The Dark Chronicles: The Beginning

by Cynthia Soroka

The Dark Chronicles is a series of books set in Medieval Times. It has action, adventure, fantasy, swords, sorcery, castles, knights, magic and many many other exciting adventures. Thrown into the birth of the dark one, the characters are introduced and the world of Ancra begins. Meetings between friends, enemies, family, and friends and family pitted against each other spur them on as they travel into the existence of a small town called Guam. The characters in this story circle around Gowen, Yasmin, Casiopiea, Darkmere, Minker, Copin, Englemare, and Symra who are always getting themselves into some kind of trouble. Who is evil, who is good, castles, sword fights, the fight for life, and thrills, chills and excitement that is heart wrenching as well as motivating.

Genres: Fantasy

337 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1993

Reviews

[John Behnken · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, once upon a time, I went to a Sci/Fi convention in New Jersey and was browsing the merchants tables. I came upon an author, peddling her books. I decided to buy one and it sat on my shelf for a long time. Ten years later, I decided to read it only to find that this book is almost unreadable. It may eventually get tossed on the short pile of books I couldn't finish but morbid curiosity keeps me going.
This is, without a doubt, the worst book I have ever read. I continue to trudge through it because I can't help but wonder exactly how much worse it will get. We'll see how long I can continue to punish myself. Oh - and by the way - she has 6 other books in the same series. I will *not* be reading those.
The self-published author clearly felt that she did not need an editor or proof reader. Fabulous sentence structure fills the book such as:
"The party left the grounds, beginning their journey back to Guam while far in the distance a ruby and two crystals glittered in the far distance."
You can find similar literary offenses on just about every page.
I won't even get into the flat characterization, sloppy story (what little story there was) that includes high-school level banter about who a character "went out with" and who is cheating on who to get revenge on who else for seemingly ridiculous past offenses. Murder and rape without remorse - at times perpetrated by the protagonists. Matricide by the main protagonist at the request of his 'girlfriend' who had no real compelling reason beyond "Kill your mother!". I guess he did it for love.
Oh - and there's a cliff hanger. hahahahahaha!
Can a book be worse? Perhaps. But I won't read anything else by this author in order to find out. I feel I've dug about as far as I ever will in the name of morbid curiosity.
I rated it 1 since that's as low as the site will allow. But it's true rating is a big fat zero.

[Brett]

Fantasy