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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780345379030
ISBN number: 0345379039
Label: Del Rey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: December 28, 1996
Publishing house: Del Rey
Release Date: December 28, 1996
Sale Popularity Level: 303217
Studio: Del Rey
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
'Gemmell . . . keeps the mythic currents crackling.'
--Publishing houses Weekly
John Shannow, The Jerusalem Man, lived in a world that had toppled on its axis. Civilization had been replaced by ruthlessness and savagery. Relentless in his quest for peace, Shannow followed a path that led only to bloodshed and sorrow.
Abaddon, the Lord of the Pit, sought to plunge mankind into a new Satanic era. His Hellborn army spewed forth from the Plague Lands with an unholy force stemming from human sacrifice. For it was the blood of innocents that fueled the corrupted Sipstrassi Stones of Power--the source of Abaddon's might.
But the Hellborn made a fatal mistake--they took the woman who had stolen Shannow's heart. He would move Heaven and Earth to save her or he would die trying.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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This was a departure from the strictly heroic fantasy Gemmell I'd read before. Sure there was much that was down the line Gemmell: hero who's just that much better than anyone else when it comes to a fight; admiration for Christian approaches until it gets to the loving your enemies bit; comradeship; selfless heroism. But this was a more experimental world than that of the Drenai. In post-apocalyptic Europe mystical stones endow magical powers in (somewhat randomly) varying degrees. The arbitrary ways this power emerged and the lack of any endeavor to make various setting cohere was probably what made me enjoy this book less than any other Gemmells I've read.
This felt way too much like the façade of Steven King's The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1). Don't get me wrong, King can write - few can match his ability to evoke a visceral scene. However both these books lacked substance - they felt like some disjointed scenes that had been thrown together with no real endeavor to make them cohere. In Gemmell's defense you could say that's a feature rather than a flaw in painting this deliberately chaotic future. Maybe, but then I come back to saying I don't enjoy reading a book where anything can happen without justification.
It's this undercurrent that didn't let me revel in the usable characters, backstory and interplay. It's not a dog's breakfast, and there are several nice moments (Gemmell on a bad day is still pretty good), but I couldn't feel much in the way of suspense or relief in this world without rules. No, not the anarchy of the political landscape, the anarchy of how the author used the stones of power.
Rated by buyers 
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The setting for this series is a post apocalyptic type old West, based on the premise that very bad things happened when the planet shifted its axis, causing devastation.
A satanic cult of Hellborn is out to rule, using bloodstone sacrifices and other nasty power tricks.
They shouldn't have sacrified Jon Shannow's woman, though, because now they have the deadliest of enemies : The Jerusalem Man.
Rated by buyers -
There are some series that leave you tired at the end from all the mental twists and turns that you have to do to follow the plot. The Jon Shannow series, which begins with this book, is like that. The way the series ends is enough to keep you awake for awhile. Gemmell was juuuust author enough at this point in his career to pull this series off. Had he waited a few more years for his skills to develop, this might have been an incredible series. As it is, it is good, and the plot twists really imaginative, but the writing is just up to the level needed. Gemmell's Rigante series is, IMHO, the best he wrote with the Drenai series a close, close second. In Shannow you can see the traits he would try to develop in Waylander and Skilgannon. Shannow is sort of a prototype for them, I think. Anyway, the series is good on its own and essential for Gemmell-ophiles, but if you have read other Gemmell books, don't expect the quality to be quite up to par.
Rated by buyers 
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This is the book where the Stones of Power series makes a shift from Fantasy to Sci-Fi. It's a fluid, smooth motion that Gemmell does perfectly. We're introduced to a future where the past doesn't exist (or does it?) giant fish bones clutter the desert like a misplaced dinosaur, and there's no fibre in the ark.
Jon Shannow is to a novel what Captain Mal Reynolds (of Firefly) is to TV/DVD. Strong, mysterious, a little sexy and more than a little dangerous if crossed. His six shooters are always clean and ready to be fired (and often are!) He reigns the space around him with an unforgivable iron fist. He shows no hesitation. But like all good main characters, he's imperfect. He has scars. He bleeds, he becomes unconscious, he loves and loses and is a character you love to love. He provides thought that continues well after the last page is turned... for that reason alone, this is a book worth buying.
Rated by buyers -
I became an instant David Gemmell fan after reading the last book in his 'Stones of Power' series, and have not looked back since. Every single book he has written has more or less been fantastic. None however overshadow this classic book which I highly suggest to all who read this.
'Wolf in Shadow' takes place in the far-flung future where an accident has toppled the earth, nearly destroying life and turning most of the world into a wastland. It has also released the magical Sipstraasi stones back into the world. Civilisation has worked it's way up to horse and buggies, but there exists a great evil who has built a satanic army thirsting for dominance.
There also exists The Jerusalem Man, a noble gunslinger who walks the world searching for the city of the Bible. This is Jon Shannow, one of Gemmell's greatest creations. He is a good man, but a hardened violent one who's morality is edged with a murderous quickdraw. And when he meets with Abaddon, lord of Hell and the mysterious gaurdians of the Sipstraasi, it creates one of sci-fi's under-appreciated jewel's.
Gemmel, as he is known to do, writes a strong adventure book but lines it with deep philosophical debates on the nature of evil and morality, one of those rare books that'll keep you turning pages and thinking as well.
Just a great novel from a great writer.
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