Trading Darkness: a dark fairytale

by Lisa Hofmann

Once upon a time, a demon from the depths of the earth decided to seek the light of love. When human weakness destroys that love, a yearning for vengeance awakens within the ancient soul, and the fiefdom of Wildenburg becomes home to many kinds of men and monsters. A never-ending spiral of cruelty and sacrifice is set in motion. Over the centuries, wars, hunger, and witch trials cripple the little fiefdom, until one day, the reigning lord discovers that not even his own children are safe from the fiend his ancestors helped create. There is truth at the heart of every fairytale, but a fairytale can quickly turn into a nightmare, and only one person has the power to break the curse that has befallen the land: a young woman who has lived all her life in darkness. Can she find enough beauty within the beast to put an end to the killing?

Genres: Fantasy

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2017

About the author

Lisa Hofmann is a European-based author of dark fairytale fantasy novels and short stories for adults.

She was born in 1975 and educated in Germany and Ireland. She has worked as an interpreter and as a translator for non-fiction books in her specialized field of education. Later, she went on to become a teacher.

Her books' settings are often similar to or based on historical places near her home town, where she lives with her husband, three children and a houseful of pets.

Reviews

[Laurel Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eloquent and Enthralling

I couldn't put this book down from start to finish. It is a supernatural tale with many twists and turns along the way. In my opinion, this story is unique and told in a hauntingly beautiful voice. There is a hidden message, which i will leave you to find on your own. I reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys reading of spirits, demons, and the otherworldly.

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just read the Kindle edition.

I really enjoyed this well-written dark fantasy tale about love, betrayal, power, cowardice and choices set in a realistic yet fantastical world of magic, demons and fairytales.

The characters are perfect for the plot, the world-building well done, and tales within tales - all steeped in myth with a ring of truth.

It's people's choices, however, that make all the difference - which chosen paths will lead...where? Who can we blame but ourselves and yet that is not always the case.

I can't say too much because I don't give spoilers but I particularly like Louisa and how she copes with her life.

Very well done - highly recommended.

[Erin Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written

While not exactly my preferred genre, Trading Darkness showed family struggle and difficult life choices along with the importance of being humble in this dark tale. I did struggle to get into the storyline because it's out of my norm, I found it rewarding in the end.

[ThatReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing book, sadly. I couldn't connect nor care for the characters, as they all felt bi-dimensional and shallow. The story, while having the brunt to have kept me entertained, failed in doing so, as it was told in a rather chopped, confusing way. I spent half the time wondering if this was set in our world - mentions of the Catholic church leading me to believe so - or in an imagined realm, a fantasy place. I'll settle for the last, because if it was our world, and this was meant to be some sort of paranormal historical novel, the historical mistakes in it were blatant and atrocious, the one that had me rolling my eyes was when one of the characters refers to her child having a touch of the measles (this in the 1600's) as if it was a minor head cold. Being that I had the measles in 1976 and almost died from it, I have my doubts this disease would be disregarded by a mother with such indifference. But there were more details that irked me far too much and make me think this story was set in a fantasy world and not in medieval Europe. Still, I would have loved to like this, but didn't, I'm clearly far from the target audience for this novel, which is absolutely mea culpa, as I prefer a different form of writing altogether. It's like nothing happens for at least half the book, and I found myself on the brink of giving up far too many times.

[Jessica Bronder · Rating 5 out of 5]

We start this story in Wildenburg in 1650. Agnes is being tortured for being a witch. She hopes and prays that her husband will take their children and run. A demon visits her and she learns that her husband took the children to the lord of the land to try and reason with him for Agnes. The demon offers her a favor to take her and agrees to save the children that are her husband and her own.

In 1670, we meet Gregory of Blackvale and the Century Demon. Once every 100 years, the head of the house has to sacrifice one of his children to keep the Century Demon happy and helping the family. Alton, Gregory’s brother is the head of house and refuses to give up one of his children. Things end badly for Alton and the choice falls to Gregory.

Years later, Gregory daughter Maria is having trouble with the loss of her sister Louisa. But Louisa has her own world that she has navigated. She is trying to find a way to escape the demon. But there is more to this demon than what everything thinks. He has his own past that he has to fight just like everyone else.

I love Lisa Hofmann’s stories and Trading Darkness is a great addition to her stories. I love how you are taken back in time. I have to say that I didn’t like Gregory. He was power hungry and selfish. I felt worse for Maria mourning the loss of her sister and wanting to know why she was not taken.

