Strange New Kindle Worlds – Shadowman: The Soul Freezer

Here we are, once again taking a look at another Valiant Kindle Worlds story. This time we will be looking at the first installment with Shadowman.

• Shadowman: The Soul Freezer
• Published: June 26, 2013
• Author: Leigh Knight
• Price: $0.99
• Page Count: 39 Pages

Synopsis:

The Brethren, in service to Master Darque, hunt down Jack Boniface’s long-lost sister, Louise, and use her so that they can attack Jack psychically through her.

Review:

I was very pleased to see the use of chapters in this story, and it worked in particular here because the action was taking place in several locations. I also enjoyed the realistic use of the many different characters from the Shadowman book. For example, Dr. Mirage is in this story, and she behaved exactly as I would expect that character to behave.

My favorite moments were actually the quieter ones. I enjoyed a small chapter where Jack is overwhelmed by the mantle of Shadowman, and Alyssa has little patience for his attitude.  There’s also a scene where Jack leaves the safety of the Abettors’ safe house.  This was a completely believable scene because we saw him do something similar in the book, and his reasons for leaving were noble.

A great deal of this story features Jack’s half-sister Louise, who is a new character for the Shadowman mythos.  When I first read that this tale would be about Jack’s sister I rolled my eyes, but it works much better than I thought it would.  What doesn’t work is her traveling to New Orleans in the first place; and neither does the Brethren’s convoluted psychic attack plan.  These plot points coupled with a very abrupt ending dock this overall good short story a couple of stars.

Cover:

I thought this cover is the best of the ones we’ve seen so far and does a good job conveying the dark and creepy mood of Shadowman.  Again, however, the cover has nothing to do with the story.

Continuity:

This story most likely takes place between the first and second volumes of Shadowman. That may seem odd to some because Dr. Mirage is featured, and her first appearance is in volume 2, but she was never introduced to anyone in volume 2 as a new character, so one could assume they had all met her before.

Submit Your Own:

The Kindle Worlds program is really neat and you can even submit your own stories.  For Valiant you can submit stories for Archer & Armstrong, Bloodshot, Eternal Warrior, Harbinger, Quantum and Woody, Shadowman, Unity and X-O Manowar.  Click here to see how you can submit your own short stories.  Be sure to follow the guidelines and have fun creating!

The Soul Freezer is available here!

Originally from ValiantCentral.com