Penumbra

Nightlord #8

by Garon Whited

Eric is a physicist, angel vivisectionist, and an architect of things to come. He's also an accidental time-traveler, stuck in the past and trying to re-create his own future.
Now he's got to save the world for a better tomorrow, but not like everyone does, in general, every day. Oh, no. He has to make a better tomorrow that looks exactly the way he remembers it or there may be no yesterday, no today, and no Eric!
There is a reason he hates time travel and it has nothing to do with physics
"Penumbra" is the eighth book in the "Nightlord" series, following " Fugue."

Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Supernatural, Fiction, Vampires, Science Fiction

1326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 9, 2023

About the author

Garon Whited was supposedly born in 1970, but the original birth certificate is suspiciously unavailable and other records do not agree. After spending some years in college playing role-playing games, he finally settled down into a steady job working with computers—and still plays role-playing games. He finally joined a radicalized group of jellyfish-herding nomads. Having fought zombie dolphins, quasi-corporeal wine and spirits, as well as brain-sucking mole rats, he is uniquely qualified to write fantastic fiction. His subsequent attempts at professional salsa repairman and ley line salesman met with similar success. An affinity for science fiction and fantasy has condemned him to write whenever he has a chance, despite therapy involving shocks and rubber hoses. He claims he lives on this planet, but impartial observers have expressed some doubt. He currently lives in Texarkana.

Reviews

[Torr · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this might be the weakest entry in the series, which makes me sad.

For reference I listen to the audiobook version of this series, so I reference thing in time not pages.

This book is 44+hrs long on Audible, and I was very much looking forward to it coming out. Purchased the pre-order as soon as I knew it was available. Due to the long gap between the last time we followed Eric/Halar/Al as the main character I was a bit confused as what was going on in the first few chapters. Knowing how much I liked the series I start it over rather than continue so that I could have that mental refresher. I found that on this pass through the series that some of books increased in interest for me (Phoebe's Tale specifically).

I was hoping to see Erik and Phoebe's paths cross again after her adventure dealing with Aldon (sp), I did not get that in the book. That's okay because Erik usually has some great adventures for me to follow along with, but I didn't get that either this time. What I feel like I got was 30+ hrs of Erik complaining about his situation with no progress in developing a coping mechanism or processing his perceived trauma; he probably needs a therapist of some kind.

So much time was spent with him "Reluctantly building Rethven" and not being the character I liked watching overcome their struggles while maintaining some form of humanity and kindness until the sleeping giant is awakened by stupid people that can't comprehend how powerful he actually is (science knowledge in a magic world). So much time spend complaining and explaining made me almost give up part way through, instead I dialed the speed up to 2.5x just to get through it. Thankfully in the last 8hrs or so, interesting thing happens with some Romans. The excitement of things happening and with lots of build up, just in time for the book to end with another cliffhanger.

I don't know if the next book in the series is already written and just being spaced out for publishing reasons, but I sure hope so because these cliffhanger endings with years long wait for the next book seem rude to the audience/reader.

[Arnis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sērijas noslēdzošās daļas (cerams) septītā grāmata iesākas, Ērikam uzņemoties audzināšanu par meitēnu, kuru viņas dzimtajā pasaulē radi būtu nolēmuši nāvei, jo māte mirusi dzemdībās un piedevām vēl ārējā izskatā ir pazīmes, kuras liecina, ka viņa neesot dvēseles. Ēriks, kā jau uzņēmīgs un visuvarens vampīrs, to neņem galvā, bet rīkojas, un par dzimto vietu un laiku, kur uzaudzināt par Fībiju nosaukto bērnu izvēlas 1959.gada mazpilsētas vidi Aiovā, ASV, bet arī ne gluži tā uzreiz, ka tā būtu Ērika pirmā izvēle.

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[David Hossler · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve loved the nightlord series so far then you’ll definitely finish this book. It gets really good near the end but I feel it was so drawn out in the beginning. Although, if you’re a fan of Eric’s experiments like I am then you’ll love penumbra!

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I swear these get just a bit better with each one.

[Jim Galloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable continuation to the series, but while as much as a big selling point the in-depth look into the intersection of magic and physics/science more broadly is for the series, this time it felt a bit too dominant but that's only a minor complaint and could just be my brain craving constant events to keep it engaged, regardless it's a fun next installment of a comfort series! The only other point dropping the rating is while there may be resources that improve it, the major reveal in the start of the book hit me like a fright train out of nowhere and left me feeling cheated of a few plot points I was looking forward to being resolved. Again a minor thing as I haven't read the all additional works out out by the author so this may well have been covered/my own fault!

[Thorsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

GRRM should read this series for some ideas on properly killing off your cast of characters, not half-ass it as he did in A Song of Ice and Fire. This is somewhat expected, and I don't have high expectations of revisiting past characters. In this book, however, I do have a problem with Phoebe. Forgetting about your daughter for a few centuries, forgetting to give her a way to communicate with you, then endlessly berating himself over the lost time with her while glossing over the fact that he could have given her effective immortality by cycling her through new bodies? It takes the "absent-minded professor" schtick too far. Forgetfulness becomes a nonsensical and unbelievable character trait for someone who can build chaos-space Fortresses of Solitude but can't solve reminders. Especially when Bronze is present throughout, it seems patently unbelievable that she would remain silent about this.

This is when I realized that I had lost the thread on this series. Story continuity comes from persistent characters and settings. I've loved this story for its meandering slice-of-life narrative, and sometimes, hitting Reset can be fun and revitalizing. However, doing it constantly so we can have the same repetitive interactions with newly minted clones of past character personalities just gets a little tedious.

I am DNF for the moment, but I expect to work my way through it since I have enjoyed this series a lot to this point.

[Viu · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good continuation!

I enjoyed this entry in the series! I felt the first half of the book had too much project based writing and not enough of the MC interacting with people/cultures, but the second half felt well paced and interesting. It had a nice blend of projects and people interactions, interspersed with great descriptions of combat & battles.
As spoiler free as i can manage, I also really love how much some of the details in this book tie into earlier books, lining up timelines and really making me wonder how much of the overall story & details were planned ahead! Thanks for another great addition to the series!

[Stacey Bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Award Winning

Another incredible work of literature by Garson Whited. Every character truly feels alive with there own goals and dreams as well as flaws, mostly flaws. I love the magic system and character progression. The story just grips ahold of you and you don’t want to put it down. It’s absolutely a 5 star novel and a must read. I’m truly disappointed every time I get to the end because I know I have a long wait till the next sequel and I’m always just bursting at the seams to read the next book. Sincerely, CB

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one isn't the best in the series. Still good, but if I wasn't already invested, I don't think it would be as attractive. The mc kept irritating me by whining and complaining about having to do stuff. Not wanting to do something because he felt pressured into it. Blah blah blah. Kept wanting to tell him to grow the fuck up. The whining and general dick behavior got old. If the series isn't over, I hope he can learn to appreciate the here and now of things.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes a long time to find its feet，but gripping once it does!

21 chapters in, I was ready to drop this book. There are some good moments, but they are drowning in a sea of repetitive introspection.

If you've made it this far into the series, this shouldn't surprise you. However, be warned that first third of this book is fluffier than usual.

Seriously, it felt like half of each chapter was his mopey soul searching. Chapter after chapter, half the words are him brooding over the same issues, thinking the same thoughts, and then when we finally hit something interesting its's quickly abandoned for another distraction.

That first third needs a good editor to ruthlessly cut out the junk.

Glad I stuck with it though, because once it gains momentum its a real page turner.

[Amanda Purvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garon I love and hate you.... this series is phenomenal and I think that love hate relationship is a beautiful thing. You really feel the highs, lows, feelings of being adrift and so much more when reading this entry in to the saga. I don't want to share any spoilers so I will just end by saying these books are a perfect example of why I love to read. Keep up the great work!

[Mike Purdin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

I kind of got bummed with one of the books in series. But as whole not a bad series. Kind of identify with main character, on few things. But, how he is concerning family is confusing and seems better not being family for the long run. But series does make you think, about how he digs himself deeper and deeper. Worth reading, I wonder how it ends.

[Jason Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit long, but as a history buff I really enjoyed the slowed down parts of this story. The ending of this book was fantastic and makes me want the next book to come out immediately! The past few books have felt a bit long-winded, but with everything now in place I'm sure the next few books will be action packed and drive the story towards it's endgame.

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Garon Whited! I have consistently enjoyed this series for 8 books now, and wholeheartedly recommend it to new readers. Personally, I enjoy the unique blend of interplanetary travel and epic fantasy storytelling.

[Samendio MAthieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read!

Another great read. I do appreciate how you got out of the habit of waiting until the last 30 minutes of the book to ramp everything up. Still a little bit of it here. But overall, the pacing was much better.

[Tressa · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointing

Author goes on and on and on and on about a spell or other boring things. It finally got interesting at the end but then ended with a huge cliffhanger. The only good thing about this book is the narrator, Sean Runnette. I bet he hated narrating this book

[Charles W. Trapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfinished

Very long, some great characters. Not sure it was worth the years I put in reading it. "Finished", but ended up with more questions than answers. The book's title seemed to indicate a wrapping up of a story line. Not so...

[Decode · Rating 5 out of 5]

good very good

[David Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think this guy knows how to write a bad story. I can't wait for the next one.

[David Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great follow up

Enjoying following the story of the Nightlord as he tries to figure things out while appearing like he knows ask the secrets

[Roberta Widener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about a cliff

Good book. A little harder to follow but well worth the "go back a page" it took me a few times to catch what was going on.

[Sara :D · Rating 4 out of 5]

No bro. WHAT THE HECK! He really just left it there. He really just cliffhangered us.

[Sunnie Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

another great step in the story

This book answered so many questions and left us with so many more. Big things happened in the time loop.