Dreams and Shadows: A Novel

Screenwriter and acclaimed film critic C. Robert Cargill makes his fiction debut with Dreams and Shadows, taking beloved fantasy tropes, giving them a twist, and turning out a wonderful, witty, and wry take on clash between the fairy world and our own.Something is missing from Ewan and Colby’s lives. Residing in the corners of their memories is their time in Limestone Kingdom, a realm filled with magic and mystery, a world where only some may travel amongst the menagerie of mystical souls and sinister demons.Cargill offers well-crafted characters and an absorbing, intricate plot that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Lev Grossman. Dreams and Shadows pulls you into an extraordinary universe of darkness that exposes the magic and monsters in our world, and in ourselves.

BookPage

“A potent introduction to a world where the wondrous is rarely wonderful, the best intentions are guaranteed to roam farthest astray, and the reader is destined to keep turning the pages until the (somewhat) bitter end.”

Library Journal

“Hard to put down…definitely going to attract readers of contemporary fantasy, particular those who enjoy Neil Gaiman’s adult books or Lev Grossman’s The Magicians.”

Booklist

“Richly imagined...an auspicious debut.”

Starburstmagazine.com

“Thoroughly enchanting.”

Tor.com

“Dark, comedic, and unsettling, Dreams and Shadows is everything an urban fantasy sets out to be.”

Breitbart/ Big Hollywood

“Cargill proves with Dreams and Shadows that he’s not just a writer capable of creating and presenting dense mythology well...but that he is also a talented storyteller with a visual sense about his prose that edges on riveting.”

SFRevu

“The rich language, world building, and moral questions posed make for fascinating reading. Much of the novel is dark, but hope and redemption form the bedrock of the complex characters.”

MTV Geek

“Screenwriter and former film critic C. Robert Cargill’s urban fantasy novel creates a rich universe full of dangerous and fascinating characters....the world that Cargill has created here is too rich to abandon.”

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Exceptional worldbuilding, sure-handed plotting and well-rounded characters, even the nasty ones, abound, and the whole impressive enterprise moves smartly along through a fairy culture with a structure and motivations sharply different from that of humans. A mesmerizing and highly original debut.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In this beautifully written debut.... The universe is richly detailed, and issues of destiny and sacrifice give the story depth…for those that enjoy a rollercoaster ride into the depths of strangeness and despair.”

From the Back Cover

A wonderful modern tale of magic and mystery, an amazing storytelling debutThere is another world beyond our own . . . nce bold explorers and youthful denizens of this magical realm, now Ewan's an Austin musician who just met his dream girl, while Colby cannot escape an innocent wish. But while they left the Limestone Kingdom as children, it has never forgotten them. And in a world where angels relax on rooftops, whiskey-swilling genies and foul-mouthed wizards argue metaphysics, and monsters in the shadows feed on fear, you can never outrun your fate.

About the Author

C. Robert Cargill is the author of Dreams and Shadows and Queen of the Dark Things. He has written for Ain’t it Cool News for nearly a decade under the pseudonym Massawyrm, served as a staff writer for Film.com and Hollywood.com, and appeared as the animated character Carlyle on Spill.com. He is a cowriter of the horror films Sinister and Sinister 2, and Marvel’s Dr. Strange. He lives with his wife in Austin, Texas.

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