3.75 stars⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus books for the e-arc of this new series. This is a great story full of fight scenes and these characters and the whole story line have a real heart. Not my type of book but it was a very good first book of a new series for the author.

So, I’m pretty new to the world and work of Sebastien De Castell, having only read The Malevolent Seven before entering the world of Play of Shadows. Before I continue for all those Greatcoat fans, this book isn’t part of the main series and shouldn’t be picked up with a hope of continuing their story however, it can be read as a standalone and for a newbie like me to the Greatcoat world is a great introduction.
De Castell delivers stylish and witty world building, snarky and fun quotes and characters, conspiracies, mystery, politics and more, all bound up in a fabulous fantasy set in the world of the theatre. Still questioning whether you should pick this one up, read on…
The story is told from the perspective of the protagonist Damelas Chademantaigne, a terrible below par actor, terrible duellist, coward extraordinaire with a preference for running rather than facing a fight but, also a pretty nice guy. Damelas grew up in the care of his grandparents, famed Greatcoats who seemed to overshadow him, leaving him feeling like he could never live up to their hopes and expectations. He has spent his whole life avoiding challenge and following his life long habits, finds himself employed in a theatre as a bit part actor after running away from a duel.
However, there is much more to Damelas than even he suspected, as he discovers that he has a skill that can take him back to inhabit and perform the memories of infamous people who died a century earlier. This magic system is not one I’ve come across in this format before and it was fascinating to read Castell’s development of it into this format, which serves to investigate and bring to light the mystery of events that took place a hundred years earlier.
The plot of the story is well drawn out, bringing together found family and self-discovery tropes within the story, but patience is required initially as the start can feel a little slow however, I would urge you to keep going, the plot and arc are totally engaging and there is some fantastic humour and down right sardonic sarcasm to enjoy.
I absolutely loved the cast of characters, from the truly epitome of the evil villain to the wonderfully flawed theatre cast and crew – they are beautifully eccentric and definitely have a unique approach to self defense that is a delight. I really enjoyed this book and will be on the lookout for the next book in the series, particularly as it will provide an opportunity to dive even deeper into this world and get to know this wonderful cast of characters even more.

Thank you so much to Quercus Books, Jo Fletcher Books and NetGalley for the arc of Play of Shadows by Sebastien De Castell in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Behold! A return to the world of the Greatcoats. You can't guess how excited I was when I learnt this book would be set in the same world as my faves; Falcio, Kest and Brasti. Despite being set in the world of the Greatcoats, this isn't a Greatcoat book by any means, something which took me a minute to get used too, but De Castell brings his usual wit, underdog style characters and adventure to this story that ensured I stayed glued to the pages.

Damelas is a sub-par actor, a lousy dueler, but a pretty decent person all in all. Forever in the shadow of his Grandparents, both famed Greatcoats themselves, he never feels like he can live up to their expectations, so he never even tries. But suddenly he starts seeing visions of the past, visions that start taking over his body, and one night he finds himself walking on stage and spouting something many would find seditious. Now under the watchful eye of the Duke and his beautiful assassin, Damelas finds himself drawn into a mystery and conspiracy hundreds of years in the making.

This is a chunk of a book and, in parts I did think it dragged a little, but De Castell knows what he's doing. He uses the slower parts, the parts that seem a little superfluous, to endear us to his well built and chunky cast of characters. Characters that are charming but also incredibly flawed. Though Damelas Shademantaigne may be the star of the show, he is by no means the only star of the book, rather his band of merry men, and women, sometimes steal the show from him. His POV is used to shine the limelight on those around him, as much as to show how well he shines and I really enjoyed how De Castell used him, his actions and some of the situations he finds himself in, to ensure we fall in love with pretty much every character in this book. From Beretto, Damelas's one friend in life, to the other members of his acting troupe, every character is effortlessly brought to life, and they all have a pivotal part to play in the story. My favourites absolutely being Rhyleis and Shariza, both kick ass women in their own rights.

If you're going into this expecting The Greatcoats you might be a little disappointed. It took me a minute to get my bearings, to make me realise that this was going to be a different kind of story than I was expecting. Still one featuring hero's, of a sense, and the evil that they have to defeat, but despite the amount of fighting that takes place, it's a story where the hero doesn't win through battles, but through something much more mundane, sharing the truth. The magic system that De Castell features in this book is an expansion from the Greatcoats series and that allows us to see a type of magic we've never seen before. One which allows Damelas to almost call on figures from the past, bring them onto the stage with him, pouring a truth into his performance, but also bringing to light a piece of history that has been wrongly remembered. I enjoyed the parts where this magic was used, seeing Dameles interact with the historical figures, sometimes even loosing himself to their memories. It added an emotional aspect to the book, but these parts are also what allows him to investigate the current evil he is facing.

