Cover Image: There Will Come a Darkness

There Will Come a Darkness

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Member Reviews

Overall
After 17% I was hooked :) on the people and characters but also the story but in a different way. I started to see how they interconnected and wanted them to meet up asap! obvs that was not going to happen anytime int he first half of the book. It never does. I was still hoping for it and that kept me intrigued.

The story
The story follows a group of people in a reimagined Greece and Turkey area, though this is a complete fantasy land. The world is one the brink of darkness and only the last prophet will be able to help, or will he?

There are 5 points of view in this book all telling a story that interconnects the characters. There is a prophesy which made me constantly try and figure out whos who and whos what. It was like a "who's done it?" and I loved that.

Worldbuilding
The building of the world is done through several eyes and several viewpoints. There is no info-dumping, it's a nice and easy hill climb. It begins with it all being in the same city.

LGBT+?
Yeah, some. But the book and the story is not focused on romance which was really nice and refreshing. out of the 5 PoV's, only two had romantic and sexual inclinations and only one of those added something to the story.

The writing
It was a well-written book. I had no issue with the pacing, spelling or sentence structure. A very comfortable read language-wise.

Summary
I love this book and the characters. I think I liked Anton the best but Jude or Ephyra is a good shared second place. I will definitely pick up the next book when it comes out :)

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An excellent debut in a new fantasy series. It was a fun read and I loved the well developed characters, the interesting world building and the plot that flows.
I look forward to reading the next installment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There Will Come A Darkness really took me by surprise, y'all. By the time I picked up the book, I had forgotten the synopsis completely, and so I ventured into it completely blindly - and I'm glad I did.

The story follows 5 points of view, and I'm not going to lie, it put me off at the very start as that's just too many. It took me a hot minute to wrap my head around who's who. Once the initial confusion was over, though, I realised I was really enjoying where it was all going.

For a debut novel There Will Come A Darkness is a really well developed and well crafted if a tad ambitious story. The world building is solid, though it leaves gaps to be filled by the second book. The story is full of twists and turns, and it's honestly a real page turner. It's written really well, too! I do feel 5 POVs hurt the narrative a bit, as it didn't give the characters to develop as much as they could, especially Ephyra and Beru.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more by Katy Rose Pool in the future.

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This was a fun, fast paced action and adventure story, full of a cast great characters, fiver unique paths that converge to make this great tale. Such great writing, wonderful world building with strong women, modern men, great representation, completely equal and refreshing. I was hooked from the start and did want to put it down. A thoroughly and highly recommended read.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

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The best way I have of describing this book is that it reminded me of Game of Thrones for younger readers.

I would like to make clear that this is Katy’s debut novel so I tried to focus on the positive and there is plenty of that.

On the plus side, the beginning of this book is absolutely unbelievable. The first couple sentences alone were so good that after reading them for the first time I closed the book and saved it for when I was in the right frame of mind because that was not something that should be read casually.

The world of the Six Cities is mostly built on solid ground, the culture is interesting (although I’m counting on the next two books to develop on it because the background information we got was not enough for me), the characters are minimally interesting (but again, I feel that we know too little about them, maybe because there are five povs in this book) and it doesn't count on foreigners or outsiders to make sure this book is diverse, which I really appreciated. The author’s take on fashion, cuisine, and games that varied according to the place and the class of the characters, though sometimes not given enough importance, added a lot to the book.

The characters' interactions were really smart and I loved to read about the love, hate, distrust, and loyalty between the protagonists as well as some of the antagonists. There was never a moment in this book that was dull and the author was able to keep the tension from beginning to the end.

Oh, oh, oh,...and for the absolute crown jewels:



This is a freaking world without sexism, homophobia or racism!

Without sexism!!!! Or homophobia!!!! Or racism!!!! (It bears repeating after centuries of reading the same kind of fantasy inspired by medieval western history.)

Give me my powerful women and confident men! Give me queer representation!!! Give me characters of a thousand skin shades and races! Gay warriors, black princes, brown swordswomen, strong queens and kind kings...I plan to drown in it and die a happy reader!

My least favorite thing about this book was the writing though, or at least some parts of it. I wasn’t able to connect with some of the language used (which happens frequently in this kind of YA fantasy) but he biggest flaw for me was that the author ended repeating herself. There was too much foreshadowing so by the time a character actually stumbled upon a revelation, all the weight, and surprise that should come with it had been lost in the previous page. The author tried to make us like the characters no matter what they did and for that she ended up sacrificing the element of surprise.

Some of those character's arcs were a bit shaky towards the middle but the story was still able to finish on a very satisfactory way thanks to a plot twist that had me pulling my hair out.

All in all, I think the author touched in some very interesting themes, was able to build a unique enough world with some very interesting problems and her characters were not only interesting but evolved all throughout the story. This might have not been my favorite book ever but I’ll be keeping an eye on whatever Katy Rose Pool comes up with next.

Oh, and Jude is perfection and I’ll fight whoever says anything bad about him.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt Books for Young Readers for this ARC.

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Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

"A prince exiled from his kingdom
A ruthless killer known as the Pale Hand
A once-faithful leader torn between his duty and his heart
A reckless gambler with the power to find anything or anyone
And a dying girl on the verge of giving up

One of them - or all of them - could break the world. Will they be saviour or destroyer?"

I had assumed this would be a band of misfits vying to save or destroy the world together, but this was more about these five disparate paths converging as one. I was initially disappointed not to find one of my favourite tropes present here but still enjoyed this story for what it was. The individuals were from diverse backgrounds and represented differing parts of this kingdom, yet I didn't feel equally for them. I definitely had my favourites throughout and was always eager to return to their voices. I think this is to be expected though, when so many perspectives are presented.

This delivered me exactly what I desired it to - a fun and action-orientated fantasy adventure. I felt I needed a greater foundation to root me in this world and more of an explanation provided to allow me to understand the magic better, but the actual plot was what I came here for and what maintained my attention. It was fast-paced, had three unforeseen plot twists, and ensured I will continue on with this series, to see this band hopefully bond as one as they continue on their quest.

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There Will Come A Darkness has all the hallmarks of a solid fantasy - a coup, a zealot, a prophecy, a bold magical system, several sacrifices and a range of characters uncertain about their destiny. The world building is brilliant, setting up the story quickly but without an overwhelming about of info dumping.

This book has an army of characters, and the beginning was a little confusing as they were all introduced. However, as the story progressed each one was distinct enough that it became easier to follow. However, the plot remained complicated, with several overlapping strands that were difficult to keep track of as it went along. I think that is my only criticism of the book though - that it required a lot of concentration, and therefore after putting it down for a few hours it was tricky to get back into the flow.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Amazon.

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Lately, I have been reading many, way too many, fantasy novels and, so far, I’ve adored what I’ve read and the debut novel by Katy Rose Pool is one of them. She created a world divided by those graced with magic and those who fear them. A world on the edge of a war as a group of people tries to rid the world of those with magic and where the five protagonists try to survive.

The main characters are well-developed and all likable. Each chapter is told from one character point of view which at the beginning I found a bit confusing as each chapter switched perspective and I was still having trouble remembering names. However, as the story progresses and the author ends each chapter with some sort of cliffhanger I found myself completely engrossed in the story eager to find out what would happen next.

The story is character-driven and I found it entertaining how each character managed to impact each other lives. I loved how the author managed to keep the suspense always high and make shocking revelations when you less expect it. The story is well-crafted and the world-building is fantastic. I was surprised that this is a debut because the author’s writing style is quite addictive and impressive.

There Will Come A Darkness is an intriguing, magical, and original story from an author that I definitely plan on keep reading. What I love most about this novel is the characters that kept me glued to the pages and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw the cover of this book it instantly made me interested and when I read the synopsis I just knew I had to read it. This book was such an intense and thrilling read and I absolutely loved it!

This book had me hooked right from the beginning and I just could not put it down once I started reading. It had me captivated and I just needed to know what would happen next and how these characters lives would intersect.

We get five points of view but each one had their own distinct voice that it was easy to distinguish between them. This is a very character driven story yet there is still plenty of great plot with some crazy plot twists that left me reeling. I actually loved all the characters which is rare for me, but it just shows what a great job Katy did in bringing the characters to life.

Each of them have an important role to play in the 100 year old prophecy but we don’t know what that role will be but we do get a clearer picture by the end. It was interesting to see how their lives get tangled with each other and what events causes them to go in the direction they do.

Hassan is a cinnamon roll and must be protected at all costs. He is passionate and driven by trying to save his people and his family and his own battles with himself and learning to accept that even though he isn’t graced he is still capable of being a leader was so wonderful to see.

