When Darkness Falls (The Obsidian Trilogy, Book 3) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Author) "THE PRICE THAT the Wildmages, the Elves, and their Allies had paid to learn the plans of their Enemy had been high..." (more)
Key Phrases: few moonturns, several sennights, several moonturns, Wild Magic, High Mages, High Magick (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Lackey and Mallory's highly readable conclusion to their Obsidian fantasy trilogy (after 2004's To Light a Candle), Knight-Mage [Kellen], leader of the alliance of humans and elves, has his work cut out for him when the forces of demon queen Savilla go on the offensive. Fortunately, [Kellen] has a powerful ally in the half-breed healer Vestakia, who because she's half demon can read the mind of her demon father and provide priceless information on their enemies. The deft handling of the romance between [Kellen] and Vestakia helps heighten suspense as the struggle on both the physical and magical planes grows more intense. Short scenes speed the action, which at times can be hard to follow, even for those familiar with the previous two volumes. Nonetheless, high fantasy fans should appreciate the intelligent storytelling with an unmistakable flavor of Andre Norton at her best. (July)
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Review

“Intelligent storytelling with an unmistakable flavor of Andre Norton at her best.”--Publishers Weekly on When Darkness Falls
 
 “Plenty of good-versus-evil action.”—VOYA on When Darkness Falls
 
“Panoramic . . . filled with magic, dragons, elves, and other mythical creatures.”--Library Journal on To Light a Candle
 
“Captivating.”--Publishers Weekly on The Outstretched Shadow
 
“Delightful.”—Booklist on The Outstretched Shadow

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (July 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765302217
• ISBN-13: 978-0765302212
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #539,770 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A trilogy for a change, August 1, 2006

By	New Dad Dave (Texas) - See all my reviews

While I agree with some of the negative points regarding the simplicity of this concluding book, I must say that it really was a page turner. Once it got going, I really was enjoying the pace and energy and looked forward to enjoying the conclusion.

This is always a good feeling to have when reading, and I think the authors did a fine job creating a world that came alive.

Finally, I do have to say, I am thankful that they actually wrote a trilogy, and if that means a few of the details are sacrificed, to keep it a trilogy - then thanks to them! I've been a little frustrated recently getting to the end of a book (The most recent being the excellent George R.R. Martin books), and finding out that the story won't be complete for 7 books! Another 2 years minimum to find out how that excellent story turns out! Geesh!

Thanks for a good read!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rather Disappointed, August 17, 2006

By	E. Brady "Shadowstorm" (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First I have to say that I enjoyed the first two books of this series. However, I feel extremely cheated at the end of this book. This book seemed more about war strategy than plot and character development. As a previous reviewer stated there was so much that was left out.
*Kellen's relationship with father
*The whereabouts of Kellen's mother
*Relationship developments with Idalia and Vestakia

Also the final battle...I have to say it...was pathetic. After all that happened the bad guy is just poof defeated, no witty lines, and Vestakia never even meets her father...which I have been waiting to read. I don't know if they just wanted this story over with, but the effort and time was not applied to this ending as have been with others. I am a avid fantasy reader and I can honestly say that this was one of my most disappointing conclusions ever.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great trilogy, July 28, 2006

By	SA_Ron "happilyreading" (WV Panhandle) - See all my reviews

I'm not going into story details, since it's been done already. I'm going to write about the trilogy as a whole instead of just this last book.

Okay, the story wasn't terribly original (but then, what is nowadays?) but it was so well told that I didn't care. I could hardly tell that it was written by two writers. (The giveaway was that one of the characters was described once as having horns that swept back over her head, while in another book she was described as having shorter horns. But, why quibble?)

It's hard to come up with something original these days, so I look at quality of writing instead of looking for the next Tolkien. Not alot happens at the beginning of the first book, but the writing is so good that you're sucked in anyway.

Not only that, but it's a trilogy. The story actually ended! There could be more written after this book, but the story itself wrapped up nicely.

There's usually a love story angle in fantasy books and this one has two of them. One was handled quite well, while the other was hardly touched on. Personally, I wish there was more of that and just a little less action.

Did I mention that the first book started slow? Well, after the first third of the first book, the action picks up and hardly stops. The action is described very well. I got all three books at the same time and I couldn't stop reading until it was done.

I don't buy hardbacks until I've read the book and find that I really like it. I'll be picking up the hardcover editions of all three of these books. Plus I need to start reading more Mercedes Lackey books!