: REVIEWS :

 Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite

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A Triumph of Truth and Imagination

Shadows From the Sun is a remarkable achievement—an intimate work that transcends fiction to become a testament of memory, land, and human connection. With uncommon grace, the author transforms personal history into universal experience, weaving a narrative shaped by careful stewardship rather than routine publication.

Set against a British Columbian paradise rendered with breathtaking vividness, the novel explores the provisional nature of Eden itself—how beauty must be guarded, and how truth can simultaneously endanger and illuminate what we cherish. The story bears the weight of lived life: friendships, loves, losses, and the fragile edges of recollection, all carried with honesty and courage.

In an age crowded with noise, Shadows From the Sun stands apart. It listens. It invites reflection. It restores a sense of quiet dignity too rare in contemporary literature. For its emotional resonance, its precise and compassionate craft, and its ability to awaken readers to their own forgotten worlds, it is a richly deserving contender for Book of the Year.

Review Rating: For its exceptional literary merit, emotional integrity, and rare quiet brilliance.

Reviewed by Keith Alan Watts

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(Shadows From The Sun) raises some intriguing questions. Can a human whose life has been steeped in trouble cause trouble in a community that does not know sin? Can a person who may, ultimately, not be able to accept a form of redemption be redeemed by positive influences? The complications of Farraday’s life . . . are still with him, in his thoughts and deeds . . . The protagonist, who has lived in both worlds, must try to resolve the complexities. Farraday, who has not often been accustomed to making altruistic sacrifices for love or valor, is faced with a choice that will allow him to discover his soul. Gargrave has written a thought-provoking novel that will undoubtedly give its fans much to discuss and contemplate.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

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Review Rating:

sangabriel for Amazon

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More Than Just an Adventure 

Such an intriguing story and concept! I was especially drawn to the idea of discovering a hidden paradise untouched by the outside world, and the question of what happens when that innocence suddenly comes into contact with everything we bring with us as human beings.

I also love that there seems to be more beneath the surface of the adventure, with deeper themes about human nature, morality, love, and the idea of paradise itself. Ryan and Lunara’s story, the mystery surrounding this hidden world, and the beautiful setting of the Canadian wilderness all make the premise incredibly captivating.

A very original idea that stays in your mind and makes you want to keep discovering what is really hiding behind the shadows.

Review Rating:

Yngrid Braz Galtaroça for Amazon

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Shadows From The Sun is a haunting, layered, and deeply atmospheric novel that blends adventure, myth, and moral inquiry in a way that stays with you long after the final page. What begins as a desperate struggle for survival in the mountains of British Columbia slowly transforms into a meditation on innocence, corruption, and the unintended consequences of human presence.

The story follows a group of mining supervisors trapped underground after an uprising seals them inside the mountain. Their journey through volcanic tunnels, rivers, storms, and loss feels almost mythic—an odyssey carved through darkness. When they finally encounter Lunara and her people, the tone shifts into something more fragile and unsettling. This hidden community lives without violence, grief, or choice—an Eden untouched by the world’s harsher truths.

Gargrave handles this contrast with a literary subtlety I really appreciated. The prose lingers on atmosphere: the slate cities carved into hillsides, the quiet fields ready for harvest, the eerie stillness of animals that do not fear death. The tension builds not through action alone, but through the moral weight of every interaction. Ryan’s group brings hunger, fear, desire, and ambition into a world that has never known them—and the consequences ripple outward in ways none of them expect.

The novel’s exploration of innocence is especially powerful. Lunara’s confusion about violence, her attempts to feed the group without harm, and her gentle guidance toward the Shaman all highlight the fragility of a society built on peace. When outside forces—both from Ryan’s group and from the past—begin to fracture that peace, the story becomes a quiet study in how easily purity can be disrupted, even without malice.

This is literary fiction with a mythic pulse—haunting, provocative, and quietly profound. A book that stays with you long after the final page.

Review Rating:

Ruby Miller for Amazon

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This story will have a familiar, comfortable feel to it for many readers, for it reads more like a nineteenth-century legend than a modern-day ‘Survivor’ TV episode. Comparisons with Heart of Darkness or Lost Horizon are inevitable, yet it can also be read almost as a soap opera, with the petty vindictiveness, spite and loose morals of its protagonists.

Take this book to the beach, and consume it with a chilled bottle of Chardonnay. It will make a great summer read.

Then leave it for a few days, and open that second bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon by the campfire and read it for a second time, luxuriating in the allegory, the complex characters and the well-crafted sentences. It will be well worth it. 

Review Rating:

R.D. Johnston
Calgary, Alberta

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. . . . an absorbing adventure fantasy exploring the tensions between love and hate, good and evil . . . . on many levels, a journey into the depths of man’s primordial beliefs as much as a journey into unknown lands. 

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Terry Janes
Kelowna, British Columbia

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Allegory – Eden revisited

Shadows from the Sun can be compared to Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, similar as adventure fiction, where explorers from the modern world accidentally discover an isolated, secret society cut off from the rest of civilization. However, the author’s style blends literary fiction and adventure, with philosophical and moral allegory. The classic cultural clash between the pristine innocence of a sheltered paradise without sin or violence, confronted by the greed and corruption of an outside world, continually force a moral dilemma of values upon the main characters.

Review Rating:

watsamata for Amazon

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Worth the read

Presents intricately detailed descriptions that create vivid imagery allowing the reader to feel immersed in the story. Each chapter builds anticipation, leaving the reader eager to discover what’s going to happen next!

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Karen for Amazon

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. . . . an expedition to self-enlightenment . . . . a rich tapestry stitched together by superbly crafted word images.

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Colleen Phillips
Mill Bay, British Columbia

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. . . . provided great enjoyment . . . . many twists and turns and surprises . . . . would make a great adventure movie! 

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Linda Follis
Toronto, Ontario

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Positively cinematic. I’m already casting. 

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J.H. Calvert
Oak Ridge, TN

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Riveting plot twists . . . layered nuance and an epic narrative firmly rooted in the mythic . . . grapples with the eternal questions of innocence and its loss.

A master of tone . . . deftly evoking a narrative of epic scale . . . Mr. Gargrave’s prose at once grabs hold and transports the reader to an otherworld suspended in space and time.

Review Rating:

Kenneth I. Watts
Neavitt, MD

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