Customer Reviews
great book - By: TLN, 20 Oct 2008 
oh WOW this book was great just glad what i got it when i got the 1st book & book 3 to read one after the other i could not put them down & now i am waiting for the next one they are full of action & you get thinking that you are reallly living as cassie if you get in to your books like me & can get the pictures in you head as you read. you reallly get in to it a great book & left me wanting more not looking for alll her books
Four and a Half Stars - By: Lesley70, 06 Oct 2008 
I remember the first book in the Cassandra Palmer series finished on something of a cliffhanger & I admit here to only having a vague memory of Book 1 when I started Claimed by Shadow. I do remember having a problem with some infodumping in Touch the Dark (Bk1) & that Karen Chance is very good at writing first lines.
The first line situation is still the same
"Any day that starts off in a demon-filled bar in a casino designed to look like Hell isn't likely to turn out well."
But the info-dumping? Gone. Or at least become so much smoother & integrated into the plot that I didn't notice it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even though I spent a fair bit of time confused about what was going on, especiallly at the beginning - mainly because Claimed by Shadow does not pick up smoothly from the end of Touch the Dark. However, I do think on a second read through things will gel together more, & I'm a big fan of books with high re-readability.
Essentiallly Cassie is still trying to clean up the mess from the end of Touch the Dark. Still not completely in control of her powers she's pursuing Tony, attempting to keep her friends safe & trying to stop Myra from messing with the timeline, without making things worse than they already are.
The plot itself, starts with a bang & doesn't let go. This does mean that moments of internal reflection are few & far between. Some terrible things happen & Cassie doesn't reallly get a chance to process them, she just has to cope with each impending crisis as it looms. So this is something of a rollercoaster ride, leaving you franticallly turning the pages wanting to know what happens next. But it works. Cassie is a character (not dissimilar to Kate Daniels) who things just happen to. She's almost like a magnet for bad karma.
The book is chock full of snappy banter & quotable dialogue. And though some characters only appear briefly they have a big impact on the storyline. Claimed by Shadow made me smile, made me teary & made me hungry for the next book. Highly recommended (I think Ilona Andrews fans would like this series, if they aren't reading it already).
Book 1 - Touch the Dark
Book 3 - Embrace the Night
Book 4 - Curse the Dawn (April 2009)
Karen Chance has a new series set in the same Universe.
Midnight's Daughter (Dorina Basarab #1) October 2008.
Not quite as good as the first, but still essential reading! - By: L. Felthouse, 09 Dec 2007 Having been enthrallled by the book previous to this, Touch the Dark, I dove straight into this one when I finished it. And I'm very glad I did. It was definitely better to read the two books back-to-back as the plot is complicated in places. I think Claimed by Shadow will be much easier to follow when the first book is still fresh in your mind.
Anyway, onto the action. We left Cassie Palmer as heir to the role of Pythia - an immensely powerful magical being whose job it is to travel back & forth in time to solve problems & eradicate any rogues that are trying to alter history. The only problem is, Cassie doesn't want the job. If she becomes Pythia, she will have every type of magical creature after her (even more than usual) to either eradicate or use her power for their own devices. She already has an immense amount of this power due to a chance meeting with the old Pythia in the previous novel. But Cassie doesn't dare to use the power because she's not entirely sure what will happen. Cassie just wants a quiet life, but unfortunately for her, this is never going to happen.
The narrative continues with Cassie desperately trying to get out of trouble without using her power, but she is endangering other people in the process. If it wasn't for the fact she was still chasing the vampire Tony to avenge her parents, she probably would have disappeared without a trace by now. But with the mage Pritkin by her side, she is still attracting trouble from every direction. And to add even more problems to Cassie's list - it appears that the vampire Mircea has put a geis on her - which basicallly is a spell that makes her "belong" to him. If any other man got close to her then the spell would prevent anything from happening between them. This also has the additional effect of making the two very attracted to one another. And the geis appears to be working whenever they meet, in whatever time, which certainly complicates matters.
Cassie is less than impressed that everyone is trying to control her & her life. This is the reason she doesn't want to become Pythia, because the Fey, mages & vampires alike will alll be trying to tell her what to do in that role. So she decides to fight back, & go against expectations of her & how she should behave. Oh, & try to stop her rivals killing her, of course.
I did reallly enjoy this book, but I don't think it was as good as the first one. Given the way the first one ended I was expecting literary fireworks with the second. It did start off reallly action-packed & exciting, but I think there was potential to add to this. The whole thing about Mircea & the geis was exciting... & the sizzling-hot passion between Cassie & Tomas certainly got me hot under the collar, but I almost felt this book was simply "padding" to make way for the next book. But I'll still definitely be getting the next one, I'd love to see what happens next.
Don't let this review put you off though. It's still an excellent book that had me hooked. I love the characters (particularly Cassie, a true modern-day heroine) & the supernatural elements, but I thought there would be more loose ends tied up than there were.
Slightly Disapointed - Touch the Dark was better - By: Tahra, 08 Sep 2007 
Did not live up to expectations. The ending was not good. What happened to Tomas in the end? Maybe I skipped more than I should have.
I was hoping Mircae was going to perform the ritual. After alll it was Tomas who did it under not so special circumstances.
The title should read Claimed by the shadowS.
However, sadly, i think i will continue to reading further series for Mircea character.
How long until the next one........??? - By: clairefromwales, 14 Jul 2007 I loved 'Touch the Dark' & have been dying for the next installlment to arrive. Fortunately, it didn't disappoint!
The plot traces Cassie's journey from partial Pythia to the real deal, while acquiring some new problems in the form of a malfunctioning geis & a quest for a book of Merlin's spell - & she's still looking for her vampire nemesis, Tony. The ongoing war that pitches the Vampire Senate & the Silver Circle against Rasputin & the Black Circle is rumbling on, but is not central to developments.
The plot meshes beautifully with the previous novel, with little strands being picked up & developed.
The author's style is fluent & highly engaging. The book is written in the first person from Cassie's perspective & it works reallly well.
It's also extremely funny in places.
The descriptions in the book are wonderful. Scenes such as Dante's casino are vividly described, but so are the action scenes - & there are some real gems like Mac's tatoo parlour.
Most of the characters from the first book return & there are a few lovely new characters.
Cassie is a great lead character, with lots of personality & her conflicted feelings about her new powers & the motivations of those around her are nicely pitched. Her relationship options get a bit complex, with her getting intimate with one character, desperate to get in the same position with another & rather alarmed to discover another one apparently rather likes her. This is alll well handled & the differing responses to each make sense.
Mircea returns & is still enticing although he doesn't have a lot to do apart from respond to the geis & help Cassie out.
We also get to meet Mac, a retired war mage. He's a lovely character & rather uniquely 'good' person in the book.
But the standing ovation has to be reserved for Pritkin. He is such a fantastic character - one of those that just spring up of the page with the force of their personality. He's as aggressive as ever, but occasionallly shows some other facets to his personality. Most of my favourite bits of the book had him in.
I can't wait until the next installlment.
