The Shadow Glass
Ratings5
Average rating4.4
A thrilling race against the clock to save the world from fantasy creatures from a cult 80s film. Perfect for fans of Henson Company puppet classics such as Labyrinth, Dark Crystal and The Never-Ending Story. Jack Corman is failing at life. Jobless, jaded and on the “wrong” side of thirty, he’s facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune. But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he’ll end up a failure just like him. In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy while conjuring the hero within––and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.
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4.5 start
???In a forgotten time, in a forgotten world, deep within a forgotten chamber few have even seen, The Shadow Glass sees all.???
As one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 (and also being entirely new to this author) I was super excited to get into this super nostalgia trip. And what a trip it was!
I???m of the target age for this book 100%. I remember many days watching and re-watching The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, even Fraggle Rock. I was so engrossed with these imaginary creatures and the surrounding world it really cracked open my imagination at a young age. But enough about me.
The Shadow Glass is the story of a lost man, jaded by life and estranged by his father, Jack Corman attempts to get out from under the looming shadow of his bad memories and into a ???new life???. Hes turned his back on the legacy that his father built and is done trying to reconcile his guilt for his fathers downfall. Though through the story Jack experiences the adoration of the fandom that his father had created and as the story progresses we see a bit more growth from Jack which was really well done.
The characters and creatures here are what really shines in the story. Sandwiched between the familial reconciliation of our protagonist Jack are fresh and exciting creature-characters that are not too far fetched and not too familiar. The world of Iri and it???s inhabitants ??? the Kettu, Wugs, Skalions, and the scene-stealing Lub- were the highlight of the story. I really wanted the book to spend more time in that world and really engross us in it???s lore. But viewing it from the outside combined with the sprinkles of the flashback snippets and original screenplay scenes in between chapters was a really great touch.
Josh Winning???s writing flourishes with nostalgia and references to the 80s puppet-fantasy fandom though never feels overdone. It???s also a story about re-capturing your imagination and inviting color back into a dull and de-saturated life. Winning has produced a fantastic contribution to the classic 80s puppet-fantasy fandom, and I???m here for it.
Wow! What an amazing read! This is going to be one of my 2022 favorites...easily. I rarely, if EVER, wish something was a part of or the start to a series. I WISH this had more coming. Epic Fantasy Read. I need this to be turned into a movie like yesterday
