New Book Alert: Hour of Shadow (Book 2 of New Dawn's Light) by Jordan Frost; Characters' Reunion Brims With Engaging Plot But Dims With Repetitive Love Square
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: I am really excited to write this review because things have come full circle for the blog. The first New Book Alert in which the authors themselves requested a review was Whisper in the Dark, the first book in Jordan Frost's New Dawn's Light series. Now here I am, three years later, reviewing the second book, Hour of Shadow.
The first volume featured various characters opposing the tyrannical Lord Kane who, among his worst qualities, every year demands a sacrifice from the world of Midori's best mages. In other words, he wants to eat them and absorb their magic. The only thing that can stop him is a prophecy in which the illegitimate son of the deceased royal family takes the throne. When that happens, Kane's tyranny will be at an end.
Various characters such as a roguish thief, a kindly barbarian, a pair of mage twins, a former guard, and a pirate captain use different means to fight against Kane's Reign of Terror. In true first volume manner, the book ends with the main villain having yet to be defeated, some characters are killed, and some characters hook up. Namely Solana, a haughty mage and Jensen, an ex-guard get together as well as Miriana, Solana's twin sister who is also a mage, and Garrett, the pirate captain. We also discover a potential identity to the missing heir.
The story continues with Hour of Shadow. At times it is a worthy successor to Whisper in the Dark. There is some pretty sharp characterization and some humor sprinkled with the action, particularly involving how the characters interact with each other and some really suspenseful moments as characters move from one death defying encounter to another. However, this second book goes the way many second books in fantasies go. We have already been introduced to the character and world in the first one. We know the climactic battle and pay off will be in part three at the earliest. So in the second volume, we are left with a lot of filler in which characters just go from one place to another and form a love triangle, in this case a love square.
We find that our heroes Miriana, Garrett, Solana, and Jensen have finally encountered each other. Solana and Jensen hire Garrett to take them and Miriana, if she wants to go, to a safe haven for mages called Watcher's Nest. Of course in true Epic Fantasy fashion, the path is paved with new characters both good and bad, various challenges and conflicts, a trial in which they are told to follow various tasks and face their greatest fears, and the quartet's romantic feelings towards each other.
Plot and characterization are pretty sharp in this book. There isn't so much emphasis on setting and world building because it is assumed that the Reader is familiar already with Midori and the way that world works. Most of the setting is confined within ships, inns, on open roads, or in caverns. In fact, the majority focuses on the character's personal thoughts and interactions making things more intimate than the larger scope associated with the previous volume.
This intimacy makes the more adventurous moments more intriguing. Some of the best chapters focus on the team coming upon a mysterious death cult. The horror in these passages are greatly felt and even more so when they are forced to participate in a grueling series of tests. One test features them being haunted by deceased friends, lovers, and family members.
The closed intimacy among the characters also plays in their interactions with each other, particularly how the romantic pairings are tested. At the end of Whispers in the Dark, Miriana and Garrett have fallen in love and while Solana and Jensen begin a romance, revelations in the book complicate things.
Now that the brace of couples have joined together, there are romantic complications. Solana can't stop flirting with the handsome captain much to Miriana and Jensen's annoyance. However, their sardonic dialogue seems to imply that Garrett doesn't mind so much. Garrett feels inadequate compared to Miriana's dream hero of her romance novels in which Garrett was the inspiration. Jensen's family ties make him question not only whether he is worthy as a suitor but also whether he can fulfill his destiny. Personally, this Reader saw enough sweet moments between Miriana and Jensen that they should be a couple and thought Solana and Garrett had a cute argumentative saucy relationship that could evolve as a real romance.
There are some missteps in the book mostly because of the filler nature of being a second volume waiting for the big stuff to happen next. (In fact the Fellowship breaks at the end to perform separate parts of the same tasks.) Once the love square between the protagonists is introduced, it gets repeated over and over ad nauseum, always reminding Readers why love conflicts are often the least favorite parts in speculative fiction. One great character is introduced only to be violently killed within a few chapters (similar to the previous volume when another great character was also graphically killed. Upsetting because he was one of my favorites.) Thankfully, a couple of others are introduced, one who has a mysterious backstory and could be more than he lets on.
There are also plenty of sections where characters just go from one place to another and not do very much. It's a lot more travel and less adventure. Sometimes, the intimacy is good but in certain types of fiction, it can drag the story. Also, in the end Miriana simply pulls out a motive which had never before been referred to. It might be a good lead in book three. But the way it is introduced is pretty clunky and seems more like an afterthought.
Despite its flaws, Hour of Shadow is a worthy second book. It continues an excellent adventure and guides the Reader to another one.
