Jon Shannow, also know as the Jerusalem Man, is featured in three novels in the Stones of Power series. He’s the most feared gunslinger in this post-apocalyptic world, an incontrovertibly insane man looking for a dead city to atone for past sins. Deeply religious, but follows both the old and new testament Gods as one individual, and deals amazingly well with shooting people dead if they step out of line.
Shannow was described as "Rolynd" by Pendarric in a conversation to the Jerusalem Man:
"The Rolynd is not a race, Shannow; it is a state of being. Your friend Archer has it wrong. A man cannot be born Rolynd or even become Rolynd. It is what he is or what he is not. It is an apartness, a loneliness, a talent. You have not survived this far on skill alone; that within you guides you. You have a sense for danger that you call instinct, but it is far more. Trust it … and remember the sword.”
Rolynd is a state of being, and with it, Shannow was afforded incredibly fast reflexes and an uncanny sixth sense for danger. Shannow also manages to pick up sword-fighting within moments of laying his hands on a Sipstrassi sword once owned by Pendarric.
Shannow wields a minimum of three pistols. He also has semi-automatic guns, stolen from enemies in the first book and held close ever since, and his cap and ball revolvers, with which he’s amazingly accurate. One of the reasons he’s so deadly is that there is no grey area for him, meaning he kills anyone who is evil.
Trivia[]
- Daniel Cade is Shannow's brother.
- Shannow's real name is Jonathan Cade. He took the name Shannow after a mentor, Varey Shannow, was murdered. This is revealed in The Last Guardian.