Darkness of the Light

As I read Darkness of the Light, by Peter David, I also happened to be reading through Peter David's first run on the comic book X-Factor. The comic is clever and funny, frequently poking fun at the genre while simultaneously weaving interesting plot lines. David has fantastic writing skills and I very much looked forward to reading this book.

Darkness of the Light is the first of an intended series of books taking place in a post-Apocalyptic world. Most humans are dead, and those that survive are enslaved by one of 12 races. The 12 races consist of mythical creature types, with different names. They fight amongst themselves for control of what is left of Earth, but time is running out, as the energy resources for the planet are running low. A group of misfit characters of different races band together along with a renegade human to try to find the "orb" that will be a certain source of power in a very uncertain time.

It took me a very long time to read this book - MUCH longer than I expected. I hope I don't lose momentum! I think it took me so long because while the book is 400 pages long, the font is quite small, and the plot is very complicated. The first 250-300 pages read much like some of the Russian classics, where a million characters with unusual (to Americans) names are introduced and all of the elements are laid down for the rest of the book. Unfortunately, the book was almost over by the time I got all of the characters, races, and political systems straight. The book has 12 races, plus humans, and while some races are more featured than others, it was really hard to keep everything straight. Especially difficult was managing all of the political relationships between the races.

David also sticks pretty strictly to the Fantasy genre. He doesn't really have anything particularly new to bring to the table and sticks to the overused tricks of the trade. He does so in a better fashion than most, though, and that makes it at least an interesting book. It still falls mostly in the category of formulaic fantasy.

It's a shame. David is an excellent writer but engages in way too many projects at the same time. He spits out at least 24 comics, 3 books, and several television scripts every year. If he put all of his time and effort into one or two projects per year, he'd create masterworks. Instead, in the name of making a quick and easy buck (actually, a lot of quick and easy bucks), David sticks to being just "pretty good." This book fits that mold perfectly. Could be great, but settles for just "pretty good."

Rating: 3/5 stars

(76/100)...still ahead of schedule despite the book taking a while to read)