Shadowplay

Shadowplay is the second book in the Shadowmarch tetrology, by Tad Williams. It was released in hardcover in the US in March, 2007 and has been released with a region-specific hard cover (see illustration below) in the United Kingdom (March 1, 2007). Book one, Shadowmarch, was published in November 2004. Book three of Shadowmarch, Shadowrise was released in March, 2010. A fourth book, planned for late 2010, will complete the series.

Shadowmarch was originally released between June 2001 and August 2002 as a bi-weekly episodic serial online, with a one-time $14.99 charge necessary to read chapters beyond the five initial free ones, however a lack of subscribers led to the completed first novel (and subsequent volumes) returning to orthodox publishing. The book contains additional chapters not found in the original online version.

Originally, Tad Williams conceived Shadowmarch as an idea for a fantasy movie and later a fantasy TV series. Shadowmarch became a print project only after both options fell through.

Originally, Michael Whelan was the cover artist for Shadowmarch and indeed for most Tad Williams books since 1988, but since he is now concentrating on his fine-art work, artist Todd Lockwood has taken over the series from him. The Shadowplay cover features a painting of Xis, the city of the Autarch.