Power’s Shadow / Richard Parks. Richard Parks, 2015 (ebook), 2018 (print edition).

This novel is the third volume in “The Laws of Power,” which seems destined to be at least a five-part set, and it might be expected to show a bit of series fatigue. If that’s your expectation you haven’t read much Richard Parks! So far, the series consists of two focusing on the supposedly evil magician Tymon the Black, and two (of a projected three) on the questing witch, Red Marta.

The first volume, The Long Look (2008), introduced us to their unique world, its power politics, and peculiar system of magic and “Powers” (who might be gods, and certainly, in some instances show interest in becoming such). It also gave us an engaging protagonist in Tymon, the very model of an evil magician, who in fact is nothing of the sort, but a good man cursed with foresight and the talent to manipulate others away from disastrous outcomes. (In addition to the novel, Parks has written a few short stories of Tymon, conveniently available in the somewhat obviously titled collection The Collected Tymon the Black (2017).)

The second volume, Black Kath’s Daughter (2011), opened after a lapse of hundreds of years, with Tymon now but an unsettling memory, and presented an engaging new viewpoint character, Red Marta. Marta is a witch who has inherited the obligation of her deceased mother, the more accomplished witch Black Kath, to follow the Arrow Path to learn the Seven Laws of Power. Only by so doing can she expiate her family’s debt to Amaet, creator of the Path and one of the aforementioned Powers/Gods. Amaet does not come across as a benevolent being, and every benefit she confers comes at a price. Yet Marta's success is seemingly highly important to her, which makes the young witch wonder what her patron is likely to get out of it, and whether that would be a particularly good thing for the world. Parenthetically, Amaet is also the Power who afflicted Tymon with his curse of foresight in ages past.

Marta’s journey into knowledge and power is also one of self-discovery, which keeps her grounded and sympathetic. It sets her against another of Amaet's servants, one who worships the Power as a goddess. There are pitfalls to such devotion, which the initial book of Marta's story abundantly demonstrate. By the end of the book she has mastered four of the Laws of Power and is on the track of the next. She has also achieved a disquieting insight into what becomes of those who die still in debt to a Power, and are unable to pass it on. Which brings us to the current book.

Power’s Shadow continues Marta’s tale, matching her with and sometimes in opposition to other women on their own journeys—a sword maker’s daughter, a pirate princess, and another Arrow Path witch, not quite as far along as Marta, who jealously observes her progress. The first becomes a companion, the second an ally of convenience, and the third is ultimately, if perhaps impermanently, accommodated. The witches’ supernatural servants are on hand to provide contrast, commentary and occasional complications. Marta's main one is Bonetapper, a former criminal who serves her in the form of a crow and discovers he makes a better bird than he does a man.

This time around Marta navigates a series of seemingly intractable but curiously resolvable perils presided over by suspiciously accommodating adversaries. There are a roguish fugitive, a social-climbing pirate king, an intemperate noble, and murderous brigands. The few who truly mean Marta harm prove little match for her intelligent canny guile and common sense. In part, we can put this down to her author; in a Richard Parks novel, reason and negotiation are always available to those capable of such, and Marta is adept at discerning and navigating options that benefit all parties. Even so, the impression takes hold that it's somehow all too easy, and it becomes increasingly apparent that there are hidden hands at work in the background, not merely that of the threatening bogey Amaet, but also another, unsuspected player.

The denouement is worthy of the build-up, and fully whets the appetite for the sequel, whenever that may happen to appear.

I enjoyed this book. Kudos to Richard Parks for a sympathetic heroine, engaging secondary characters, clever intrigue, a satisfying plot, and an extremely well-handled final reveal. I eagerly await the follow-up tale, and once you’ve read this novel, I suspect you will, too!

This review is an expansion of one I posted to Amazon on September 17, 2018.

Four out of five stars.

—Brian.