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The Darkness Calling
There are few things more dangerous or more destructive than a bad man who thinks that he is doing a good thing...
The Isles of Jara are burning. An unseasonable drought is slowly killing the land; choking it in a patient and merciless fist of rising fire and dust.
On the prosperous Northern Isle, King Taavi Fulbright, senile and raving, edges closer to death while his Viceroy, the flint-hearted Cullen Fitzgerald, continues with his plans for subjugating the South and crushing the contemptible, stinking peasants that farm it under his heel.
Deep in the brutal highlands of the Southern Isle, an outfit of desperadoes, bandits and cattle-thieves, led by the infamous Gray siblings, make a living from waylaying the Crown's cattle drovers and stealing their stock. Vali Gray, head of this crew, is looking forward to completing one last score before he leaves the road-life for good and settles down to fatherhood. Vali cares little for the fate of the many, being concerned only with the lives of those closest to him; his sister and brother, Ylva and Gunnar, his lifelong love, Erika, and their unborn child.
That is until the captivatingly psychotic Raibert MacBain comes strolling back into their lives after a decade-long absence. MacBain is a monster and, like all good monsters, is a monster of Vali's own creation. Once a polite and conscientious young nobleman, MacBain is the bastard son of Viceroy Fitzgerald and has been twisted by a love unrequited, the scorn of those he wished only to help, and the revulsion of a father who only ever saw him as a disappointment.
MacBain is hunting for one who is rumoured to be endowed with powers long believed to be lost to legend. They are the powers of the Empathy, an elemental magic that could bring the Isles of Jara back from the brink of the fire––or cast it into the flames.
Now, Vali and his band find themselves inexorably drawn into a choking world of revisited childhood sins that have sown the seeds from which fiends grow, soul-ripping jealousies, false prophesies, and blood-soaked feuds that promise little in the way of relief for any of them.
Vali Gray must face a trifecta of hard questions and an even tougher choice; is the saving of his world, the keeping of a final promise, and the defeating of a monster he helped mould worth becoming a monster himself for?
The answering of these questions will take the Grays and their crew of outlaw riders on a bloody journey, a journey that will reveal how the human heart is a torment and a masterpiece.
The Isles of Jara are burning. An unseasonable drought is slowly killing the land; choking it in a patient and merciless fist of rising fire and dust.
On the prosperous Northern Isle, King Taavi Fulbright, senile and raving, edges closer to death while his Viceroy, the flint-hearted Cullen Fitzgerald, continues with his plans for subjugating the South and crushing the contemptible, stinking peasants that farm it under his heel.
Deep in the brutal highlands of the Southern Isle, an outfit of desperadoes, bandits and cattle-thieves, led by the infamous Gray siblings, make a living from waylaying the Crown's cattle drovers and stealing their stock. Vali Gray, head of this crew, is looking forward to completing one last score before he leaves the road-life for good and settles down to fatherhood. Vali cares little for the fate of the many, being concerned only with the lives of those closest to him; his sister and brother, Ylva and Gunnar, his lifelong love, Erika, and their unborn child.
That is until the captivatingly psychotic Raibert MacBain comes strolling back into their lives after a decade-long absence. MacBain is a monster and, like all good monsters, is a monster of Vali's own creation. Once a polite and conscientious young nobleman, MacBain is the bastard son of Viceroy Fitzgerald and has been twisted by a love unrequited, the scorn of those he wished only to help, and the revulsion of a father who only ever saw him as a disappointment.
MacBain is hunting for one who is rumoured to be endowed with powers long believed to be lost to legend. They are the powers of the Empathy, an elemental magic that could bring the Isles of Jara back from the brink of the fire––or cast it into the flames.
Now, Vali and his band find themselves inexorably drawn into a choking world of revisited childhood sins that have sown the seeds from which fiends grow, soul-ripping jealousies, false prophesies, and blood-soaked feuds that promise little in the way of relief for any of them.
Vali Gray must face a trifecta of hard questions and an even tougher choice; is the saving of his world, the keeping of a final promise, and the defeating of a monster he helped mould worth becoming a monster himself for?
The answering of these questions will take the Grays and their crew of outlaw riders on a bloody journey, a journey that will reveal how the human heart is a torment and a masterpiece.
