Tomes of Spellcasting--The Time of the Dark

Tomes of Spellcasting

Welcome to the land of mystery, where the impossible is possible, and the improbable the reality. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with magic and meet the souls that wield this wondrous powers.

W A R N I N G !

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Title: The Time of the Dark
Author: Barbara Hambly
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine Books
Format: Paperback
Copyright Date: 1982

Gil Patterson and Rudy Solis had no idea what they were getting into when a) Gil gave refuge to Ingold Inglorion the wizard and the infant Prince Altir Endorion, visitors from another world/dimension/universe; b) sacrificed their chance to escape by returning to Ingold just as the wizard prepared for battle with a Dark One; and c) escaped with Ingold back to Ingold's world as they fled the Dark One's death pyre (the burning cottage that Gil had housed Ingold in). Now, however, they have no choice but to flee with the rest of the people into Renweth Keep, the great, monolithic structure that three millennia ago protected the human race from extinction at the hands of the Dark. They have no choice...not if they want to end up mindless zombies or fleshless skeletons. Now, however, the question is: will they ever find a way home again, and will they survive long enough to make it?

The Time of the Dark has got to be one of the best fantasy works I've ever read, and I'm not just saying that. Ms. Hambly takes aspects of everything that is to be feared in the night and melds them all into the Dark, strange beings made of shadow and given substance, wraith-like and changing. Pitting the last survivors of a noble kingdom against the seemingly endless hordes of the Dark Ones is, perhaps, a retelling of other tales, but Hambly does an excellent job of throwing twists into her plots and characters. I mean, who would ever imagine that two such unlikely people as Gil and Rudy would end up fighting for their lives in a world much like their own, yet infinitely different?

Speaking of Gil and Rudy, these two are enjoyable charaters. Gil is, in her home dimension, a scholar working on her Ph.D., something that I can relate to. Yet in that other world, she discovers a harder side to herself, and becomes one of the Guard, a warrior maiden who just happens to be a veritable repository of the lore of her own world. Then there's Rudy, who, when we first meet him, happens to be drunk and on his way to becoming more drunk. It turns out that he has an artistic side to him, something that you wouldn't at all expect from his lifestyle, his clothes, the tattoo on his wrist, or his interest in mechanical things. We feel like Gil does when he actually volunteers to change Prince Altir's dirty diapers. You wouldn't catch me anywhere nearby!

If you read Stranger at the Wedding or Dragonsbane and expect something that runs along those lines, think again. Though there are humorous moments now and again, this is a novel of fighting for survival, and--as it's the first book in The Darwath Trilogy--the struggle's far from over!

Rating: Thumbs up! Get ready for another epic saga of the fight to survive against impossible odds!

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