A world where everyone has magic is reasonably fertile storytelling
ground, and to their credit, the authors have created it in such a way that it
bears no resemblance whatsoever to Piers Anthony’s Xanth world, which is what the basic premise calls immediately to
mind. The authors have also done a thorough job of setting up this world’s
society. In spite of their best efforts, however, the characters’ dread of even
rudimentary technology feels a little bit silly. I suppose there’s a
half-formed commentary on superstition and religious oppression in here that’s
scheduled to be born in a later volume.
The plotting is Forging
the Darksword’s most serious problem. The first third of the book is bogged
down in exposition, as so often happens with fantasy works, but that’s hardly
the worst of it. There are too many unnecessary scenes to list, ones that don’t
advance the plot or the characters in meaningful ways, and as it plods across a
generation, the story is just too meandering: many events seem like little more
than everyday life, and although there’s some intrigue after the first third,
many story elements that are supposed to be mysterious and suspenseful just aren’t.
Overall, the book has very little energy, and the reader very well find himself
waiting for something meaningful to happen, something important, but little
does, and Forging the Darksword ends
up feeling like little more than tedious setup for the second book. It piques
the interest here and there, but has trouble ever sustaining it.
The characters are also problematic. Joram isn’t the
slightest bit interesting or sympathetic, which is a major deal-breaker given
that the trilogy centers around him. Saryon is certainly both, but he’s too
passive to have the story center around him. Simkin is a vaguely amusing
caricature of Orczy’s Sir Percy Blakeney, and the sort of
deus ex machina character these
authors like to keep in their back pocket at all times. No one else is remotely
compelling; the authors are so secretive about Vanya’s machinations that it’s
hard to stay interested in what he’s actually up to.
The end result is that Forging
the Darksword is a slog. (On the bright side, given the way Bantam Spectra
has done the plot summaries, you can pretty much just read the back covers of
the first two books and then go straight to the third one.) And this review
wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the authors’ repeated and jarring
abuse of the word “literally.”
As a fan of the Dragonlance
and Death Gate Cycle series, I
found Forging the Darksword to be a considerable
disappointment. There are sparks of life here, but they aren’t enough for me to
continue with this series.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