I did mention it above, but the pacing was off slightly. It took a while for the actual plot to get going, and I did feel in parts it slowed down a little and made the story drag BUT, despite all that I struggled to put this book down, thanks in large to the strength of his characters, but also the plot itself. It's a mystery that winds itself throughout the story, always keeping us on our toes, making sure we know just enough to stay invested, but never too much to allow us to get ahead of the characters. De Castell's use of plot twists, as well as the slightly more exhilarating scenes, help to propel the plot along, and I enjoyed the romantic aspects that he included. Similarly to the Greatcoats, the romance never takes over the plot, rather adds to it, making us even more invested in the characters and their outcome.

The ending. I loved the ending & I even may have squealed a little bit when a certain character turned up. If you love underdog characters, strong women, plenty of humour, wit and action, I can't recommend this enough. Fans of the Greatcoats will love it, and I think people coming to this world for the first time will find it a great introduction.

A thrilling ride filled with fights, wit, humour, and an actually quite chilling understanding of real world politics and the potential power of subversive conspiracies. It does seem to take an unnecessarily long time to tell the tale but manages to be engaging and entertaining throughout.

A great new swashbuckling series with no-one’s-idea-of-a-hero main character and his trusty band of actors and friends. This is set in the Greatcoats world, some time on. Damelas is in fact the grandson of two Greatcoats. The story is crammed full of fight scenes, at which Sebastien de Castell excels. As always with his books, the characters and story have real heart. Very satisfying! Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Jo Fletcher Books (part of Quercus) for providing me with an ARC of Play of Shadows.

Sadly, this was a 2.5-star read. With this being my most anticipated book of 2024, the expectations were high. Go figure, it was quite a disappointment to find out this wasn't what I had hoped for at all. It is being described as having "swordplay, magic, intrigue, friendships and a swashbuckling adventure" elements I absolutely enjoy in the fantasy I read. But unfortunately, all these topics were lacking. I was never drawn into the story the way I feel like I was supposed to. The characters seemed two-dimensional, especially our main character and his best friend.

This is a hefty book, with my copy being 500 pages exactly, this did feel like a commitment. Don't get me wrong, in comparison to my usual reading pace, I read this fast, with 4 days in total to get through it all. Getting through it quickly did have to do with the writing style, the story is never boring, although it isn't exactly exciting either. The short chapters were a great choice, they kept the story well-structured.

There are two elements put into the plot that significantly dragged my rating down, I will not talk about them in depth, because they might be regarded as spoilers, but I will describe them vaguely.
- The main character goes through the same experience as the main character in Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman. If you know, you know.
- Something very convenient happens towards the end. I enjoy it if authors show some courage and build up the tension, but the opposite happened here.

You might like this book if:
- You have read the other books set in the Greatcoats universe. I haven't. This is considered as a companion to the series, but having read the series previously isn't necessary. There are a lot of mentions to the already existing characters. You'll probably also understand the world building better, as for me, it took quite a while to get used to the different terms.
- You like the setting of a theatre. Most of the story is set in a theatre, we get some scenes from within the city, but that's basically it for different types of settings.
- You judge books by their cover. I'll have to be honest, the visuals of this book are gorgeous. The cover and the illustrations introducing each part of the story are a joy to look at.

Sadly, I won't be continuing the series.

How have I not heard of Sebastian De Castelo until now? I’m honestly shocked, as it appears there is a Greatcoats series that I’ve now added to my TBR as it sounds amazing.

Alas, let’s talk about Play of Shadows, which I read as a standalone. I’m not sure how this book fares as a continuation of a series, but for me it was a wonderful addition to the fantasy genre. It has everything to make a great fantasy novel (and a beginning of a series), from the world building, dueling, complex characters and conspiracies… mixed with the art of theatre. It added a dramatic and over the top layer that, somehow, works beautifully.

Our main character is a man, descendant of Greatcoats and of whom much is expected because of that, that takes refuge in a theatre after running away from a duel. Eventually, he finds out that he has a rare talent that allows him to re-enact scenes of the past and to discover that history, as it is known, is a lie. So he is swept in a conspiracy based on historical events that transpired one hundred years before.

