Reading..and Reviewing: When Darkness Reigns

I must admit that upon starting When Darkness Reigns by Preston L. Marshall I was not sure what to expect. The Dystopian Fantasy genre is nothing if not varied, and quite frankly, not all of it is to my taste. I had no idea where this journey was going to lead, and I was pleasantly surprised.

In the opening chapter I was inmediately reminded of an old favourite, George Orwell´s 1984, largely due to the dark flair of the monotonous life described, with a population under constant fire by a barrage of mandatory indoctrinating TV broadcasts. Preston L. Marshall does a good job of transmitting a heavy and suffocating atmosphere in the very first few pages. In the postapocalyptic world described, humanity is living in self-sufficient cities on the very edge of technological survival, partly underground, severely rationed on food and dependent on purification for drinking water. The Arch enemy is something called the Sarsaul, an alien species which is close to wiping out the few remaining human outposts, though apparently it hasn't attacked in a while. The populations of these cities carry out the jobs and daily routines on which the survival of the city is based, looking forward to the weekend for a few moments of leisure time, constantly defended by a heavily weaponised and technologically advanced human army.

One of the things I appreciated about this novel was the way the story unfolds through the different points of view offered. The main character, Lumar Lee, is the perfect antithesis of a hero, and through him we are able to appreciate the finer subtleties of life in this postapocalyptic dystopian world, like the contrast between the spartan and sometimes stark living conditions of the general population and that of the soldiers, with their advanced weaponry and AI medicine. Though quite young Lumar displays a maturity which is surprising, yet on second thoughts coherent with the terrible events taking place throughout the novel. His best friend Nate Solaris also does his job in keeping our attention and sympathy centred, making sure we feel close enough to these two youths to want to know what is going to happen next. The soldiers portrayed add a touch of both humour and highly believable pathos, which anchor us to reality in some of the more fantastic scenes. My personal favourite is Radcliff, however. The fact this mysterious character is a black man is definitely refreshing, especially since he carries an important part of the story, and ushers the first hints that things are not the way they appear to be, leading to a plot twist reminiscent of X-men.

All in all the story is a good one, propelled by a fast story and interesting dialogue, with characters which make us connect on a human and emotional level with the action which peppers the plot. There is a great description of the donning of a soldier's body-suit which I found fascinating; I consider this deserves special mention, since it managed to keep my attention when I am admittedly not only technologically challenged but also generally little interested in such matters.

On a purely personal level, the one thing I would have appreciated is a slightly less diverse picture of what exactly the Sarsaul are. I tend to form clear images in my head of what I am reading, and the detailed descriptions of very different insectoid races threw me off at times, though this may not be a problem for any other reader, of course.

I was glad to find out that When Darkness Reigns is but the first book of The Lion-Blade Saga, and the story is continued in Lion-Blade - Remembrance. I am looking forward to following this group of unlikely heroes on their journey.