As for Louisa and the Wishmaster, I loved their story. Louisa has grown up in this world of darkness and magic and wants out. And the Wishmaster, is he really the demon that he seems to be? I loved his reveal.

This is a wonderful story filled with history, magic, loss, and love. You really need to check this book out.

I received Trading Darkness from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

[Andrew Ferrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Gentle Readers, Lisa Hofmann delivers on all counts in her novel, "Trading Darkness : A Dark Fairytale". She gives us love and betrayal, magic of many kinds, and the classic dichotomy of light and darkness.

Our story begins with a realm gripped by witch hunting madness and poor Agnes is caught in the middle. She makes a deal with a demonic power in order to try and save her family, but the demon has designs of its own.

The Blackvale familial lands of Wildenburg have a dark secret, and younger brother Gregory is about to find out just what his family's prosperity costs. When his older brother refuses to see through his end of the pact with the Century Demon that protects their tiny fiefdom, Gregory faces a difficult decision. He must choose one of his twin daughters to sacrifice to the demon. Lose one, or lose everything as his brother so recently discovered.

Gregory gives up Louisa, but then spends the rest of his life and his sanity trying to discover if she lives. He even goes so far as to make a deal with the Immortal Wishmaster, who hides his own dark past.

Lisa weaves these characters together in such a way that you'll be deep into the book before you realize it. She draws you into this world and makes you care about each character, even the ones you should dislike. Gregory, the father who had to make the most impossible choice. The Wishmaster, bound to balance his own light and darkness within. The Century Demon, wholly given over to revenge, even has a past that makes her bitterness understandable.

I'm so glad I picked this up and will be keeping my eye out for more from Lisa.

[A.L. Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trading Darkness is a book about a demon who took the chance to love, trading her dark origins for the form of a human; for a short time. Quickly discovering the human penchant for ambiguity, the demon flees her lover and swears vengeance. One that will be carried over slowly and deliberately, over hundreds of years.
There are many characters in this book, but in the forefront we find Louisa, just a small soul swept up in the middle of the demon’s revenge plot. Poor Louisa was stripped of everything; family, home and even her humanity, as she is raised by the demon in utter darkness. But Louisa’s tenuous connection to her twin sister, Maria, keeps her tied to human emotions. Keeping her from being completely overcome by the darkness.
There are many other characters, and as you read the story you find how much each of their fates are intertwined with the others’. But one thing is for certain; Magic always has a price.
The title of the story promised a Dark Fairy Tale, and that’s what this delivered. The story twists, and as new characters are introduced, you have to pay close attention to where they fit in within the world of the story. A solid story, and well enjoyed.

[Georgina Makalani · Rating 3 out of 5]

In return for leaving the new duke to rule his land in peace, he must make the ultimate sacrifice to a demon who has been haunting the land for hundreds of years. But with her prize does the demon really leave him alone?

I'm torn over this book - it was an awkward start, too much happening to characters I couldn't connect with or care about. But then as the demon takes her prize the story starts to pick up. About half way through I lost the thread again as characters I was just getting to know started using different names and although this tied in their past it took me some time to recover.

Demons, as all evil does, wants to cause pain and hurt. This demon wants revenge for an act of long ago. She has worked hard to fashion a weapon to exact that pain, one that will help her in more than just revenge. It is this girl’s plight and humanity that is the highlight of this story. I needed to know not only that she would survive but triumph over her struggles, both in the light and the dark.

Despite my earlier mentioned confusions, and the occasional odd word choices, this is a compelling and interesting story, you just have to stick with it to find it. 3 ½ stars

[Angela Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magical fairy tale that starts against the back drop of a witch hunt in 1650’s Germany, and is loosely interwoven with the story of Rumpelstiltskin. It is a dark fairy tale dealing with the dilemma of a father who has to give one of his daughters away to save his fiefdom and family. He picks one but cannot reconcile himself with that decision. I liked this book very much. Even though it is a fairy tale, many of the characters have to deal with very real human emotions, dilemmas and live with the decisions they’ve made. I loved the character of Louisa, so vulnerable and innocent, but she shows real grit when she finally gets to take her own decisions and finds her place in the above world. I’m glad Lisa Hofmann has followed a traditional route and readers who have grown up with the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson will feel right at home. But I’m sure the generation that has grown up with Harry Potter will love this too. Well written and moving at a good pace throughout, I can recommend it.

