Daniel Abraham is a fantastic author and this is an incredibly beautiful and poignant book.

Like Abraham's other work (The Dagger and the Coin, also highly recommended), A Shadow in Summer is extremely character-driven and low on magic. The magic that does exist in this world, however, is fascinating. Magic-wielders, known as Poets, have the ability to harness, give life to, and ultimately wield IDEAS. These 'Living Ideas', known as the Andat, look like people but are far more (and ultimately, far less) than people. I found them both intriguing and terrifying.

The human characters are also very diverse and multi-faceted. There are no heroes or villains; everyone's motivations are supremely realistic and believable. Even in such a short novel, I felt so connected to each of these characters in a way I have not been outside of Robin Hobb books.

The city-state of Saraykeht, where the majority of the story takes place, is arguably a character in itself as well. Abraham has created a place that feels so visceral and lived in, from the palace to the docks to the bathhouse to the soft quarter. The culture of Saraykeht is heavily Asian-inspired, and I loved it. It's very unusual in a genre filled with so many Anglo influenced cultures.

Overall, this book is just so good. I have no idea why it is rated so low on Goodreads, but I highly recommend it!

DNF at 51%.

This book has been recommended a lot by various people in the online book community, so I was really excited to get to it. Unfortunately, it didn't do for me what it has obviously done for so many others.

The beginning was interesting and I enjoyed Otah's character, even later on. I found him the most compelling of the bunch. But sadly that seemed to be the only thing I was enjoying. At times things would pop up that I was interested in, and I was planning to finish because it's such a short book, but after a while of it feeling like a chore I decided I would move on to something else.

Life is too short to read books you aren't enjoying. I've already had to say that a couple of times this year, which doesn't bode well for the remainder of the year.

The writing in this was a little awkward for me and didn't flow well. I also was not very impressed with the world building. And the characters felt rather bland to me.

Overall this had some interesting ideas, it just didn't work for me.

A quiet, intimate fantasy with intensely personal stakes. Beautiful writing carries beautiful (and flawed) characters through to a melancholy ending.

I have definitely read much worse fantasy, or fiction, for that matter, and I see that subtlety and thoughtfulness is the name of this tune, but honestly, it was slow and not much happens.

It was, on the other hand, quite readable and the characters were very solid, even memorable as far as they go. The society, the empire, is also quite fleshed out and has a character all of its own. I have no complaints with any of that. Indeed, I think it's quite remarkable.

I don't even have a problem with the premise, both literally through the magic that this old poet has, or stylistically, or plot-based, that this old man and the empire are one and the same. Both are old, as are quite a few of the main characters, and you can see that they're wracked with guilt and a bit of senility. Rightly so, I might say. Using magic to forcibly abort children with or without the woman's consent is unconscionable, as is a society that has no qualms with enslaving, whether with economics, force, or the Poet's magic of conception.

It's rotten, and the death of one is the death of all, and I can't really find it in my heart to feel sad for either.

As a novel, it is a beautiful painting, glacially slow and majestic like like the adjective. I think it *IS* beautiful, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good novel.

If you don't mind good character studies and an exploration of culpability, duty, justice, and love rather than a modern fantasy yarn full of death and daring and heroism, then I think you might really enjoy this novel.

Even now that I've finished it with a sigh and a fairly large undercurrent of regret that it didn't live up to some undefinable promise, I want to like it more than I do. I have great respect for Mr. Abraham already, so it's not like I'm giving up the cause. I'm a fanboy of the Expanse, after all.

I know I'll give the other four of this series a shot, but I might not do it right away.

*4.5 Stars.

I'm going to try to come back and write a more cohesive (or at least comprehensible) review. But WOW! I loved this. A lot. Depending on the next three books, this could turn out to be one of my favorite series of all time. No pressure or anything.

Things that I loved: Most of the characters (AMAT!), the magic system, the themes that Abraham discusses.

What I didn't love: There was a particular trope that I didn't expect to find in this book. Though an Angry German has promised me that it is well executed, I'm still wary. We'll see what happens.

4.5 Stars.

A unique and compelling book that opens a fantasy series I am very much looking forward to continuing. A Shadow in Summer is an intimate, political, and character-driven fantasy novel. Abraham's fastidious worldbuilding and complex use of language brings to life a story that feels different from anything I've read before. I could tell, about five chapters in, that this is a series that is going to hurt - and one that is only going to improve with the telling. I am forcing myself to slow down and not binge, because I think this is a story that demands reflection, and one I intend to savour!