The only less positive thing I have to point out is that the beginning felt a bit slow. But eventually picked up the pace and became fast paced and exciting.

The characters are incredibly flawed but charming, with a sense of humor that made me laugh out loud in some scenes. The eccentric theatre troupe and their attempts to survive violence, danger, the judgement of their audience and political threats, while always keeping hope and sight of what is right, made this such an enjoyable read for me.

I am definitely continuing this series, as I expect that the next book will be even better as it will expand on the mystery and adventure with this cast of wonderful characters.

Thank you very much Quercus Books, Jo Fletcher Books and NetGallery for providing me this ARC.

This is the third book from this author I’ve read and I’ve enjoyed them all! I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley.

This was such a wonderful addition to the fantasy genre. It’s a mix of theatre , duelling, conspiracy and fantasy. This kind of more bardic leaning fantasy I just love.

We have a man on the run from a duel against a woman called the Vixen who will surely kill him. He takes refuge in a theatre where special laws prevent performers from taking part in duels of the kind he’s trying to avoid. A year later and an unusual occurrence during a performance sheds new light on the historical events that inspired the play one hundred years earlier.

This book was phenomenally exciting. It was so fast paced, danger and intrigue round every corner. The characters are so flawed yet charming and the book is genuinely funny at times. The mystery is clever, with long held beliefs challenged as events in the past threaten the safety of the city in the future. The setting all being within one city was a fantastic choice, it added such a sense of being trapped for our main character who faces threats from multiple directions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, I have read the first Greatcoat book which precedes this, but you could read this standalone and still have a fantastic time with this eccentric theatre troupe and their attempts to survive both danger, the judgement of their audience and new political threats.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I liked this, the magical system of the Veristors was quite unique and the story was a nicely paced easy read. I do wish that a bit more lore of the wider world had been included, for example as someone who has not read the greatcoats series it would have been nice to get more of sense of what the greatcoats are and why the main characters grandparents are considered famous. Nonetheless a solid read that I am likely to continue with.

Sebastien de Castell es un autor que había entrado y salido de mi radar en varias ocasiones pero al que no había leído todavía, por lo que Play of Shadows, una novela nueva situada en un universo donde ya había desarrollado toda una saga parecía una oportunidad estupenda para darle un tiento a su escritura. Si me gustaba, había más material del que tirar y si no, pues no pasaba nada. Es por esto también que puedo asegurar que Play of Shadows se puede leer perfectamente sin conocer las otras entregas, aunque aparezcan algunos personajes que son famosos por razones desconocidas para el neófito.


La idea de la que parte es muy atractiva, ya que un joven que huye de un duelo en el que no tiene ninguna posibilidad de victoria solicita una especie de derecho de acogida, pero en vez de en una iglesia en un teatro, por que la ley impide que los actores puedan luchar. Tras una serie de casualidades, consigue su objetivo y le veremos un año después ya totalmente integrado en la compañía de actores. Otra característica muy curiosa de este mundo es que algunos actores son poseídos por los espíritus de los protagonistas de los hechos históricos que representan en el escenario, dotando a la obra de mucha más credibilidad e intriga. O al menos, eso es lo que se dice, porque ya hace mucho tiempo que no parece ser muy cierta esta afirmación. El mundo tras las tramoyas es muy divertido y el comienzo de la novela es entretenidísimo, sobre todo por la impresionante capacidad interpretativa del lector de audiolibro, Joe Jameson , que realmente se pone en el papel de cada farsante y timador que pasa por las páginas de la novela.

Por desgracia, el resto de la novela no llega a ser tan atractiva. La idea de descubrir una conspiración en el presente gracias a los sucesos acontecidos en el pasado y mezclar las dos líneas temporales como imágenes superpuestas me parece bastante atractiva, pero ciertamente limitante, ya que solo podemos ver del pasado el punto de vista del espíritu que posee al actor, dando lugar a una percepción solipsista y engañosa. El libro se alarga, creo que innecesariamente, en estos juegos de sombras (guiño, guiño, codazo, codazo) del pasado para intentar encontrar las raíces de la conspiración, pero la resolución me parece un tanto burda.

Los personajes principales están muy bien definidos, pero en la segunda fila de los secundarios creo que el autor se ha esforzado menos o al menos no ha conseguido que sean tan perfectamente distinguibles. La mayoría de los actores de la compañía, salvo honrosas excepciones, son un conjunto en el que cuesta discernir la individualidad. Se podría decir que estos figurantes tienen líneas de diálogo olvidables. Es posible que en las siguientes entregas de la serie este error se subsane, si de Castell va dando más importancia a otros personajes para dotar de más profundidad al mundo.

Play of Shadows me parece un libro entretenido, con un comienzo más fulgurante que lo que acaba ofreciendo al final, así que no ha conseguido dirimir mi duda sobre si seguir con el autor o no. Ya se verá en un futuro.

Oh my life, why have I not heard of Sebastien De Castell until now? I began reading Play of Shadows a couple of weeks ago, thanks to an ARC from Netgalley, Quercus Books, Jo Fletcher book and the author Sebastien De Castell, and savoured it chapter by chapter, utterly entranced, but then, I also had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, also from Netgalley, Quercus audio and narrated by the incredible Joe Jameson which I used for the last quarter of the book and oh my crikey, mindblowingly brilliant!

The novel is based on Damelas Chademantaigne, a merchants messenger whose sword skills come from acting classes and not deuellists professional training. Damelas runs from an angry mob (the chants are utterly inspired) and tricks a company of actors to unwittingly give him refuge. What was his crime? Why were the mob chasing him? Who is the Vixen and why are they braying for his blood?

De Castell is a master of dialogue and the narrative has a very good balance between dialogue and description, creating a very immersive atmosphere. So much so, I can almost smell the theatre floorboards. Joe Jameson is the perfect choice for De Castells dialogue. He is versatile and incredibly talented, giving each individual character a strong personality and maintaining the character continuity

Play of Shadows has everything a reader could want, action, adventure, swordplay and intrigue, A highly polished plotline and immersive subplots create a full, fleshy dramatic novel that is rich and lustrous, strong yet tender and s such, I am utterly intrigued as to what the other books will be like

I cannot praise this book and the production enough. It was flipping glorious and so very worth the wait. The read is absolutely brilliant, completely chefs kiss and adding the audiobook is the cherry on top. I will certainly be investing in this series, beginning with Play of Shadows when it is released on 28 March 2024. Bravo

Thank you very, very much to NetGalley, Netgalley, Quercus Books, Jo Fletcher Books, the author Sebastien De Castell and narrator Joe Jameson for this outstanding ARC and ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

I love Sebastian’s work and this was an enjoyable read for the most part, but I felt like there was something missing.

I enjoyed it but I was expecting more. I will continue with the series

3.5. This was pretty well written but I felt like there was something missing. I enjoyed quite a few aspects of it and I think the writer is talented.

Another fantastic book from de Castell, set in the world of the Greatcoats. This one follows the narrative of an actor who uses his talents to delve into the past and learn secrets that have an impact on the present.

De Castell's masterful writing weaves an impressive tale with a fantastic plot, intriguing characters, and wondrous storybuilding. Another masterpiece from one of my favourite authors! I can't wait until the next one.

"I'd like to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation to Qureces and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book. To be completely honest, I found it quite challenging to get into the story due to the narrative being told through a play format. Admittedly, this is a spin-off, and I feel that I may have missed out on some of the backstory by not having read the original.

That being said, this adult fantasy book is definitely a unique format from what I'm used to reading. However, it is well-written, and the plot is quite intriguing. For me, however, the book had a slow start. Nevertheless, I found that there were numerous mysteries that were uncovered from the stage as the story progressed, which kept me engaged throughout.

Overall, I appreciated the writing style and the author's ability to develop the characters and plot in such a unique way. While it may not have been my usual preference, I'm glad I stuck with it and found it to be a worthwhile read."

This was brilliant. Superb.

Sebastian de Castell is back in the world of the Greatcoats, and honestly, I just love everything about the world and stories within it.

This really is nothing like the previous Greatcoat series in terms of the story telling or even the story itself. It does, however, have enough links and connections to the Greatcoast series to make it feel a connected series. I love that we didn't just get another book with the same characters (despite loving Kest, Basti, and Falcio) and that we got to explore events through a new main character.
We got to live through our new hero?!? 🧐 Damelas


Damelas Chademantaigne, is the grandson of two Greatcoats but a rubbish sword hand, and his story starts when he escaps the wrath of the Vixen, the most feared duellist in the entire city, by tricking his way into the Operato Belleza and its company of actors.

