front_cover_image_of_saints_and_shadowsBy Christopher Golden

JournalStone, out now

Meet Peter Octavian, vampire…

Of Saints and Shadows wasn’t the first Chris Golden book I read twenty or so years ago – that was one of his Buffy tie-in novels – but it was his first original work, and it made such an impression that I’ve tried to read pretty much everything that he’s produced since, at least in book form. Going back to this first volume in the Shadow Saga reminds me why – it’s a fast-paced urban fantasy, filled with strong characterisation and isn’t afraid to grab its audience by the scruff of the neck and present them with ideas that they don’t expect but which they should almost take for granted.

There are elements of Peter Octavian that may feel very familiar to those who are fans of Joss Whedon’s series – but the character predates them by some way! Golden doles out the backstory in small chunks (and we’re still learning about Octavian in the final book), and makes you wonder what drives him… to which we get some of, but by no means all the answers.

There are places that, of course, it shows that it’s an early work, and a few times when you can see the mechanics of the writing, but there are considerably fewer of them than might be the case in the earliest novels of many now-veteran writers – and I’d put this up against many of the books produced by some of them now! You never doubt that Golden knows his characters, and knows exactly the level of horror or threat that he’s trying to induce in the reader…

Verdict: The start of an epic saga that introduces some characters who may well remain firmly in your mind for decades to come – as they did me. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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