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Darkness Stabs
When demons escape the virtual underworld, it's up to a mourning widow to slay them all.
In this second part of Dark World Book I , Demons have escaped from the world below, spreading their darkness to the land of the living. David Gosling—a widow who entered the virtual world to escape his painful reality—finds himself at the center of the fight for survival when all he really wants to do is find the copy of his lost wife.
David makes a powerful ally and takes on the impossible task of arming a city—one far from ready to face the evil at the gates. Will David accept his role and find the magic within? Will he slice through the demon horde with the power of the 'Blue Druid'?
"Take my blood for the war to come, David. Your human strength will not be enough to face the darkness below. My power will give you purpose and focus your mind. The bite is my gift to you, moon child."
In this second part of Dark World Book I , Demons have escaped from the world below, spreading their darkness to the land of the living. David Gosling—a widow who entered the virtual world to escape his painful reality—finds himself at the center of the fight for survival when all he really wants to do is find the copy of his lost wife.
David makes a powerful ally and takes on the impossible task of arming a city—one far from ready to face the evil at the gates. Will David accept his role and find the magic within? Will he slice through the demon horde with the power of the 'Blue Druid'?
"Take my blood for the war to come, David. Your human strength will not be enough to face the darkness below. My power will give you purpose and focus your mind. The bite is my gift to you, moon child."
- GenresFantasy
530 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 30, 2021
7 people are currently reading
1360 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 12, 2021
My thanks to the author, David Gunter and BookTasters for a review copy of the book.
Darkness Stabs is the second part of the science-fiction/fantasy adventure Magical After which I had read some time earlier. The books (a four-book series, with each book in two parts) are set in Atsia Major and Atsia Minor which essentially are the world of an rpg game.
When the story began, we met our main character David Gosling who has been raising his three children, Peter, Jimmy and London on his own (and not too well) after the death of his wife Hellen a year previously. He is helped in this by his sister-in-law and brother-in-law. But David soon discovers that he himself is suffering a brain tumour and will have to undergo treatment. His wife's company then offers him a chance to continue living (with the children) in an rpg game Hellen was instrumental in creating, while he undergoes treatment and recuperates in the real world. He of course accepts. But the CEO of the company Carl Mathews III, had in fact, wanted to get back at Hellen whom he felt had more control over his company than himself. And so he also sends in a gurkha, Tommy Cruise and a former soldier, John Taney to get rid of both David and Hellen, who lives on in her AI avatar in the game. In the previous book, we had been following David, Tommy and John as each of them landed in different parts of the world and soon found themselves fulfilling various tasks and challenges in the game. They have not all crossed paths so far, and in fact John and Tommy have pretty much been involved in their own challenges impacted also by their pasts.
As this part opens, we continue from the point that we left off as David had found some success using his real-life skills as a blacksmith. Soon he becomes an imperial blacksmith. While mostly due to Hellen's influence, David had so far been having fairly positive luck and experiences in the game, he has managed to attract the ire of Starlight Girl, a goddess who has declared war on him. Also he seems to have become the target of some rather unwelcome dark magic. But as the game moves on, David begins to get stronger and learns to use equipment and skills as they are meant to be in the game. Along the way he also finds himself upgrade to a completely different (and unexpected status) with the help of the Blue Druid whom he had met in the previous book, and this equips him to face a dragon that declares war on their city (Opal City). In this the dragon is also acting in partnership with Starlight Girl. Meanwhile David also worries about his children with whom he has had next to no contact since entering the game.
In the previous segment, we had also met some professional and amateur gamers (including WhoDadi50 and RamenBoy) who were working with David to improve their points. In this book, we also follow some of their adventures and some other gamers and leagues who are introduced here.
Meanwhile, Tommy Cruise is on a quest of his own helping the two 'undead' girls, Sly and Slow, find their missing father but also tracking down a dark quest of which he has been told. He also has to cope with a soul-eating worm that has attached itself to him. Tommy too finds that his real world skills can help him adapt to the game world.