Ephyra is known as the pale hand and murders people who avoid justice by their powerful position and essentially sucks their essence to be able to keep her sister Beru alive. Their story is so tragic and I thought she was such a badass and a great morally grey character. Especially events at the end between the sisters has me really intrigued where their story will go.

Jude is our oblivious yet highly skilled leader who is desperately trying to avoid his feelings because he is supposed to remain celibate. I can already see that this will not work out well for him. And lastly we have Anton who is snarky and sarcastic and on the run from someone who he is terrified of. He has an important role in this prophecy especially once his lives intersect with Ephyra and Jude.

The ending leaves things open ended for all five of our characters and there are some crazy plot twists that left me reeling and I seriously need to know what will happen next!

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I went into There Will Come a Darkness expecting some very heavy fantasy, something I was going to have to work my way through, the kind of thing that has a tendency to send me into a reading slump. More fool me - this turned out to be an exceptionally readable fantasy story in an interesting setting!

This story is multiple POV, but it’s the kind of story where all the different perspectives merge quite quickly. I really appreciated this because I like to have different viewpoints on the same interactions and circumstances. I think you can get a lot out of your characters through that method and it can make for some extra-juicy dramatic irony. 

I’m always a fan of a hard magic system and this one hits the spot fairly well - essentially the magic is known as ‘graces’ and there are different graces that give you different powers - it’s exactly what I like and there’s even a page at the beginning of the book that explains them all - the dream! 

So we follow the storylines of these six characters all of whom have very different motivations and backstories and powers and all of the other things that bundle together to make a fantasy character, I liked the mix, some of them draw from very familiar fantasy tropes and some others felt more new, I liked that it wasn’t just ‘rich and poor’ but there was some more nuance to the differences between the characters. Even though you do have those fantasy ‘classic’ elements there are some new dynamics to explore. 

A lot of the plot of this book hinges on prophecy, which I find can either be a really powerful tool in fantasy stories or it ends up being something that is really significant at two points and the rest of the time is just sort of ignored? In this case I think the prophecy worked really well, the fact that so much of the culture is focussed on the same words means that you have a constant reminder of why all of this is happening. I might have liked a bit more of an exploration into how prophecy can be misinterpreted but I think that’s the mythology nerd in me just desperate to break free. 

Initially, I thought this book would be a difficult read, but in fact, it’s much lighter than I expected. That’s not to say that the issues and ideas developed are ‘light’ but the way the book is written it doesn’t have the dense feeling of a lot of similar fantasy books. I think that’s because the perspective shifts quite often and the chapters are quite short - I know short chapters can be the bane of some people’s existence but I was a fan here - again because the perspectives are fairly intertwined from the start. 

In a recent read of Bone Crier’s Moon (review to come), I thought a lot about how much the idea of ‘I wanted to kill you but now I think you’re cute’ annoys me - this book edged into that kind of territory but the writing is balanced in such a way that it didn’t bother me too much. I think that might also be because there isn’t a romance focus in this story in the same way as one might expect from something like Bone Crier’s Moon which is of course YA. 

Overall, I thought this was a strong fantasy novel. I wouldn’t say it scratched my constant itch for something groundbreaking - but it was a solid debut and I’ll be interested to see what comes from Katy Rose Pool next!

My rating: 3 / 5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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I really enjoyed There Will Come A Darkness. I loved the magic, the world-building and the characters. I found myself thinking about the book a lot when I wasn’t reading it, counting down the time until I could get back to it. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

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Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for sending me an e-arc ahead of the UK paperback release on 05/03/20, in exchange for a fair and honest review

This review will be published on my Goodreads and bookish Instagram accounts no earlier that 2 weeks before the publishing date, as requested.

Fantasy, multiple POV, different ethnicities, LGBTQ+, superpowers, and religious sects? It’s like Game of Thrones made better.

I really, really enjoyed this book, it is beautifully written, the story flows easily, and it is fast paced. I read it almost with no interruptions.

The plot is appealing, and the worldbuilding was done well, however I would’ve liked a bit more description and narrative here to be able to fully picture it in my head.

The characters’ individual stories are well developed, and I started caring about almost all of them straight away… Maybe not Jude, if I’m being honest, but his love life and the mystery around Hector’s “gap year” and how he was linked to other characters kept me interested until I started caring.

The different POV were very well juggled and intertwined. It did not feel like I had forgotten about any of the characters by the time I read their chapter again. I wished we had a bit more from Beru… and a cheeky POV of the Hierophant? Here is me wishing one in the next book.

