We are taken on a dark fantasy journey in The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning that takes a familiar genre story and gives us a unique story that was extremely well told.
Jack Corman is struggling. Jobless, jaded and facing the threat of eviction, he’s also reeling from the death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. However, things get crazier when he returns to his decaying childhood home, where he is confronted with the impossible — the puppet heroes from The Shadow Glass are alive, and they need his help. Tipped into a desperate quest to save the world from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with an excitable fanboy and a spiky studio exec to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy and ignite a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do Bob proud.
Josh Winning’s writing really shines in The Shadow Glass. He weaves together elements of dark fantasy and 1980s cinema to create a truly unique reading experience. As you read through this novel you can feel Winning’s love for Henson Company puppet classics such as Labyrinth, Dark Crystal and The Never-Ending Story. However, he takes these types of classic stories and gives us a fresh and engaging story that stands out in the genre.
We feel for the struggles of Jack Corman from the beginning and that alone was enough to allow us to connect with his pain. But when Corman has to now save the world alongside the puppet heroes from The Shadow Glass that are now alive it becomes even more engrossing.
While The Shadow Glass is a dark fantasy adventure, at the heart of the it is a story of pain, loss, redemption and overcoming the pressure of a famous and odd father. Getting out from the shadow of his father while dealing with his loss can be a huge burden for someone to bare, but Winning also tosses in live puppets.
As someone who was born in the 1980s I can connect with the dark fantasy puppet stories, maybe not as much as Winning, but The Shadow Glass did bring me back. However, Josh did it in a way that made it modern. The Shadow Glass from Josh Winning is a captivating dark fantasy story with a twist. A nostalgia driven book with heart and adventure.
The Shadow Glass is available at bookstores everywhere. The audiobook is available on Libro.fm, narrated by Colin Mace.
