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wasauthor's review
3.0
I received an advance reader copy of Shadows of the Dark Realm for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.
If you want an epic fantasy to do one thing, it's to tell an epic story. Some achieve this; others don’t. And some are truly epic in their scope and world, earning the moniker of epic fantasy. Shadows of the Dark Realm does the latter. It's packed full of action and adventure, woven together by a massive story and world.
It's not a short book, but it’s also not overlong for the genre, and the author packs a lot of story in for its page count. The novel tells the story of the prosperous world of Parisia, protected by the book’s MacGuffin, the Darkstone. When the Darkstone's taken by an elder dragon, the world falls into ruin, threatening Parisia’s very existence. A band of misfit “Seekers,” including noble, a knight, a thief, a witch and a wizard, are tasked with reclaiming the Darkstone and saving Parisia. The plot comes together well, with plenty of twists and turns.
The world will be familiar to readers of epic or high fantasy, and feels like it stepped out of the European Middle Ages. It's packed with creatures and magic that fans will enjoy. The setting is similar to so many books of its ilk, but it's woven together in a way that makes it feel like it sits apart from its contemporaries.
The book's early parts move slowly as it takes its time to set the scene and introduce the characters. For much of the first act, it plods along and feels unfocused. Once the story gets moving, the pacing picks up, and it's soon moving at a breakneck pace. The pace works well for the story while ensuring the reader remains engaged.
Shadows of the Dark Realm’s plot, world building and pacing aren’t supported by its prose. It's underwritten, lacking much detail. While some books are light on dialogue, at many points, it feels as though this is light on prose. It’s enough to tell the reader what they need to know, but rarely goes any further. The prose is easy to read but doesn’t transport the reader into the world, instead feeling overly simplistic. I also found regular spelling and grammatical errors which took me out of the story. Further editing to rectify these issues and add some colour to the writing would have helped greatly.
Being light on prose, the book is heavy on dialogue, which too suffers from spelling and grammatical mistakes. While the characters broadly have their own voices, there isn’t much to differentiate them, and though the dialogue's easy to follow, it doesn’t sound natural. It often feels like it’s filling space to have the characters talking, rather than furthering the story.
Despite a large cast of characters, its focus is on the five Seekers embarking on their quest. They are mismatched, and the dialogue reflects this. They are entertaining but lack depth, with most of the characterisation focusing on how different they are to each other. They sit snugly within the tropes one would expect from their classes, and the book does little to explore them further.
The book isn't quite one of those rare epic fantasies that isn’t part of a series. Though billed as standalone, there's more to come, which becomes apparent as the reader reaches the end. Although it’s the beginning of a larger story—and given this book’s scale, one that is sure to expand in entertaining ways—it largely stands on its own. While there’s more to come, the story being told feels complete.
Shadows of the Dark Realm tells an entertaining, fast paced story against the backdrop of a beautifully built world. As great as the story is, I would have appreciated more depth and nuance to its characters, and the writing doesn't work as well as it could, particularly when considering the various errors peppered throughout.
My full review will be available on my website from 21 February 2024. To read it, and a host of other reviews, click here.
If you want an epic fantasy to do one thing, it's to tell an epic story. Some achieve this; others don’t. And some are truly epic in their scope and world, earning the moniker of epic fantasy. Shadows of the Dark Realm does the latter. It's packed full of action and adventure, woven together by a massive story and world.
It's not a short book, but it’s also not overlong for the genre, and the author packs a lot of story in for its page count. The novel tells the story of the prosperous world of Parisia, protected by the book’s MacGuffin, the Darkstone. When the Darkstone's taken by an elder dragon, the world falls into ruin, threatening Parisia’s very existence. A band of misfit “Seekers,” including noble, a knight, a thief, a witch and a wizard, are tasked with reclaiming the Darkstone and saving Parisia. The plot comes together well, with plenty of twists and turns.
The world will be familiar to readers of epic or high fantasy, and feels like it stepped out of the European Middle Ages. It's packed with creatures and magic that fans will enjoy. The setting is similar to so many books of its ilk, but it's woven together in a way that makes it feel like it sits apart from its contemporaries.
The book's early parts move slowly as it takes its time to set the scene and introduce the characters. For much of the first act, it plods along and feels unfocused. Once the story gets moving, the pacing picks up, and it's soon moving at a breakneck pace. The pace works well for the story while ensuring the reader remains engaged.
