A review by peregrineace
The Way Into Darkness by Harry Connolly

4.0

I backed this trilogy on Kickstarter based on a sizeable preview that the author posted on his site for free. I expected a decent story and instead got a fascinating fantasy trilogy that was an easy, entertaining read. The two distinct POV characters allow the reader to experience the tremendous variety of the world that Connolly has created. It follows the modern trend of having rare victories come at a high price, which I like. A lot of the story, like much of actual history, isn't wrapped up in a nice, neat, back-where-we-started, everyone-comes-together way, which I also appreciated. Even with that, Connolly doesn't leave anything feeling like it's dangling, forgotten.

If I had any gripe with the story, it's that some background events happen too fast and easily (for instance

Cazia's father, a man canny enough to blackmail the king with the lives of his sister and mother, offs himself after a single battle wherein he's shown up. I doubt a man that brazen would be so fragile.

) The overall plot is not as deep as most of the epic fantasy I read but it was a nice change of pace for a faster fantasy read.

I'll definitely be looking up Connolly next book and hope that he returns to this world which has a lot of interesting possibilities for future installments.