The Shadow Order - Rebecca F. John

 

It is my absolute pleasure to be kicking off the blog tour for The Shadow Order today.

I'm starting with a snippet of exclusive content from Rebecca to whet your appetite:

Hangman’s Alley

In a grimy corner of Copperwell, underneath elevated railway tracks and thick clouds of billowing locomotive smoke, sits Hangman’s Alley. Here Betsy – full name, Elizabeth Blue – lives in the attic room of the laundry where she works, with the owner Mrs Saltsburg and her cat Madam Bee. Madam Bee has fur blacker than coal and was once employed to keep the mice out of Saltsburg’s Laundry, but Madam Bee refuses to do as she is bid and she spends most of her time sleeping on the freshly washed clothes. Madam Bee doesn’t care to know much, but she does know all of Betsy’s dreams because Betsy has whispered them to her while she has scrubbed skirts and jackets and socks clean. And what the cat doesn’t care to know is that Betsy loves to study the stars, and that she’s not half so confident as she pretends to be, and that she longs for nothing more than a great adventure.

And if you still need any persuading (why would you after that?), here's my review:

Everybody in Copperwell lives by night: they work and play at night and, by law (The Shadow Order), must be at home before dawn so that they cannot see their shadows which have changed and show their true selves. However, friends Teddy, Betsy and Effie decide to defy that order and the Unified Government to watch the sun rise, but whilst there, they realise that things are different when they find an orchid mantis which shouldn't be in the UK.  Minutes later, they hear a woman in the street below them who is also defying the order, shouting about the government and the orrery.  When the constables drag her away, the three friends become determined to find out Prime Minister Bythesea and his government are up to, what the orrery is and why everyone is banned from seeing their shadows.

There is a definite darkness to The Shadow Order, not just in the fact that it is largely set at night, but also in that it is very much a book about control.  It is evident that the government are controlling the people of Copperwell: they are forced to live by night and hide by day and are clearly terrified of the constables and the consequences of breeching The Shadow Order, after all, readers see the constables' response to the woman in the street and the assumption the children have of what would have happened to her.  

The three friends, Teddy, Betsy and Effie, are very different children who are united in their friendship as well as their desire to get to the bottom of what is happening and their bravery is seen in so many different ways and for different reasons.  As the book progresses, the danger they are in increases, leaving the reader, at times, uncertain as to what will happen.

The Shadow Order is an immersive book to be savoured and not to be rushed; it is one to contemplate and to take in the world building and description which is clever and vivid.  In my mind I imagined a time many years ago but this could equally be a tale set in the future.  It is a story with messages about the environment that are relevant today and show us what over-control can do, but there are also messages about friendship and being your true self.

As I finished the book, I took a moment to sit and savour the ending (I won't give anything away) and to hope that there may be a second book so I know what happens next.

Publishing today, The Shadow Order will be a perfect read as the days shorten and the longer, darker nights descend.