Kel Kade

Free the Darkness is an entertaining and surprisingly well‑crafted read that combines sharp humor, gritty combat, and an intriguing premise. Rezkin, the main character, is a fascinating mix of deadly skill and social naivety, which makes for both intense battles and laugh‑out‑loud moments as he tries to understand the meaning of friendship and normal human interaction. The supporting cast develops nicely, and the story moves at an engaging pace that makes it easy to keep turning show more pages.
The writing is solid—often excellent in its dialogue and character work—though a few editing slips and predictably overpowered moments keep it from perfection. Some readers might find Rezkin’s invincibility or the constant admiration he receives a bit repetitive, but the world‑building and humor more than make up for it. Overall, this is a strong first book that sets the stage for an even better sequel, and I’d definitely recommend it to fantasy fans looking for smart, fast‑moving adventure. show less

I really enjoyed the way this story seems to disrupt and play with the ideas of prophecy, but it's the sharp characterization that really drew me in. I'll have to pick up the next in the series.

Oh thank god. I feel bad saying I'm glad it's over, but... I'm glad it's over.
There were a lot of good elements and ideas, but the characters were so unbearably flat and static. I'm pretty sure if I had to read one more unending paragraph about how mindblowingly perfect and godlike this hero is, I would have screamed. It felt like every single other person in this world only existed to be awestruck and attracted to him.
I honestly only kept reading because /scattered/ throughout were great show more instances where Rezkin endearingly fails to understand emotional relationships. It was probably the closest any of them had to having more than one dimension. I was very much charmed by those scenes, but not enough to read any more.
Sorry, Rez. I hope the fanfic community does right by you guys, because this book sure didn't.

2.5 stars because, well. I finished it and there were even parts I liked. show less

The book started great, a dark military fantasy about an autistic (human) Terminator released upon an unsuspecting world, with violent and hilarious results. I absolutely loved that, but then the author (or the editor) decided to keep introducing YA unoriginal characters, to turn everything into a much blander epic fantasy and to concentrate on the flirting. She (the author) lost me completely half way through. Also, her unique choice to constantly use multiple POVs in the same scene/page show more was disconcerting and felt amateurish (I never met anything like this). I was really excited at the beginning of the book and increasingly disappointed as it moved on (into YA, esentially). I hope miss Kade will eventually move into fantasy for adults, cause I would certainly be a fan. show less