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Darkness #4
Rulers of the Darkness
Beginning with Into the Darkness, Darkness Descending, and Through the Darkness, bestselling author Harry Turtledove ("The master of alternative history"-Publishers Weekly) has been telling an epic tale: the story of a world war, comparable to the terrible world wars of our own 20th century, in a world where magic works.
Imagine the drama and terror of the Second World War-only the bullets are beams of magical fire, the tanks are great lumbering beasts, and fighters and bombers are dragons raining fire upon their targets. Welcome to the world of the Derlavaian War, a world that is slowly but surely being conquered, mile by bloody mile, by the forces of the Algarvian empire . . . forces whose most terrible battle magics are powered by the slaughter of innocent people, the Kaunians, whom Algarve-like much of the world-holds in disdain.
In this, the fourth volume of the series which began with Into the Darkness, the war for the continent of Derlavai builds toward its crescendo as the mages of Kuusamo, aided by their former rivals from Lagoas, work desperately to create a newer form of magic that will change the course of the war. But this is really a story of ordinary people-on all sides of the conflict-forced by fate to rise to their heroic limits . . . or sink to the level of their darker natures.
Imagine the drama and terror of the Second World War-only the bullets are beams of magical fire, the tanks are great lumbering beasts, and fighters and bombers are dragons raining fire upon their targets. Welcome to the world of the Derlavaian War, a world that is slowly but surely being conquered, mile by bloody mile, by the forces of the Algarvian empire . . . forces whose most terrible battle magics are powered by the slaughter of innocent people, the Kaunians, whom Algarve-like much of the world-holds in disdain.
In this, the fourth volume of the series which began with Into the Darkness, the war for the continent of Derlavai builds toward its crescendo as the mages of Kuusamo, aided by their former rivals from Lagoas, work desperately to create a newer form of magic that will change the course of the war. But this is really a story of ordinary people-on all sides of the conflict-forced by fate to rise to their heroic limits . . . or sink to the level of their darker natures.
656 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2002
12 people are currently reading
528 people want to read
About the author
Harry Turtledove
566 books1,977 followersDr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 1, 2025
This is the fourth in the series of books where Turtledove unrolls his transposition of the Second World War in Europe into a fantasy setting - complete with mages, sorcerous energy, dragons, behemoths, leviathans and unicorns – though those last appear to have little military use and do not feature much.
His style is to relate episodes in the lives of various viewpoint characters to outline the progress of events in the wider world and/or the effects of those events on his subjects. The coming back to familiar characters is, as ever, marred by repetition of information the reader already knows about them or of thoughts they already had.
Rulers of the Darkness covers that juncture of the war where its outcome is not clear and has as its main military encounter an analogue of the Battle of Kursk. Meanwhile the sorcery equivalent of the Manhattan Project continues apace but clues are dropped that its effects will be to do with the manipulation of time rather than explosive destruction. The equivalent of the Holocaust here is not exact. There is racial hatred, yes, but it is deployed against a group, Kaunians, who had previously been imperial masters. The lethal form that hatred takes is to use its victims’ life energy to sorcerous ends.
Just occasionally (ie, once) Turtledove allowed a character to behave in a way that goes against previous conduct and attitudes. This is so rare with a Turtledove story that its occurrence was notable. And it was still tinged with a degree of self-serving.
Once again, misogyny, particularly among the soldiery, where here it spills over into rape, is rife. But then, soldiers behave as soldiers behave. It seems that is ever with us.
Despite a few people trying to do their best in difficult circumstances this is a savage world, with some bestial actors. It is not enviable in any way.
His style is to relate episodes in the lives of various viewpoint characters to outline the progress of events in the wider world and/or the effects of those events on his subjects. The coming back to familiar characters is, as ever, marred by repetition of information the reader already knows about them or of thoughts they already had.
Rulers of the Darkness covers that juncture of the war where its outcome is not clear and has as its main military encounter an analogue of the Battle of Kursk. Meanwhile the sorcery equivalent of the Manhattan Project continues apace but clues are dropped that its effects will be to do with the manipulation of time rather than explosive destruction. The equivalent of the Holocaust here is not exact. There is racial hatred, yes, but it is deployed against a group, Kaunians, who had previously been imperial masters. The lethal form that hatred takes is to use its victims’ life energy to sorcerous ends.
Just occasionally (ie, once) Turtledove allowed a character to behave in a way that goes against previous conduct and attitudes. This is so rare with a Turtledove story that its occurrence was notable. And it was still tinged with a degree of self-serving.
Once again, misogyny, particularly among the soldiery, where here it spills over into rape, is rife. But then, soldiers behave as soldiers behave. It seems that is ever with us.
Despite a few people trying to do their best in difficult circumstances this is a savage world, with some bestial actors. It is not enviable in any way.
June 1, 2022
In the fourth book in the series, author Turtledove shows the tide of battle turning. He’s taken the Second World War and translated it into a fantasy setting in the fictional world of Derlavai. Dragons rule the air and leviathans the sea, while on land sorcerers let loose horrific magic using stolen life-force. Magical sticks spew their charges on the battlefield while sorcerous eggs are dropped by dragons or tossed at opposing forces.
