The Dark Realm

The Possibility Wars #2

by Douglas Kaufman

Very Good Book

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Cyberpunk

302 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Bracicot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tighter than the first one, and more polished. It has a similar very-short-chapters structure, which makes it a fast read, but this one is more willing to use plot structures like flashback and dream to smooth out some of the lumps of an otherwise strictly chronological book.

It was fun to see the characters finally starting to understand the power of possibilities. I also enjoyed seeing substories of redemption and healing and jealousy.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original Torg's second tie-in novel, The Dark Realm, is the middle part of a trilogy (this chapter written by Douglas Kaufman), and in some ways, a side-quest. A character was badly hurt in the first book, and the party has to go to Orrorsh - the horror realm - to save his life. We have less need for "assembling the group" stuff, but the book is still partly dedicated to introducing and dramatizing elements from the game. Potential players will be misled if they think they can actually go up against a High Lord, however. So it's a tighter book, but there are still stray pages that keep the other cosms alive, even if they seem irrelevant to the plot (as yet). The book's biggest weakness, however, is that it tends to retcon characters for its own uses, and I'm not too keen on those uses. For example, an unimportant NPC from Storm Riders is shoehorned into the role of a PC's brother, then has an unearned heel turn that isn't at all necessary to advance the plot. So it was okay, but only just okay.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, a quarter century later and I still enjoy this setting. I wanted to go back and revisit the original with word the we may have a new version of the game out sometime in the next year. It still speaks to me and while it certainly follows the 90s formula of fantasy fiction to some extent I find I care about the characters.
Score one for nostalgia!

[Ryan Crown · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the various characters from the first group finally brought together--for the most part--this volume doesn't jump around nearly as much as the previous volume, which makes for a more enjoyable and engaging story.

The momentum of the plot has also picked up, so that I am very interested to start the final book in the series and see how the story is brought to a conclusion.

[Cthulhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rompin' good book, that helps set the tone and pace of the RPG

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars