My Experience with Darkfire by Garrett Robinson
Darkfire is the 3rd installment of the Nightblade saga within Garrett Robinson’s secondary creation: Underrealm. Like Mystic before it, it picks right up from where the last book ended and dives deeper into the lore of the world.
After the climactic events of the previous volume, Loren and her party are pursued by not only the Yerrin crime lords but now by the Mystic order after Xain openly commits the high crime of dark fire. Loren’s bridges are rapidly burning, and she’s now being squeezed from all sides. But in spite of all that, she and Jordel must still warn the Mystics at the high seat of the coming calamity.
My favorite part of the story has to be the ending. I wish I could say more about it here, but I try to walk the line of spoiling the story and properly talking about it. And in this case, I think talking about it would give away too much if you haven’t yet read it. Additionally, Robinson’s voice and prose are as consistent as ever in this story, and he again adds more wonder and magic to his world as Loren continues her quest through the Nine Lands.
I felt like the first two volumes could have been one story. And I’ve heard from others that the first three should be one volume. I think that’s also a fair assessment, but I would have also been satisfied with Darkfire being the first half of the second installment. Like the previous two novels, the story plays out as a quest with Loren and her companions trying to stay a step ahead of those who pursue her. And while that delivers a lot of what I’m looking for in a fantasy novel, having the same basic framework three stories in a row has me itching for something different. This lends validation to the argument that this story should be combined with the previous stories.
For me, this is all about preferences for pacing, and probably has little bearing on the overall story. I will say though that in the fashion of the comic world, Robinson has made the first three novels available as one story if you want one long experience rather than a more episodic one (titled The Nightblade Epic Volume One). The price is reasonable, and it’s a no-brainer if long novels don’t intimidate you.
The Nightblade series continues to be a fun adventure, worth diving into if you’re looking for a story with a Salvatore, Weis & Hickman, or Goodkind tone. And you can read book one for free by going here: https://underrealm.net/).
*Full Disclosure — I work for the publisher. I wasn't paid to review this book. It was on my TBR list from before I worked for the publisher.*
