Customer Reviews

Immortals: The Darkening

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm really enjoying this series. I am a huge Robin T Popp fan so I was really looking forward to this. The book was a fast read and very intense. However I did have a few problems with it. I didn't really feel the affection between the hero and herione. Plus I felt that she would have had sex with anyone and blamed her hormones due to the full moon. I can't say anymore without giving spoilers, but overall it was a good book.

With a demon preparing to launch an assault against the world, the best defense is to summon the legendary Immortals to stop him, especially since a rogue Immortal has joined the demon's side. Thus, after seven centuries of being kept safely and monotonously at home, Darius finds himself called to Earth. Unfortunately, there is a problem with the summoning. His mother wasn't overly willing for him to attend to the call and only reluctantly restored his life force. As a result, the life force is vulnerable and he could die and if he enjoys himself too much, Darius will get amnesia. Despite all the problems, he finds working with the female werewolf/bounty hunter Lexi to be an enjoyable experience, if a dangerous one. As they work to stop the demon and the rogue, Tain, the pair finds themselves falling in love. That is their great strength and weakness both.

**** I will say again, the Immortals shared world series is the best of the ones Lovespell has produced to date. The standard paranormal characters are subtly tweaked so that they become fresh sorts of beings. I love the running thread of redemption that is continuing from book to book as each brother deals with Tain's betrayal and look forward to seeing how it ends. This world definitely deserves more than four books. ****

Amanda Killgore

The Immortals Series:

The Calling

The Darkening

The Awakening

The Gathering

The Redeeming (Tain's Story) September 2008

The Immortals series is a joint venture for three different authors. The first, fourth and fifth books are by Jennifer Ashley (AKA Allyson James). The second book is by Robin T. Popp, and the third by Joy Nash.


If you haven't read the first book, you really should before reading this one. It's a great story (I liked it more than this one.) and it sets the stage for the series.

If you have read it, you can skip this next paragraph:
The paranormal beings in this series are witches, demons, vampires, "The Immortals", and shapeshifters. "The Immortals" are five sons of the Celtic gods and goddesses. (Adrian, Darius, Kalen, Hunter, and Tain) They were created to protect the world from death magic. (Death magical beings include demons and vampires.) After several millennia, the Immortals have been all but forgotten. In the past, witches would chant "The Calling" spell to summon the Immortals for help whenever evil threatened. Those of the 5 whom are still fighting evil today, are doing so at their own leisure. Once these brothers realized that they could live in freedom, they each went their own way. They have not seen one another for hundreds of years.
The world of magic is divided between those who live in "life magic", and those who live in "death magic". Life magic lives in the Immortals, good witches, the Celtic gods/ goddesses, and shapeshifters. Death magic lives in demons and vampires. For millennia, they have battled. Now, some vampires are joining with the beings of life- magic to prevent demons from overtaking the world.


"The Darkening":

Something was missing... I believe the best word for it is "charm".
Robin Popp's addition to the Immortals series was full of action and suspense. Unfortunately, it was not really a love story. While I enjoy steamy love scenes, far too many scenes in "The Darkening" were centered upon open sex, or the quest for sex, between various characters. It interrupted the plot for me. Still, those scenes were short enough that I didn't get bored before the plot came back into play.

One very engaging aspect of the first book, "The Calling", was the charisma of the hero's partner in battle, Ferrin. Ferrin, a cobra snake, had a sarcasm that was the comic relief that kept the story lively. He was both vulnerable and powerful. A weapon, and best friend for the hero. In "The Darkening", the hero (Darius) has a similar partner named "Fury". A very cool dragon who was powerful and loyal. Unfortunately, he didn't have the ability to mind- speak like Ferrin did, so we didn't get to enjoy him. He was just there when needed in battle.

The hero, Darius, held the emotion that saved this story for me. He wanted nothing more than to unite his family and find companionship. He was lonely after 700 years of being kept prisoner in his mother's realm. When he finally escaped and reached Earth, he had only a portion of his life- force. Although born immortal, Darius could now be killed. Despite that, he risked everything to try to save his youngest brother from the demon who captured him.
Also, Darius has a very unique gift that makes his character fascinating. His body is covered with tattoos that are actual weapons. A dagger, sword, rope, skeleton key, shield, and a dragon. At the touch of his hand, these tattoos leave his body and become real. The battle is on!


New York, Modern Day:
Upon reaching Earth, Darius sees a man beating a woman in a parking lot. Immediately, he rushes to her aid. When the woman realizes that he is one of the Immortals, she offers to help him get to his oldest brother Adrian in Seattle. Before he can go, Darius finds reason to believe that his missing youngest brother is in New York. He will stay and try to save Tain from the demon leader.

