By Roger Zelazny

This came to me free along with a tattered copy of C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra, from my sister sometime nearer the beginning of the pandemic rather than it’s end, which still seems nowhere in sight. (Thanks for nothing Federal Government, what about all those taxes we paid?)

Jack of Shadows takes place on a planet, possibly the earth, that is tidally locked. The main character, you guessed it, Jack of Shadows moves in and out of the dark and light sides of the planets. The dark side is ruled by magic, while the light side is ruled by science. He takes advantage of the shadows, created by the mixing of light and dark, which give him magical powers.

The book begins with his execution, which like some sort of video game from the 80s, sends him back to the dung pits of Glyve to begin his next life again. He swears to get revenge on his enemies, and there are many, as he claws his way back through the dark side to the light. On the light side he hides out assuming the persona of a college professor who’s specialty is dark side anthropology. At the university he takes advantage of the facility computer to research something called the The Key That Was Lost”, Kolwynia.

Upon finding the key he returns to the dark side, to exact his revenge, and conquer all. He loses control of his lust for revenge, causing great pain to even those he cared for. He is confronted by his disembodied soul but to no avail. Through a series of self serving missteps he is sent on a quest by his only friend, a godlike being trapped in a mountain half way between dark and light. Jack journeys to the center of the earth and destroys the machinery that maintains the tidal lock on the planet. Jack’s world and power is destroyed, his friend is freed from the mountaintop, and it is clear that the world is about to change drastically. Will Jack survive? We never find out.

There are many things in Jack of Shadows that are hard to understand, like being fully immersed in a world where the rules are uncertain. Apparently it was written in one draft, which may explain some of its confusing nature. A rewrite may have answered some questions, but most likely it would have also lost some of it’s zesty freshness.

It was panned by critics, and loved by fans; and I will admit it has some poetic turns of phrase. It combines elements of sword and sorcery fantasy adventure with science fiction in a refreshing and un-tropey way. Ultimately it is a story of the self destructing power of revenge. Fans clamored for a sequel, but ultimately the character was only given life again in prequel fashion, so we never find out if Jack survived.