DNF Review – There Will Come a Darkness (The Age of Darkness, Book 1) by Katy Rose Pool (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Length: 496 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Release Date: September 3, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1250211750
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Age of Darkness series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“For generations, the Seven Prophets guided humanity. Using their visions of the future, they ended wars and united nations―until the day, one hundred years ago, when the Prophets disappeared.
All they left behind was one final, secret prophecy, foretelling an Age of Darkness and the birth of a new Prophet who could be the world’s salvation . . . or the cause of its destruction. With chaos on the horizon, five souls are set on a collision course:
A prince exiled from his kingdom.
A ruthless killer known as the Pale Hand.
A once-faithful leader torn between his duty and his heart.
A reckless gambler with the power to find anything or anyone.
And a dying girl on the verge of giving up.
One of them―or all of them―could break the world. Will they be savior or destroyer? Perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Children of Blood and Bone, and An Ember in the Ashes.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Age of Darkness series, I borrowed this book from the library.
Story (2/5): This was a DNF for me. The author was still introducing new POVs about 70 pages in. I ended up setting it aside because I just do not have the patience for a big and long epic fantasy right now. In general, I am not a huge fan of books where the whole first book is spent just setting everything up. The storyline involved a rebel known as the Hierophant taking over the old magic; it wasn’t something I was interested in and felt like the type of storyline that’s been done a million times before in epic fantasy.
Characters (2/5): There are way too many characters introduced way too slowly here. I was having trouble remembering the first character by the time we finally got back to him. I also wasn’t really drawn to or engaged with any of the characters, they all seemed to be pretty typical fantasy-type characters to me.
Setting (4/5): Again, I stopped this 70 pages in. However, this seems to be a Middle Eastern type of fantasy setting. The world was well filled out and very detailed; what I saw of the world-building was well done.
Writing Style (3/5): The writing style flowed well and was easy to read. Each chapter is from a new POV for the first 50-60 pages, as numerous characters are introduced. We don’t get back to a character for a 2nd time until 60-70 pages in. I didn’t like this and thought the whole thing moved too slowly and was trying to be too complex.
Summary (3/5): Overall I was not in the mindset to read this and may give it another chance at another time when I have more patience. Right now I just found it boring and irritating to read. If you like slow-moving epic fantasies with a multitude of characters you might really enjoy this.
