Jack of Shadows (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Roger Zelazny
- First Published: 1971
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—New Wave
- Time of Work: Undefined, on another world
- Setting: A nonrotating world
- Genres: Long fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Magic or magicians, Other worlds, Talisman or magical object
- Locales: Fictional planets
The Plot
The novel is set on a planet that does not rotate, so that half of it is in perpetual darkness and half has perpetual daylight. Born in Twilight, Jack of Shadows is soulless, like a darksider, and has a finite number of resurrections. He is unfairly executed for a crime he had not yet committed and is sent to the Dung Pits of Glyve to begin another life. He awakes in the Dung Pits and begins his return.
Unlike other darkside magicians, Jack does not have a stable power base, but he is able to gain strength and work magic whenever he is in shadow. Defenseless in...
[The entire page is 938 words long]