I can see this series become a classic of YA Fantasy, and I look forward to read the next book. 4 stars

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I was really excited to read this book as the premise and aesthetic really appealed to me; I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint. We follow five different point of view characters as they try to navigate the world, looking for a prophet, trying to help their sister, running from their brother, living as a prince in exile and trying to stay alive.

The Positives: I thought that the plot was really compelling and was very tightly woven, which I really appreciated. Katy Rose Pool has done an excellent of juggling five different threads and making them into a coherent whole, all while doing some stellar world building. I thought that the characters were pretty well drawn, and whilst there is definitely a 'chosen one' vibe to the story, there is an interesting and dark twist to proceedings, that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Negatives: It took me a while to get used to the different points of view and sometimes it was a little frustrating to jump between characters, particularly at exciting moments. I also thought that some of the plot developments were a little bit predictable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will now be waiting impatiently for the next instalment as this ended on a whopper of a cliffhanger!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This review will go live on my blog the week of UK release.

THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS is everything I want from epic fantasy - prophecies and chosen ones. The stakes are world-ending as well as there being personal things at risk. The world is massive as is the cast.

I love struggles between good vs evil, and THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS felt like Katy Rose Pool had taken everything I loved with classic fantasy as a child and updated it for the modern era. It's more nuanced, with much more grey among among the heroes. Religious fanatics are the villains, though the ending has me wondering whether there is a truth at the heart of their twisted ideals. Their methods and goals are obviously wrong, but what if there's something in what sparked their movement?

The world is clearly based on the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, with its own "Wonders of the World", but it's more medieval in feel. The mythology is very different too, based around prophets rather than a pantheon of gods.

The plot is focused in two main places, starting in Pallas Athos and ending in Nazirah, with one story line heading elsewhere. However, it feels so expansive thanks to the stakes and the little world building gems dropped all around.

There are five POVs, and though a few may drop out for a bit while the action focuses elsewhere, it doesn't feel like their being abandoned. It was a masterclass in balancing POVs as no POV dominates the other. They all have their own stories to tell, so interlinked that no POV could be removed without the story collapsing but while maintaining the character as the hero/anti-hero of their own tales. These POVs were woven together without losing track of what was happening elsewhere and overall.

This books is an incredible book, and I can't wait to find out what happens next!

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This is the beginning of a fantasy series that introduces some good characters and a plot that is intriguing. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for gifting me this book to review.

It has a bookish Map and I live it when books have maps.

The plot is about an age of darkness that is approaching and follows the five people that will either stop it or unleash it. The plot itself jumps around a lot as it jumps with the different characters POV. The 5 POVs was done well and although it did jump around, I got used to it and eventually got invested in each characters story. I'd say this was a character driven novel and some characters are more likeable then others. I was a little disappointed by the villain who is built up during the book but then he gets maybe two scenes. I'd say this book was mainly an introduction to the series and I'm excited to see what happens next.

The worldbuilding was good, I enjoyed the magic system and how there was different groups. The magic was split into 4 areas: Grace of heart which enhanced strength. Grace of a look which takes energy to heal or harm. Grace of mind which creates objects with energies. Finally the grace of sight which can locate people and see the future or the past. The world is vast as there are seven cities and there's lots of groups of people. I enjoyed what I'd read so far and I'm excited to see more of the world in future books. I also enjoyed the diversity in the book as there are different ethnic groups and sexual orientations.

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‘The Age of Darkness approaches. Five lives stand in its way.’

I haven’t yet met a book (other than the Falling Kingdom’s series by Morgan Rhodes) that pulls together so many different point of view chapters together so seamlessly. Well done, I am truly impressed.

I didn’t know what to expect when I dove into this book but I could not have predicted what I just read. A story that was so filled with emotion, from multiple different characters, which turned into a burning ache in my chest that would not let me out this book down. Five different people; a Prince, a murderer, a sister, a lost boy and a honour bound guard, all from different parts of this wonderfully built world, somehow crossing each other’s paths. Drawn together by fate or prophecy or whatever you want to call into, into beautiful woven tale which was just the beginning of what i can only assume will be an epic series.

If your looking for adventure, pick up this book. If your looking for heart pumping action and the edge of your seat escapes, pick up this book. If your looking to lose yourself in a dynamic world with fallible and relatable characters, pick up this book.

