Darkland product reviews

It seems that I have been missing out on a lot of really good reading, by avoiding mainstream fantasy... this is becoming more and more obvious the more fantasy titles I get to read thanks to the website. Fnord knows that in the past if I had spare cash and was buying books, I was usually to be found hunting down authors I already knew, or digging through the classic sci-fi shelves...

Anyways... I wasn't too sure about this one when I first picked it up... sure, the title had my curiosity piqued... I've had my Goth days... but by the time I had reached the 6th chapter I was well and truely hooked, despite the constant, chapter-sized perspective-jumps between Vali's point of view (written in the first-person perspective) and the antics of those she will soon have to deal with on the planet of Mondhile, written in third-person narrative style... it can make things a little 'scattered' but that adds to the whole 'threads slowly weaving together' theme. Though I am not a great fan of that, it really does work well in this book.

The characters are well defined, even the ones that keep changing aspect, and the technology used throughout is not implausible, and is often not entirely technological in basic nature, such as the Seith, an enhancement of normal senses honed by meditation, mental training, and an intrinsic advancement of humanity's abilities over the centuries. This lends a great 'feel' to the book, since it won't stretch the bounds of believability, yet still carries that touch of fantasy.

Overall, this is quite an eye-opener by an author who has a great future ahead of her. I would not be at all surprised to see Liz Williams joining the ranks of Master Authors within the next 5-10 years if she keeps putting out tales at this level. Very much looking forward to seeing if she follows on from the open ending of this book, and gives us another peek into the ongoing evolution of Vali Hallsdottir.