Written by Tyler Edwards
If you want an epic fantasy to do one thing, it’s to tell an epic story. Some books within the genre achieve this; others don’t quite get there. And some books are well and truly epic in their scope and world, truly earning the moniker of epic fantasy. Shadows of the Dark Realm, by Tyler Edwards, sits squarely in that latter category. This novel is packed full of action and adventure, woven together by a story and world that are absolutely massive. There’s epic fantasy, and then there’s epic fantasy.
At 690 pages in paperback (although only 544 in hardcover thanks to a larger page size, or an estimated 546 pages on Kindle), Shadows of the Dark Realm is not a short book. It’s not overlong for the genre either, and Edwards packs a lot of story in for its page count. The novel tells the story of the prosperous world of Parisia, protected by the book’s MacGuffin, the Darkstone. When the Darkstone is taken by an elder dragon, the world falls into ruin, threatening Parisia’s very existence. A band of misfit “Seekers,” including noble, a knight, a thief, a witch and a wizard, are tasked with reclaiming the Darkstone and saving Parisia. The plot comes together well, with plenty of twists and turns across its sprawling canvas.
While the canvas is one that’s so familiar to readers of epic or high fantasy, with a world that feels as though it stepped out of the European Middle Ages, it is packed to the brim with creatures and magic that fans of the genre will enjoy. The setting is similar to so many books of its ilk, but it is woven together in a way that makes it feel like it sits apart to its contemporaries. Throughout Shadows of the Dark Realm, Edwards builds upon Parisia, deepening the world as the story moves forward.
The early parts of the novel move slowly, as it takes its time to set the scene and introduce the characters. For much of the first act, it plods along in a way that feels unfocused. But once the story gets moving, the book’s pacing picks up steam and the plot is soon moving at a breakneck pace. While operating on a broad canvas where characters and story threads move throughout the world could slow the story down, it instead keeps its forward momentum and continuously builds upon it. The pace works well for the story while ensuring the reader remains engaged.
That Shadows of the Dark Realm’s plot, world building and pacing all come together so well is somewhat surprising, as these elements aren’t supported by its prose. The novel is underwritten, lacking much detail to move things forward. While some books are light on dialogue, at many points, Shadows of the Dark Realm feels as if it’s light on prose. It’s enough to tell the reader what they need to know, but rarely goes any further. The prose is clear and easy to read, but doesn’t transport the reader into the world, and instead feels overly simplistic. I also found regular spelling and grammatical errors in the writing which took me out of the story. Further editing to rectify these issues and add some colour to the writing would have helped greatly.
With the book being light on prose, it’s heavy on dialogue, which too, suffers from spelling and grammatical mistakes. The book would benefit from less dialogue and more prose to embed the reader in the world, instead of having them read conversation after conversation between its characters. While the characters broadly have their own voices, there isn’t much to differentiate them, and although the dialogue is clear and easy to follow, it doesn’t sound natural. Much of the dialogue feels as though it’s filling space, and there to have the characters talking with one another, rather than furthering the overarching story.
Although Shadows of the Dark Realm features a large cast of characters, its focus is on the five Seekers embarking on their quest. These characters are mismatched, and the book’s focus on dialogue reflects this. The characters are entertaining, but lack depth, with most of the book’s characterisation focusing on how different they are to each other. These five characters all sit snugly within the tropes one would expect from their classes, and the book does little to explore them further than those tropes.
If you saw the book’s title and Amazon listing and hoped that Shadows of the Dark Realm is one of those rare epic fantasies that isn’t part of a series, you’ll be disappointed (although, likewise, if you’re after a new series, you’ll likely be delighted). Thiough the Amazon listing describes it as standalone, there’s more to come, something that becomes clear to the reader as they reach the end. Although signs point to this being the beginning of a larger story—and given this book’s scale, one that is sure to expand in entertaining ways—it effectively stands on its own. While there’s the promise of more to come, the story being told feels complete.
Shadows of the Dark Realm tells an entertaining, fast paced story against the backdrop of a beautifully built world. If you like your fantasies to be epic, you’ll find so much to love about the story being told and the promise of the overarching series building upon this further. As great as the story is, I would have appreciated more depth and nuance to its characters, and the prose and dialogue don’t work as well as they could, particularly when considering the various errors peppered throughout.
Favourite Passage
In a roaring flash, the dragon burst into view, stalking out from behind two tall houses that had hidden it from the travelers’ view. The creature was massive, terrifying, beautiful, wondrous, and awful all at the same time. Its scales were a glimmering, polished silver. Its claws and long maw were stained red with blood that trailed behind it. The buildings were ablaze as the dragon turned its head from side to side. The fierceness and raw power of the creature seemed to pulse through the air.
Shadows of the Dark Realm, Chapter Thirteen: “Encounter”
Shadows of the Dark Realm was provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review.
Shadows of the Dark Realms is available in both physical and eBook forms, exclusive to Amazon
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Shadows of the Dark Realm
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