Shadow Zone, a Novel of the Schattenreich, Sharon Kae Reamer
Shadow Zone, a Novel of the Schattenreich, Sharon Kae Reamer, Terrae Motus, 2014, 514 pages, ISBN 13: 9781500693787
What’s a simple girl from Texas supposed to do, when she finds herself, not only whisked across the ocean to Cologne, Germany to live and work with a sexy geologist, who may or not be her brother, but entranced by not one but two devastatingly handsome and charming twin brothers, whose uncle who raised them, just happens to be her real father? If that weren’t enough to deal with, our heroine, Kaitlin, née Schwarzbach, but actually von der Lahn, is confronted by legions of under and over world creatures, most of which want her to die in the most gruesome of fashions, preferably after being raped by shape shifting Tud monsters, that is when she isn’t trapped in earthquakes, drowning in the River Rhine, or rescuing her brother Gus from real and otherworld prisons, among other challenges. The above is a very brief, albeit cheeky, synopsis of books 1 - 3 of the Sharon Kae Reamer’s Schattenreich novels so far. And so to the fourth book in the series, Shadow Zone.
There’s no way to avoid a small spoiler here. At the end of Book 3, Double Couple, Caitie / Kaitlin has died, a necessary blood sacrifice to the gods for the Equinox. Carried in the arms of Heiner, one of her twin loves, she is released, to Melusine, a snake like goddess, guardian of the Dreams and consort of Cernunnos, Celtic god of fertility, and carried deep into the Dream World.
At the beginning of Shadow Zone we travel with Caitie as she makes her way through a series of challenges and obstacles, receiving help and hindrance in mostly equal measure from gods, goddesses, deities & consorts, Tuds and moss golems. Another warning, these chapters are not for the squeamish. Ms Reamer has churned up a steamy brew of erotic and coprophilic images and events that had even me gasping in places; both of Cernunnos’ engorged penuses dripping semen onto her face, for example.
After still another desperate struggle, “They raked my arms with claws that punctured skin and bone, the deed accompanied by nauseating screeches,” she encounters Cathubodua, Celtic war and fertility deity, and the root cause of many of her and the her family’s problems. After they discuss the curse that has been hanging over the von der Lahn women for centuries, she awakens in the bed of her heart’s desire. After sorting that surprise out, Caitie and the book return to dealing with the main themes in the more-or-less real world.
These revolve, as they have done in the previous books, around the members of the von der Lahn family’s struggle to find meaning in a world that is moving further and faster away from belief in gods and spirits, to find and hold onto love and to ensure the survival of the family.
Sharon Kae Reamer writes all of this in a fashion that combines high fantasy thriller with plenty of bodice ripping. Moreover, the stuffy, well-meaning earnestness of the Germans is delightfully contrasted and pricked by the cheeky Texan irreverence of our heroine. Although I wish she could do something about her obsession with showers.
For me, this fourth book brings into sharper relief two other themes that have been steadily percolating into focus. First, and without any of the self-justifying preachifying that so often accompanies this currently ‘hot’ topic, is a very creditable defence of polyamory. Against, all her earlier learned behaviours, Kaitlin is being forced to accept that she is in love with at least two men, and that for the survival of the family firm, they must all accept and learn to deal with this. That this is done via a multitude of passionate encounters, some resulting in pregnancies (that plural ‘s’ is not a mistake) only adds to the fun of the adventures.
We also get a broadening out of the range of deities involved in the action. The earlier books had focused strongly on Central European Celtic mythology, in book four the spectrum broadens out to include Northern, Germanic and Nordic elements. I was bemused to note the arrival of Taranis, a wide-spread Celtic Thunder Deity, as the name reminded me of the powerful Baltic Thunder God Taarapita. Initially this mixing up of belief systems annoyed me until I recognised it as a replaying of Nikos Theodorakis’ ‘One God behind all the masques’ concept of the unity of faith behind the differences, and the ways in which we can benefit by accepting a variety of belief systems across many different cultures.
So, behind the fun, games, mystical journeys, quips and steamy sex (If Ms Reamer keeps this up, next year, I’m going to nominate her for the Bad Sex Award), some very serious observations about human behaviour and its potential to change and adapt. Finely, the next book is promised to be the conclusion. I hope so. If she does a GRRM on us, I’m gonna be very annoyed. I do have a suggestion for a new series: What about exploring Dagmar’s story; how did she get to be the way she is? Has she any possibility of redemption?
My only real criticism is that Kaitlin seems to exist in a world where her only important relationships are with men. For this I’m giving 4****, a few too many men - not enough women.
What’s a simple girl from Texas supposed to do, when she finds herself, not only whisked across the ocean to Cologne, Germany to live and work with a sexy geologist, who may or not be her brother, but entranced by not one but two devastatingly handsome and charming twin brothers, whose uncle who raised them, just happens to be her real father? If that weren’t enough to deal with, our heroine, Kaitlin, née Schwarzbach, but actually von der Lahn, is confronted by legions of under and over world creatures, most of which want her to die in the most gruesome of fashions, preferably after being raped by shape shifting Tud monsters, that is when she isn’t trapped in earthquakes, drowning in the River Rhine, or rescuing her brother Gus from real and otherworld prisons, among other challenges. The above is a very brief, albeit cheeky, synopsis of books 1 - 3 of the Sharon Kae Reamer’s Schattenreich novels so far. And so to the fourth book in the series, Shadow Zone.
There’s no way to avoid a small spoiler here. At the end of Book 3, Double Couple, Caitie / Kaitlin has died, a necessary blood sacrifice to the gods for the Equinox. Carried in the arms of Heiner, one of her twin loves, she is released, to Melusine, a snake like goddess, guardian of the Dreams and consort of Cernunnos, Celtic god of fertility, and carried deep into the Dream World.
At the beginning of Shadow Zone we travel with Caitie as she makes her way through a series of challenges and obstacles, receiving help and hindrance in mostly equal measure from gods, goddesses, deities & consorts, Tuds and moss golems. Another warning, these chapters are not for the squeamish. Ms Reamer has churned up a steamy brew of erotic and coprophilic images and events that had even me gasping in places; both of Cernunnos’ engorged penuses dripping semen onto her face, for example.
After still another desperate struggle, “They raked my arms with claws that punctured skin and bone, the deed accompanied by nauseating screeches,” she encounters Cathubodua, Celtic war and fertility deity, and the root cause of many of her and the her family’s problems. After they discuss the curse that has been hanging over the von der Lahn women for centuries, she awakens in the bed of her heart’s desire. After sorting that surprise out, Caitie and the book return to dealing with the main themes in the more-or-less real world.
These revolve, as they have done in the previous books, around the members of the von der Lahn family’s struggle to find meaning in a world that is moving further and faster away from belief in gods and spirits, to find and hold onto love and to ensure the survival of the family.
Sharon Kae Reamer writes all of this in a fashion that combines high fantasy thriller with plenty of bodice ripping. Moreover, the stuffy, well-meaning earnestness of the Germans is delightfully contrasted and pricked by the cheeky Texan irreverence of our heroine. Although I wish she could do something about her obsession with showers.
For me, this fourth book brings into sharper relief two other themes that have been steadily percolating into focus. First, and without any of the self-justifying preachifying that so often accompanies this currently ‘hot’ topic, is a very creditable defence of polyamory. Against, all her earlier learned behaviours, Kaitlin is being forced to accept that she is in love with at least two men, and that for the survival of the family firm, they must all accept and learn to deal with this. That this is done via a multitude of passionate encounters, some resulting in pregnancies (that plural ‘s’ is not a mistake) only adds to the fun of the adventures.
We also get a broadening out of the range of deities involved in the action. The earlier books had focused strongly on Central European Celtic mythology, in book four the spectrum broadens out to include Northern, Germanic and Nordic elements. I was bemused to note the arrival of Taranis, a wide-spread Celtic Thunder Deity, as the name reminded me of the powerful Baltic Thunder God Taarapita. Initially this mixing up of belief systems annoyed me until I recognised it as a replaying of Nikos Theodorakis’ ‘One God behind all the masques’ concept of the unity of faith behind the differences, and the ways in which we can benefit by accepting a variety of belief systems across many different cultures.
So, behind the fun, games, mystical journeys, quips and steamy sex (If Ms Reamer keeps this up, next year, I’m going to nominate her for the Bad Sex Award), some very serious observations about human behaviour and its potential to change and adapt. Finely, the next book is promised to be the conclusion. I hope so. If she does a GRRM on us, I’m gonna be very annoyed. I do have a suggestion for a new series: What about exploring Dagmar’s story; how did she get to be the way she is? Has she any possibility of redemption?
My only real criticism is that Kaitlin seems to exist in a world where her only important relationships are with men. For this I’m giving 4****, a few too many men - not enough women.