The story then takes some unexpected turns, and because I want to avoid the spoiler of what drives this story, I'll say no more.

All I will say is that this is more than an honourable inclusion to the Greatcoat series. Deep characters, phenomenal world building, politics and intrigue, and what we have come to expert from SdC incredibly written prose, full of sarcasm, wit, and humour

I have to nail my colours to the mast here straight away. I am a huge fan of Sebastian De Castell, so I am afraid this is going to be a very biased critique of this, the first book in what I am delighted to say is a new series by him.
Play of Shadows has all the trademark, theatrical elements of
novels, the irony being that, for once, the tale is, in fact set in a theatre.
With more than a hint of Shakespeare in Love, the story involves a young man, seemingly nothing and no one significant, who joins a troupe of actors simply to save his own skin when he is running awayfrom having to fight a duel with The Vixen..a duel he easily brought about by his own actions. Only when we realise that he drew The Vixen's wrath onto himself, so that she turned away from fighting a duel with his grandfather, only then do we begin to realise that we have a solid gold hero on our hands..From the first page, the story rattles into action, with plots and sub plots, fighting and vengeance, heroism and deceit,loyalty and treachery, and love and laughter. All the elements of the very best the theatre can offer, and true to the Shakespearean similarities, there is even a ghost demanding his spirit and memory be avenged.
If you are looking for a swashbuckling adventure with a dash of romance and a leaven of humour, then go out and get a copy of thus book, and then, like me, wait impatiently for Book number two in the series to be published!
Thank you NetGalley and Quercus for a great read in this e arc in return for an honest review

**advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
A deft and intriguing story which builds on and significantly adds to the world already established in the original Greatcoats series. It’s often a concern that, having loved an original series so much, any “spin offs” won’t meet the same grade - but there’s nothing to fear here with De Castell, who knows the world he’s created and continues to create, and fills it with characters and stories that feel incredibly real to the reader.
I particularly enjoyed a cameo from a well loved character, and felt it was well handled - genuinely a cameo which enhanced and made sense in the story, rather than just harking back to something readers already liked for no reason.
I look forward to more in this series, and more from De Castell.

’Rest, Rabbit, rest. It's really for the best! There's nowhere left to hide - besides, It's long past time you died!'

O, what wit. What depravity. What deceit. What plots.
3.75🌟

Damelas Chademantaigne, the grandson of two Greatcoats but a rubbish sword hand, only escaped the wrath of the Vixen, the most feared duellist in the entire city, by tricking his way into the Operato Belleza and its company of actors.

However, it appears that there is long-buried truths regarding the current foreign Duke who has commissioned a play that can only be described as treasonous by portraying the duchy's most notorious usurper and child-killer as a hero.

De Castell has a magic with words. A genius with beautiful prose and cutting wit. His main character is always a multitude of emotions, conflict, and tension. He writes drama with such thrill, he describes battle with such vigour, he describes human nature with pessimism sprinkled either hope.

’I can never quite tell if you're a timid person who pretends at times to be brave, or a brave one who's been trying to convince himself for far too long that he's a coward.'

You can feel the absolute passion de Castell has for performance, for all kinds of art.

Sometimes his prose can feel pretentious, out-of-place, indulgent. But this isn’t my first rodeo with his adult fantasy, so I went in knowing what to expect and was delightfully bemused.

’Love is an onion, my boy. Leave it too long and the heart of it will rot.
So you've got to carefully peel back the layers until you find beneath something so beautiful it brings you to tears.'

Thank you to Quercus books for providing the arc in exchange for a review.

I shall preface this by saying I've not yet read the Greatcoats trilogy which shares a universe with this book, but having finally finished it I may have to check it out. I'm certainly looking forward to more in this series. It is something of a slow burner at first, and didn't really pull me in until the second half. The first half gave me similar vibes to The Red Queen's War trilogy by Mark Lawrence, but the main character is actually much more likeable as the story goes on.

It's not a heroic tale in the sense of travelling through 'space' as many fantasy tales do, where the hero must go on a quest to save a city. The action all takes place in one city, and throws back to previous Greatcoat trilogy lore without the reader having to have prior knowledge of it. The plot twists are well written and not immediately obvious, and the supporting cast thoroughly believable.

Using the theatre as a stage for magic is something I've not read a lot of before. It certainly worked well in this case, in my opinion.