John Taney, the other soldier introduced in the first book is being trained as a Holy Knight. But he has some dark forces to track down and face, and he also seems to have a problem which we are not sure he himself knows about.
There are also some dark and unsettling goings on in which a suspicious set of 'officers'/god characters led by the mysterious Whispers is causing some mischief in this world; and it seems the barriers between the game and the real world may not be as strong as we have been thinking.
This was another fun instalment in this set of books, and as in the last segment, I quite enjoyed reading it. The story as a whole and those of the individual characters we read of are interesting to follow along, and there are some surprises along the way. Also the interaction between the real and game worlds add to the interest in the story for it is not only that Carl III is attempting to cause trouble in the game, but it seems some in the game can reach back into the real world as well.
What I enjoyed most about the book was the fact that it really plays out like an rpg game with all the elements of one. Each of the characters we follow have character sheets and qualities that change with each step they take (xp, health points, soul points, powers, weapons, etc.). The author has devoted great attention to the details of these features, and they have turned out really well. Also of course the quests that each of the characters, and in some cases, guilds, take on are great fun to follow along; like in rpg games, when a creature is killed by another, the victor has the option to pick up the 'loot' while also improving their own xp, level and standing. And the creature killed doesn't really die but has the option to 'respawn' in more than one way. The quests themselves are numerous and pretty creative. I also thought the dragon we meet and the dragon lore in the game were quite imaginative and enjoyable.
Other than the detestable Carl and some of the 'darker' characters like the Starlight Girl, one likes and feels sympathy for almost all of the others. Some on the other hand, we know have more to their stories, but I assume this will be revealed in future instalments.
While I enjoyed reading the book for the most part, some themes I felt didn't belong and somehow took away from the general tone of the game/book. Also as in the case of the first book I felt that the writing in some places (not all through, but some segments, and particularly some of the dialogue) could do with a little more polishing as could some of the names given to the characters (the gamer names though, felt very authentic).
But I had fun with it as a whole.
3.4 stars
Darkness Stabs is the second part of the science-fiction/fantasy adventure Magical After which I had read some time earlier. The books (a four-book series, with each book in two parts) are set in Atsia Major and Atsia Minor which essentially are the world of an rpg game.
When the story began, we met our main character David Gosling who has been raising his three children, Peter, Jimmy and London on his own (and not too well) after the death of his wife Hellen a year previously. He is helped in this by his sister-in-law and brother-in-law. But David soon discovers that he himself is suffering a brain tumour and will have to undergo treatment. His wife's company then offers him a chance to continue living (with the children) in an rpg game Hellen was instrumental in creating, while he undergoes treatment and recuperates in the real world. He of course accepts. But the CEO of the company Carl Mathews III, had in fact, wanted to get back at Hellen whom he felt had more control over his company than himself. And so he also sends in a gurkha, Tommy Cruise and a former soldier, John Taney to get rid of both David and Hellen, who lives on in her AI avatar in the game. In the previous book, we had been following David, Tommy and John as each of them landed in different parts of the world and soon found themselves fulfilling various tasks and challenges in the game. They have not all crossed paths so far, and in fact John and Tommy have pretty much been involved in their own challenges impacted also by their pasts.
As this part opens, we continue from the point that we left off as David had found some success using his real-life skills as a blacksmith. Soon he becomes an imperial blacksmith. While mostly due to Hellen's influence, David had so far been having fairly positive luck and experiences in the game, he has managed to attract the ire of Starlight Girl, a goddess who has declared war on him. Also he seems to have become the target of some rather unwelcome dark magic. But as the game moves on, David begins to get stronger and learns to use equipment and skills as they are meant to be in the game. Along the way he also finds himself upgrade to a completely different (and unexpected status) with the help of the Blue Druid whom he had met in the previous book, and this equips him to face a dragon that declares war on their city (Opal City). In this the dragon is also acting in partnership with Starlight Girl. Meanwhile David also worries about his children with whom he has had next to no contact since entering the game.
