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drakoulis 's review for:
Stalking Darkness
by Lynn Flewelling
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
No
Dark, emotional and masterfully crafted!
Two books in and the Nightrunner series is already one of my all time favorites.
Stalking Darkness is a perfect title. Alec and Seregil are doing exactly that, as the war between Skala and Plenimar finally breaks out: spying on the agents of Lord Mardus and his necromancer and unbeknowingly assisting the wizard Nysander's efforts to prevent the rise of a horrifying power.
This darkness though is a formidable, ruthless and bloodlusted enemy, which strikes back in horrifying ways and leaves each and every one of our protagonists with deep scars.
I can praise this book for a lot of different aspects:
Its villains are bone chilling, from Mardus' cold calculated mind to Vargul Ashnazai's crazed cruelty and the immense power of the drymagnos.
The sense of foreboding. We have a few chapters from the point of view of Ashnazai and Mardus, and we get the bone chilling feeling that our protagonists aren't ready for what's coming.
The fact that the protagonists aren't making stupid "Oh no I have to give myself to the enemy because he promised with zero guarantees he will free the one I care about if I surrender" choices which are unfortunately common in fantasy. Seregil's spontaneous nature is balanced by Nysander's wisdom and Mycum's tough love.
And Alec, Alec is the fucking star. He is ferocious. Inexperienced and all, he takes each turn of events and revelation with maturity and uses his brains as much as his heart. He also isn't the noble hero who will refuse to strike back only to have this decision bite him in the ass: his takedown of a certain enemy in a cave was glorious - our boy is not kidding around. He works his emotions, his self doubts and his insecurities and he's the one who becomes the steady pillar you can rely on.
The last chapter was also a riot: Alec was having none of this shit and expressed it in a manner which was so satisfying!
Thank you Lynn Flewelling for writing him!
Onwards to the 3rd book!
Two books in and the Nightrunner series is already one of my all time favorites.
Stalking Darkness is a perfect title. Alec and Seregil are doing exactly that, as the war between Skala and Plenimar finally breaks out: spying on the agents of Lord Mardus and his necromancer and unbeknowingly assisting the wizard Nysander's efforts to prevent the rise of a horrifying power.
This darkness though is a formidable, ruthless and bloodlusted enemy, which strikes back in horrifying ways and leaves each and every one of our protagonists with deep scars.
I can praise this book for a lot of different aspects:
Its villains are bone chilling, from Mardus' cold calculated mind to Vargul Ashnazai's crazed cruelty and the immense power of the drymagnos.
The sense of foreboding. We have a few chapters from the point of view of Ashnazai and Mardus, and we get the bone chilling feeling that our protagonists aren't ready for what's coming.
The fact that the protagonists aren't making stupid "Oh no I have to give myself to the enemy because he promised with zero guarantees he will free the one I care about if I surrender" choices which are unfortunately common in fantasy. Seregil's spontaneous nature is balanced by Nysander's wisdom and Mycum's tough love.
And Alec, Alec is the fucking star. He is ferocious. Inexperienced and all, he takes each turn of events and revelation with maturity and uses his brains as much as his heart. He also isn't the noble hero who will refuse to strike back only to have this decision bite him in the ass: his takedown of a certain enemy in a cave was glorious - our boy is not kidding around. He works his emotions, his self doubts and his insecurities and he's the one who becomes the steady pillar you can rely on.
The last chapter was also a riot: Alec was having none of this shit and expressed it in a manner which was so satisfying!
Thank you Lynn Flewelling for writing him!
Onwards to the 3rd book!