Audio Book Review: Darklands

Darklands

By:  M.L. Spencer

Publish Date:  June 22,2017, Audiobook Release February 22, 2019

Format:  Audiobook - 11 hrs 30 mins
Narrated By:  Simon Wright

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  2nd in The Rhenwars Saga series; 1st Book ~ Darkmage, Prequel ~ Darkstorm

Impression:  Return to the Rhen, with a different view of the "enemy."

Synopsis:
Compelled to obey the dark god he pledged his soul to, Darien finds himself tasked with delivering the people of the Black Lands from under the curse of darkness which shrouds the skies. With the enemy mage Azár, Darien sets out across a barren darkscape to assume his place as the leader of a people who despise him.
As he journeys deeper into the shadowed waste, Darien is confronted with difficult truths that force him to question every loyalty he has ever held. For there, in the brutal proving grounds of the north, Darien will be inexorably forged into the most dangerous adversary the Rhen has ever faced.

First Sentence:
The old man wandered the dark corridor toward his death, the girl trailing after him.

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Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Simon returns to voice the second book. Yes! I've found he fit Darien and the other characters for me in voice and accent. I do enjoy listening to him vocalize the story here.

Two years since the Well of Tears was opened and closed. And the Well is opened again, to help a people raise to the place they should be.

We get the story from a few different POV's, which is great as there are things happening around The Rhen at the same time. We see all the actions and events unfold. One of the characters we get to spend time in their head is Meiran. Hmm. I liked her. Wanted to like her more. But she shows a prejudice that rubs me wrong. She doesn't want to believe what Darien or Quinlan have to say, because they are demons. She doesn't want to be open to what could be possible with a nation of people either. She feels as though she is a hypocrite in what her power focus is and what she won't do, heal. I like that she's written this way. She has seen different things than Darien has seen, and that affects her differently.

We get a view of a different part of the world compared to the first book. And of the people that were seen as the enemy in the first book. There is more to the world and story than what people believe or know. We get to see that.

We see how the actions taken in the first book leave relationships and the consequences that need to be faced. It's interesting seeing the Well of Tears opened for what was thought to be the enemy in the first book. This "enemy" has been suffering for a thousand years with the curse created in the prologue story.

I was surprised to see Darien and a few others return in this book after the ending of the first book. I was thrilled to see Darien back though. There are moments in the book that I wasn't 100% sure as to why something was happening. This could be because it's audio and I missed it, or maybe not clarified yet. I'm not sure which one.

We learn of why the Well of Tears was created in the first place. There is a new danger for all things made of magic, and that includes the mages. Darien also gets placed with the people he saw as an enemy due to the way he was raised. Darien sees how the others live, and has to defend and help them.

I'm ready to journey with our characters to see what the outcome is with the magic and the people in the darklands.



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