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The Shadow of Black Wings [Paperback]

James Calbraith
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.09
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Book Description

13 July 2012
"Fast paced and full of energy"
—Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Shadows of the Apt

"This manuscript is full of highly crafted detail that will make readers shiver at times with fear and delight ... a familiar yet highly original fantasy that is a worthwhile read."
— Publishers Weekly

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2012 semi-finalist.

An ancient empire stands on the brink of a civil war.
His arrival may push it over the edge.


It is the sixteenth year of Queen Victoria's enlightened rule and the world trembles before the might of her ironclad navy and the dreaded Dragon Corps. The largest ship ever built sails from the Brigstow Harbour on a journey to the mysterious lands of Orient. Its load - a regiment of the Royal Marines and one Bran ap Dylan - freshly graduate in Dracology at the Llambed Academy of Mystic Arts.

In the empire of Yamato, sealed from the rest of the world for the last two centuries, a wizard's daughter Sato witnesses her father joining an anti-government conspiracy. Her friend Nagomi, training to be a priestess, is haunted by dark visions that she must keep secret. Neither of them is aware that a change is coming to Yamato... on the wings of a dragon.

A detailed and fast-paced historical fantasy based around the turbulent opening of Japan to the West in the middle of the 19th century, "The Shadow of the Black Wings" is the first volume in "The Year of the Dragon" saga. The second volume, "The Warrior's Soul", is expected in August.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 334 pages
  • Publisher: Flying Squid (13 July 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 8393552915
  • ISBN-13: 978-8393552917
  • Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 12.7 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,417,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

About the Author

James Calbraith is a 34 year old Poland-born writer, foodie and traveller, currently residing in South London. Growing up in communist Poland on a diet of powdered milk, Lord of the Rings and soviet science-fiction, he had his first story published at the ripe age of eight. After years of bouncing around university faculties, he moved to London in 2007, found a decent IT job and started writing in English. His debut historical fantasy novel, "The Shadow of Black Wings", has reached ABNA semi-finals and was published in July 2012. His volume of short stories, "Transmission", published on Amazon Kindle in June 2012, has reached the tops of Kindle bestseller lists in USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy.

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Customer Reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Dojos and Dragons! 19 July 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Shadow of Black Wings is a brilliant debut novel by James Calbraith, which blends fantasy with alternate history to conjure a Victorian world full of dragons and magic and derring-do. With the vast majority of placenames altered dramatically, it can take a few moments to realise the places being described, but by keeping his story grounded in our (albeit altered) world, Calbraith is able to exploit the mythologies of several cultures for a much more layered and subtle fantasy environment than most authors manage with a completely blank canvas.

If there was one drawback to this exciting story of Bran the young dragon rider's first voyage to the East, it's that it ends on such a powerful cliffhanger. Fast-paced and fun, I can't wait to see how this story develops. Beg, steal or borrow a copy. Or, you know, download it. It's all good.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Books 9 Dec 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Good Read so far interesting concept but can be confusing if read out of sequence could be a bit more discriptive
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4.0 out of 5 stars Steampunk, dragons and magic! 1 April 2013
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an interesting tale of a young lad just fresh out of college and setting out in the world.

Its an alternate Victorian history story with magic and dragons and steampunk technology.

Let's start with the not so good:

- There are some occasions where the wrong words have been used. To be fair to the author, this book is written in English but he's from Poland and there are only a few (probably about half a dozen). It's a minor niggle really but it is one of the things that stopped this being a 5 star review. These sort of mistakes really pull me out of the story... so I had to mention it.

- There is a large break in the tale, or at least that's what it feels like to me, between the time something that occurs to the protagonist and him reappearing in the story. However, and this is the bit I didn't like, I get the impression that the gap between the event and his reappearance is meant to be instantaneous. It feels disjointed to me so I struggled with it for a spell.

- There are so many words to learn. I found myself repeating character and place names - a lot - to get them into my head. And that was every time I saw the words written.

What did I like:

Solid world building. I can relate to the world but I know its not where I am from, even though really it is. I can see where the inspiration for each country, and their associated populace came from.

Great characters that I could visualise every time they were focused upon in the story.

Intriguing take on a magic system with solid mechanics behind it.

Dragons! (that's all I'll say on the matter)

I really enjoyed reading this book and I have already recommended it to friends.
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