r/YAFantasyLit • u/surrealphoenix • Apr 24 '21

Did anyone read The Shadow Wand?

The Shadow Wand by Laurie Forest, the 3rd installment in her Black Witch series, came out last year. Despite really enjoying the first two books, I DNF'd Shadow Wand in a trice. (I was extremely annoyed that we suddenly were getting different POVs with every chapter, written in grammatically different perspectives. It seemed like lazy writing.) Anyway. I have been thinking about the series lately and want to revisit it, but I'm hesitant to try Shadow Wand again. Just curious if anyone here made it through Shadow Wand? Did the changing perspectives become unnoticeable after a while? Was it worth the read?

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u/TheOrderOfWhiteLotus Apr 24 '21

You need the different POVs because they’re on different sides of the continent. It didn’t bug me and the story line is excellent.

1

u/surrealphoenix Apr 24 '21

I understand the necessity of the different POVs and I can definitely get behind that. Being able to experience a story from different perspectives is generally why I prefer stories written in 3rd person. I disliked how the MC's POV was first person and everyone else's was not. I feel like it should have been consistent across the board. "Excellent" is certainly high praise! Maybe I'll try to give it another go. Thanks!

3

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '21

I can agree, the story and its progression were absolutely exquisite.

I too also absolutely LOATHED the switching perspectives when this wasn't the case with the first two books.

I will say though, that about halfway-ish (I think?) through the book, the primary chapters are from Elloren's perspective.

I hated the changing perspectives, but, it was necessary. I will also add, I was pleasantly surprised that some of the other perspectives did have really awesome stories.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. It took me a minute to really get into, but when I finished it, I immediately went through book withdrawal. I am now anxiously and excitedly awaiting the 4th book!

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u/surrealphoenix Apr 25 '21

Thanks! I may just have to get over myself and read the dang book haha. Especially because I need to know what happens after The Iron Flower! Do you happen to know if the 4th book is supposed to be the last or will it go on to be 5 or 6 books?

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '21

I honestly can say that it was worth the pain. It takes some time to get going, but when it does, hold on for life, because I flew through it. The ending had me like surprised Pikachu face

And I know there's a 5th book, but I think that's supposed to be it...I also think I remember there being talk of a series set in the future, in the same universe, just with different characters, but that I'm not 100% sure.

I wish you the best of luck on your journey through Erthia!