Shadows of the Dark Realm’s plot, world building and pacing aren’t supported by its prose. It's underwritten, lacking much detail. While some books are light on dialogue, at many points, it feels as though this is light on prose. It’s enough to tell the reader what they need to know, but rarely goes any further. The prose is easy to read but doesn’t transport the reader into the world, instead feeling overly simplistic. I also found regular spelling and grammatical errors which took me out of the story. Further editing to rectify these issues and add some colour to the writing would have helped greatly.
Being light on prose, the book is heavy on dialogue, which too suffers from spelling and grammatical mistakes. While the characters broadly have their own voices, there isn’t much to differentiate them, and though the dialogue's easy to follow, it doesn’t sound natural. It often feels like it’s filling space to have the characters talking, rather than furthering the story.
Despite a large cast of characters, its focus is on the five Seekers embarking on their quest. They are mismatched, and the dialogue reflects this. They are entertaining but lack depth, with most of the characterisation focusing on how different they are to each other. They sit snugly within the tropes one would expect from their classes, and the book does little to explore them further.
The book isn't quite one of those rare epic fantasies that isn’t part of a series. Though billed as standalone, there's more to come, which becomes apparent as the reader reaches the end. Although it’s the beginning of a larger story—and given this book’s scale, one that is sure to expand in entertaining ways—it largely stands on its own. While there’s more to come, the story being told feels complete.
Shadows of the Dark Realm tells an entertaining, fast paced story against the backdrop of a beautifully built world. As great as the story is, I would have appreciated more depth and nuance to its characters, and the writing doesn't work as well as it could, particularly when considering the various errors peppered throughout.
My full review will be available on my website from 21 February 2024. To read it, and a host of other reviews, click here.
emeraldragonlady's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Wow what an epic journey! People with different skill sets forced to be together by decree of the king. some brought on along the way. Working to save a nation, fighting all manner of creatures, plus also being hunted! This High Stakes Fantasy is captivating, Vale & Calean are my favorite characters. Im looking forward to the second book.
I highly recommend to those who love fantasy, high stakes, adventures, dragons, and magic!
Just as amazing the 2nd time through. I went a little slower this time to enjoy some of the smaller details. Aww just as epic & cruel & seriously??!! If this was turned into a movie it might be rated R just for gore lol. Descriptive wise there is not a ton of gore but when you think back about just how much killing there is, It’s definitely up there. Great character development is great! Wonderful moving storyline & lots of action.
I highly recommend to those who love fantasy, high stakes, adventures, dragons, and magic!
Just as amazing the 2nd time through. I went a little slower this time to enjoy some of the smaller details. Aww just as epic & cruel & seriously??!! If this was turned into a movie it might be rated R just for gore lol. Descriptive wise there is not a ton of gore but when you think back about just how much killing there is, It’s definitely up there. Great character development is great! Wonderful moving storyline & lots of action.
mubu's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
naileycormier's review
4.0
Let’s just say if you are into Sci-Fi, Fantasy, absolutely great world building, beautifully written characters and a book that’ll keep you intrigued and is a page turner, this is the one for you! Each dynamic is introduced with just enough to leave a gateway to another adventure! Can’t wait to see what else Mr. Edward’s has coming!
Thank you to the author, Tyler Edwards for the allowing me the opportunity to read such a great book!✨
Thank you to the author, Tyler Edwards for the allowing me the opportunity to read such a great book!✨
dhhoskins_writes's review
5.0
This is a fun and exciting read. If you are a fan of epic fantasy, it is definitely worth checking out. The main thrust of the story is a quest to recover a lost artifact. What makes such a quest stand out is how well developed and thought out the characters are. A number of characters come together to complete the quest, with others added along the way, and it becomes quickly clear they all have their own motivations driving them, and it is exciting to see how this will come to a head. Add in some imaginative world building, strong writing, and humor -- not to mention dragons -- and it is an awesome read!
maggies_novel_approach's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kreepingfire's review
5.0
I got the amazing opportunity to arc read this. The original appeal to even reading it? Dragons. But that's not why I stayed.
This book delivered me easily, one of the easiest worlds to picture and understand. With fantasy, it can get so admittedly boring to read the beginning because it's always clogged up with world building. What this author did was unique and intriguing. He gave you the action right away and built his world around the plot. For anyone who may want to try fantasy but gets bored too death with the details of world building, this is the perfect book for you.
While, found family was not listed as a trope. It is there with some rather unique characters. And the plot twists he throws at you will absolutely floor you. These characters have such tragic backstories and all could easily relate to each other but would it make for a good story if you went a journey with 5 complete strangers and not have mistrust, doubts and even moments of hostility? Absolutely not. The character development is amazing and yet keeps you on your toes just enough where you question if it's safe to love this character or not. I am looking forward to seeing where book 2 takes me.
