Darkness of the Light (The Hidden Earth Chronicles) (Hardcover)

by Peter David (Author) "Mandraques do nothing in half measures..." (more)
Key Phrases: floaty thing, damned world, death bringer, Orin Arn Oran, Rafe Kestor, Zerena Foux (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Bestseller David sets this clever, fast-paced fantasy on the Damned World (formerly Earth), home to a handful of enslaved humans, a greatly feared Overseer and the exiled inhabitants of the Twelve Races. Having nearly destroyed humanity, a variety of strange creatures now battle each other. Jepp, a freed human slave, joins a mixed-race band of scavengers. The king of the Cyclops orders Jepp's group to steal the Orb of Light from the trolls, believing its magic will destroy the bloodsucking vampires who have stolen his niece. Meanwhile, the Overseer investigates why hotstars, the energy source for most of the tech on the Damned World, are fading out. As Jepp discovers her own hidden powers, the Overseer realizes that the Twelve Races must understand humanity's place in their universe or risk annihilation. David (Knight Life) is a master at juggling multiple characters and plot lines—and, in what one hopes is the first in a new series, breathes new life into some well-worn mythic tropes. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
On the Damned World, formerly known as Earth, humans, or morts, are an endangered species, and 12 exiled races, the embodiments of the monsters of human legends, war over which will dominate the others. Suddenly, their struggles seem to be coming to a head. Former pleasure slave Jepp, rescued by one of the Laocoon Bottom Feeders, who scavenge for valuables in the wake of battle, after her Mandraque owner was slaughtered, and passionate scholar Nicrominus of the Firedraques, an elder of the race responsible for what treaties between races exist, are the key players here. The Bottom Feeders and Jepp get sent on a mad mission to steal something called the Orb of Light for the king of the Ocular, who has been driven mad by grief over his niece's kidnapping by the Piri. Meanwhile, Nicrominus is charged by the Travellers, the right hands of the Overseer who exiled the races to Earth, to investigate why the previously unfailing power source seems to be dying. An entertaining adventure whose cliff-hanger ending confirms that it launches a series. Schroeder, Regina
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (June 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765311739
• ISBN-13: 978-0765311733
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #894,425 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT start to a longer series..., August 26, 2007

By	Eric Teall - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before I explain why this book is AWESOME, let's have the BAD: this has to be the worst beginning to a Peter David novel I've read. There, I've said it. Mr. David is one of my two favorite authors, so it worried me that I felt the first 100 pages were cliched and clunkily written. He maneuvers himself out of the cliche very well, but the writing in the first hundred pages is weak, especially for such an accomplished author. Luckily, the book gets better, and the last 100 pages is break-neck, can't-put-it-down reading.

Now, the GOOD:

First, the characters are excellent. Mr. David understands choices and consequences are what makes a story happen. If you've liked any of his other books (Star Trek, Knight Life, etc.) for their characters, you will grow to like this one. There's an excellent variety of personalities (as always).

Second, the "Damned World" is very interesting. I felt like I'd read the first 30 pages of this book a hundred times before: various conflicted sci-fi/fantasy races with "dumb" names, the aftermath of a climactic battle and the confused survivors, seemingly pointless political intrigue... etc, etc. I could scarcely believe it was a Peter David book... until the plot really got going. Then the "dumb" names suddenly seemed quite clever, the confused survivors learned some really cool things, and the political intrigue was rooted in characters and situations I cared about. The basic idea behind this book (and series) rivals the coolness of the basic idea behind Bill Willingham's FABLES series, if that tells you anything.

Third, the dialog is sharp and the observations sharper. Very few of the debates between the characters are obviously or pathetically one-sided. While the book's theme comes down decisively on one side of most arguments, the opposite side gets some good shots in. This book excels at calling characters on their BS lines of argument. (Add in a couple of laugh-out-loud hilarious moments, and this novel is just bitingly clever.)

Finally, the last hundred pages are must-read stuff. While I didn't like the first hundred, the tension ramped and ramped until I could not put it down. There are at least two "didn't see them coming" plot twists and a couple of high-concept revelations that make this novel very interesting to this sci-fi and fantasy fan. Mr. David just keeps tightening the screws, and by the end, this book is seriously moving and interesting.

It is worth noting that this is the first book in a longer series. If this were part of a DVD set, this book would maybe be the first disc. I felt about this story the same way I did about FIREFLY (by Joss Whedon) when I first watched it: indifference and a little boredom at first, then passing interest in a couple concepts or characters, then real excitement and concern for the characters and their fates.

If you've ever liked a Peter David series like STAR TREK: NEW FRONTIER, INCREDIBLE HULK, SUPERGIRL (1996), or FALLEN ANGEL, you will enjoy this book. If you haven't liked any of those, give this book (or one of those) a try; you won't be sorry.

Eric Teall

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shaky start, gripping finish, huge promise, June 5, 2008

By	David C. Hill "*** Dave" (Centennial, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Story: This is the first volume of a new fantasy series, "The Hidden Earth," by Peter David. It's an ambitious job, as he balances a storyline that spans over eons and includes -- even in just the main setting -- a cast of several dozen scattered among multiple races and around the world.

The First Wave of the Banished (from another dimension) showed up during the reign of the dinosaurs -- and engineered those reptiles' demise before turning on each other to similar extinction. The Second Wave occurred in the Bronze Age, and established a rich mythology for humans before they were eventually wiped out. The Third Wave was much, much larger, and the different Banished races -- cyclopean Oculars, vampiric Piri, reptilian Firedraques and Mandraques, subterranean Trulls, aquatic Merks and Markenes, and sundry other species -- were more than numerous and powerful enough to nearly wipe out humanity. Now, some centuries later, the Banished -- lorded over by the Overseer and his Traveller prison guards -- have reached a point of uneasy stability ... which means that plots and counterplots among all the Banished races are about to upset everyone's balance.

David takes a huge risk by spreading the focus to the four corners of the Earth (or the "Damned World," as the Banished call it, for an amusing reason). At times, especially early on, things seem blurry, as we jump from chapter to chapter and from location to location. By the end of the book, things have radically changed, and several of the major protagonists from the first half the novel are done in by the end of the second half. It's at a point where things are just starting to gel and snap into focus ... when the book ends. If the first third of the book feels weak, the last third more than makes up for it.

Which, I suppose, is a great way to encourage folks to pick up the next book.

David does a fine job of interweaving different mythologies, a post-apocalyptic world, a huge cast, and various personal tales into what seems initially diffuse but ultimately cracklingly solid storytelling. There's just enough hint of where things are headed, and what's actually going on (albeit with a bit of perhaps too-explicit exposition late in the game) to keep my interest in Book 2 high.

Characters: As mentioned, there's a ton of characters. The herd is trimmed substantially by the end, as various plots blow up (more or less literally) in people's faces.

The huge cast means that most folks are only lightly sketched out -- on the surface at least. Looking back at it, David manages to make nearly everyone engaging on some level. Even where the roles are shallow, the shallows are at least interesting.

That said, I still really wanted to read more about practically -- well, practically everyone. Which means they are good characters, but not ideally handled.

Re-Readability: I think I could read this one again fairly soon -- the later revelations will provide some level of interest in the foreshadowing. I also suspect that, wherever David is going in Book 2 (etc.), it will make rereading Book 1 both a pleasure and, perhaps, an obligation.

Overall: David is known for a number of things. A lot of imagination. A quick grasp of character. A wry sense of humor. All three of these are on display here, and David is really at the top of his game in each.

That said, I didn't like the book as well as I wanted to. While admiring David's ability to juggle a cast of many, it still suffered (perhaps inevitably, as a setup for where he plans to take us) from too many voices and perspectives. There's 3-4 interesting novels in this one, and cramming them together takes its toll, though David still manages to pull it off, overall.

I'd recommend the book to both Peter David and F/SF fans. 'Nuff said.

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, February 12, 2009

By	D. Peters - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Darkness of the Light (The Hidden Earth Chronicles) (Hardcover)

One of my top 10 sci-fi fantasy books ever...characters are compex and likeable< plot is great...