Pillar of Darkness

by Dave Duncan

Two hundred miles wide and higher than the moon, Sungoback has stood over central Africa for thirty years, a pillar of light by night and of darkness by day. Science cannot explain it; it destroys technology. What secret lies at its centre: aliens, eternal life, distant past, or far future? Most who venture inside Sungoback are never seen again. Why would anybody dare?

They all have their reasons. Pillar of Darkness tells of a party of nine very dissimilar people, who venture into Sungoback together, bound by their motives, their sufferings, and—eventually—their fates.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Originally from Scotland, Dave Duncan lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds were more satisfying than the real one, he published more than 60 novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical.

He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")

His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.

He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.

He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Hugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rarely write reviews, but I need to add something here. Dave Duncan is one of my favorite authors. I was very sad last year when he passed away. I can see his hand in this book, but it very much lacks his polish. It also lacks in copy editing. Character names changed and were confused throughout the book.

It makes me more sad to see his work in such an unfinished state. I wish the publisher had spent the extra money/work to make one of Duncan's final published works up to the standards of his other work. I would happily direct other readers to his catalog of much better novels.

[Russell Jurney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pillar of Darkness is a fun read. It’s a weird tale about the appearance of a zone of altered space in Africa, an aberration of physics called the Sungoback. As in "Sun go back." Set in a near future world with human like androids and ski bags that follow their owner, the world building is excellent. I plowed through it in about seven hours, and it was a page turner. I recommend it. It wasn’t earth shattering, but definitely enjoyable light reading.

[Pam Christison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such an interesting idea for the Sungoback phenomenon. The pacing of this book is weird - it’s a very slow start and then the end goes by so quickly that I couldn’t believe it was over; I had to go back and re-read to try to figure out what happened. More adult content than Duncan’s books usually have, unfortunately.

[Kenneth Sadens · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Interesting Tale

Fascinating SF story from a grandmaster story teller. Dave does his usual masterful job of creating an interesting backdrop with diverse characters and and a adventure into the unknown of Sungoback. Two thumbs up as my favorite movie reviewers would have said!

[Svetlana Kva · Rating 3 out of 5]

a few errors with names in the book were very disturbing as I couldn't help wondering if it was part of some maddening plot. (which it wasn't. no. just errors...). plot somehow reminded me of hunger games. not in a bad way ie. a pretty good plot if wasn't for the ending.. disappointing.

[Loretta]

Could have used a proof reader. 2 different main characters had name changes from one page to the next.

[Lynn Mccorry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who among us would willingly enter a forbidden zone from which only a small percentage of people return? Driven by anger and a need for vengeance, the main character of the Pillar of Darkness, Rita Wright, decides to overcome all obstacles to do just that.

While incurring a considerable expense for entry into an alien created area is no matter for Rita as she is unfathomably rich, finding trusted allies to help her is more difficult. She must convince a human trafficker to facilitate her entry. He is reticent as he fears being ruined by a probable liability action from her family if she doesn’t return.

Moving forward, Rita learns more about herself and, at one point, even wonders if the search for vengeance is enough to justify what she continues to go through. After all, with her wealth, she could have hired someone to take on the physical hardships that she’s enduring on her quest. Moving ahead with a team of like-minded but desperate people, she enters the forbidden zone.

The story is about discovery and overcoming obstacles. It’s also about giving up everything of worth in order to discover and experience the challenge of pioneering a new world. This book captivated me with the interaction between the principal characters and with its ever-present mystery.

The book’s pace was moderate and I liked the interplay between the characters. Their discourse helped to both develop the characters and to further the story.

This book is a quick read that will satisfy anyone with a love of sci-fi and mystery.

[Ian McKinley]

Dave Duncan is one of my go-to authors. I don't expect great literature from him, just a decent yarn. When I heard of his passing this past autumn, I felt sadness that I hadn't expected. Perhaps there's a bit of me that would like to achieve what he achieved ... prolific in his spinning of decent yarns. Thus, despite not appreciating the last of his works, I got this and dove into it.

