CBR16 Bingo: Dun Dun
“What a pity you have two saviours and they’re both useless.”
― C.S. Pacat, Dark HeirThey called him the king’s blade in the shadows, though none knew the deeds that he was tasked to perform, or guessed that while many of the king’s victories were celebrated in the sun, they were won in the dark.
― C.S. Pacat, Dark HeirThere was something impossible about his beauty. He suited the sunset, as if he was part of the light that was slipping from the world.
― C.S. Pacat, Dark Heir
Thanks to Pooja, this was one of the books I received as part of last year’s gift exchange. I saved this for a rainy day and I’m glad I did. I put off reading it because I didn’t want to hit yet another cliffhanger while not knowing when the third and final book will be released. Also, I’m overly influenced by the due dates of my digital library loans. When my library got hit by a ransomware attack in May, I picked up my trusty Kindle and started going through my TBR pile. After finishing a few lovely romantasy books, I was primed to dive back into the world of Dark Rise.
Oof…this was such a good book.
One complaint I had about Dark Rise was that it spent way too much time worldbuilding and only got really, cracking good in the last 80 or so pages. Dark Heir jumps in right where the first book ended. While I remembered nearly all of the characters, I wish I had gone back and skimmed the last 50 or so pages of the first book.
Spoilers for book 1, Dark Rise
At the end of Dark Rise, Will and his small group of survivors were left trying to figure out what to do now that the stewards have fallen. Somehow, they managed to do the impossible and fend off Simon and his men. But their victory is temporary. They cannot defend what remains of the citadel. They also have an uneasy alliance with James, which is based on their unwavering belief that Will knows what he is doing.
This is the crux of the second book. What is Will doing? Tense confrontations in which his past should be revealed are explained away or ignored. Despite everything Cyprian and Violet endured, they decide to push forward. One, because Violet trusts Will and two, because with the other stewards and janissaries gone, Cyprian has no one else to turn to. Plus, he would not leave Violet behind even if he did have his preferred choice of relying entirely on steward doctrine and training to solve his problems.
As far as Violet is concerned, there is a love story here but it is secondary or even tertiary to the story of her growing power as a lion and the history of how she joined her father’s household in the first place. Will also has his own love story, but he pushes it away, knowing that it will only lead to ruin and because he reluctantly understands that he should not be trusted because even he doubts his own intentions.
End spoilers
The characters C.S. Pacat creates are so damn compelling. I cannot think of another book I’ve read where I genuinely care about every single character. I didn’t skim over anything. I am genuinely interested in what happens to all of them.
Speaking of great characters, I lived for the scenes with Visander and Elizabeth. They are the best mismatched pair and I can’t wait to see what they get up to in book three. I would have loved more Devon, so I hope he will have a bigger role in the final book.
For this year’s CBR16 Book Bingo Reading Challenge I’m choosing albums from the 1970s that helped raise me. When I think of Dun Dun, I think of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin on Physical Graffiti (1975).