[4.. maybe a 3.75 stars]

So if I need to describe this first book in 2 words I would say: Original and Clinical
Original, because let's be honest it's nothing like other fantasy novels I've read, the magic system is about capturing "ideas" into humanoid forms called "Andat" and control them to do the bidding of the castor, however these forms develop somewhat human traits and emotions as well, cue instant interesting and favorite character!

The world building is also very engaging with a lot of oriental and Asian influences (can we take a second to appreciate those beautiful covers?! Kudos to Stephanie Martiniere).


The plot is politics and economy-heavy which and completely action-free, which you don't see much of, if ever, in fantasy. This could be a big hit or miss for readers as the plot can be very slow-paced at times (cue audiobook to speed things up!), I won't call it slow-burn for now because that implies that they are great things to happen and I don't know that yet. However, this series seems like one that only gets better and better with each book, so look forward for 3 more reviews!

Why clinical? Well you'd think the slow-nothing-is-happening pace is the reason of the low-ish rating I gave, I actually like well done slow-burn books *cough*RobinHobb*cough*. This one though was kind of a miss regarding the presentation of the characters. Don't get me wrong they are all interesting and engaging to read about, Otah and Seedless are my absolute favorite, Amat is a middle aged woman who is a BAMF that gets shit done and Maati is a precious child that you want to smack every once in a while and hug the rest of the time, Liat can go expire in a ditch for all I care but she is a very realistic 17 years old girl. Not to mention a plethora of other rich charaters
So all of the above had great distinct characterization, but I just wasn't attached to any of them. We would get description of all these horrible things that happened to them and I'm like too bad bro..
So that was a bit disappointing for someone like me who likes to get destroyed and left traumatized after finishing a book..

So all in all, I recommend this book for someone who is bored with all the mainstream fantasy and would like to experience something new. I am DEFINITELY going to continue with the series because ANDATS! and because I really really liked the world and I am hopefully that my attachment issues with the characters will improve as the series advances.

Buddy Read with  my best-book-friend Petrik who always tries to keep me sane when I’m in full geek-out mode :’D

The city-state of Saraykeht has grown wealthy off of the cotton trade. Their court poet, Heshai, has put into words and bound an idea and spirit, Seedless, who can remove seeds from cotton with a wave of his hand. Thanks to Heshai and Seedless, no other nation can snatch away Saraykeht’s trade or dare attack for fear of what Seedless might be ordered to do.

But the merchants of Galt have developed a plan. Saraykeht can not be conquered by force as long as Heshai has control over Seedless. But what if they can make him loose control?

Central to their plans is the merchant Marchat Wilsin, head of the Galt trading house in Saraykeht. In his reluctance, he inadvertently gives a hint of what is to come to Amat, his business manager. Amat, her assistant Liat, Liat’s lover, and the poet’s apprentice become the sole hope of saving Saraykeht.

A Shadow in Summer was decent in regards to female characters, which is something important to me in all the books I read. I don’t think I would recommend it specifically for female characters, but it manages to do all of the following:

A) Recognize that women exist

B) Recognize that women do things

C) Recognize that those things that aren’t always about or motivated by men

D) Recognize that there can be multiple women who exist and do things and even interact with each other

Really, these are not high standards but so many books fail to pass them. Thankfully, A Shadow in Summer wasn’t one of them. I liked Amat quite a bit. She’s an older woman who’s clawed her way up from poverty to a position of relative authority and importance. Now she’s finding that under threat. She may be able to keep her position, but at the expense of doing nothing and watching her beloved city fall.

I think I first heard of A Shadow in Summer from a list on great world building in fantasy. Having now read it, I can say with certainty that it deserved its place on that list. Saraykeht has a decidedly non-Western feel, although I’m not sure what the specific cultural influences (if any) were. I loved that the language relied was as much body language as spoken language. Their culture possesses a large number of gestures to communicate feelings such as gratitude or inquiry with subtle variations making them even more expressive. It’s no wonder foreigners have a hard time completely understanding the nuances of communication in Saraykeht!