I found it to have an interesting premise. A technology-defeating zone of darkness by day, light by night, some hundreds of kilometres around that appears on the edge of the Sahel. Thus the novel takes us to an interesting setting, one not often seen in stories. Then the setting gets more and more interesting as a band of explorers seeks to enter the ...("heart of darkness?")... terrain. The characters are a little cookie-cutter, but the narrative is strong and drives us forward.

I'd love to get a feminist's view on the climax and denouement ... it strikes me that the female protagonist has males show up at just the right moment to affect the outcome, and I suspect her ambitions of a possible new trajectory are skewed by maleness!

Very much worth a read!

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out with the story of numerous people and their issues, and why they want to go to Sungoback...a mysterious place that appeared in Northern Africa 30 years ago. People go in, but seldom return. Most of the book is about the characters, and their brief time in Xanadu, a special resort (very expensive) set up on the edge of Sungoback. Only in the last quarter of the book does the group finally enter Sungoback. It is divided into 8 zones, each one removes technology until Zone 8 where one becomes completely naked in the primitive. In the end, we find out that Sungoback is another world created by beings unknown, and purposes unknown. Those who survived the excursion resign themselves to staying in this new world. It is as if they know they can't go back, which makes me wonder about those who did, in fact, return. I really liked the premise, and the characters, and everything except the ending. It seemed like the author ran out of ideas, sadly.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great idea (is the pillar a macguffin?) but the characters don't even get there until halfway through the book! Halfway! Most of the book revolves around the characters and their reasons for going to Sungoback (what the pillar is called) even though there is only a 20% return rate. So the first half is meeting the main group of characters and getting to know them, the ones that have lied about who they are and why they are there.

The ending was confusing to me and I'm not going to go into specifics that would be spoilers. It was just like "Wait, I thought they were there and now suddenly they're here with no sense of transition (no written account of walking there and the like) between two places"

I couldn't decide between 2 and 3 stars so call it 2.5 really. 3 stars won mostly because I love the author.

[Heli · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book is so interesting. An area in Africa suddenly appeared thirty years ago that challenges the laws of physics, and no one knows how or why. And surely people have set up a profitable business around it. There are people who want to go to Sungoback, and one and all have their own reasons for going.
The book starts slowly. The characters are introduced and they spend some time in Xanadu, a luxury resort, before their journey. The journey itself seems very brief compared to the preparations. The travelers find out the secret of Sungoback in the end. The ending was very rushed. It felt like a rug had been pulled under my feet.
The author died before the publication of this book. That might explain why this book did not reach it's full potential.
Thank you LibraryThing and Five Rivers Publishing for a copy of this book.

[Sean Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bittersweet way to start the year, having heard that Dave Duncan died after having written, but before publishing this standalone story. It is certainly a very 'Dave' story with elements of many of his old favourite motifs coming to the fore, and that playful, nuanced tone adopted by several of the characters is uniquely him.

As to the story itself, I was wondering where everything was going to end up with only about an eighth of the book to go, which is odd - normally, one can at least see a sense of an ending somewhere. Nonetheless, I didn't put it down, and am sure I will read it all over again at least once this year to grasp more of the nuances. For now, a top-drawer entry in Dave's collection of standalone stories.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little read, with Duncan's trademark original spin on a known theme, though it is sorely in need of going over by a copy editor... I suspect Duncan's sad passing before this was published contributed to the publishers putting it out there without checking for errors (of which there are a few... changes in spelling of names, wrong character names used at times, missing words, etc.).

I would also have preferred a less rushed ending, though I did very much enjoy where this story ended up.

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 4 out of 5]

High concept SF idea with a mysterious pillar of darkness that appeared in Africa in which technology fails the farther in you go. Everyone has a different reason for risking their life to go inside.