A March Into Darkness
by Robert Newcomb
Published by Ballantine Books
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Reviewed by Rowena Brew
Prince Tristan is the currently ruler of the land of Eutracia, and has recently been victorious in the battle against the evil Wulfgar of the Island Citadel.
While the Eutracian people celebrate their victory, little do they know that Wulfgar's equally evil widow, Serena, is plotting her revenge against the people who killed her husband. With the aid of the Magical Heretics, she will devise a plan so heinous that no one will see it coming until it's too late, with an army of creatures of pure evil and suffering at her beck and call.
As she carefully plots her next move, the Heretics send the Darkling known as Xanthus, a half-human, half-magical being, for Prince Tristan. Xanthus will stop at nothing to persuade Tristan to go with him, including torture and murder of the Eutracian people. As Tristan finally succumbs to Xanthus' demands, his sister Shailiha, finds herself at the helm of an all-out attack on Serena and the Citadel.
But will she and her army of wizards and magically gifted allies know in time the enormous opposition that is awaiting them, or will Serena be victorious in her cunning plans??
This is the second book in Robert Newcomb's The Destinies of Blood and Stone Series, however, as someone who hasn't read the first book, Savage Messiah, I found it worked well as a stand-alone novel also.
This novel is a good read, taking the reader into a land of magic where good and evil will collide in the greatest battle of all time. However, I felt that the writing was not strong in that the descriptive words in the narration were not of a high standard. Throughout the book, there is a strong sense of repetition in the descriptions (for example, one particular word may be used a number of times in the one paragraph or on the one page, which can come across as weak writing). I found that this gave an overall sense that the book was somewhat childish in its writing technique.
Armchair Interview says: Lots of plans with lots of evil lurking.
Author's Web site: http://www.chroniclesofbloodandstone.com