Please note: I read and reviewed this book in June 2011 from a copy I purchased for myself. I'm just adding some formatting.My response to negative reviews: I'd like to address the various negative reviews I've seen; many people have complained about the eroticism of this book. While there are indeed some sensual scenes, they are much milder than in many books I have read. I think the main problem that people have is with the bisexual aspect of it. If that will bother you, then this is obviously not a book you should read. (You should also avoid anything by Gary Jennings) Other people complained that the book was too long, too detailed, boring. This dumbfounds me - the details bring this book to life; the story flows smoothly and I was not ready for the book to end. True, those with the shortened attention span brought on by watching too much TV would probably have trouble with this book, but I expect more from readers.Nevertheless, each person is entitled to his or her own opinion, so let me give you mine - it's better than yours ... ;-)My Synopsis: "The Book of Shadows" is a voyage of discovery for young Herculine, who was orphaned at a young age (she thinks she was 5 or 6) and raised in a convent/boarding school by nuns and among the young ladies being trained there upon the wishes of their families. Herculine never felt a sense of belonging - instead, feeling like an outsider. Shy, withdrawn, and quiet, Herculine had few friends. Then the arrival of Peronette, the Mother Superior's niece, threw everything into disarray. Soon Herculine is accused of witchcraft. Locked into one of the convent's libraries overnight, Herculine is close to despair when a group of people - a succubus, an incubus, a demon and a witch - arrive and help Herculine to escape. Herculine IS a witch, and Sebastiana D'Azur - the witch who rescues Herculine - starts to instruct Herculine on some of the aspects of the Craft.The Characters: I won't go any more into the story than that, so as to avoid any spoilers. Herculine is a very complex character and one I enjoyed getting to know. Sebastiana is a somewhat mysterious character - we learn much of her, but there is much we do not know. Father Louis and Madeline are incubus and succubus, and dis-incarnate. They can take form, but it takes energy to do so. Finally, Asmodei (who is really quite a jerk) is believed by Sebastiana to be a descendant of the demon Asmodeus.My Review: As I stated above, the story flowed smoothly and, for me, it was a relatively quick read. I'd have been done sooner if it weren't that I've been feeling poorly and had to spend so much time sleeping. I found the details to be lush and vibrant, the story coming alive for me in a way few stories have. If you do not feel you would be offended by the few sex scenes (which, again, are pretty tame compared to, say, a romance novel - the only difference is the occasional bisexual aspects of it) and you enjoy a tale of growth and self-discovery, I think you'd like this story.
Like Rice's Interview with the Vampire, this is sensual and sexual and interweaves a subject of the horror genre--in this case witches--with well-crafted historical fiction. Set in the France of around 1830, this is mostly the first person narrative of Herculine--the very name was a hint of her nature given the famous French hermaphrodite Herculine Barbin. She is a man, a woman--and a witch. I found this novel a page turner--the details are lush and vivid without being flowery or overdone, making you feel transported to another age, and in parts so suspenseful it was hard not to skip ahead to find out what was going to happen. I was particularly impressed with how the author used the lore of witches, both of the traditional kind that has converse with demons, graveyards and curses and the neo-pagan kind that can "draw down the moon." The story, through telling the tale of Herculine's mentor, her "soror mystica," Sebastiana and her companions, the incubi Louis and succubi Madeleine, ranges from the "Burning Times" of the 1600s to the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution to the Bourbon Restoration. A Book of Shadows, we are told, is "a record of life's lessons" and this one makes for an unusual coming of age tale, sometimes deeply weird, but one I found engrossing.
Do You like book The Book Of Shadows (2002)?
Quite an amazing read. The first section is quite engaging in it's descriptions. It manages to be quite in depth, without being bewildering. I did have trouble with some of the scenes described in the flashbacks. I'm not a great fan of grizzly torture, but in this case of course it's quite relevant. The book is the first book I've read about witchcraft, which does not take a defined political stance on religion, apart of course from more naive fairy tale styled books. There are members of a number of religions in the coven, and the pagan versis christian question is explored without being belaboured. This book is certainly atmospheric, and dreamlike and takes the reader with it, on its journey. Reese manages to build quite a lot of tension in the plot, and leaves a lot unexplained at the end of this first installment, keeping the reader quite eager for more. Most importantly, the story is quite original, and effectively deprives the reader of the arrogance of assumption. There is a surprise around every turn.
—Aaron Carson
You know those trainwreck movies that are bad, but so amusingly bad, you stick with them until the end? This book is like that - in terrible want of an editor, both for redundant and contradictory content and for length (nearly 500 pages) - it's just awful and yet I couldn't walk away. Some points won for an interesting revisioning of Paris before, during, and after the Revolution. Some points docked for overly gruesome accounts of witch trials, tortures, burnings, and beheadings. I'm surprisingly neutral about the many silly and overly dramatic sex scenes that tried very, very hard to be kinky - so hard that they succeeded in being kinky but not in being hot OR a part of the plot. Many, many points lost on a deeper level for trying to breathe life into the oldest, most tired stereotypes of witches, ghosts, and Christianity. If you want a timeless story of ghosts and love in the afterlife, read Peter S Beagle's A Fine and Private Place. If you're looking for a historically-based witch story, go for the Juniper and Wise Child books by Monica Furlong.
—Terri Kempton
James Reese, The Book of Shadows (Morrow, 2002)James Reese's debut novel gives us nineteenth-century France's dark side in a grisly, but often interesting, way. Herculine sees the unexpected, ugly death of her mother just before she's consigned to a convent. There, being studious, she becomes the mother superior's pet. When the mother superior's rather diabolic niece comes to stay, she is put into Herculine's care and tutelage. The girl ends up getting them both into a world of trouble, the end result of which drives much of the rest of the novel (the summary here takes in the first hundred pages or so). The book is lush, lavishly-researched, and a pleasure overall to read.Where it fails, and this is a minor point for some people, is in its lack of consistency in pacing. A number of portions of the story are told in extended flashbacks, and each of these moves far slower than the rest of the novel, making it tough going in some places. While Reese's love of flowery language never fails, and his words are a joy to read, the switching in pace is somewhat jarring at times. Also, it seems as if pieces were missing--especially at least one scene that should have come after the book ends. Still, it is a fine debut effort from an author whose next book could cement his place on the front lineof the new, atmospheric horror novel. *** 1/2
—Robert Beveridge
