: REVIEWS :

I have lost count of the number of novels that try to elevate their status by calling themselves literary fiction, but Shadows from the Sun by John Gargrave is almost a textbook definition of what good literary fiction actually is. The prose is comfortable, unpretentious, and accessible, while still being polished. The dialogue is authentic and the story unfolds at a believable, forward-moving pace. I have been involved with the uncontacted tribe protection organization Survival International for over a decade. I connected deeply with the concept of an entire way of life being obliterated as the outside world comes to take what has, for thousands of years, belonged to the wild…and those who have inhabited it for just as long. Gargrave gives us an engrossing plot but, at its core, the novel is a human interest story that is fictional but not entirely based on pure imagination. Neither group is perfect but only one, led by a single man, has made it this way. And for all the longing for a virtual utopia, Gargrave delivers the goods in an exceptional body of work. Very highly recommended.

Review Rating: Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite

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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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In John Gargrave’s Shadows from the Sun, unexpected events plunge gold miner Ryan Farraday and an unlikely assortment of humanity into the vast, untamed reaches of Canada’s British Columbia. In their struggle for survival, they stumble upon a seemingly Edenic settlement of indigenous people who may or may not be as they appear. As Farraday becomes enmeshed in the surreal subculture and acquaints himself with individual members of this “lost tribe,” he looks within as well as without for answers. He is especially drawn to Lunara, a complex young woman who most impacts his journey of self-awareness. Their relationship unfolds in a series of haunting, touching, sometimes disturbing encounters that will resonate with the reader long afterward. Encompassing all is the wilderness setting, menacing and omnipresent, rendered in lush, evocative imagery as mesmeric and as much a character as Lunara herself. This is a knockout debut novel!

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sangabriel 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.

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.

Terry Janes
Kelowna, British Columbia

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

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!

Linda Follis
Toronto, Ontario

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Positively cinematic. I’m already casting.

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.

Kenneth I. Watts
Neavitt, MD

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