The Chameleon's Shadow

Advantages: Gripping from the start, interesting characters
Disadvantages: Thought the ending may have been more explosive

...I recently had all my shifts changed at work which means that I ended up working 6 weeks of nights - ouch! Knowing that work was going to be quiet and therefore fairly boring, I asked my Dad to recommend me a couple of good books. The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters was one of them. The Author Minette Walters is often referred to as the 'queen of the psychological thriller' and after reading several of her books, you will see that this is a title she deserves. The Chameleon's Shadow is her 12th psychological thriller. Some of her other books include Acid Row, Fox Evil, The Ice House, The Sculptress and The Dark Room. Some of her stories have been turned into films or TV series. The Story Lieutenant Charles Acland life is literally turned upside down when a roadside bomb hits his vehicle while they are serving in Iraq...

daylehall 05.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Chameleon's Shadow - Minette Walters

A Welcoming Shadow

Advantages: Quite a dark and involving story
Disadvantages: Not terribly visual

...In fantasy more than any other genre, the line between writing for adults and writing for children is incredibly blurred. The only obvious differences are that in writing for younger readers, the heroes tend to be younger, there are more human-like characters and fewer names with too many apostrophes and too few vowels compared to fantasy novels aimed at adults. There are very few differences between the plotlines and the stories themselves. Having written for adults prior to this, author Thomas Wharton would know this better than I. I know nothing of his work for adults, but if it's as good as "The Shadow of Malabron", it has to be worth checking out. Will Lightfoot, isn't happy with his life. His mother died three years ago and he is uprooted from his home to move across the country for his father's new job. It's a chance to move on...

Soho_Black 18.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Shadow of Malabron - Thomas Wharton

The Shadow spreads into the movie world

Advantages: Nice little mystery, some funny moments.
Disadvantages: Where is The Shadow?

...In 1937, the year the movie was made, The Shadow was a megastar. Bigger than Indiana Jones and James Bond are now The Shadow was a star of a long running radio series, which started in 1930 and starred Orson Welles for a good number of episodes, and a hugely popular pulp magazine. Written by Maxwell Grant his adventures thrilled and enthralled millions of listeners and readers. With this sort of built in audience it wasn?t going to be long before a studio signed up the rights to the character and exported him to the movie scene. Grand National Pictures were the ones who decided they would try and make a B movie series from the mysterious cloaked avenger whose catchphrase was ?Who Knows What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!? and who had strange mystical powers that seemed to make him a human shadow...

Ailran 09.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Shadow Strikes (DVD)

Shadow of Memories

Advantages: Great premise, well developed characters, multiple plot paths.
Disadvantages: Easy solutions, unwarranted repitition.

...Eike Kusch has just died. Murdered while strolling through the German town of Lebensbaum, he shall never know the motive behind the murder. Or at least he shouldn't, but he awakens in a bizarre, inter-dimensional realm where a disembodied voice offers him the chance to go back in time and prevent his death. Despite initial misgivings about the intentions of his mysterious saviour, who admits a vested interest in Eike's survival, he accepts and wakes up in a coffee shop with a time travel device, half an hour before he is destined to die. The race is on. And what follows as he puts off the first attempt on his life, manipulating the past to secure his future, makes up the first of ten chapters in Konami's 2001 PS2 adventure game, Shadow of Memories (Shadow of Destiny in the US). This chapter sets a general template for the game: after...

pigeon_of_doom 24.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Shadow of Memories (PS2)

LIVING IN THE SHADOW

Advantages: Good looking game, good ideas, range of characters, price
Disadvantages: Poor controls and viewing angels, lack of effort in making game, weak link in franchise

...Nothing sparks great memories more than my classic days of Sonic the Hedgehog (not be confused with the new next generation title of the same name). The 2d platform game with the blue hedgehog was the first game I ever played on a games console. This was great little game as was the predecessors that came out in the coming years. I even remember playing the equivalent titles for consoles like the Sega Master System and Game Gear. I still hold these games with fond affection so when saw this title on the shelves of my local video games store I just had to buy it for old times sake. ~ The Game ~ In this game you take control of Shadow, a hedgehog (as the title suggests). Shadow is a black hedgehog with red markings and is based in the same Universe of walking talking action animal characters as portrayed in the Sonic Team Universe...

eljimbob 09.06.2008 (17.01.2009) · Read review
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Review of Shadow the Hedgehog (PS2)

Magic Killers (The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks)

