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Thunderscape #2
Darkfall
Stealing aboard the mechamagical Thunder Trains that carry undead souls to the dreaded outlands, the elfin Spyre and the ferran Mara escort a renegade mechamage to the site of a bold plan of rebellion. Original.
- GenresFantasy
310 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1996
18 people want to read
About the author
Shane Lacy Hensley
178 books21 followersShane Lacy Hensley is an author, game designer, and CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
(source: Wikipedia)
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 22, 2013
It's hard to muster much feeling, at least for the book as written. The previous book introduced a setting with some intriguing elements: the apocalyptic Darkfall as being part of recent (and ongoing) history, and the idea that the Darkfall is something to be survived day-to-day rather than fought with the goal of defeating it. And especially, a sort of proto-steampunk world without the alternate-history baggage or the bowlers-and-monocles aesthetic. This is (or rather was) a conventional fantasy world now crashing into heavy industrialization, with all the pollution and body-horror "golemization", driven by the need to stave off the Darkfall.
Except, not really, as this book tells. The Darkfall has a purpose and guiding force, and this (presumably) forms the first part of the story arc to explain it and to chronicle its defeat (presumably). And not all of the nations of Aden are on board with steam power and iron age robotics.
So it loses the elements that were tying it all together in my mind, and it doesn't replace any of those with anything interesting. The force behind the Darkfall is starting to look like the typical "returned evil god" business, and while the rest of the nations have some interesting trinkets (a kingdom styled upon an insect hive, a nation led by "ice elves"), these are just components. You can base a story or series on the statement "thunder trains are cool", but it becomes diluted when thunder trains recede into the background.
One thing I noticed in passing and wish it was treated more is the fact that there is a smorgasbord of races on Aden, including totally invented ones like "juraks" and "goreaux", but there doesn't appear to be much in the way of ethnic differences or ethnic separation. All the races appear to be everywhere geographically and socially. Was this intended, as a result of the apocalypse blowing away existing ethnic enclaves and mixing up the social order, or is it an accident of writing?
Except, not really, as this book tells. The Darkfall has a purpose and guiding force, and this (presumably) forms the first part of the story arc to explain it and to chronicle its defeat (presumably). And not all of the nations of Aden are on board with steam power and iron age robotics.
So it loses the elements that were tying it all together in my mind, and it doesn't replace any of those with anything interesting. The force behind the Darkfall is starting to look like the typical "returned evil god" business, and while the rest of the nations have some interesting trinkets (a kingdom styled upon an insect hive, a nation led by "ice elves"), these are just components. You can base a story or series on the statement "thunder trains are cool", but it becomes diluted when thunder trains recede into the background.
One thing I noticed in passing and wish it was treated more is the fact that there is a smorgasbord of races on Aden, including totally invented ones like "juraks" and "goreaux", but there doesn't appear to be much in the way of ethnic differences or ethnic separation. All the races appear to be everywhere geographically and socially. Was this intended, as a result of the apocalypse blowing away existing ethnic enclaves and mixing up the social order, or is it an accident of writing?
Displaying 1 of 1 review