You will not regret it.

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IN SUMMARY: With tropey characters and a plot that is all build-up and no substance, THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS is as generic as its cover.

MY THOUGHTS:

A high fantasy in the same light as Game of Thrones and the Witchlands, THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS is set in the Greek-inspired fictional city of Pallas Athos, where five characters are set on a collision course when a prophecy arises, foretelling the rise of an Age of Darkness. Ephyra is a killer known as the Pale Hand, drawing life force to heal her sick sister, Beru. Jude is leader of an elusive Order set on protecting the Last Prophet, who is predicted to be Hassan, a prince exiled from his kingdom. Meanwhile Anton is blessed with incredible power, but has trouble using it.

I enjoyed it but I don't think it stands out as anything ground-breaking. I won't be losing sleep over the plot or the characters; Ephyra, Jude, Hassan and Beru were well written, but generic and tropey. I didn't adore any of them. I will close the book and forget about them until the next book.

Only one I've left out is Anton, who stuck out to me as... strangely written. He seemed to have no cohesive personality. For nearly the entire book he's scared, aloof, an outcast. Then put him in a gambling ring and suddenly he's the world's most suave wise-cracker this side of the continent. I could never get a good feel for him, or his relationship with his brother, Illya, who was also poorly developed. I can't describe him as anything other than a plot device, there to push Anton towards his goals.

I did like a lot of the incidental representation. In this world dudes can date dudes and no one bats an eye, a refreshing change from the usual homophobic tropes of high fantasy. Likewise there are no misogynistic or racist societal expectations in THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS' world either. However I have to agree with the consensus of reviews; this book is a lot of build-up, and not a lot of substance.

WILL I READ ON? Eh. I will but I can't see myself rushing to get AS THE SHADOW RISES.

Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for the eARC.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me an e-arc ahead of the UK paperback release on 05/03/20. This review is a completely honest breakdown of the book and my personal feelings.

Characters – 0.5
Plot – 0.5
Setting – 0.5
Writing style - 0.5
Final Impression – 0.5
Total – 2.5 / 5

Now look, 2.5 is not (in my opinion) a bad rating and this wasn’t at all a bad book. 2.5 is half the max rating, but I feel I can only rate it half as I felt like at least half of the book was filler, and only half was exciting, engaging, decent content that I genuinely enjoyed. So that half rating is dedicated to the half I enjoyed.

This has been one of my most anticipated reads since I first found it on Goodreads, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype I'd created in my head. Even so, if you enjoy ensemble casts like Six of Crows or Gilded Wolves, if you enjoy high stakes YA and diverse representation, if you're looking for a chunky fantasy with more on the way, then there's a good chance you'll have a better time at this book than me. Now let's talk specifics.


Characters

On the whole, I enjoyed the characters. We have five POV characters whom I mostly cared about, but probably not enough. From the start, I felt more invested in Aton, Beru and Ephyra, and struggled with Hassan and Jude. They felt hollow, flat almost, compared to some of the others. I struggled to invest in everything they were doing and I think this is partly due to the fact that they both split their focus and energy between the main conflict and their love interests.

I didn't care for Khepri. I didn't care for Hector. So caring about Hassan and Jude became a chore when 50% (often-times more) of their time within their respective chapters was dominated by thoughts of their love interests. This book had strong enough characters and a strong enough story to not need romance. It gets in the way and muddies up the pacing and narrative. Sometimes romance adds nothing to a story, and sometimes it only serves to take away value from it.

My opinion was flipped during the latter half of the book, however. With his focus on longer on Hector, I started to enjoy Jude’s character a lot more and would even say he was probably my favourite in the end.
It was during the final conflict that I started to care less and less about Ephyra and Beru, when I realised they had little to no storyline in regards to the main conflict of the book. Outside of briefly tangling their storylines with Anton’s, they pretty much had nothing to do with the story. All they were, in the end, was set-up for a sequel. They did nothing and accomplished even less and were in a completely different country dealing with their own, irrelevant shit, and I just lost interest in them.

That being said, I enjoyed the character development of Jude, Anton and Hassan a lot as they grew into the people they were destined to be from the start.


Plot

It does make me wonder: why do YA books nowadays need to be 500 pages long? It's not the length of the book that bothers me (I've read books double this length and loved them), but the thing is, a book with up to, or exceeding, 500 pages has to have an engaging story that can fill 500 pages, without stretching it to fit. When a story stretches longer than it needs to be, it gets a little thin in the middle.

