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A review by observantraven
Darksoul by Anna Stephens
5.0
Review coming soon...Last year when I read the first book in the series, Godblind I was utterly blown by it. Due to this when I was able to get my hands on a digital review copy of Darksoul I was very excited to start reading it and to be able to traverse this world again.
Upon cracking open that initial page of Darksoul I was met with a bang as Rilporin is under siege and what a scene that was to start the book off on, little did I know that things weren’t going to stop there as the entire book revolves around the siege of Rilporin. If someone was to say to me, read this book about the consistent siege of a city I would probably be a bit dubious about. This is because I can imagine it would be very hard to do this without having the book become boring or have pacing issues. This however was certainly not an issue in Darksoul as Anna Stephens has managed to create a scene of consistent dread, tension and brutality throughout this book without it ever dropping the pace and flow of the book. In all the years I have read fantasy the only time I have ever come across siege stories and scenes as brilliant and epic as these was when I read the siege of Gondor and siege of Helms Deep in The Lord of the Rings, it is literally that brilliant and epic in scale.
The brilliance of Darksoul doesn’t stop there because not only has Anna Stephens crafted an amazing story to keep us hooked but the characters of this world are some of the most grim, brutal and lovable characters I have ever come across in a grim dark book. Without going into to much detail I can remember one scene in particular where a soldier is fighting against on coming soldiers and they find themselves on the receiving end of an arrow, to which one of the main characters proceeds to chastise them about, it was at this time I found myself laughing and still do when I think about. This scene was only one of many memorable scenes that I experienced in this book and I think if a book as dark and grim as this can produce something like this then it is something truly great.
Over the last few years I have increasingly read more and more grimdark fantasy and Darksoul is the grimiest of grim. It has some of the most brutal, bloodiest and dark scenes / characters I have ever came across in one book but at the same time you find yourself wanting more and more of it.
On a quick side note….DO NOT GET ATTACHED TO ANY CHARACTERS!!! Yes it is that grim and dark.
Darksoul has not only smashed my expectations of it being a fantastic book but has smashed me through a wall with an axe to the head. Anna Stephens is a true talent of the grimdark genre, last year she created something truly wonderful with Godblind and this year she has given us something even more brilliant with Darksoul. I am truly excited to see what she has in store for us in the sequel.
Upon cracking open that initial page of Darksoul I was met with a bang as Rilporin is under siege and what a scene that was to start the book off on, little did I know that things weren’t going to stop there as the entire book revolves around the siege of Rilporin. If someone was to say to me, read this book about the consistent siege of a city I would probably be a bit dubious about. This is because I can imagine it would be very hard to do this without having the book become boring or have pacing issues. This however was certainly not an issue in Darksoul as Anna Stephens has managed to create a scene of consistent dread, tension and brutality throughout this book without it ever dropping the pace and flow of the book. In all the years I have read fantasy the only time I have ever come across siege stories and scenes as brilliant and epic as these was when I read the siege of Gondor and siege of Helms Deep in The Lord of the Rings, it is literally that brilliant and epic in scale.
The brilliance of Darksoul doesn’t stop there because not only has Anna Stephens crafted an amazing story to keep us hooked but the characters of this world are some of the most grim, brutal and lovable characters I have ever come across in a grim dark book. Without going into to much detail I can remember one scene in particular where a soldier is fighting against on coming soldiers and they find themselves on the receiving end of an arrow, to which one of the main characters proceeds to chastise them about, it was at this time I found myself laughing and still do when I think about. This scene was only one of many memorable scenes that I experienced in this book and I think if a book as dark and grim as this can produce something like this then it is something truly great.
Over the last few years I have increasingly read more and more grimdark fantasy and Darksoul is the grimiest of grim. It has some of the most brutal, bloodiest and dark scenes / characters I have ever came across in one book but at the same time you find yourself wanting more and more of it.
On a quick side note….DO NOT GET ATTACHED TO ANY CHARACTERS!!! Yes it is that grim and dark.
Darksoul has not only smashed my expectations of it being a fantastic book but has smashed me through a wall with an axe to the head. Anna Stephens is a true talent of the grimdark genre, last year she created something truly wonderful with Godblind and this year she has given us something even more brilliant with Darksoul. I am truly excited to see what she has in store for us in the sequel.