Lexi is a werewolf/ witch who works as a bounty hunter. While trying to apprehend a "skip", she finds herself in a tough fight. Out of nowhere, a warrior enters the battle and quickly downs the skip. She is shocked to learn that he is one of the 5 Immortals that she and several other witches attempted to bring to Earth with The Calling spell weeks earlier. Excited that the spell may have worked after all, she takes him to her apartment to contact Adrian.

Tain knows his brothers are searching for him. After 700 years of torture, his mind is bent. He is in love with the female glamour that the demon leader wears. He will kill his own brothers to help destroy the world. Now that Darius has arrived, Tain will pretend to be a victim. It is an easy way to lure Darius to his death.

Darius refuses to believe Adrian's warning about Tain. The oldest must be mistaken. Tain was the most gentle and loving of the 5 brothers. Darius is sure Tain is being held against his will. Whatever it takes, Darius will find and free Tain. When the work is done, Darius will be free to pursue his feelings for Lexi. After centuries of loneliness, he knows he has found the love he always dreamed of.

I highly recommend this book, as well as the entire 4-book series. (Note, this is not just one author.) This is an awesome series on immortal warriors and their fight against evil. Lots of vamps, witches, etc. help join the fight as well. Very well written. Three authors got together and each wrote a book (Jennifer Ashley wrote two.) They did such a good job of keeping the story line going and coordinating it that you can actually read out of order and still follow the flow just fine. Very good books!

: Immortals: The Darkening is book 2 of the fabulous Immortal series. Robin T. Popp has penned an action packed story for the Immortal Darius and a bounty hunting werewolf in heat named Lexi as they join the battle to stop an ancient demon and a rogue Immortal from ending the human race. Darius is forced to stay in his magical home of Ravenscroft because of his goddess mother, Sekhmet, and her overprotective interference by holding his life-force captured in an orb about her neck. Darius is determined to answer the Calling and destroys the orb, which returns his life-force to him but in a more vulnerable way. A spell is cast as he vanishes from Ravenscroft that creates complications for him on Earth as he finds out the reason for the Calling, Lexi's part in it and the uncontrollable passion between him and Lexi. Lexi is trying to help Darius get to his Immortal brother Adrian, which isn't easy with her being in heat, warring vampires, a leprechaun, and her wood nymph friend all becoming intertwined in the latest scheme by the powerful demon and the rogue Immortal.
Darius and Lexi will take you through the streets of New York as they attempt to stop the death magic from overcoming the life magic. Their relationship erupts from a build up of unleashed passion and untold feelings into an emotional experience that will touch your heart. The story's trail of intrigue flows endlessly throughout the plot with plenty of action and passion. Well developed and memorable characters will pull you into this exciting story and hold you captive to the climactic end. What comes next for the Immortals is now left to Joy Nash as she continues this series with Immortals: The Awakening. I recommend Immortals: The Darkening as a definite keeper for the excellent reading pleasure the Immortals are giving me and I look forward to the next Immortal story.

Second in the five book Immortal series (Yes, five. Ashley is writing Tain's story too) penned by three different authors, Robin Popp makes good use of the wonderful world they've created together. While this series doesn't have the heft of some of the other popular paranormals that the other reviewers are comparing it with, it is still entertaining. Since this installment doesn't bear the burden of introducing the world and the bad guys, the author is free to focus the story on Darius and Lexi.

Darius has been virtually locked in his room for 7 centuries. After being unable to answer the Calling at the end of the last book because his goddess mother is holding his immortal powers hostage, Darius chooses possible death to fulfill his duty to protect the earth and escapes his imprisonment. Unfortunately, the method of escape doesn't fully restore his powers making him more vulnerable than your typical immortal demigod. Also, Mom not willing to loss her son gives him a parting gift, she curses him to lose his memory if he experiences physical pleasure. Imagine how much fun that's going to make "the morning after". Even so he is a great hunky hero and an admirable one with the ability to turn honorable enemies into allies. The whole deal with his tatoos is very cool and inventive.

Lexi is a werewolf-witch bounty hunter. She is capable, independent, and while not immortal, Lexi is powerful. When Darius appears and helps her capture her latest "skip", Lexi knows exactly what Darius is since she had seen a vision of him during the Calling. Darius and Lexi's relationship is not smooth. Lexi is immediately attracted to the tall, gorgeous tatooed warrior, but tries to write off the attraction to full moon hormones. Darius senses her attraction and is perfectly willing to scratch their itch, but Lexi balks at an encounter with a perfect stranger and Darius goes off to end his dry spell with someone else.

Since Lexi's twin died to save her husband, Lexi has been determined to never leave herself that vulnerable. She has been using the excuse of her moon lust to focus on the physical and has a comfortable relationship with vampire leader Ricco to slake her desire while keeping her heart safe. With Darius it's not so easy. Lexi is drawn to Darius even outside of her moon lust. But his curse and dedication to saving the world and his brother, leads him to hurt her as she has never allowed herself to be hurt by a man before. There are misunderstandings, and they spend quite bit of time on their separate missions. However coincidence and fate keeps drawing them back together, forcing them to continually cross paths as Darius tries to find his brother and Lexi tries to keep her friend out of trouble. When Darius and Lexi finally come together, although it is precipated by a drug that intensifies Lexi's lust to a deadly level, it is truly out of love and sacrifice on Darius' part. And while steamy, it is also is touching because they know that Darius' curse will likely steal everything from them.

While I enjoyed the romance between Darius and Lexi, I also liked that we get to see a bit more of Tain, who along with the demon are the only characters that appear both in this book and the first book, The Calling (Immortals, Book 1). Although Tain is both the victim and the enemy, he is not totally powerless. He submits to the demon for the torture that has broken his mind, but then takes over when indulging in the healing sex that restores his body. Tain is also the one to plot and use his brothers, willing to destroy them and the ones they love to seek the destruction of the world that will allow him to die and be freed from his centuries of torment.

The only real weakness in this book and in this series is that the bad guys' evil plot doesn't seem to be building. I was hoping that the series would have some story arc that flowed through all the books, and built to a climatic finish in the last book. So far it seems to be just little stand alone vignettes. Still I am looking forward to the next installment and reading The Awakening (Immortals, Book 3) by a new to me author, Joy Nash.

Great book... took up where the other left off. the ending was great. the two main people were so sexy and wanting sex so bad, that you almost were ready to take them there. Can't wait till the next one comes out to see what happens to the brothers...

That is the only explanation for a story that was all over the place. Lexi is a werewolf witch; Darius is an immortal that has been called by the witches' coven from the first book. I enjoyed Immortals: The Calling, but this book, I just don't get it. The love story was pitiful. First they want to have sex but don't so he goes and has sex with a succubus, then he loses his memory. Lexi has to have sex nearing the full moon. Meanwhile, the bad demons are on the rise and oh my gosh, what happened? The first book was interesting, exciting, had great action, and above all a wonderful romance. This book fell flat. I have read other books by Robin T. Popp, and enjoyed them immensely, but I think she wrote this one in a hurry. I am now hesitant to read the next in this four part series, but the only redeeming virtue is that it will be written by another author, so hopefully, the next book will be better. If it were possible, I would say skip this one, but unfortunately, this is the second in a four part series, so if you want to keep up, you will have to read it. Sorry.

This was a pleasant enough book but something was just missing. It didn't have the spark that you look for in a truly memorable book , and I 'm just not sure why it didn't.

The hero was very memorable and intriguing. Covered in tattoos that can be removed to be used as weapons Darius is an immortal warrior who has been held in near isolation, removed from the Earth realm, for 700 years. His snotty and overprotective mother curses him so that he can not find love with a mortal woman. This way he will always return to her. He struggles to free one of his brothers who has been tortured for those same seven centuries and restore balance between good and evil.

Our heroine is a werewolf who also happens to be a witch. Yeah, so how does that work? If we've always been told you have to have special powers to be a witch how come any were creature can just decide to control and pool all their magic into a witchy form? That and the fact that our heroine she was well...a bit slutty, make me think maybe those loose ends are why I didn't enjoy the story as much as I could have. The fact that all the heroine wanted to do was rut with anything because it was the full moon is more than a little over done. Is she supposed to be like that for a week every month?

The heroine also has an annoying party girl/studious reporter best friend who keeps getting herself in trouble where she then must be saved. But she is a wood nymph capable of teleporting herself. Um, why can't she just rescue herself then? Alert her to danger than watch her pop away.

Hopefully the next installment will be better, otherwise I may give up before the end.

Although his mother Sekhmet has kept him safely "imprisoned", his first summoning in seven hundred years was so great that he needs to leave Ravenscroft for earth as is the task of an Immortal warrior. However, unlike his brother Adrian (see THE CALLING) who apparently answered the calling only to fall in love with an earthling, Darius must escape his concerned mom first who puts a final spell on him to insure he keeps away from the lowly humans; if he has sex, he will suffer from amnesia.

Werewolf bounty hunter Lexi Corvin was involved when Witches summoned the Immortals. Thus she is not shocked when Darius appears seemingly out of nowhere in New York City; in fact she knows what he is. Darius sees his tainted brother Tain, who vanished seven centuries ago, in the company of a demon Amadja so he plans to rescue his sibling and prevent whatever evil Amadja plans to unleash on the world. Lexi refuses his concept she safely stay behind.

Robin T. Popp provides the audience with a delightful romantic fantasy with the follow up to Jennifer Ashley's terrific opening the IMMORTALS: THE CALLING. Filled with plenty of action in a Manhattan setting, the key to the tale as with Ashley's awesome first novel is the lead pairing. The stars deny true love exists until they meet, but have to be cautious as free love means memory loss; besides which the mission comes first. Two for two as this outstanding miniseries remains top rate.

Harriet Klausner