In the previous segment, we had also met some professional and amateur gamers (including WhoDadi50 and RamenBoy) who were working with David to improve their points. In this book, we also follow some of their adventures and some other gamers and leagues who are introduced here.
Meanwhile, Tommy Cruise is on a quest of his own helping the two 'undead' girls, Sly and Slow, find their missing father but also tracking down a dark quest of which he has been told. He also has to cope with a soul-eating worm that has attached itself to him. Tommy too finds that his real world skills can help him adapt to the game world.
John Taney, the other soldier introduced in the first book is being trained as a Holy Knight. But he has some dark forces to track down and face, and he also seems to have a problem which we are not sure he himself knows about.
There are also some dark and unsettling goings on in which a suspicious set of 'officers'/god characters led by the mysterious Whispers is causing some mischief in this world; and it seems the barriers between the game and the real world may not be as strong as we have been thinking.
This was another fun instalment in this set of books, and as in the last segment, I quite enjoyed reading it. The story as a whole and those of the individual characters we read of are interesting to follow along, and there are some surprises along the way. Also the interaction between the real and game worlds add to the interest in the story for it is not only that Carl III is attempting to cause trouble in the game, but it seems some in the game can reach back into the real world as well.
What I enjoyed most about the book was the fact that it really plays out like an rpg game with all the elements of one. Each of the characters we follow have character sheets and qualities that change with each step they take (xp, health points, soul points, powers, weapons, etc.). The author has devoted great attention to the details of these features, and they have turned out really well. Also of course the quests that each of the characters, and in some cases, guilds, take on are great fun to follow along; like in rpg games, when a creature is killed by another, the victor has the option to pick up the 'loot' while also improving their own xp, level and standing. And the creature killed doesn't really die but has the option to 'respawn' in more than one way. The quests themselves are numerous and pretty creative. I also thought the dragon we meet and the dragon lore in the game were quite imaginative and enjoyable.
Other than the detestable Carl and some of the 'darker' characters like the Starlight Girl, one likes and feels sympathy for almost all of the others. Some on the other hand, we know have more to their stories, but I assume this will be revealed in future instalments.
While I enjoyed reading the book for the most part, some themes I felt didn't belong and somehow took away from the general tone of the game/book. Also as in the case of the first book I felt that the writing in some places (not all through, but some segments, and particularly some of the dialogue) could do with a little more polishing as could some of the names given to the characters (the gamer names though, felt very authentic).
But I had fun with it as a whole.
3.4 stars
September 22, 2021
i received this book from the author, David Gunter and BookTasters. This part 2 of the fiction series . The adventure of David whose conscience has been uploaded to Virtual world continues . He has to harness his inner strength and hone his skills to survive in this strange magical dark world. he has unknowingly made powerful enemies and also has loyal friends
This book will be mostly enjoyed by the gamers. There is never a dull moment in the entire adventure and doesn't pause at any moment.
But too many characters and too many events make the plot a little confusing .
This book will be mostly enjoyed by the gamers. There is never a dull moment in the entire adventure and doesn't pause at any moment.
But too many characters and too many events make the plot a little confusing .
August 14, 2021
Having read "Magical After" (Dark World #1, Part 1), I was really looking forward to seeing how the story developed. I wasn't disappointed. Again, the imagination behind the concept is astonishing, and I can't fault it at all. There is a game based on the books in the pipeline and I can't decide if I'm more excited about that or the next book in the series - I'll be happy whichever comes first! Excellent escapism, right here.
My thanks to the author. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
My thanks to the author. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
October 8, 2021
I am so grateful to have received this book from the author David Gunter! I am so grateful to Booktasters for making this happen!
Genre:
Fantasy, Sci-fi, Action
Plot:
Following an agreement with his wife’s company David Gosling is finally in the virtual world embarking on an adventure to find his wife. However, things are not as simple as he thought. Meanwhile there’s an unplanned enemy within the game. An enemy nobody has prepared for. An enemy who can ruin everything. With a vengeful Goddess, two assassins, never ending quests to save people, hidden motives of people within and outside the game – will David be able to save what matters the most?
Review:
This is the second part of Book 1 of Dark World Series. After reading, I am glad once again that the author decided to divide every book into two parts! This book packs in so much. A totally captivating book. From the beginning to the last, it was hard for me to keep the book down. In terms of being engrossing read, I place this book in same category as Harry Potter books and Percy Jackson books.
As the plot thickens, we see more characters getting added. This could get a bit overwhelming. However, the author focuses only on few characters at a time. That helps in following the story. The incidents happen at quick pace, but we can keep up with it. There’s tremendous character growth – especially that of David Gosling, Tommy Cruise and John Taney. The author has woven such a huge plot that you almost forget that there is real world outside the game. The tension within the game and in outside world feels so realistic. Also, the author has brilliantly kept up and integrated the gaming stats, affinities etc. well into the plot.
Towards ending there is lots of anticipation and the twist makes me curious to know what is going to happen next!!!
Overall, this book was worth every minute of my reading time. It was hard to keep it down. I really can’t wait to read the next books in this series! The author is such an amazing storyteller.
The author has hinted that they might release be an actual game based on this series – it’d be amazing if they launch it soon (even before the series ends)!
Don’t miss this adventure! My fellow readers, please ensure you read Part 1-Magical After before reading this book!
Genre:
Fantasy, Sci-fi, Action
Plot:
Following an agreement with his wife’s company David Gosling is finally in the virtual world embarking on an adventure to find his wife. However, things are not as simple as he thought. Meanwhile there’s an unplanned enemy within the game. An enemy nobody has prepared for. An enemy who can ruin everything. With a vengeful Goddess, two assassins, never ending quests to save people, hidden motives of people within and outside the game – will David be able to save what matters the most?
Review:
This is the second part of Book 1 of Dark World Series. After reading, I am glad once again that the author decided to divide every book into two parts! This book packs in so much. A totally captivating book. From the beginning to the last, it was hard for me to keep the book down. In terms of being engrossing read, I place this book in same category as Harry Potter books and Percy Jackson books.
As the plot thickens, we see more characters getting added. This could get a bit overwhelming. However, the author focuses only on few characters at a time. That helps in following the story. The incidents happen at quick pace, but we can keep up with it. There’s tremendous character growth – especially that of David Gosling, Tommy Cruise and John Taney. The author has woven such a huge plot that you almost forget that there is real world outside the game. The tension within the game and in outside world feels so realistic. Also, the author has brilliantly kept up and integrated the gaming stats, affinities etc. well into the plot.
Towards ending there is lots of anticipation and the twist makes me curious to know what is going to happen next!!!
Overall, this book was worth every minute of my reading time. It was hard to keep it down. I really can’t wait to read the next books in this series! The author is such an amazing storyteller.
The author has hinted that they might release be an actual game based on this series – it’d be amazing if they launch it soon (even before the series ends)!
Don’t miss this adventure! My fellow readers, please ensure you read Part 1-Magical After before reading this book!
September 24, 2021
Creative and fun but unpolished
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Booktasters!
This book was great fun to read alongside (another) playthrough of Skyrim. There was so much creativity utilized to tell this story and it made Atsia Major come alive.
Unfortunately, the largest obstacle I encountered was the prose.
There were numerous grammatical and spelling errors that I think would normally be caught in an editing process. Most commonly, the author mixed up when to use "that" versus "who". There were also numerous times where the wrong variation of a word was used, many of which I took the time to highlight in my (publicly available) notes.
As the book goes on the author seems to find his voice and the prose improves. Part 2 was an improvement and I was glad to see it.
I can also see why the book was published initially as (I believe) online short stories. From a publishing perspective it seems hard to place in a specific age category. At times the humor and prose can read as YA or middle grade. But later mature themes will be tackled in the narrative that would age it up to New Adult. TW for sexual assault.
Overall I enjoyed the book mainly for its character work and the creative and fun world that the author created. I also liked seeing the author seem to find his voice within the prose and improve between Part 1 and Part 2.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Booktasters!
This book was great fun to read alongside (another) playthrough of Skyrim. There was so much creativity utilized to tell this story and it made Atsia Major come alive.
Unfortunately, the largest obstacle I encountered was the prose.
There were numerous grammatical and spelling errors that I think would normally be caught in an editing process. Most commonly, the author mixed up when to use "that" versus "who". There were also numerous times where the wrong variation of a word was used, many of which I took the time to highlight in my (publicly available) notes.
As the book goes on the author seems to find his voice and the prose improves. Part 2 was an improvement and I was glad to see it.
I can also see why the book was published initially as (I believe) online short stories. From a publishing perspective it seems hard to place in a specific age category. At times the humor and prose can read as YA or middle grade. But later mature themes will be tackled in the narrative that would age it up to New Adult. TW for sexual assault.
Overall I enjoyed the book mainly for its character work and the creative and fun world that the author created. I also liked seeing the author seem to find his voice within the prose and improve between Part 1 and Part 2.
January 3, 2022
Darkness Stabs Dark World: Book 1 Part II
In the second part of the Dark World book, Darkness Stabs takes the reader further into the world of Astia Major and into David’s story as he continues to search for his lost wife and learn the ropes in the virtual reality realm. As he finds his footing, he makes new allies and makes good use of his existing talents, quickly rising in the ranks of the world to positions of prominence. He soon finds that there are deeper and more sinister things in the works in this world as he continues to look for his family.
Again, the author takes the reader deep into the story lines of his characters and paints a picture that will excite any video game fan. The creative story telling intermixed with video game terminology engages the reader at multiple levels. The story keeps pushing along while the variety of characters have their separate, yet merging story lines which makes it an excellent read and difficult to put down. I myself sometimes struggle with stories that have jump from character to character but this one is appropriately spaced out to allow the reader to give the attention needed to each story line before moving on to the next. I am excited to follow the rest of this series to see how the rest of the characters and story arcs merge together.
I highly recommend this book to any science fiction or video game fan!
In the second part of the Dark World book, Darkness Stabs takes the reader further into the world of Astia Major and into David’s story as he continues to search for his lost wife and learn the ropes in the virtual reality realm. As he finds his footing, he makes new allies and makes good use of his existing talents, quickly rising in the ranks of the world to positions of prominence. He soon finds that there are deeper and more sinister things in the works in this world as he continues to look for his family.
Again, the author takes the reader deep into the story lines of his characters and paints a picture that will excite any video game fan. The creative story telling intermixed with video game terminology engages the reader at multiple levels. The story keeps pushing along while the variety of characters have their separate, yet merging story lines which makes it an excellent read and difficult to put down. I myself sometimes struggle with stories that have jump from character to character but this one is appropriately spaced out to allow the reader to give the attention needed to each story line before moving on to the next. I am excited to follow the rest of this series to see how the rest of the characters and story arcs merge together.
I highly recommend this book to any science fiction or video game fan!
October 8, 2021
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review*
This book starts straight off the bat from the first book with David at his rpg job. I feel like a lot happens in this book, but also what really happens in this book? It's one of those feelings where the writing sort of waffles on a bit with no direction, and then all of a sudden there's plot and a war has been declared.
The character's continue to develop in game, levelling up and gaining more skills, and some side characters also continue to gain backstory and levels. Again I really do enjoy the rpg elements of the book and still think that this concept is very well done, I just feel like that actual story is being put aside a little bit. It's not particularly balanced in that sense.
Anyway, it was definitely a thought provoking read, it may have done well as a 'choose your own adventure' book.
This book starts straight off the bat from the first book with David at his rpg job. I feel like a lot happens in this book, but also what really happens in this book? It's one of those feelings where the writing sort of waffles on a bit with no direction, and then all of a sudden there's plot and a war has been declared.
The character's continue to develop in game, levelling up and gaining more skills, and some side characters also continue to gain backstory and levels. Again I really do enjoy the rpg elements of the book and still think that this concept is very well done, I just feel like that actual story is being put aside a little bit. It's not particularly balanced in that sense.
Anyway, it was definitely a thought provoking read, it may have done well as a 'choose your own adventure' book.
January 31, 2022
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who like LitRPG and progression type of books with lots of action.
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who like LitRPG and progression type of books with lots of action.
November 17, 2021
I opted to review this part first, as I can listen to an audiobook at 2x speed. I did lose any context or plot elements from part 1, however, I never felt lost or as if I was going to have trouble following the plot.
The overall setting of the world reminds me of a couple of movies I saw many years ago. The first one is Spy Kids 3D, where a group of people is teleported into a virtual world. While they think it’s just another videogame at first, they soon find there are consequences to their actions, and the dangers are real. The second movie is Source Code, which has a somewhat similar premise.
The idea of being transported mentally into the game world has probably been the fantasy of many role-playing videogame fans, as well as Dungeons and Dragons fans. It begins to feel at times as if you’re listening to a game of Dungeons and Dragons and other times an actual videogame. Complete with the stupid character names made up of random words and numbers. The gods are just high-level characters and people react when somebody changes class. To me, it’s everything I wished every RPG I ever played was. They always felt shallow, because devs can’t exactly program
The characters are all fleshed out with classes, missions, guilds, dreams, and desires. They’re all invested in their virtual reality, they feel pain and can choose to forfeit their memories when they respawn. This gives the combat real stakes when you might be inclined to ask “Who cares? It’s just a videogame for them.”.
Stats, debuffs, and buffs are all mentioned as well. All of this makes the world, the story feels authentic. It gives you the impression that this is a videogame that could conceivably exist with VR and modern gaming tech. It can get tedious when you’re sitting there listening to the narrator read off a seemingly endless list of meaningless numbers when listing character stats.
This book is a very interesting read, I love the idea behind a videogame where the NPCs are players. I do think a lot of the videogame aspects would be lost on people, such as the aforementioned made-up player names, stats, buffs, etc. Though I think with time, they’d start to get the idea.
The narrator does an excellent job and the robotic system sounds voice is a nice touch.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.
The overall setting of the world reminds me of a couple of movies I saw many years ago. The first one is Spy Kids 3D, where a group of people is teleported into a virtual world. While they think it’s just another videogame at first, they soon find there are consequences to their actions, and the dangers are real. The second movie is Source Code, which has a somewhat similar premise.
The idea of being transported mentally into the game world has probably been the fantasy of many role-playing videogame fans, as well as Dungeons and Dragons fans. It begins to feel at times as if you’re listening to a game of Dungeons and Dragons and other times an actual videogame. Complete with the stupid character names made up of random words and numbers. The gods are just high-level characters and people react when somebody changes class. To me, it’s everything I wished every RPG I ever played was. They always felt shallow, because devs can’t exactly program
The characters are all fleshed out with classes, missions, guilds, dreams, and desires. They’re all invested in their virtual reality, they feel pain and can choose to forfeit their memories when they respawn. This gives the combat real stakes when you might be inclined to ask “Who cares? It’s just a videogame for them.”.
Stats, debuffs, and buffs are all mentioned as well. All of this makes the world, the story feels authentic. It gives you the impression that this is a videogame that could conceivably exist with VR and modern gaming tech. It can get tedious when you’re sitting there listening to the narrator read off a seemingly endless list of meaningless numbers when listing character stats.
This book is a very interesting read, I love the idea behind a videogame where the NPCs are players. I do think a lot of the videogame aspects would be lost on people, such as the aforementioned made-up player names, stats, buffs, etc. Though I think with time, they’d start to get the idea.
The narrator does an excellent job and the robotic system sounds voice is a nice touch.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews