The Sword of Jardine

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greycrusader
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

The Sword of Jardine

Post by greycrusader »

Sharing again on behalf of a friend and former coworker, Drew Shetler; this is his debut as a novelist, and it is absolutely a labor of love. While it initially seems to hit the same beats as many "hero on a quest" high-fantasy tales, there are unexpected revelations and character twists along the way! Those who are fans of these types of stories should definitely consider checking it out.

https://bookstore.dorrancepublishing.co ... y3icxnbqvU

All my best
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: The Sword of Jardine

Post by greycrusader »

Jeremiah Sadler and The Sword of Jardine: Review
(Full disclosure, I am a friend and former co-worker of the author, D.T. Shetler)

The debut novel of D.T.Shetler, Jeremiah Sadler and the Sword of Jardine; offers a compact, self-contained story which nonetheless works as a introduction for future tales starring the book’s hero. The story itself is set in modern day Western Pennsylvania; despite the somewhat misleading book cover, this is decidedly in the urban fantasy genre, where heroes selected by fate know about pop-culture and the villains are as likely to use guns as spells. The figure on the cover of the book is Jardine, the long, long-ago original champion who faced down supernatural evil in the world, with young Jeremiah Sadler being the present-day hero. The legendary sword serves as a goal for Jeremiah to find and take as his own weapon to protect his world; his struggles to do so raise doubts in his own mind about whether he Is the “chosen one” or not. Most of the mysterious group who rescued him early in the book think so, but not all of them, and does Jeremiah even actually want the role in the first place?

Character motivation and development is a strong point of the tale, with a fair chunk of the narrative focused on both the fledgling hero and the primary antagonist. While the main character does quickly acquire the powers associated with his role as the “chosen one” (so to speak), Jeremiah does have to train hard to master them And his confidence and clarity about his mission come much less easily. A nice touch by the writer is that we as readers don’t learn whom to trust too quickly, because Jeremiah isn’t sure either-are the people fighting a centuries long mystic war really who they appear to be? And what are the villains up to, really?

The author also lays down a solid foundation for his urban-fantasy setting, and the world-building provides a good springboard for future stories set in the same fictional universe. There’s a lot of material which could be delved into further, depending on which direction a sequel would take; the history of the events before the modern era could be filled in more while Jeremiah’s exploits continue. The various factions vying for the legendary sword (and the dark magic opposing it) could be explored in more details as well, as D.T.Shetler establishes rich source material to work with going forward.

A minor criticism, in my opinion, might be a slight overreliance on “generic” fantasy terms (vampires, demons, etc.) when more specific phrases could be pulled form folklore or mythology; another might be that a LOT happens in the last third of the book, with the earlier sections being much more of a slow build-up. Also, because a LOT of back story is presented, there is sometimes a good bit of exposition involved. However, all-in-all this is a fine debut novel, and could serve as an excellent set-up for further adventures. Looking forward to seeing more from Mr. Shetler in the near-future!
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Ken
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Re: The Sword of Jardine

Post by Ken »

1) I thought Jardine used an axe.
2) Is this a tale of lost Love? How about lost Wilsons?

What? It says they know pop culture.
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greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: The Sword of Jardine

Post by greycrusader »

Hi Ken! Good to "see" you again.

All my best.
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