The Darkness Before the Dawn

Dark Sun: Chronicles of Athas #2

by Ryan Hughes (pseudonym), Jerry Oltion

Companions half-elf Jedra and ex-templar Kayan search for a mentor that will help them to develop their psionic powers, and are forced to compete against one another in a fight to the death for the gladiatorial games. Original. 75,000 first printing.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Ebooks, Childrens, Adventure, Dark

312 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 21, 1995

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I wanted to enjoy this story more than I actually did. As I try to collect and read all of the novels that take place in the Darksun Universe, I am finding that the ones I read in my youth have a nostalgia that has helped them stand up to the test of time…and that just wasn’t present in this one for me.
The plot jumps around quite a bit, and while we want our star-crossed heroes to survive, they seem like they are just wandering around with little purpose….that’s not exactly true, they are trying to get to a city and out of the dessert. And while sheer survival should be enough, we don’t really get the feeling that they are going to die (mostly because there are 200 pages left in a 314 page book). Going back to the plot, it’s sort of divided into 3 shorter plots: time with the elves, time in an alternate universe, and time in the City of Tyr. It might’ve stood out to you that an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE is introduced in the middle. This concept really pulls the reader out of the story, and it goes on for multiple chapters. And even though the author ties this back in to a critical part of the over-arching climax, it feels fake. And I really have a problem when fantasy novels feel fake…..because we are already willing to accept so much in sci-fi/fantasy…don’t push it.
All of that to say, I’m going to keep reading these books.

[Patrik Sahlstrøm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Urgh, what a piece of garbage, combined RPG guide to Athas, psionics and being a gladiator, sprinkled with an utterly inane story of puppy love with no literary value. Stay far away from this garbage!!!

[Benjamin · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seemed the author only read a bit of the Dark Sun background. The story was dis junked, some parts were not needed and the characters were not interesting at all. This could have been slipped in to any fantasy setting with a harsh environment area.

[SapphireRose26 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The psionics in this story was very cool, and so were the crystals containing other worlds. Honestly, though, those were the only things I found enjoyable about this book. I hated Kayan from the beginning. She's a spoiled, arrogant brat who assigns blame to everyone but herself any time something goes wrong instead of focusing her energy on finding a solution. Her character was obnoxious and frustrating to read. I enjoyed Jedra's character at first, but he bowed to Kayan's every whim, even when he wasn't at fault, and after a while I just saw him as a pitiful coward who was too inexperienced to know that's not the way he's supposed to be treated by someone who supposedly loves him. If they'd been a different couple, I would've adored the ending. I'm usually a sucker for "Happily Ever After," but I didn't want these two to end up together, so the book ended on a sour "eh" note for me. Hopefully the next installment in this series is better. I'm looking forward to getting back to the story that began in the first book.

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the one truly standalone tale of the 'Chronicles of Athas' series, with characters that show up nowhere else. Again, the cover is unrelated to contents, and also the title has zero significance. There is no darkness, for this book puts the blazing world of Athas on full display.

The protagonists of this novel are at the mercy of the post-apocalyptic fantasy world, and the atmosphere is wonderfully realised here. As an example, the discovery of a simple magnifying glass is treated as if it was some great, magical artifact!

Desert survival enslavement, psionic powers, gladiatorial arenas - this book displays it all. The pay off for this is a plot that meanders, no particular end point in sight. I'd recommend enjoying this for the exploration of the setting rather than the story.

[Sergio Mesa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lo peor, con diferencia, que he leído de Dark Sun. Como novela de fantasía tiene algunas cosas salvables, pero el autor no tiene ni idea de la ambientación y se maneja en unos niveles de tópicos del género que no encajan para nada y a veces me han hecho hasta enfadar. Ryan Hughes, un nombre para recordar. Y evitar.
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The worst, by far, that I have read of Dark Sun. As a fantasy novel it has some salvageable things, but the author has no idea of the setting and manages in some levels of genre clichés that do not fit at all and sometimes have even made me angry. Ryan Hughes, a name to remember. And to avoid.

[Nenad Pavlović · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't understand the low ratings, this is the best Dark Sun novel I've read so far. It has it all: strange races, adventures, monsters, psionics, landmark places, as well as some unexpected things, such as pocket dimensions, and - even stranger - convincing characters with actual character arcs! OK, Kayan is super-annoying and unlikable, and there's hardly any central plot, but I rather enjoyed this personalized, localized adventure, with no world-shattering events, it was genuinely fun and exciting.

[Paschalis]

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[Nick Hoar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick and reasonably entertaining read