This fictional world created by Alexey Pehov is full of standard fantasy fare but it also has some interesting quirks mixed in along the way that give it some uniqueness. However, this being the first work of Pehov's to be translated from his native Russian into English you can tell that some of the charm has been lost in the translation. It all starts with the King making Shadow Harold (a thief) an offer he can't refuse - either Harold goes into an ancient tomb and retrieves a powerful artifact needed to save the kingdom or he gets thrown in prison for the rest of his life. Harold, being the practical sort, agrees to go on the quest because it at least offers him a small chance of survival, unlike the prison. A standard fantasy party of adventurers is put together and the quest begins...

Unfortunately Shadow Prowler then gets mired down in so many side stories and flashbacks that by the end Harold and his party of adventurers haven't even reached the first city along their route. It really feels like a partial and incomplete story when it is over so don't start this series if you aren't planning to read all three books. Book two, Shadow Chaser, is an appropriate follow up as it shares the same strengths and weaknesses as the first book. The strength of this series lies in the fantasy world that Pehov has created. Despite being filled with mostly standard fantasy races and monsters, the world has depth to it and there is a lot of history and background that gets explored. This overall story arc is interesting and that is good since it needs to carry the character dialogue, which is a real weakness, especially the exchanges between Shadow Harold and the jester Kli-Kli. The intended humor of the exchanges wind up missing the mark and the jester is more annoying than he is funny.

At the end of book two the party of adventurers has still not arrived at the catacombs, again due to tangents and flashbacks, so it doesn't seem possible that the story will wrap up in book three, Shadow Blizzard, but it does so nicely. Luckily many of the flashbacks along the way were worth the distraction as they contained a lot of the world building that gave the story needed depth but in total it still felt a bit disjointed. It is likely a side effect of the translation from Russian to English but it kept me from becoming invested heavily in the characters and thus it never fully grabbed me.

The audiobooks are read by veteran narrator MacLeod Andrews and this definitely helps. He does an excellent job as usual.