This is absolutely the case here. The story has a strong start, and it was around the 30% mark that I was excited in the story and invested in the characters. But It was around the 40-70% mark that the story stretches thin. It's a typical case of a sagging middle, where the pacing slows down too much to handle some character internal conflict.

But here's the thing, internal conflict is not conflict. It's a subplot. You can't put the main conflict on hold to allow the characters a good ten chapters to internalise and anguish over all their feelings. After interesting twists, reveals and relative action up to this point, the lagging pace is painfully noticeable. More so when this time is used for dream sequences. *sigh*

The pacing is my only real issue with the plot. The idea, and the stakes are exciting and intense, with the promise of a large scale war. Guessing the plot twist at about 40% in was satisfying at first. But then at 70%, with the plot twist still being teased like it's some big reveal and not completely obvious, got real old real fast.

The thing is, this is a great idea and just the sort of thing I enjoy. There’s just too much of it. This book is at least a hundred pages too long. With a little less inner conflict and a little more action, this book has all the ingredients to be something epic.


Setting

The world, though I really liked it, was a little difficult to orient myself within. But let me elaborate. To me it had a very distinct 15th-century Grecian feel to it, with the added flavours of Venetian and Ottoman that's often associated with 15th century Greece – especially the migration crisis. If this was intentional, the author did a very good job, because I definitely got those vibes from the way the cities are described. If not intentional, then this was a stroke of genius luck.

Now, with this loosely based time period in my mind, I immediately began to envision the fashion, the level of technology, the quality of life during 15th century Greece. Yes, I know this is fantasy and anything goes, but the first mention of a train station completely threw me.

Many countries are established with a good bit of background history to solidify them, which is great, but what’s seriously lacking however is detail to culture. What define these countries? What differentiates them? What is the fashion and developmental stage are they at as a society? There are no finer details for the reader to paint an image. We get a wide view of the world, but no close-up.

There’s so much to explore here, and yet so much has been neglected to be addressed. This is a very interesting world, but not quite a believable one. Everything is surface-level, shallow. There is some solid foundations here, but it only supports the framework of ideas when it could support a mansion of creativity and depth.


Writing Style

I’m a huge fan of multi-perspective books that jump between characters each chapter, and I applaud authors who write in this style. Keeping track of so many characters and weaving all their stories together is difficult, and I think the author did a great job of connecting all the characters, pulling them apart and then connecting them with other characters. Even though there were no scenes where all five of the MCs were together at once, it was never noticeable that they were not yet all connected. The story didn’t lack in character motivation and drive, although I was waiting for them all to come together at the end, and was a little disappointed when that didn’t happen.

I have very few complaints about the writing itself, though, sometimes it felt like the author was trying too hard to justify the characters emotions. You don't need to explain why he's angry or how he knows he shouldn't be, just let him be angry. Boy's entitled to that.

My only other real complaint is how slow the pacing gets in the middle. The beginning of the story was really strong and the ending was stronger still. It was compulsively readable during the final conflict, I just wish there was more action during those middle scenes, and a bit less wrestling with feelings.


Final Impression

I don’t think I’ve read anything so consistently half-baked in every aspect. But if this was a pie, it would definitely have to go back in the oven.

Ultimately, I’m disappointed, but I did set my expectations a little high. The blurb sounded so good, but the story just didn't deliver for me. But I know it will for someone.


(note to publishers: I haven't yet uploaded this review as I wanted to send it to you first. When I upload my review, it'll be available on my Goodreads, my blog and my bookish Instagram account. I hope to upload as soon as possible unless requested to wait until a specific date. Thank you.)

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It's darkly and grimly addicting fantasy world. The premise itself was a catch basin for this series to set attention to every reader less the characters that are well written and appealing.

It was a fast-paced and plot-driven story. The melodramatic vibes give a dreadful feeling towards the setting of the story. Every character was appealing and compelling. The plot was unpredictable and well-thought-out.

CONS:
>>>The world-building needs more complex narrative to bring an astounding whole totality to the story.

>>>Some of the characters and not all had flashbacks to give a substantial reason to the character's motive and narrative. I wish to see more of Beru, Hassan and Ephyra's story. I liked if the author will include POV of the Hierophant in the next sequel.

I tell you, this is very dark. There Will Come A Darkness was heartbreaking and shocking to its very core.

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