Wizard's Shadow

Dexter ( The Winter King's War ) offers here a largely predictable tale that is not much energized by its major device: Crocken, a simple peddler, has his own shadow replaced with that of a powerful wizard seeking revenge for his own murder. The peddler is compelled by the shadow to travel to a neighboring kingdom. Along the way, Crocken saves the life of a princess from a wild, charging boar and the story takes on themes of mistaken identity. Hailed as a heroic merchant-adventurer in the new kingdom, Crocken and his wizard shadow take up occupancy inside a royal court where intrigue over succession to the throne runs rampant. Through a series of fumbles and stumbles, Crocken becomes a key player in the intrigue, ingratiating himself with the man who becomes king. Through it all, the demanding shadow leaves the peddler little choice but to follow his captor's whims. Though the writing and plotting are clear, the rags-to-riches story, unfortunately, never really gets moving, and most of the potentially interesting characters are never fully realized. (Aug.)