Unusual blend of fantasy and horror, with two (80s) contemporary characters persuaded to help in a last ditch struggle against Lovecraftian type monsters in another parallel world. This series has it all: magic, warriors, monsters, edge of the seat suspense, political struggles, romance. Flawed characters and the non obvious e.g. who ends up paired with whom. I first read it a long time ago and have re-read it a few times since, latest re-read August 2020. ( )

Hambly's very first novel, and it shows. The plot: a man and a woman from southern California are transported to another world by a mysterious wizard, and shit hits the fan immediately. Most of the book is spent fighting, fleeing, or freezing, which sounds exciting, but actually becomes boring when unrelieved by contrast. There are too many words for the amount of plot that spools out, yet many elements of the story seem undeveloped and unbelievable -- the biggest being a romance that springs up between two characters that makes not a lick of sense, but gets a LOT of airtime.

The portal fantasy aspect also poses a problem, in that it doesn't seem necessary beyond a bit of wish-fulfillment for Earth-bound readers ("Wow, maybe I too would become a superstar by being whisked into another world!") and also inspires the author to write one of the main characters' dialogue in a southern Californian idiot mode that clashes horribly with the way everyone else talks. I kept thinking of Ursula Le Guin's essay "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie".

To top it all off, there's a big world-threatening mystery (the Dark and why it's their "time" again) that gets very little development beyond a few creepy visions and some night-time attacks. The outsider status of the two main characters positions them well to ask questions like, "what the hell ARE these things?" (they do not resemble any Earthly creatures), but no... they don't. Sigh.

I first read this trilogy back in the '80s, and I recall that there is more explanation in the other two books. I may pick them up to at least refresh my memory, but I can't say I'm really drawn in this time. A reread of one of her later books might be a better idea. Some of them are great! ( )

The story was good. I read the series many many years ago. The narrator did not sit well with me, hence the low rating. ( )

Pulply.
Nice purple prose that created an atmosphere.
Could have focused more on the real world ecology of what was happening, would happen.
Intrigued to see how this would develop (will probably read the next one).
Bit cheesy, but tasty cheese ;-) ( )

Back in the early 1980s, I walked into a bookstore and fell in love with a cover. It showed a wizard, seated at what looked like a kitchen table, with a staff in one hand and a beer can in another with a bag of potato chips at his feet. I immediately bought the novel, this very book. I read it and loved it as it featured a strong, capable female character. Gil Patterson was a scholar who was drawn into another world and made a place for herself.

Of course, the story is far more than that. The Dark is feeding on the other world's people and must be kept from entering our mundane world. And there is Rudy, also from the mundane world who gets taken into Darwith. There is darkness and horror -- this nearly qualifies as dark fantasy. There are politics and religion. The characters grow and change.

I was worried that my decades-old memories wouldn't live up to today's reading. I am so glad that I still love this book. On to the next one!

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys well-written fantasy. ( )