomes formulaic. Sadly, that only continues as the book progresses. I found The Outstretched Shadow to be a readable YA fantasy, but it didn't go beyond that. The characters were pleasant, but not intriguing - they pretty much all f...

I'm a fan of Mercedes Lackey's books by and large, especially her early Valdemar books, and despite her being prolific I've managed to read most of them--this is the weakest book I've read by her, and I'm not sure how much to blame her co-writer, James Mallory. Some of the book's weaknesses are ones I've seen in other books of hers: mainly that she's very black and white, with little nuance in her villains and their motivations. This story actually had a lot of original elements which makes me w...

This was a beautiful story of the maturation of a naive, misfit boy, Kellen, discovering the world that has been hidden from him his entire life. I really liked the way this book included so many fantastical creatures you don't typically see included in fantasy novels such as unicorns, centaurs, fauns, sprites, etc... I really appreciated how they were also given personalities and an important place in the world other than just beautiful creatures the heros encounter. I also like the way all mag...

This book wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't groundbreaking either. Everything about it was pretty much cliche: the plot, the protagonist, the magic system, the villans. The story starts out painfully slow; things don't begin to pick up until about 150 pages into it. Half of that time was spent describing silly little things that don't pertain to the story in any way. Whole pages would be devoted to the description of buildings or how the plumbing system worked. I don't mind learning how your w...

The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James MalloryKellen is a teen with teen age angst. His father is the head of the mages in his perfect town. The town is perfect because that is what the council of mages want. Kellen is a reluctant student and discovers an alternative forbidden magic. He butts heads with his daddy and ends up banned from the city. That is the basis of the story.Kellen meets a sister he didn’t know he had and she teaches him how to use their magic. The story is of di...

This book was surprisingly good! I shouldn't be so surprised, because I generally adore Mercedes Lackey's work, espescially her Valdemar series. But this was a different type of story, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was long, and it took a little while to get started, so you need to go into it with some patience. In fact, it felt like 65% of the book was exposition. Personally, I enjoyed its slower pace because the world building in this book was nothing short of amazing. The details in thi...

A very fun, retro 80's-style Fantasy with a nice 21st-century polish. Comfort-food reading. It is not the most original storyline but it is very well realized. A fascinating well-structured and meticulous world-building; likable characters centered on a young mage's coming of age. This is full-throated Fantasy with talking unicorns, cheerful dryads, silly fauns, mighty centaurs, and other magical beings. I'd read this before. Or at least some of it, about 14 years ago. Didn't remember anything o...

I really liked this book! There are some weird bits, and a lot of violence! But the world-building is really really neat, and I very much like the development and writing of Kellen, the main-(ish) character.

Would I call this the best fantasy written? Of course not, it borrows many elements from all over, but what Mallory and Lackey have done with this book, is make it entertaining and captivating, and for that reason I like it very much. This book is the first in what is known as the Obsidian Trilogy and it does make a very good beginning.Kellen is almost your average boy. Except that he's not. He's mageborn and not to just any mage, he is the son of the Arch-Mage Tavadon, leader of all the mages i...

It had been a very long time since I'd read any Mercedes Lackey books. I loved her heralds books (especially the first set), but over time I got tired of talking animals, and what seemed to be the same characters repeated over and over, whether wearing heralds' whites, skins and feathers, or court robes. And then there is the sometimes interminable detail of scenery, domestic decoration, and attire.But, for some reason, I picked this up.Wow. Talking "animals." And a heroine most comfortable in t...

I've read a lot of Mercedes Lackey's books, and though I can't say she doesn't have very many shortcomings as an author, I've only highest praise for her imagination. Though not very original, her stories are very enjoyable, her characters likable, her world-building fun. That is true for this story too, so I would recommend it to fantasy-lovers, but not the ones too picky about language or simplifying characters or situations. For instance, for half a book I was really bothered by childish beha...

I liked the story and the characters very much; and I loved the concept of wild magic in this book. But so much of the book was taken up by the mental anguish of its main character, Kellen Tavadon, that it began to feel like filler -- something added to make the book thicker.Granted Kellen has been torn from his insular urban existence and thrown into the wide world of wild magic, and his struggles to find the truth between these conflicting worlds are important to the story. But I have enough o...

