by Michael Nadeau, Sequel to The Darkness Returns
Though he provides a brief synopsis at the beginning of what has transpired in the previous book, without missing a beat, Michael brings us right back to where we left off in the land of Lythinall. And in doing so, we start the story with a battle between a Dar’Krist and a dragon.
The action doesn’t stop there. When we left our heroes in the Darkness Returns, they had just faced off against a Wolvren, with Rhoe severely wounded. They’ve been taken to River Vale to be healed before continuing on their way home to Everknight.
New Characters
Michael introduces some new and unique characters in his sequel.
Trashcan-guy
Spoiler alert: this ain’t going to be an easy journey. Treachery awaits around every bend. And new characters come out of the woodwork, or in this case out of the trash pile to assist them on their way. The mysterious recluse Graf who at first appears to be just some crazy, ragged, smelly homeless guy, saves Allissanna (Liss) from assassins and become and unwilling recruit in getting them to Everknight in one piece. As with many of Michael’s characters, he is much more than he seems.
Evil Queen
A new villain joins the pantheon. It would appear that the awakening of the evil incarnation Dar’Krist is being orchestrated by a legendary elf-queen to the south. I’ll leave most of the details and description out, but I have to admit I liked her style. She reminded me of Salma Hayek’s Vampire in From Dusk til Dawn, when she pushes George Clooney to the floor and tells him he’s going to be her dog, and his name will be Spot. He establishes right away that this chick means business, and the word ‘empathy’ is not in her vocabulary. But my intuition tells me that her plan to control Dar’Krist isn’t going to pan out the way she thinks.
Sexy Bard
Jenna the Bard, appears on the scene. One of the things I like most about Michael’s fantasy is that it includes unique magical characters. They’re not the typical elves, orcs and trolls (though worls has some of that too). In this case, Jenna is a bard and a warrior on a mission, but you also quickly realize she’s something more. I’ll let you read and find out what. Her side quest to seduce Karsis cracked me up. I was waiting for Karsis to just tell her, “Look, I’m not a piece of meat!”
Character Development
Most of the other characters take a back seat in this story, but Liss is pushed to the forefront as she realizes that leadership isn’t as glamourous and easy as the songs and stories make it out to be. While she’s still rash and impulsive at times, she learns to consider others as she leads the group of refugees toward Everknight, knowing that they are being pursued all along the way. I feel Michael does a credible job here as she doesn’t lose her underlying temper/impulsive nature instantly, she is still slowly learning to control it.
Pacing
Michael sets a fast pace with this story, with non-stop action. The sequence with Karsis and Caerlyn fighting the Demon is pretty epic. Almost more Dreampunk than fantasy. And we finally get the big reveal on who/what Karsis is. There was one point, I thought for sure Rhoe had naively screwed up (won’t spoil it, but I was saying in my head, don’t fall for it—he’s the villain, doh!). My one hesitation is that at times the story felt compressed. He has several complex plot lines and character arcs going on. I would like to have seen more emotion and detail at times, and I was left saying to myself, “wait that’s it?”. He has enough here that I felt it could have been split into two stories with ease. Don’t get me wrong, this is in no way going to deter me from reading the last book, because I just have to find out how he’s going to wrap this up. More the difference between four and five stars.
If you’re looking for fast paced, high fantasy, check out Micahel Nadeau’s The Darkness Within. You’ll enjoy his complex world of Lythinall and his cast of compelling characters.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned. My next reviews in the queue will be Danielle Anacona’s By Immortal Honor Bound, and Beth Anderson’s The Vine Eater. I will also be catching up on some of our projects from this summer. In the meantime, if you are looking for a great horror read in time for the season of darkness, my own Alaska backcountry horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon.