When Darkness Falls

by Mercedes Lackey

Other authorsJames Mallory (Author)

Paperback, 2007

Status

Available

Call number

Fic SF Lackey

Publication

Tor Fantasy (2007), Mass Market Paperback, 608 pages

Description

Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. HTML: A great working of Wild Magic and High Magic strikes at the heart of the Demon Queen's plots, but the human city, the Golden City of the Bells, falls farther under her sway with each day that passes. And without the City's High Magicians, the Wild Magicians, the Elven Army, and all their allies will surely fall before the onslaught of the Demon Queen's malignant warriors. But not all hope is lost. The Light's young mages, tempered by war, grow ever more powerful. High Mage Cilarnen learns an ancient secret that can make him, for a brief, white-hot time, the greatest mage in the world�??-unless it kills him. Jermayan, the first Elf-Mage in centuries, has linked with the dragon Ancaladar and rediscovered the swift-as-thought powers of Elven magic, which can reshape mountains and summon lightning from clear skies. Knight-Mage Kellen has molded his troops and the Unicorn Knights into a deadly fighting force. Soon the Elven King and his Commanders put Kellen's magical gifts to their greatest test, in the final battle between the Elves, the humans, and the Demons.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member rayechu

When it comes to the story this was great. Everything that needed to happen, happened. I was pleased by most of the characters, and those not pleasing were at least tolerable. Kellen is for the most part past adolescent whining and Cilarnen, surprisingly gets much more time in this novel. Romance

between the appropriately paired couples is for the most part very subdued, as well as the amount of Shalkan appearances. Unfortunately everything seemed a little rushed. I could have cut a good 20 pages from the book if we were not reminded of Vestakia's mom every time she is mentioned and some other obvious and repeating background information. (Although snarky elves and unicorns make up for it.)
From everything indicated earlier in the year this volume was supposed to be released in July, however despite a delayed release I ran across quite a few typos and some shoddy sentences. It wouldn't bug me so much for a $7.00 paperback, but I would prefer my more expensive ($27.99) hardbacks to have a few less problems. Overall it was good, and concluded most everything well, if seeming to rush to an anticlimactic ending. I sincerely hope Lackey and Mallory team up for more, as I would love to read more about characters like Shalkan, Idalia, or Jermayan and Ancaladar.

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LibraryThing member reginaromsey

Loved the story. I hope there will be more books set in the world. I knew there had to be a Happy Ending for Idala and her Elven Knight. Loved the way she got there.
I will be re-reading the trilogy in between books like The Last Victim of Henry VIII, The Earl of Surry (non-fiction)

LibraryThing member xicanti

The final book in the Obsidian Trilogy.

This was a good end to the series. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and loved seeing how everyone ended up. By the last hundred and fifty pages or so, I was so absorbed that I whipped on through as quickly as I could manage.

But, that said, this is definitely the

weakest book in the series; there are some very odd consistency errors, the timeline is rather off, and it took me a little while to get really involved in the story again. Once I was there, though, I was there. I’ll miss everyone now that the series is over, and I'm looking forward to reading Lackey and Mallory's new book set in the same world.

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LibraryThing member kalanasse

I really enjoyed this trilogy and have been lending it out to friends.

LibraryThing member LauraBLough

Grande, epic fantasy. Wizards and elves and unicorns. Good vs bad. What's not to love.

LibraryThing member SheilaDeeth

Broken alliances, the danger of unbridled anger, the wonder of trust and forgiveness, and the power of good over evil make When Darkness Falls perhaps the best of the three books in the Obsidian Trilogy. It brings the story to a very satisfying conclusion, resolving just enough issues and leaving

just enough pain and happiness to go around. I began to guess the twist before the end, and found I’d only guessed a fraction of it. A well-woven trilogy, a well-built world, well-realized magic, and fascinating characters. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I’m going to reread it soon.

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