Shadowdance Books In Order

Publication Order of Shadowdance Books

The Shadowdance book trilogy follows the life of master assassin Thren Felhorn and his against the mighty trifect – a clique of powerful, filthy rich nobles. The trilogy follows the life of Thren and his son Aaron, who since birth has been groomed to be his father’s heir. The vigilante character in the form of Thren Felhorn protects a lawless city in the best manner he knows how, by killing all those who dare inflict harm on innocent persons. With his cloak flapping behind him, and his saber by his side, Thren runs the rooftops at night. A skilled fighter beyond what the city has to offer, the vigilante is more than a match for his opponents.

The trilogy features politics, manipulation, and greed as different characters fight their way to power. With everyone wanting to do anything to get power and wealth, the vigilante comes in to set things right. The series consists of three books, these are – A Dance of Death, A Dance of Blades and A Dance of Cloak. Aaron Felhorn is the son of Thren Felhorn and has been groomed to take over his father’s position as the city’s defender. On a mission to assassinate a Prince’s daughter, Aaron, chooses to risk his life in order to protect that of the Prince’s daughter who was almost being killed as a result of the wrath of the guild.

The weakening of the trifect, leads to the dwindling of its monetary resources and its reputation. With the war ending, the vigilante hatches an insidious plan, he wants to execute people in their hundreds. Aaron, who does not share his father’s ideas, works to prevent this obnoxious massacre. The first book of this trilogy is known as A Dance of Cloaks. The novel is set in a fictional world known as Dezrel. This is the same world that David Dalgish has set another one of his popular series – The Half-Orc. This book is not predictable, which means that anything can happen and readers will be on the edge of their seats while reading this book.

A Dance-of-Cloak is the first installment of the Shadowdance book trilogy by fantasy fictional writer David Daglish. The book introduces the main protagonist in the series, Aaron Ferhon, who has been raised and fashioned to be the next leader of his father’s criminal empire. Aaron is caught between his father’s empire and a priest’s daughter who he had been sent to murder. This novel has 452 pages which have been sectioned into thirty six numbered chapters. It has an epilogue and prologue.

Narration is by third person basis and all characters, both major and supporting characters, offer a different perspective. The characters of the novel include Aaron Felhom – the main protagonist of the book and son to Thren Felhom, who is the other main character. Other characters include , Kayla, Alyssa Gemcroft, Maynard Gemcroft, Veliana, Madelyn Keenan, Gerand, Torgar and Robert Haern. There are also some minor players and characters. The main character in this series is also the main character in the author’s Half Orc sequel. The novel – A Dance with Cloaks follows the life of Aaron as he becomes the deadly assassin presented in the other books in the trilogy.

The book focuses on two different story lines, first is the bitter conflict between Aaron’s father Thren and the trifect a group of powerful and wealthy nobles who dominate the city of Valdren. The second story line follows Aaron’s growth under his father and becoming a master assassin, and his failure to assassinate a priest’s daughter. This leads to him risking his life for the sake of the priest’s daughter. The novel also follows the life of Maynard Gemcroft, who is obviously worried about the safety of his daughter – Alyssa. And also about the nature of his household and the danger facing his daughter’s life and the choices she makes.

Maynard Gemcroft is one the leaders of the trifect and is somewhat the main character in the second installment of the Shadowdance sequel, – A dance of Blades. The novel is set five years after the end of the conflict between the trifect and that of the thieves’ guilds, now under the unflinching control of Thren Flehorn. In this second installment the mysterious Haern is the only character left to wage war against the guilds. The mysterious Haern does this in the guise of the watcher. The slaughter of the innocents begins when the son of Maynard Gemcroft is believed to be murdered.

The alleged murder sparks a bloody search for the mysterious watcher by assassins in the hoes of finding the killer of Maynard Gemcroft’s son. The novel a dance with blades is shorter than the first installment in the trilogy and is only 348 pages. The novel is divided in to thirty numbered chapters and an epilogue. Similar to the first book, the author choose to continue with a third person narration and follows different perspectives. The main character in this novel is the mysterious watcher or Haern, with other characters including the Watcher, Alyssa Gemcroft, Veliana, Deathmask, Nathaniel Gemcroft, Arthur Hadfield, Oric, and Ghost.

The Watcher is the son of a former guild lord and fights to destabilize the guilds by pitting them against each other. Maynard Gemcroft has assumed ownership of the Gemcroft estate and has son by the name of Nathaniel. The novel introduces readers to a new character known as Deathmask who also features in the Half-orc trilogy by the same author. While all this is happening, Lord Arthur Hadfield and Mark Tullen try to get Alyssa’s hand in marriage. Allyssa is the daughter of Maynard Gemcroft who was introduced in the first installment of the trilogy, a dance with blades.

The trilogy features a host of different interesting characters. The books are similar and feature non-stop action and will be entertaining to lovers of fictional fantasy novels, such as The Half Orc sequel. One aspect that Daglish has introduced in this trilogy is a level of excitement that is not with other such novels. Reader’s explore the world known as Dezrel in this trilogy, which gives readers a wide variety of characters to follow including Haern who is psychologically scared and others, and the likes of Veliana and has never die attitude and toughness, all in all the series is an interesting and exciting read that will get readers’ eyes glued to the pages and sitting at the edge of the chair – the suspense has been well crafted.