Darkest Hour (Age of Misrule) (Paperback)

With trilogies, it often happens that the middle book becomes something of a 'filler' - something to tie up loose ends from the first book, and prepare the twists and turns of the third. Not so with Mark Chadbourn.

Although, obviously, there are matters to be resolved and cliffhangers to be created, Darkest Hour is in no way a 'filler' book - it is a perfectly-constructed novel of its own. Moving on from the general feel of despair left at the end of the first novel, this book continues to build up the characterisation of characters which was so apparent in the first book, World's End, but to a greater degree, giving room not only for velopment but also evolution of characters as they find themselves changed by the events unfolding around them.

Chadbourn's portrayal of a world driven mad by the loss of modernity is also chillingly realistic, with villages trying to survive on their own and whole communities driven to fear and paranoia by the loss of all they knew. He also manages to inject lighter touches - the travelling bands who aren't affected by loss of electricity, or the many moments of humour, dark or otherwise, that are scattered through the book.

This is one of Chadbourn's greatest strengths, the ability to take us from emotion to emotion in a split second without taking away from the power of what he is writing. While reading a passage from the book you feel as though you are being led down a river, with a world of opportunity that lets you experience everything before gently nudging you to the next thing.

You keep writing, Mr Chadbourn, and we'll keep reading.

This is not the type of books classics are made of, but it stands head and shoulders above most of the urban fantasy books on the market at the moment. Fans of Charles de Lint will probably enjoy Mark Chadbourn, but be warned, this is much harsher than anything I've read of de Lint's. The characters are more flawed, more real and less arty than de Lint's. And I'm a de Lint fan. This trilogy is more like classic fantasy, but transferred to the here-now, not some ethereal distant world.

As in 'World's End', 'The Darkest Hour' ends on a cliffhanger. It's not brilliant as a book, but I've got to know what eventually happens, so I will be getting the last book when it's published. Therefore, Chadbourn's doing his job as a writer: keeping the reader entertained and wanting to stick with the story.

Try it. If you like le Guin, de Lint, Leiber or even just mythology and legend, you'll probably like this.