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A review by humanpuke
Darkspell by Katharine Kerr
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It’s worth noting that apparently a newer edition of this book attempts to fix some of the problems outlined below. I don’t have that edition and can’t comment on that.
Tired trope of “villain is gay and a pedophile” prevented this from being a 5 star book, and some parts dragged more than Daggerspell. It’s from the 1980s, so it’s certainly a terrible relic of trends in SFF at the time. And while the series deals with other consequences of troublesome sexuality, given that this is such a trope, the blatant homophobia can’t really be treated the same as the incest story lines. At least in my opinion.
But it answered a lot of questions from Daggerspell, sometimes in a clumsy fashion, and sometimes in a very interesting way. Still gonna continue on in the series.
Tired trope of “villain is gay and a pedophile” prevented this from being a 5 star book, and some parts dragged more than Daggerspell. It’s from the 1980s, so it’s certainly a terrible relic of trends in SFF at the time. And while the series deals with other consequences of troublesome sexuality, given that this is such a trope, the blatant homophobia can’t really be treated the same as the incest story lines. At least in my opinion.
But it answered a lot of questions from Daggerspell, sometimes in a clumsy fashion, and sometimes in a very interesting way. Still gonna continue on in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Rape