476 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 10, 2022
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 30, 2023
Read for SPFBO, this is only my personal opinion - group verdict might wary widely. 🔥
3,5* rounded up
The "Darkness" in the title definitely is well deserved. This book is rather brutal and graphic in a lot of places. Plenty of swearing as well. I would not put it in the grimdark variety, but definitely in the dark fantasy section.
I loved seeing three siblings as central characters, as I always enjoy relationships that are not based in romance. The constant banter between them, padded by absolutely loyalty was a nice change of pace, and made up for other characters that felt a bit flat for me.
There is some romance and a few steamy scenes, but it's a small amount, and actually rather well written. Even I, who usually detest most romance and sex in my fantasy books, didn't mind it.
The two actual main characters are bitter enemies, but actually they are cute from the same sort of wood, as we'd say in Germany. They are very similar, and both of them are far away from being good, or a hero. I do like my characters flawed and on the grey side, but at times I just wished they'd just off each other and be done...
The emotional turmoil we're told about didn't really reflect well in the characters, and while we're told how bad it is, they actually seem to be rather stoic instead. So you see why the sibling constellation had to make up for quite a bit.
The plot felt a bit meandering here and there, and a constant back and forth between now, earlier, now, even, earlier and so on didn't always work perfectly. Some of the switched felt fluent, others grinded a bit. However there was enough action and interactions to keep me interested all the way though anyway.
I'm not really sure how I feel about the ending either. I liked the underlying mystery of the world's magic, and the new direction. Some things just felt a bit over the top again.
Over all this was an interesting read that kept me well entertained all the way through.
3,5* rounded up
The "Darkness" in the title definitely is well deserved. This book is rather brutal and graphic in a lot of places. Plenty of swearing as well. I would not put it in the grimdark variety, but definitely in the dark fantasy section.
I loved seeing three siblings as central characters, as I always enjoy relationships that are not based in romance. The constant banter between them, padded by absolutely loyalty was a nice change of pace, and made up for other characters that felt a bit flat for me.
There is some romance and a few steamy scenes, but it's a small amount, and actually rather well written. Even I, who usually detest most romance and sex in my fantasy books, didn't mind it.
The two actual main characters are bitter enemies, but actually they are cute from the same sort of wood, as we'd say in Germany. They are very similar, and both of them are far away from being good, or a hero. I do like my characters flawed and on the grey side, but at times I just wished they'd just off each other and be done...
The emotional turmoil we're told about didn't really reflect well in the characters, and while we're told how bad it is, they actually seem to be rather stoic instead. So you see why the sibling constellation had to make up for quite a bit.
The plot felt a bit meandering here and there, and a constant back and forth between now, earlier, now, even, earlier and so on didn't always work perfectly. Some of the switched felt fluent, others grinded a bit. However there was enough action and interactions to keep me interested all the way though anyway.
I'm not really sure how I feel about the ending either. I liked the underlying mystery of the world's magic, and the new direction. Some things just felt a bit over the top again.
Over all this was an interesting read that kept me well entertained all the way through.
November 7, 2022
3.5 stars
Disclaimer: I read this as part of SPFBO8 and is my personal opinion only.
Whilst I did enjoy the family dynamics of the Grays (both blood and found family 👍) and The Darkness Calling is the perfect title for the story. Sadly it didn't hold my interest enough once characters hit the usual tropes *man loses wife to life long enemy so of course loses a lot of rationale to carry on his long time mission. The "arch enemy" was a challenge - at times I detested his behaviour but also pitied him for scrabbling for any crumbs of attention from his father. I did however loved the ending in with a dark evil laugh- alchemy and technology can't lead to extremes. You'll have to read book 2, i certainly am interested.
Disclaimer: I read this as part of SPFBO8 and is my personal opinion only.
Whilst I did enjoy the family dynamics of the Grays (both blood and found family 👍) and The Darkness Calling is the perfect title for the story. Sadly it didn't hold my interest enough once characters hit the usual tropes *man loses wife to life long enemy so of course loses a lot of rationale to carry on his long time mission. The "arch enemy" was a challenge - at times I detested his behaviour but also pitied him for scrabbling for any crumbs of attention from his father. I did however loved the ending in with a dark evil laugh- alchemy and technology can't lead to extremes. You'll have to read book 2, i certainly am interested.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews