A Shadow in Summer

Long Price Quartet, Book 1

By: Daniel Abraham

Narrated by: Neil Shah

Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit Seedless, an andat bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity.

If they can dispose of Heshai, Seedless will perish and the entire city will fall. In the middle is Otah, a simple laborer with a complex past. Recruited to act as a bodyguard for his girlfriend's boss at a secret meeting, he inadvertently learns of the Galtish plot. Otah finds himself as the sole hope of Saraykeht: either he stops the Galts or the whole city and everyone in it perishes forever.

©2006 Daniel Abraham (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

" A Shadow in Summer is a thoroughly engrossing debut novel from a major new fantasist. A poignant human tale of power, heartbreak, and betrayal." (George R.R. Martin)

I’m sorry.

Very hard to get in to for me. The names were so similar it was hard to keep the characters straight. Couldn’t finish it.

Couple torn over narrator, both loved story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The story, yes. The narrator? Maybe not.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I think the difficulties in narration might have more to do with direction than voice talent, though I haven't listened to other works by Neil, so I can't say. My husband 'never noticed' any issues and 'didn't mind' the things I found frustrating to the point of wanting to just go buy the paper books. The issues I had were:Volume modulation: (too much) Even in time of great passion/distress/terror in an audiobook, the actual volume level, for the comfort of the listener, should stay within a small spectrum. Whispers that are difficult to hear are frustrating, and yells that are *actually* yelled are literally painful. Most people I know use earbuds or headphones to listen to books, and what's comfortable at a talk is very jarring, if not painful, at a yell. Neil needs to cultivate his stage whisper and fake yell.Tonal modulation: (not enough) Neil sounds bored. Or maybe... like a he's trying to read a history? Or a dictionary? I'm not sure what the directed or intended tone was, but the lack of modulation sounds bored to me. I'm not sure how to describe it in text, but imagine the tonal variations of someone speaking with an Irish accent. That's one extreme. Very melodic, as much inflected as said. Now imagine a type-to-talk program, a digital voice reading text. Neil is much closer, in this book, to the latter than the former. Maybe some readers like it (like my husband, who didn't notice) because it's 'not distracting,' but I can't say I agree. I kept thinking how interesting the content was, but weighing that against how bored I felt. I was more interested in the book when I wasn't actually listening.Overall I'd say the story has been very good. (Especially considering the acclaim of my husband, who has made it through the series and LOVED it. I have not... yet.) but the narration/direction makes me suggest this book be read, not listened to.

Audio Performance adds confusion

Any additional comments?

I think Neil Shah does a great job except that there is no indication when the PoV changes. Within each chapter you might have several different perspectives taking over but unfortunately where the books likely have (I'm assuming here) a visual indicator such as a triple line space or double line with ellipsis - this audiobook simply continues reading with barely a slightly longer pause than a normal paragraph break.

This can actually probably be blamed on the studio rather than Neil Shah - I don't know how much input he'd have on editing.

Well written but it doesn't feel like much happens

I like the weighting and his turn of phrase is good, but the story wasn't very interesting. Great world creation, well hashed out but the story was a little boring.

Great Writing; Decent Narration

This is an extremely beautiful story, written by arguably the most underrated writer in Fantasy, Daniel Abraham. The narration by Neil Shah is good, but not great.

Worth the Wait

I was super excited when I was browsing Audible and noticed this series was finally in audio format. Having already listened to Abraham's newer series, Dagger and Coin, I had high expectations for this older acclaimed series. I wasn't disappointed. Abraham's style is fairly unique, he writes fantasy but without the usual heroes and villains. If you are looking for melee or magical combat this book doesn't have it, it does have some great characters, plot, and suspense.

Best of all you won't have to wait long for the other books in the series, all are scheduled to be released before the end of 2014.

Decent book.

Not what I expected. More of a soap opera with a hint of magic. I'm 50/50 on continuing the series.

Well written, storyline just not for me

The good:
The book was well written, in a poetic style with description that I felt properly captured what was going on without being too wordy. The author also does a good job initially developing each character so you are vested in what they do.

The bad:
I wasn't thrilled with the storyline, I love the sci fi fantasy genre, but as someone described in another review this felt more like a soap opera/romance novel than fantasy book. I also took exception to many of the decisions the characters make. I found mysell asking often "Wait, why do they think this is a good idea? " to almost all of the plot shaping decisions in the book.

In the end I would say this book was a unique spin on the fantasy genre, but the overall storyline ended up feeling like MTV'S attempt at writing.

Engaging idea, pretty well done.

I'm not in love with this book, but it was an interesting idea. This is a world where to be a poet has immense importance and power--and yet the limitations and the struggle of the craft plague the artist.

The characters are well-written and interesting. The plot meanders a bit. I haven't gone on to the second book yet, but I will probably do so.

haunting and original

A Shadow in Summer is one of the most original fantasy novels I have read in many years, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. It is haunting, beautiful, and filled with sad, sweet characters. Not to mention, one of my favorite villains and a long time.