This book delivered me easily, one of the easiest worlds to picture and understand. With fantasy, it can get so admittedly boring to read the beginning because it's always clogged up with world building. What this author did was unique and intriguing. He gave you the action right away and built his world around the plot. For anyone who may want to try fantasy but gets bored too death with the details of world building, this is the perfect book for you.
While, found family was not listed as a trope. It is there with some rather unique characters. And the plot twists he throws at you will absolutely floor you. These characters have such tragic backstories and all could easily relate to each other but would it make for a good story if you went a journey with 5 complete strangers and not have mistrust, doubts and even moments of hostility? Absolutely not. The character development is amazing and yet keeps you on your toes just enough where you question if it's safe to love this character or not. I am looking forward to seeing where book 2 takes me.
kayper_3's review
5.0
“Loyalty makes it easy to be blinded by a devil who disguises himself a saint.”
Where do I even begin??! Shadows was such an epic adventure that I did not want to out down! The attention to details and vivid descriptions made it so easy for me to envision the world I was walking in. World building was easy to follow and get immersed in. I actually liked the mix of language that’s more “modern” and what I would expect in a fictional fantasy realm.
The characters?! Put a group of very different individuals set on a mission that should guarantee death…what could possibly go wrong? A lot but the way each character had their own shining moments. But can I just say…the BANTER, the BANTER had me laughing entirely too much (not complaining).
I think this is a great high fantasy read for those who are custom/familiar to fantasy and those new or wanting to get into fantasy. I honestly could go on and on about this book. But one final note: there are DRAGONS. Different types of dragons and yes they talk!
If you are here then yes you should definitely give this book a chance. I believe you will NOT be left disappointed and will be wanting more. (Not a cliffhanger buttttt…just read it!)
Thank you Tyler for allowing me to read this arc, this review is entirely my own!
Where do I even begin??! Shadows was such an epic adventure that I did not want to out down! The attention to details and vivid descriptions made it so easy for me to envision the world I was walking in. World building was easy to follow and get immersed in. I actually liked the mix of language that’s more “modern” and what I would expect in a fictional fantasy realm.
The characters?! Put a group of very different individuals set on a mission that should guarantee death…what could possibly go wrong? A lot but the way each character had their own shining moments. But can I just say…the BANTER, the BANTER had me laughing entirely too much (not complaining).
I think this is a great high fantasy read for those who are custom/familiar to fantasy and those new or wanting to get into fantasy. I honestly could go on and on about this book. But one final note: there are DRAGONS. Different types of dragons and yes they talk!
If you are here then yes you should definitely give this book a chance. I believe you will NOT be left disappointed and will be wanting more. (Not a cliffhanger buttttt…just read it!)
Thank you Tyler for allowing me to read this arc, this review is entirely my own!
abbythebookfairy's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is an epic fantasy, and it lives up to that genre.
The cast of characters is diverse, the storyline forces them to learn hard things about themselves and their beliefs as they all fight for a common goal. You will laugh with them, cry for them, and want to follow them to the ends of their world. They will find amazing mages, awe inspiring dragons, and terrifying creatures…
I don’t want to give away too much, but suffice it to say, I loved this book and i hope you will too.
The cast of characters is diverse, the storyline forces them to learn hard things about themselves and their beliefs as they all fight for a common goal. You will laugh with them, cry for them, and want to follow them to the ends of their world. They will find amazing mages, awe inspiring dragons, and terrifying creatures…
I don’t want to give away too much, but suffice it to say, I loved this book and i hope you will too.
millennialbookreview's review
4.0
**I received an advanced copy from the author.
Shadows of the Dark Realm was a novel I found to be incredibly engaging. The plot was exciting and action-packed, though the ending didn’t quite blow me away. The characters, for the most part, were entertaining, fun and complex, with a variety of moralities and motivations. I enjoyed the writing and the world-building. I don’t know if this novel is intended to be the first in a series, or a standalone, but it works either way. Overall, it was a fun, compelling story, and one I can see a lot of fantasy fans enjoying.
My full review can be found here
Shadows of the Dark Realm was a novel I found to be incredibly engaging. The plot was exciting and action-packed, though the ending didn’t quite blow me away. The characters, for the most part, were entertaining, fun and complex, with a variety of moralities and motivations. I enjoyed the writing and the world-building. I don’t know if this novel is intended to be the first in a series, or a standalone, but it works either way. Overall, it was a fun, compelling story, and one I can see a lot of fantasy fans enjoying.
My full review can be found here