What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I read this book in the early 2000s, in a high school library, but it was already old at that time. It was not a YA book, however.

The cover was mostly dark, and I think the title was something along the lines of Dark Risking, but searching for that only brings up the Susan Cooper book, which this is not.

The book was set in on a planet entering a long period of darkness, in which nothing will grow and some kind of demons/monsters live in the dark and eat people. Leaving people out at night is a punishment for serious crimes. The people retreat to some ancient bunkers, where only some people (including the main character) can use the old technology. I remember hydroponic potatoes especially.

For some reason the leaders don't trust the main character (Maybe they think he has something to do with the darkness/demons?).

If anyone knows this book, I would be so grateful; I think it was the first in a series and I never got to read the others.

I'm bumping. Thanks again if anyone knows it.

Also, I meant the title might be something like Dark Rising, not Dark Risking... Typos...

Are you thinking of the Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix?
Summary: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_S...
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

There's the Loremasters of Elundium series by Mike Jefferies, but that's more fantasy than SF.
"It is many generations now since the Battle Owls, the Warhorses and the Border Runners answered the war trumpets of the kings of Elundium. The corruption of the Chancellors surrounding the throne has allowed Krulshards, Master of Darkness, to gather his forces in the caverns of the mountains beyond the land’s edge. All Elundium is poised for destruction."
Once Nevian, enchanter-guardian of the realm, would have been war-counsellor to the aging king, but he has long vanished into shadow. Now, in the false daylight of Candlebane Hall, King Holbian sends the only messenger he has – a boy whose once-proud ancestry has become a laughing stock – in a bid to alert the border garrisons at distant Underfall. Untrained in the arts of war, Thane’s chances of success seem slim indeed …

Loremasters of Elundium series by Mike Jefferies - suggested by Sue - https://www.goodreads.com/series/7715...

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg

Thanks guys, but it isn't any of those.
The Fall is definitely not old enough.
Nightfall has the numbers-as-last-name thing, which I would have remembered, plus, I'm pretty sure that normally they only had one sun.
Road to Underfall has a hero I think is too young to be the right book.

Bumping.

I'm pretty sure the cover was mostly black/very dark.

The Children of Darkness by David Litwack?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

That's a metaphorical darkness, from the synopses.

I think I've read this, but I'm drawing blanks on titles and authors. I've been rummaging in my book piles, no luck yet.

Could be The Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly. First in the Darwath Trilogy. Fits with your description: darkness returning after a long time, demons, being left outside as punishment, etc.

Nightfall by Issac Asimov?https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

Nightfall has already been ruled out by OP, and doesn't fit in any case.

The Time of the Dark looks so close, but I don't remember there being anyone from our world on that other world. The main character was a man, I feel like a young man, but not a teen.

Thank you everyone for trying!

The Children of Darkness is way too recent.

Is isWool by Hugh Howey?

Alright, got PM from V, so I'm going to post what I recall about the story I read that might be hers - I'm hoping not to blur anyone's memory by conflating two (perhaps) different stories:

Very cthulhuian, but I don't think it was Lovecraft proper (maybe a homage?), as iirc he never wrote about what would happen if the Old Ones came back.

This was about humanity in decline.

The sun has gone out / gone away, so long ago that humanity has some written records of the sunlit world, but can't even understand them. Humanity lives in huge metroplexes (not called that), or citadels. They have huge walls to keep the demons and such out. There are watchers, and they have special armor. The interior is powered from (deep core taps? ley lines that connect them to other citadels?). In any case, their energy is running down. Same with their technology - the lifts which once worked, are restricted, gardens have been abandoned, population is down. Citadels, one by one, over the ages have fallen. There are psychic powers. One of them is to see the future or the past. There was a big deal, that some section of the population of MC's citadel was refugees? from a citadel which fell and had different powers than those that are in his city. Girl had powers, and/or was his mother? so he (may have had) this power. In any case, some of those prophecies were written down by this very powerful psychic. He's read in the restricted library because he was going to be a watcher. He either wanted to go exploring, thus wanted to open a door, and was removed because of this desire, or because of another transgression. He is in disgrace. He's been reading the prophecies and thinks that one of the abandoned/fallen citadels could be re-energized, and wants to do this. He has a boyhood friend/rival and there's a girl. There's a scene of them in a garden (now dead) in the past. There's another scene where he goes to see his dad, an architect(?) in the city, who lives on a privileged/higher level. His 'house'/clan is high ranking because of this, even though MC had no aptitude for the designing. Eventually an expedition is outfitted with exterior armor (magic'd against needing water, the cold, demon-powers, etc). They set out, several thousand strong, and are immediately ripped into by demons, etc. All within view from the people of the city. Somehow MC gets the correct armor and sneaks out a sally-port (or is allowed to leave/banished). He is missed by the demons (maybe he goes without light?), and spends a long, brutal, painful time making his way through the emptiness, trying to avoid coming to attention of demons (he has like one or two fights, in which he barely escapes). There are major critters/old ones out there, I think one was called "The Beast With One Eye" which has been creeping slowly towards the city aeon by aeon, a few feet a year (it's miles away and landscape blocks it from seeing the city... for now). I think the eye is like a giant laser, and he takes pains to avoid being where it can view him (I think it can also send its servants after him, if it sees him). Eventually he gets far enough away that he can view it sideways, where they eye won't directly see him, and eventually has it behind him. There's another major beastie that's in a different direction, also approaching his city slowly; maybe in control of wolf-hound-like? demons. Anyways, he eventually makes it to the fallen citadel, and finds his friend (or the girl); frozen, suspended animation or whatever (maybe missing an arm, or he is missing an arm?). And tries to get the city going again, before the monsters/demons come and get him.

This may be a novella/long-long short story in a collection instead of a novel, because I've been working on organizing and collecting those over the last several years. (eg), so it's possible I read it digitally while researching those types of things - but mostly, if I've read it, I snatched a copy - and it doesn't show up when I search that directory for 'demon', 'beast', 'one eye', etc.

I can't recall title or author, but I'm sure it's around here somewhere; I'm just having a hard time finding time to go digging through the stacks looking for it (it wasn't in the top-most piles of books).

EDIT: I don't recall any hydroponic potatoes

Justanotherbiblophile's book is not my book.
In the book I am looking for, the nights are getting progressively longer, moving towards a predicted very long period of darkness, and people are people are currently migrating to the old bunker/fortresses. I don't remember the demon/monsters having a leader, they were all kind of mindless, voracious things.

Wool is too recent. I'm looking for something that I read in ~2003, which was already really old. Although it was a high school library so it may just have been really beaten up. But think more along the lines of the early '90s.

Thank you all for thinking about it.

I keep coming back to the The Darwath Trilogy: The Time of the Dark, The Walls of Air, and The Armies of DaylightDarwath books by Barbara Hambly. It's been a while but I remember only certain people could use the old technology. I remember them trying to get the hydroponics going again and I've even got a feeling that it was potatoes. There were a few main character points of view including one young man, 20s I think.

But two of the characters were from our world so that doesn't match with Veronica's memory. Although other than a short bit at the start it was all placed in the world with the encroaching darkness.

My memory seems to match with Veronica's dates too.
There may be a tie in with Justanotherbibliophile's book too. There was a hereditary memory thread amongst certain characters and we have a bit of a story-within-a-story thing about previous periods of darkness. After the original trilogy there were a couple of other books and I'm wondering if Mother of Winter fits.

Can't find the books, think they are still in a box somewhere but it seems so close to my memories. Aargh! Sorry can't help more.

Michele wrote: "I keep coming back to the The Darwath Trilogy: The Time of the Dark, The Walls of Air, and The Armies of DaylightDarwath books by Barbara Hambly. It's been a while but I remember on..."

Michele! You ARE right! I just looked on Amazon, and it has a different cover than the one here on Goodreads, and that's IT! I must have just forgotten the characters from our world. Thank you so much!

I'm so pleased, the more I remembered the more it seemed to match.

Now the question for me is 'what have I done with those books?'