Down the Darkening Road: An Epic Fantasy [Paperback]

James Van Eaton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 2008

Enlisted for various reasons into an uncertain pilgrimage to revive a dead god, four people of varied backgrounds trust their fates to the god's one remaining priestess and set off across a land being torn apart by racial tension and magical prejudice. Their pilgrimage calls for ceremonies to be performed in ten areas with the highest concentrations of magic and sets them on a road which winds through enchanted forest clearings and massive cities of stone. Through a seaside kingdom besieged by two ancient enemies and into turbulent lands closed to the world for a thousand years.Questions arise almost immediately concerning the legitimacy of their mission and the true intentions of their leaders. Each step the four take leads them further into a deepening mystery. One which becomes increasingly difficult to break from or decipher as their journey continues. They soon must ask the questions: How far will they go to insure the success of a mission they are beginning to doubt and how much responsibility should they assume if the pilgrimage should prove disastrous? Has it now become their duty to continue and could they stop even if they wanted to? Can they escape with their lives?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Van Eaton owns and manages Winston Smith Books in Auburn, California where he does much of his writing. He is currently at work on his next book, a young adult fantasy novel titled Cartoon Eyes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (February 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595473946
• ISBN-13: 978-0595473946
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,594,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars darkening road, take me home..., April 24, 2008

By 

N. galuza "dude" (floating around like an octupus, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Down the Darkening Road: An Epic Fantasy (Paperback)

This is the kind of book where you wake up at three in the morning because you can't sleep because you're still so wrapped up in the storyline that you end up reading the darn thing through heavily lidded eyes, rubbing sleep boogers from your tear ducts, as you laugh your way into the early dawn, until it's suddenly time to get ready to go to work and you're counting the hours 'till you can get home again to finish this thing already so you can finally get some sleep.
How's that for a compound sentence?
Now you probably want to know what this book is about, so I'll summarize.
We, the audience, are hanging out or whatever, listening to our main character, who narrates his adventures over the course of a few nights.
He, and a select group of wildly different individuals with unique skills were handpicked for a journey to resurrect this dead god, basically.
What's cool is that we only know as much as our main character knows, and he seems to catch on slower than everybody else that he hangs out with so its usually pretty amusing.
Now, don't get all hung up on this dead god thing, because there are still dragons and elves and magic dudes running around, wreaking havoc and making things interesting, but fortunately nothing feels recycled about this book. The theme of this book raises questions like, "should i support this dictator who promises me security even though he's killing truckloads of innocents to further his cause?" Which, i know, is not at all relevant in today's troubled times or anything, but it's still a good question to ask oneself.
Pretty much, down the darkening road is a hilarious, ironic, and engrossing book to read.

So read it already. Sheesh.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Downing the Darkening Road, July 28, 2008

By 

George Linsteadt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Down the Darkening Road: An Epic Fantasy (Paperback)

I bought this book for my son who enjoys fantasy type books. Since his birthday was in a few weeks, I thumbed through and began reading bits and pieces and finally decided I need to read the whole thing from start to finish. I am certainly glad I did. Since I haven't read anything like this since the Hobbit decadess ago, I wasn't sure what to expect. The author certainly got my attention. He writes very well and keeps you right in the plot. I would recommend this for anyone who wants to read an exciting fantasy story.

George Linsteadt