[SA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I would love this book, but I didn’t know I would love it this much. It is a magical tale including a betrayed demon with the soul of a witch, hell-bent on revenge, a grieving immortal father, the Wishmaster, whose sole purpose is to protect his only remaining son, the Blackvale brothers cursed to deal with a demon and forced to make the impossible choice, a young girl of light sacrificed to darkness and many more. The stories of all are that are intertwined in magical ways. The characters are so interesting and captivating that I held my breath till the very end. Absolutely loved Lisa Hoffman’s style!

[Marianne Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark fairytale involving a demon set on revenge requiring a father to make a heartbreaking decision that no parent should ever have to make. Louisa, an innocent child, is given to the demon as a trade to save the lives of others. While being raised in the underworld by the demon, Louisa’s emotional tie with her sister, Maria, kept a spark of humanity in her soul.

This hauntingly dark story has many twists and turns, with a bundle of characters that eventually all tie in with each other.

Knowledge is power, but combined with love, its strength proves unmatched.

[H.M. Holten · Rating 5 out of 5]

High fantasy, a compelling fairy-tale
Here we have a classic German fairy tale, in the style of Grimm and Hoffmann. A quest, deception, and lack of knowledge. Slow advance towards better understanding and a final battle. L Hoffmann’s use of multiple point-of-view may cause some confusion at the beginning of the narrative. It is necessary back-story that sets the scene for the protagonist’s journey from living with half-truths to identifying reality. Through that journey, she learns to forgive, to love, and to redeem old evils. This is a must read for fantasy lovers.

[Lindsey Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original Review Here

Having read previous works by Lisa Hofmann, I was eager to see what magical world she had created this time.

It didn’t disappoint.

The plot centres on love and sacrifice, exploring how far someone is willing to go to keep their loved ones safe. The first half felt a little disconnected at times: a lot of time passed in order to put the events into motion for the second half to be plausible. The increased pacing, tension and character development in the latter part of the book made it worth it!

There are a lot of characters involved, both strong and weak. Louisa was definitely my favourite: stolen as a child from her family, she is raised by a demon to enact the creature’s revenge. But her desire to walk in the sunlight, to be reunited with her sister and to find love means she is no pushover and Louisa will fight with everything she has to keep her twin safe.

Tom came close second, though. His own childhood was corrupted by magic but he has made a place for himself in the world and will risk everything on a hunch and a budding romance. I got the sense of inherent goodness and innocence from Tom: he was a good man through and through.

There isn’t enough of Maria to make a judgement on her. The girls’ father, Gregory, however, made me want to slap him at times. He was faced with an impossible task, but is presented as weak for the majority of the book. He throws strops and lets his temper get the better of him.

Ricdon and Rambert confused me. Their part of the story eventually came together, but there was a moment that befuddled me as to who was who and what their connection to one another was. It fell into place, thankfully, because it is important to understand their relationship in order to make sense of events that take place later in the story.

The pacing is steady, perhaps on the slow side occasionally. But that’s because Louisa is taken as a seven-year-old child and the crux of the plot happens years later. There are a few time-jumps throughout the first half of the book. They work though, because without seeing how Louisa has developed and grown in the underworld, the events of the second half would lose their impact.

The magic is a little confusing at times. But the powers that each individual possess is shaped by their identity and what they have gone through in order to reach this point. The magic also appears to be driven by one of two things: revenge or love. There is no clear definition as to what each character is capable of, but no one is deemed unnecessarily powerful, which makes a nice change.

I enjoyed Trading Darkness. The second half is particularly strong, with the stakes being raised and battles raging around the central characters. Another good book from this author – I’m looking forward to more!

[T.N. Traynor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon a time... says it all. This is a Grimm-like tale for adults. When faced with horrific choices what do you do?
I loved this book, the pace started off slow as the writer takes the time to beautifully describe the characters and settings, like a spider spinning an intricate web. The pull to turn the pages is so strong and I could hardly put this book down.
As the pace picked up and started racing towards the end I was enthralled.
Great for fans of dark fantasy.

[G.B. MacRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put it down

Where do I begin? If you like well written fantasy that isn't wrapped up in tropes, this is the book for you. It had me on the edge of my seat and jumping to conclusions, wondering and hoping about what would happen next. What a wonderful ride.

[S.K. Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A man is faced with an awful decision, to give up one of his children to save their land. Loosely based on Rumplestiltskin, this dark tale was very interesting to read. Fans of fairy tale retellings will love it.

[A.R. Kingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful, started out dark and kept me guessing until the end if the story was going to end on a happy note.