The Shadow of the Lion

Written by Eric Flint, Mercedes Lackey and Dave Freer

Narrated by Richard Ferrone

ADVENTURES IN AN OTHER-WORLDLY NEW-AGE VENICE it is the year 1537. The great winged Lion stares over a Venice where magic thrives. The rich Venetian Republic is a bastion of independence and tolerance. Perhaps for that reason, it is also corrupt, and rotten with intrigue. But for the young brothers Marco and Benito Valdosta, vagabond and thief, Venice is simply-home. They have no idea that they stand at the center of the city's coming struggle for its very life. They know nothing of the powerful forces moving in the background. They have barely heard of Chernobog, demonlord of the North, who is shifting his pawns to attack Venice in order to cut into the underbelly of the Holy Roman Empire. All Marco and Benito know is that they're hungry and in dangerous company: Katerina the smuggler, Caesare the sell-sword, Montagnard assassins, church inquisitors, militant Knights of the Holy Trinity, Dottore Marina the Strega mage . . . and Maria. Maria might be an honest canaler, but she had the hottest temper a boy could find. Yet among the dark waters of the canals lurk far worse dangers than a hot-tempered girl. Chernobog has set a monster loose to wreak havoc on the city. Magic, murder and evil are all at work to pull Venice down. Fanatical monks seek to root out true witchcraft with fire and sword. Steel-clad Teutonic knights, wealth traders, church dignitaries and great Princes fight and plot for control of the jewel of the Mediterranean. And somehow all of these, from thieves to mages to princes, must gather around Marco and his brother Benito, under the shadow of the great winged lion of Venice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781980050926

Reviews for The Shadow of the Lion

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this years ago in Baen's free library and quite liked it, but the series was never finished. Now that a third (or fourth, depending on how you're counting) book has come out, I picked it up again.

I don't know Dave Freer's work at all, but I can say this book - and series, really - is exactly what you'd expect from Lackey and Flint working together. Complex plotting, lots of military and history tidbits for their own sake, and many, many viewpoints from Flint, and straightforward, likable, if not tremendously deep or original characters and prose from Lackey. (While "the whore with a heart of gold" is done often, it's seldom done better than here - Francesca is probably my favorite character in these books.)

The book's biggest flaw is the pacing. The worldbuilding and plotting is painstakingly done, but it takes pages and pages and pages, and I'm not sure a mad editor with a hatchet wouldn't have improved the tale. But, you know, it's Eric Flint - anyone who's encountered his work should be expecting it.

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is my second attempt at this book, I only managed a chapter or two the first time.It is not especially good. There are many characters introduced quickly at the beginning, and many of them are never developed beyond their stereotypes. The oft mentioned 'complex intrigue' was rather simple, once I managed to remember the names of the players.I'm about to start the sequel, because I am intrigued by the concept of the Order of Hypatia.