I also liked how economics played such a role in the narrative. Few fantasy books really consider how their economy functions, so this was a delight. And also a potential sign of just how nerdy I am that I liked this so much…

For all that, A Shadow in Summer isn’t a perfect book. I liked Amat and a couple of the other characters, and I found Seedless fascinating if uneasy. However, I never really loved any of them. I still felt a distance there. Something that kept me hesitant with Amat was how later on in the book she becomes involved with a brothel which contains child sex slaves. It was disturbing how casually the narrative mentioned them and how the utter horror of it was never addressed. Additionally, the fact that they were young boys feels like it ties into the association of homosexuality with pedophilia, particularly because the book didn’t contain any queer representation.

For such a minor part of the narrative, it had a rather large impact on my feelings towards the book. It’s made me waver on whether or not I’m really willing to pick up the sequel. I think I ultimately will continue on with this series, but it won’t have a super high priority. At least it stands on it’s own.

I feel like A Shadow in Summer would appeal to fans of Guy Gavriel Kay. It also reminded me of N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, mostly for how the spirits are involved. If you enjoy fantasy with original world building and lots of political intrigue, you should give A Shadow in Summer a look.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

Content note: I feel like this book could be difficult to read for those who’ve had miscarriages since a forced abortion plays a pretty heavy role in the plot.

Looking at the cover of the omnibus edition, I assumed that this would be a military sci-fi adventure story; fun, but predictable. I am so happy that it exceeds expectations.


First, an astonishing premise; a culture where poets are trained (in a lengthy and brutal apprenticeship, built on a foundation of child abuse) to draw out from thought into corporeal reality - ideas, concepts - which are then enslaved and put to work in industry. Poet and embodied idea or andat (and that?) are then intimately and inextricably linked, until the death of the master releases the slave. One andat is Three-Bound-as-One, another Removing-The-Part-That-Continues. No spoilers; think to what use the latter might be put.

Then, also new to me; a culture where non-verbal communication is as formalised as spoken language. So at each turn of conversation a speaker takes a 'pose', uses a specific gesture to convey tone, nuance, contradiction to his/her words. Marvellous!

One nation's convoluted and risky plot to economically and militarily cripple another nation that eventually succeeds despite itself.

The characters and world-building are the stars here, with an interesting fantasy setting inspired by some sort of Chinese fusion culture. The city-state that this is set is one of several that owes their ongoing success to the andat, creatures of abstract concepts enslaved into human-shaped godlings capable of performing miracles by specially-trained poets. Each different andat has a different domain of powers. The one at the centre of this story is named Seedless and his primary power is to remove cotton seeds from cotton which makes the city in question an economic powerhouse. He can also do other things relating to removing "seeds" from things and this is what the extremely distasteful plot revolves around.

So the plot in question is to force the andat and its poet master to cause a woman to have an abortion. The plot is that the woman doesn't speak the language of the city and doesn't realize what's going to happen to her much-wanted child. This is all to drive the poet mad, thus causing mischief to the andat. This is all done by (presumably male) masters from an off-stage nation called Galt and mediated through a local Galt (male) merchant and a local (male) criminal. The Galt merchant employs a female overseer and her apprentice who are two of the viewpoint characters of the book. They get involved in various ways, but ultimately prove ineffective. The poet is sent mad with his man-pain, but eventually recovers. The woman who this is all done to handles it better than him and eventually kills the poet before the whole Galt plot can be unearthed and blame placed where it should have been. Ultimately it comes down to a needs of the many vs the needs of the few thing and the pragmatic choice is chosen.

Deeply unsatisfying and distasteful, although as a character study and world-building exercise, quite good. The overseer character, Amat, is quite brilliant though and her outcome at least is very believable and true to her character.

I started reading this author at the end of 2020, with a newer series in my Fantasy group. After completing it I decided to go back to his beginnings. I love doing this with authors, just to see how they grow in their craft.

For a first solo attempt ( Abraham writes the Graphic Novels for G.R.R. Martin's GOT's), this was an excellent book. I think that Abraham's learned a lot by collaborating with Martin. He, just as Martin, does not spoon-feed you plot or back-story on characters. You need to just take it all in, let it stir for a while, and the answers will come before you turn the last page.

A fabulous first attempt, creating an interesting, complex magic system and world. I will definitely move on with the series