Darkness of the Light

By Peter David

Book Overview

Peter David, a creative force in television, and a best-selling author of comics and novels, has created a fantasy world sure to delight his legions of readers. The Damned World is home to twelve races, each of which has fought the others for survival for generations. What none of them knows is that they are all creatures of Earth, a world of legend. On Earth eleven of the twelve races were creatures of human myth or folklore. All live in awe of the all-powerful Overseer, whose authority none dare challenge. A new spirit has arisen among those sick of war and tired of living in fear. Some believe that it is possible for the races to become allies instead of adversaries. With this new spirit has come a time of possibility, of change. Jepp, a human woman and Karsen, a Bottom Feeder, have broken with tradition and cast their lots together. They seek the Orb of Light, with which they believe they can gain the power and release the Damned World from its chains of violence and ignorance. But they're not alone, for everyone who knows about the Orb would kill to get it. If someone gets the Orb, things will change. These are, as the proverb warns, interesting times.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765350335
• ISBN13: 9780765350336
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 498 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 4.1" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

My first and favorite sci-fi/fantasy book

As far as I can remember, this is the first sci-fi/fantasy book I've ever read. I've been a long time fan of non-fiction books, but wanted to give fiction a shot. I chose this book because I liked the cover. Prior to this book, I wasn't a fan of sci-fi or fantasy. I didn't expect many plot twists in a book like this, but I got them. I didn't expect to become attached to or care much for any of the characters, especially since there were so many of them, but I did. And when I realized all the races were living on what we once called earth, I was hooked. Seeing humans, both the good and bad, through the eyes of other races fascinated me. There were even thought provoking lessons to be learned. The Ocular hated the Piri simply because they knew nothing about them. Due to their own ignorance, they became slaves to their fear. And then of course, we have the Markene addiction to klaa (sounds like America's addition to media). And my favorite, Jepp's adventures. I like her most of all because she's human and representing us among the races of the damned world. I have become a big fan of fantasy since this book, but have only come across very few books that have entertained me as much as this one. I am currently going through it for the second time. And now, the bad part, where the hell is book 2 of The Hidden Earth Chronicles?!?!

Not too much not too little

I really like this book due to the fact that Peter David took the time to go into detail about the characters and their personalities.... He left the reader with a general understanding of what each character thought about the other. He gave Jep a very animated role. One minute she was dazed the next she was in complete control of their destiny (the others in her crew)... I also like the random outbreaks he bestowed on Rafer Crestor, (he made him valuable and ridiculous at the same time) and in a sense him and Jep both shared a valuable characteristic of capriciousness; one that helped their survival greatly. This book was good not only cause of the characters but also for the way it connected hard times to hard decisions. Who knew that a sibling rivalry between two brothers would turn into a Jerry Springer type scuffle over the sexual relations between underground royalty and inscrutable terror and filth? Nevertheless the book overall was great, I felt he stalled a little bit by giving detail about the third wave battle at the beginning of the chapter rather than tying it all together, and his transition was good but still very surprising.... In essence I give this book a 5-star rating because even with the depth of detail he introduced, Peter David never drifted from the concept of the fight for survival amongst these races.... and that is hard when trying to write about 12 of them... Ps- I read this booka while back a just thought Id write about it now so forgive me if the details arent as accurate as they should be.

Amazing!

One of my top 10 sci-fi fantasy books ever...characters are compex and likeable< plot is great...

A GREAT start to a longer series...

Let's start with the GOOD: First, the characters are excellent. Mr. David understands choices and consequences are what makes a story happen. If you've liked any of his other books (Star Trek, Knight Life, etc.) for their characters, you will grow to like this one. There's an excellent variety of personalities (as always). Second, the "Damned World" is very interesting. I felt like I'd read the first 30 pages of this book a hundred times before: various conflicted sci-fi/fantasy races with "dumb" names, the aftermath of a climactic battle and the confused survivors, seemingly pointless political intrigue... etc, etc. I could scarcely believe it was a Peter David book... until the plot really got going. Then the "dumb" names suddenly seemed quite clever, the confused survivors learned some really cool things, and the political intrigue was rooted in characters and situations I cared about. The basic idea behind this book (and series) rivals the coolness of the basic idea behind Bill Willingham's FABLES series, if that tells you anything. Third, the dialog is sharp and the observations sharper. Very few of the debates between the characters are obviously or pathetically one-sided. While the book's theme comes down decisively on one side of most arguments, the opposite side gets some good shots in. This book excels at calling characters on their BS lines of argument. (Add in a couple of laugh-out-loud hilarious moments, and this novel is just bitingly clever.) Finally, the last hundred pages are must-read stuff. While I didn't like the first hundred, the tension ramped and ramped until I could not put it down. There are at least two "didn't see them coming" plot twists and a couple of high-concept revelations that make this novel very interesting to this sci-fi and fantasy fan. Mr. David just keeps tightening the screws, and by the end, this book is seriously moving and interesting. ----------------------- Now, let's have the BAD: I actively disliked the beginning of this novel. There, I've said it. Mr. David is one of my two favorite authors, so it worried me that I felt the first 100 pages FELT so cliched and clunkily written. It turns out that it's NOT cliched once the book gets going, but the writing in the first hundred pages is weak, especially for such an accomplished author. Luckily, the book gets better, and the last 100 pages is break-neck, can't-put-it-down reading. ----------------------- It is worth noting that this is the first book in a longer series. If this were part of a DVD set, this book would maybe be the first disc. I felt about this story the same way I did about FIREFLY (by Joss Whedon) when I first watched it: indifference and a little boredom at first, then passing interest in a couple concepts or characters, then real excitement and concern for the characters and their fates. If you've ever liked a Peter David series like STAR TREK: NEW FRONTIER, INCREDIBLE HULK, SUPERGIRL (1996), or FALLEN

fascinating apocalyptic thriller

The twelve races make up the Banished and they are exiled from their homelands the Elserealms. They defeated the humans during the Third Wave confrontation. The Morts as mankind is disdainfully called were eradicated to the point of extinction. The Overseer and his troops The Travelers insure the Banished never return to Elserealms. With the Morts vanquished, the Banished alliance is shattered as each species fights one another for ultimate supremacy and within a species for control. Betrayal, treason, and strange bedfellows are the norm as today's ally is tonight's enemy. In this environs, Jepp the human joins Bottom Feeders stealing anything from the battlefield dead to sell on the thriving black markets. They seek the human weapon of mass destruction, the Orb of Trinity that will give the owner quite an edge in the power struggles. However, soon the "rulers" of this ravaged orb, of each of the Banished species, and the few surviving humans take interest in this seemingly inconsequential female, but even she has no earthly idea why. This is a fascinating apocalyptic thriller in which racism plays a major role as each species thinks they are the superior master race that should dominate the other species. Interestingly as a sad reflection of our world, it is this bigotry that makes the Peter David universe seem genuine as each of the species need to subjugate the lesser races, which is everyone else. There is no prime story line as a myriad of subplots follow many of the species as they make bids to rule the world in Peter David's DARKNESS OF THE LIGHT spellbinding fantasy. Harriet Klausner