Lord Tophet: A Shadow Bridge Novel by Gregory Frost

Leodora is the daughter of the legendary shadow puppeteer named Bardsham. Long ago, her father disappeared, and she was raised by his former helper and associate, Soter. Now, she has formed a company of her own, with Soter, the musician Diverus, who no longer knows his real name, and some of her father's other former associates.

She has passed over the Bridge that links the spans, and has come to the realm of Colemaigne. Colemaigne had once hosted her father, but was blighted by an attack by the God of Chaos, Lord Tophet. The reason for the attack is unknown. Some say her father insulted Lord Tophet, or stole from him, but no one knows the truth. But when she arrives in Colemaigne, she walks out onto the Dragon span, walking the labyrinth that is the presence of the Gods.

There, she has a vision and recieves a gift of a pendant that talks in the form of a golden lion. Diverus is drawn into the vision with her. He wants to know his real name, but has forgotten it. When both return to Colemaigne, the Gods have restored part of the city. This emboldens the people, who flock to the newly restored theatre, where Leodora will perform, under her stage name of "Jax".

But Diverus' fascination with the Shadow Bridge visible from where they entered Colemaigne leads them both into a shadow world that may take all their cleverness and ingenuity to get out of, and may lead Lord Tophet back to Leonora and Colemaigne. But can she defeat the world-spanning power of a God of Chaos and free her mother from imprisonment in a shadow world.

This was an interesting read for me. The book is one tale, filled with many other tales that entertain and delight, but the story doesn't always seem to be going anywhere. It circles and eddies, drawing back amongst itse;f and then turning into a new direction.

There was a lot in the story that puzzled me, such as the span, the bridge, and the bowl with the labyrinth that seem to be there on every span. I'm not sure how the world fits together or even what it looks like, and that contributes to the strange, almost dream-like nature of this particular volume. I'm not sure if these things are even explained in "Shadow Bridge", the previous volume, mainly because I haven't read it.

The setting is mainly fantasy, but as described, it could also be science fiction or speculative fiction. What the book is mainly about is secrets. Everyone in the book has secrets, from Leonora/Jax to Diverus to Soter and even Lord Tophet himself. In many cases, these secrets end up causing problems, but in Jax's case, her secret ends up saving everyone, although in the end, she leaves everything and everyone behind, even the puppets that make up her craft.

I found the story confusing and strangely enlightening at the same time. Like the book itself, my reaction is a study in contrasts, and the feeling I got from the book isn't of the sort that makes it easy to say, "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" or "I hated it. Conversely, I have no strong feelings about the story either way, so I can't exactly say I'll be recommending this to anyone.