“A subterranean world of vast caverns, underground seas, crystalline forests. A civilisation born of darkness, in darkness, protected by shadows. A city of merchants, whose eyes have turned upward to the surface, where the lethal light of day beats down on their world. A conspiracy so vast that it will swallow them all . . .”

I have really loved a lot of Wooding’s books but this was not one of them. I only read the first 80 pages of this book and that was a colossal struggle for me. The first chapter started out action-packed and incredibly engaging…and then things just kind of go down hill.

The book jumps between the current and the past as we read about the struggles our heroine is going through and her history. While this works for a lot of books, in this book it was very jarring and made the story seem very disjointed.

You would think after the first chapter the main heroine would be easy to empathize and engage with; but I struggled with that as well. I just could not engage with the heroine of the story.

This was one of those books where I pretty much struggled to stay engaged with each sentence I read. I would start reading….realize I was skimming…go back and start re-reading…think of something important to do (like pluck cat hair off my pants) and then realize I wasn’t reading and try to refocus. This book just did not hold my attention at all.

I finally gave up. It’s the holiday season and I am really really busy; I need to be reading a book that really draws me in and intrigues me….not one I am struggling with sentence by sentence. I will admit that I am not incredibly patient this time of year, so there is that. Still I was just so disappointed.

Overall not a good Chris Wooding book. The premise is interesting but the execution is poor, the writing doesn’t flow well, and the characters and story are not at all engaging. Not recommended.

DNF Review – The Fade by Chris Wooding (2/5 stars)

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