When Darkness Falls

When Darkness Falls is the final book in the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. The Demon Queen's plans are almost complete and it's time to see how our heroes will win the war.

After the end of the second book, I was expecting this one to really take off as a race to the finish against the Demon army. Unfortunately, the book slows the pace down to a plod and regresses slightly with regards to the characters. A lot of the first third of the book is given to reminding us of what happened in the previous two books, which is fine, but also of things that happened just a few pages ago as characters travel somewhere, meet people and then tell them how they traveled. The character angst from the first book is also back, show more which was one of my least favorite things in that book. After the first 200 pages or so, the book smooths out, the plot moves forward and our characters make progress again.

Even though this is supposed to be Kellen's series, I think that Cilarnen was the star of this book. He grows a lot during this book. I loved his creative use of magic, especially when he uses the unicorns in a giant spell.

I feel bad for Jermayan and Ancaladar. It felt like the writers didn't quite know what to do with the characters as they'd made them too powerful for their plot. They could've easily been a dues ex for many situations and yet were held back. It's unfortunate that the pair didn't really shine until the very end after they'd lost their magic. It seems like a missed opportunity even though I did really enjoy them at the end.

Even with my complaints, this is a nice ending to the series. I couldn't put the book down for the last 100 pages! It has a bittersweet ending, even if we did know that part was coming. I want my own unicorn. Shalkan was easily my favorite character in the series. show less

Broken alliances, the danger of unbridled anger, the wonder of trust and forgiveness, and the power of good over evil make When Darkness Falls perhaps the best of the three books in the Obsidian Trilogy. It brings the story to a very satisfying conclusion, resolving just enough issues and leaving just enough pain and happiness to go around. I began to guess the twist before the end, and found I’d only guessed a fraction of it. A well-woven trilogy, a well-built world, well-realized magic, and fascinating characters. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I’m going to reread it soon.

I really enjoyed reading the first two books in this trilogy. The problem with this third book is that it suddenly resolves everything, without expounding on any of the plot elements that had been hinted at through the first two books. The pace is fast - very fast- and we just don't see as much of the characters we've come to love as they hurtle along their way. I felt somehow cheated.

After all the effort to paint the demons as powerful, evil, and intelligent, they show virtually none of those qualities in the third book. The impending "war" turns out to be one battle; the humans just sort of come along, even though we’d been led to expect a harder sell; Kellen and Vestakia end up together far too quickly (even though it was obvious show more they would); the relationship between Kellen and Lycaelon had potential that didn't eventuate; even Idalia and Jermayan's romance felt like it was put in from obligation. There were so many possible directions the book could have taken, instead it just plodded along and suddenly dropped the reader off a cliff into oblivion.

I am torn! It definitely makes a nice change to finish a trilogy in three books, as opposed to the recent trend of endlessly drawn out series- but it also illustrates why the longer series can be a good choice. In balance, I think would have been better to make this series four books if that was necessary instead of trying to conclude everything in the last few pages of the third book.

Definitely worth reading, but nowhere near as captivating as the first two books of the trilogy. show less

The final book in the Obsidian Trilogy.

This was a good end to the series. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and loved seeing how everyone ended up. By the last hundred and fifty pages or so, I was so absorbed that I whipped on through as quickly as I could manage.

But, that said, this is definitely the weakest book in the series; there are some very odd consistency errors, the timeline is rather off, and it took me a little while to get really involved in the story again. Once I was there, though, I was there. I’ll miss everyone now that the series is over, and I'm looking forward to reading Lackey and Mallory's new book set in the same world.

When it comes to the story this was great. Everything that needed to happen, happened. I was pleased by most of the characters, and those not pleasing were at least tolerable. Kellen is for the most part past adolescent whining and Cilarnen, surprisingly gets much more time in this novel. Romance between the appropriately paired couples is for the most part very subdued, as well as the amount of Shalkan appearances. Unfortunately everything seemed a little rushed. I could have cut a good 20 pages from the book if we were not reminded of Vestakia's mom every time she is mentioned and some other obvious and repeating background information. (Although snarky elves and unicorns make up for it.)
From everything indicated earlier in the year show more this volume was supposed to be released in July, however despite a delayed release I ran across quite a few typos and some shoddy sentences. It wouldn't bug me so much for a $7.00 paperback, but I would prefer my more expensive ($27.99) hardbacks to have a few less problems. Overall it was good, and concluded most everything well, if seeming to rush to an anticlimactic ending. I sincerely hope Lackey and Mallory team up for more, as I would love to read more about characters like Shalkan, Idalia, or Jermayan and Ancaladar. show less

Loved the story. I hope there will be more books set in the world. I knew there had to be a Happy Ending for Idala and her Elven Knight. Loved the way she got there.
I will be re-reading the trilogy in between books like The Last Victim of Henry VIII, The Earl of Surry (non-fiction)

Raising your reincarnated mate is creepy beyond imagining.