Parallels: The Black-Eyed Susan (On Dark Shores Prequel) - J.A. Clement

Title: The Black-Eyed Susan (On Dark Shores Prequel)
Author: J.A. Clement
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2012
Formats: Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
Smashwords (Free)
Amazon UK

Review:
“The Black-Eyed Susan” is a short story that serves as a prequel to JA Clement’s “On Dark Shores” series (for the review of book 1 in the series please click here). I decided to read this short story as I have enjoyed the series so far and I did have some time to waste as I wait for the 3rd book in the series to be written.

The story is set ten years prior to the events contained within the first book in the series and it details the meeting between the Captain of a ship called the Black-Eyed Susan and a moneylender known as Copeland. Basically, Copeland has set up events to ensure that the Captain would be unable to repay his debts and would therefore forfeit the ship and this short story details the initial outcomes of this.

This really is a very short piece of fiction and therefore for someone new to the series I am not sure there is enough time to really detail the characters that will go on to influence the series of novels. However, the basics fundamental morals of the characters are there to see which should pique the interest of any reader. In addition, the writing is concise, descriptive and formatted well which is of course a good advert for the series as a whole.

To be honest, I believe that this book will appeal most to those who have already started reading the series and are familiar with the characters and rich setting. It really does fill out some of the key characters and further explains some of the motives for their future actions. However, there is still be enough here for new readers to gain a nice quick introduction to what is a varied and interesting world. So I can only advise that people go and pick this up, especially as it can usually be found for free on various websites.