Advantages: great action scenes, reasonable characters
Disadvantages: pulpy

...Somebody once said that there are only two plot lines in classic fantasy: an unexpected simpleton (child, beggar, heathen, girl, commoner) saving the world (e.g. Frodo) and a king threatened by the usurper (e.g. Arthur). This is, of course, a major simplification, but still, many, many fantasy novels follow one of those plotlines. The Way of Shadows seems to be an example of the first one. Azoth is a guild rat, grown up in the slums, poverty and fear, beatings and abuse his daily reality. When, in a sudden flash of justified anger he crosses the Fist of his guild, he has to make some hard decisions, quickly. His life is at stake, and the only way out he sees is apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint: the best assassin in the city. Azoth changes his identity to Kylar Stern and has to leave his old life in the slums of the Warrens to face...

magdadh 25.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks

We Are But Shadows and Dust

Advantages: Distinctive sound and vocals, great catchy riffs, well executed
Disadvantages: None

...and immensely entertaining, with plenty of sections that simply beg to be bellowed or screamed out loud. 'Shadows and Dust' is a relentlessly heavy yet also very catchy and melodic listen that marries over the top silliness and sonic intensity in a way that is hugely endearing. Full of great riffs, its a very uplifting and entertaining album from start to finish. It's by far my favourite Kataklysm album, and the band would seem to acknowledge its appeal as they played it almost in its entirely last time I saw them live. Catchy, fun and crushing. Tracklisting- 1. In Shadows and Dust 02:46 2. Beyond Salvation 04:10 3. Illuminati 04:59 4. Chronicles of the Damned 03:14 5. Bound in Chains 03:24 6. Where the Enemy Sleeps... 05:20 7. Centuries (Beneath the Dark Waters) 05:57 8. Face the Face of War 05:10 9. Years of Enlightment...

Burning_Darkness 10.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Shadows And Dust - Kataklysm

Dim Shadows and Unavoidable Lowlights

Advantages: There are a couple of ok tracks, can cure insomnia
Disadvantages: The whole 'love and death' themes are just too much, quite a dull album

...Since the release of their first album, 'Greatest Love Songs Volume 666', the Finnish band HIM have come a long way in the sordid underworld of gothish metal music. Ok, that's strictly a lie; not the part about their music fitting the goth/metal market because, well, people see them in that light...or darkness. However, the bands first two sellers, 1997's release and 1999's 'Razorblade Romance' were made of a similar mould; there was lots of blazing guitar riffs and unyielding drum beats to keep a listener occupied, even when the lyrics based solely around their trademarked themes of love and death seemed a bit too much and just a little bit dreary. By the August of 2001, the band's third release, 'Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights' perhaps wasn't as anticipated as the last as many casual and die hard fans could have been...

MizzMolko 08.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights [ECD] - HIM

The cat that's afraid of its own shadow!

Advantages: great story and illustrations
Disadvantages: none

...You can tell just by looking at the cover that Colin and the Wrong Shadow is going to be a fun book that will have a great appeal to most young children. It looks bright and exciting and a touch mischievous as well when you spot a cheeky looking cat with the shadow of a tiny mouse. Open up the book and the reader is met with bright bold illustrations and a wealth of text skipping and jumping over every page. This book really is a visual delight and my two young daughters love the detail and attraction of every page. It's a lovely daft story too. Colin the cat wakes up one day to discover that his shadow is missing and he seems to have one belonging to a very small mouse in it's place. He's not going to let that ruin his day though but it soon does when the other cats snigger and squeak at him and even the birds ignore him. He starts...

kingfisher111 13.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Colin and the Wrong Shadow - Leigh Hodgkinson

Dynamic Shadows

Advantages: Graphics, sound, the movements, ...
Disadvantages: not many

...Deadly Shadows is the third game in the series Thief. Developed by Ion Storm. The game is a stealth game where you play a master thief called Gareth. Set in the medieval times, he must steal the City's oldest treasures in order to stop the darkness foretold in the prophecies. As Gareth, you have to pull of a series of missions from thefts, assassinations with some combat involved to uncover the bigger darker secret that lurks beneath. As you go on the tasks increases in difficulty. The gameplay is straightforward. Dynamic Lighting and Shadow System Every character and object casts a real shadow that dynamically affects stealth gameplay. Dynamically manipulate lighting to create your own shadows, but make sure your own shadow doesn't betray you. You can see if it does through ?light-gem? it tells you how well hidden you are...

galaxynicole 25.03.2005 (26.03.2005) · Read review
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Review of Thief: Deadly Shadows (Xbox)