The German-like country of Algarve has seemed unstoppable until now. They have rolled through the countries of Forthweg, Jelgava, Valmiera, and Sibiu. Only the country of Unkerlant has been able to stand up to the Algarvians, using the same murderous magic against them and taking advantage of the harsh winters.
Separated from the main continent by the Strait of Valmiera, the counties of Lagoas and Kuusamo have had occasional bombing raids and a couple of doses of the murderous magic, but no all-out invasion. Mages from both countries are collaborating on their own secret weapons, which they hope will prove superior to what Algarve has been throwing at them.
To read my full review, please visit: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
The German-like country of Algarve has seemed unstoppable until now. They have rolled through the countries of Forthweg, Jelgava, Valmiera, and Sibiu. Only the country of Unkerlant has been able to stand up to the Algarvians, using the same murderous magic against them and taking advantage of the harsh winters.
Separated from the main continent by the Strait of Valmiera, the counties of Lagoas and Kuusamo have had occasional bombing raids and a couple of doses of the murderous magic, but no all-out invasion. Mages from both countries are collaborating on their own secret weapons, which they hope will prove superior to what Algarve has been throwing at them.
To read my full review, please visit: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
March 10, 2018
There was a lot of death in this book. Captain Tivadar dies as does Munderic. Captain Tivadar was Istvan's commander; Captain Tivadar and Istvan are Gyongyosians. Munderic was the leader of the irregulars in Unkerlant. After Munderic's death, Garivald becomes leader of the irregulars. There is also some happiness in this book as well. Skarnu is able to reunite with Merkela before she gives birth to his child. He and Merkela have to go on the run because he is wanted by the Algarvians because he's a Valmieran noble with a sister who has an Algarvian protector. He is able to stay one step ahead of the Algarvians and elude capture. Ealstan and Vanai are expecting their first child together. Vanai has come up with a spell that hides her Kaunianity; she has helped other Kaunians hide who they are as well. The Algarvians are still killing Kaunians by using their life energy in the war against Unkerlant. Unkerlanters are killing their own peasants by using their life energy to fight against the Algarvians.
May 25, 2025
Book 4 of the darkness series has the same issue the others had: one dimensional characters with no growth. When a character dies, you don’t really care because there wasn’t enough of a character to get attached to. Unlike the other books, this one had long lapses with not much happening which made it hard to get through at times. There are a few interesting POV characters that made this worth the read, but there are definitely some POVs i find myself skimming over. However, the war does seem to be drawing to a close so I’m hopeful that books 5 and 6 will offer a satisfying ending!
December 29, 2016
The World at War series continues to plod along here, with more of the same as we got from the previous couple of books. Familiar characters dealing with familiar situations take up the entirety of this fourth book in the overly-long series, as Turtledove fails to introduce anything very new to the lagging story. While the overall plot does progress here, it is very slow and nearly every character seems caught up in some sort of Groundhog Day-like repetitive cycle to the point where you feel like you've read it all before. All that being said, if you've enjoyed the first three books, you'll want to press through this one if for no other reason than to learn the fate of these well-developed (by now) characters.
One good thing is that Turtledove has cut back on his overly-repetitive descriptions of characters, places, and customs. While there is still plenty of frustrating writing quality issues like bad puns, not-quite-clever witticisms, heavy-handed plays on words, and just-plain-stupid metaphors, you at least get a break from the maddening reminders of how camel meat tastes bad or roofs leak in Zuwayzi. So, you might still cringe when you read that "His voice was powerful and smooth, like strong tea with milk.", but you do get a break from being reminded that Gyongosians don't eat goat every 50 pages.
Overall, an improvement in the writing quality, but a loss of excitement in the majority of the story content.
One good thing is that Turtledove has cut back on his overly-repetitive descriptions of characters, places, and customs. While there is still plenty of frustrating writing quality issues like bad puns, not-quite-clever witticisms, heavy-handed plays on words, and just-plain-stupid metaphors, you at least get a break from the maddening reminders of how camel meat tastes bad or roofs leak in Zuwayzi. So, you might still cringe when you read that "His voice was powerful and smooth, like strong tea with milk.", but you do get a break from being reminded that Gyongosians don't eat goat every 50 pages.
Overall, an improvement in the writing quality, but a loss of excitement in the majority of the story content.
February 15, 2017
I found this series intriguing at first. But as it went on I simply lost interest.
November 14, 2009
"1943" - The islanders aka the western allies return towards mainland; Durnwagel (??) salient aka Kursk salient and the last offensive gasp of Algarve aka Germany is smashed to pieces
Story continues, page turner, characters die, new characters take their place...
Story continues, page turner, characters die, new characters take their place...
December 4, 2013
A great series with a large cast of characters that you follow quite closely. I love the blend of magic/war that Turtledove has created. They may use eggs and dragons, but modern warfare is well represented. I enjoyed this series a lot.
November 1, 2014
This novel was interesting and I quite like the author's style and diction, but it was a little hard to read at times, needing to reread sometimes to check the lingo and get the real meaning of the sentence. Otherwise, very good and an interesting take on an alternate reality.
July 18, 2016
I am still really enjoying the Darkness series. It took me some time to get hold of Rulers of the Darkness, but it was well worth the wait. As the Derlavaian war rages on, the interesting line-up of characters keeps developing and captivating me.
May 12, 2013
Quarto volume della Guerra dei Regni. Da leggere come gli altri
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews