Dudek creates strong characters and builds a complex plot. The Christian overtones that Dudek readily admits are present in the work are a bit obvious. For example, any reference to the King of Arvalast is done in capital letters, including all pronouns, as one would refer to God, whereas other characters are not treated as such. If Dudek had made this a bit more subtle, the Christian symbolism would still be there, and the work would have a wider appeal as does C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which is also a Christian allegory and a battle between good and evil.

Unfortunately, Shadows in Woodend leaves the reader hanging in the middle of the action, not knowing what will happen next. Unlike the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which resolves some of the questions of plot in each book and leaves the reader with a sense of purpose restored (an ending of sorts) before continuing on the road to Mordor, this book just stops at a crucial time in the story. That makes me feel that this book is really a section of a greater work, like a clearly marked "Book I," in a large novel. Instead, it was published as a separate book but seems unfinished as one.

In all fairness, that response may be due to the fact that I'm desperate to find out what happens to all of the characters that I have come to know in Shadows in Woodend and I want to find out what happens next. So, my message to Peter Dubek is: Finish the next installment and get it out to the public because we want to know what happens!