I really enjoyed this trilogy of books, and actually am sad it is finished. I would have loved to find out more about how Kellan and Vestokia progressed and about the changes the high mages made in their city etc.

This was a solid fantasy novel! I enjoyed Kellen, and the relationships he builds in his adventure. The magic system is wonderful, and I really enjoy the world! I plan on continuing on with the series!

And yet another Lackey-created world! I'd love to chat with this woman...she must be incredibly fascinating. Amazing tale of how fear can repress a society.

This book had a REALLY slow start, but I absolutely loved it!!!

RatingReview*** This review originally appeared on Out of this World Reviews. ***The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory is book one of The Obsidian Trilogy. It is followed by To Light a Candle and When Darkness Falls.This first book in the trilogy starts out very promising. Unfortunately, the initial plot which I found quite riveting begins to slow and finally fall flat for me as I gave up reading about halfway through.Kellen Tavadon, son of the most powerful mage in the Go...

This was a Long book, especially as an audio book. Thirty plus hours of listening. I got lots of laundry folded and needlework done while I listened. It's an epic fantasy that follows the classic pattern of a young man (in this instance) who is dissatisfied with his current life and discovers that he is special and meant for something more. Then he plunges into adventure. Kellen's discovery begins with the purchase of three magically disguised books that introduce him to wild magic. The story be...

This is not one of Lackey's better books. The Outstretched Shadow is much longer than it should be, mostly due to over-description, and the hero's unending, repetitive, and unnecessary inner turmoil about whether or not he's going to the dark side (when it's perfectly clear that he hasn't an evil bone in his body).

I haven't read something considered 'high fantasy' in quite awhile, so perhaps my dissatisfactions are related to aspects of the genre and being unfamiliar again of them.First off, the positive. I think there were several interesting ideas presented within the book, particularly in the construction of Wild Magic. The price-paying, though disconcerting, felt like the most interesting 'unknown'-- the aspect of the book where I never could quite guess what was coming next, and I appreciated that. T...

Well, I have definitely read this before, but I don't think I ever finished the series which makes me happy. I have already requested the next two books and am looking forward to delving further into this entertaining world.That is what it is: entertaining. It is neither the best book ever, nor is it a complete waste of time. It is just enjoyable reading where you can escape for a time and be in a nice little fantasy world where you don't have to think very much and you can basically predict whe...

My short review is that this book was long, and it *felt* long. This wasn't bad, but it was bland. The setting was reminiscent of dozens of other Tolkein-influence fantasy novels, as was the main character. I mean, the kid had to go on a journey to a mountain with an item to destroy another item, which is not that different from destroying the Ring. The main character is also a privileged git who wasn't necessarily unlikeable, and he eventually realizes this, but his woe-is-me son of the most po...

Read this while growing up and wanted to revisit. It held up surprisingly well, but some things about the characters or writing bothered me more than they did years ago, while others were a bit more enjoyable. Kellen is one of the dumbest main characters I've ever read. The book's pacing could have been much better. The incest demons are pretty bland and terrible bad guys. I like the unicorns.

Basic. Baaaaaaaaaaasic. Basic boy basically rebels against the basic restrictive status quo. Basically develops into a slightly older basic boy. With basic stock monsters (human and other), basic stock fantasy creatures, basic supporting characters. If you want to read the exact same flat fantasy you've been reading for 40 years (oh God, the '80s were FORTY YEARS AGO?), well, here you go.

This took me forever to read. I picked it up and set it down and reread it a couple times and eventually pushed myself to finish via audiobook. I love epic fantasies but this one just seemed to drag on and on. I did like some things. I liked learning about the world and the creatures and learning about wild magic. But I found the main character so annoying to follow since all he seemed to do was have this inner turmoil about every single thing he came across. The author also would spent too much...

DNF. This is just tedious and written in the older fantasy style that ... I dunno, assumes you're an idiot or something.