The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

The Book of M, by Peng Shepherd, is a quirky, out-there, grab you by-the-pants debut novel. I think it will be one of those books that will leave readers thinking long after the last page has been turned. I predict some will be so-so about it and some will love it. Personally, I fall into the former and I will explain why later.

Sometime in the near future it will happen. People will start to lose their shadows and with it they slowly lose their memories. With the loss of memories comes the ability to perform a deadly and dangerous magic. It starts slowly with one man in India and as it spreads across the globe whole societies began to collapse.

Ory and Max have been hiding out at a remote resort in Virginia since it all began. They are one of the few survivors that still have their shadows until one day, about 2 years after it all started, Max loses her shadow. Max does not want to hurt Ory so she runs away while Ory is out on a foraging trip. When Ory returns, he is beside himself and sets off to find her.

With no trail to follow, Ory heads back to their old home in Arlington. Unbeknownst to him, Max is headed in the total opposite direction. After just a few days she chances upon a group of people that have lost their shadows, but are struggling to remember, and is invited to join them on a journey to New Orleans to meet the One Who Gathers. Rumor has it that they will find answers and help when they arrive.

Meanwhile, Ory finds an old friend in Arlington who leads a small rag tag army against the shadowless. They are trying to save as many books as possible before the shadowless destroy them; because, they too have heard the rumors. The question is, will either of them make it all that distance in this new reality full of unknown dangers?

So what I loved about this book was the beautiful prose. The author did a fabulous job of describing the emotions of both of the main characters. As well as, what it was like to live knowing you were slowly losing pieces of yourself and in the case of Ory, what it was like to watch those you love deteriorate and become something no longer human.

What I did not like was the idea that your memories are tied to your shadow. Let me explain, if you are going to do fantasy, then do fantasy! Set the story in a made up world where the rules of science no longer apply. This mix of real world meets fantasy just did not work for me here. To top it off, the more you got into the story the more outlandish it became. In short, it was not for me.

Despite not liking the premise of the story, the plot was well executed and, as I already stated, the prose was wonderful. This is ultimately what made me keep reading. Despite, what I did not care for, I think this book will appeal to a lot of readers. The book has a lot of depth when it comes to describing humans, and humanity, that acts as a glue to hold everything and elevate it.

I received an ARC from the publisher, via Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program, in exchange for my honest opinion.