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A review by secre
Darkstorm by M.L. Spencer
4.0
Having read Chains of Blood, the beginning of the series set after The Rhenwars Saga, I thought I'd solve my confusion by going back to where everything starts with the prequel to The Rhenwars Saga. Points to the author, I enjoyed Chains of Blood even without the background knowledge that would have come from reading the initial series first, but I have to say things started to make a whole lot more sense when I stopped being awkward and read the books in the proper order!
Darkstorm takes you all the way back to the beginning, when the Well of Tears is yet to be opened and two brothers have to try to overcome their differences in order to put a halt to these dangerous machinations. It's a far more simplistic narrative in many ways than Chains of Blood, and I suspect this is because it's a prequel so much of the world building has been done in the later books that were actually written first. That said, it is also a narrative that has strong, flawed characters leading it and is absolutely full of action and drive.
I really enjoyed how the relationship between Quin and Braden was portrayed, with both being very different characters that leads to conflict and tension. I appreciated how neither brother nor Merris could be categorised as archetypal 'heroes', yet most of them are muddling along as best as they can regardless. As often as they get something right, they manage to screw it up instead, meaning that the narrative can often twist in ways you wouldn't have anticipated. Merris is a particularly fascinating character as she is something of a chameleon, changing to fit her circumstances in unexpected ways. Even more interestingly, even the villains aren't true villains in the expected ways. Their motivations, whilst not pure, are actually fairly understandable and even potentially defensible. The old axiom that the means justify the end is definitely in use here, as thousands of magi lives are at risk if their plan doesn't work.
All in all, this was an excellent read with deep and complex characters that left you unsure as to who you really should be rooting for. I suspect it would be better read after reading the main series, as the world building is far more extensive in the first book of the main series, but for a dark and unusual fantasy this ticks nearly all the boxes.
Darkstorm takes you all the way back to the beginning, when the Well of Tears is yet to be opened and two brothers have to try to overcome their differences in order to put a halt to these dangerous machinations. It's a far more simplistic narrative in many ways than Chains of Blood, and I suspect this is because it's a prequel so much of the world building has been done in the later books that were actually written first. That said, it is also a narrative that has strong, flawed characters leading it and is absolutely full of action and drive.
I really enjoyed how the relationship between Quin and Braden was portrayed, with both being very different characters that leads to conflict and tension. I appreciated how neither brother nor Merris could be categorised as archetypal 'heroes', yet most of them are muddling along as best as they can regardless. As often as they get something right, they manage to screw it up instead, meaning that the narrative can often twist in ways you wouldn't have anticipated. Merris is a particularly fascinating character as she is something of a chameleon, changing to fit her circumstances in unexpected ways. Even more interestingly, even the villains aren't true villains in the expected ways. Their motivations, whilst not pure, are actually fairly understandable and even potentially defensible. The old axiom that the means justify the end is definitely in use here, as thousands of magi lives are at risk if their plan doesn't work.
All in all, this was an excellent read with deep and complex characters that left you unsure as to who you really should be rooting for. I suspect it would be better read after reading the main series, as the world building is far more extensive in the first book of the main series, but for a dark and unusual fantasy this ticks nearly all the boxes.