The story was complicated and interesting and the characters solid. The magic system a huge plus, it is different and compelling. However the writing style threw me off. The wording is exaggerated in its whimsicality. The descriptions are too long and hard to grasp. In the whole it wasn’t for me. Although it is a solid fantasy book.

The premise of this story and magic system sound so intriguing, but I could not get past the writing. Maybe I need to push through more of the book, but having to look up multiple words within minutes unfortunately took me out of the story. It was as if the author was combing through his edits and using a thesaurus at every chance to make his writing seem more elevated. I find in fantasy there's already worldbuilding and new terminology to learn, and if I have to look up words too frequently at the start of a new story, it really loses my interest. I do want to push through this one more, but I need more time and attention to devote to it.

The first in The Soulfire Saga trilogy, The Darkness Before Them had a very promising start. The novel opened with protagonist Kat in the midst of a heist with her criminal girlfriend to pay off her father’s massive enormous debt. The first few chapters belie extensive, compelling worldbuilding complete with corrupt aristocracy and religion, a soul-powered magic system, and social classes rife with division.

For a lengthy high fantasy novel, The Darkness Before Them seems to introduce too many narrative threads without satisfactorily exploring them. I longed to learn more about the Veil devouring the kingdom’s land, Kat’s tattooist father, her relationship with Azra, etc., but I was struggling to keep up with new side characters and the chapters from the POV of upperclass “Fireblood” Castellan Damant. Although the two perspectives were clearly connected, they did not feel entirely necessary at this point in the series.

The twist at the end certainly surprised me, but because of my earlier confusion, it took me a bit to grasp its significance. Due to the worldbuilding, especially the hints of political and magical machinations, I am still interested in reading the sequel, but I hope to see a better balance between these elements and the character development.

My thanks to Orbit books, Matthew Ward and Netgalley.
Well...I wish I could stop my review right there! Just say, well and move on.
My main issue with this book isn't the story or really much at all...unless you consider character development an issue. I do.
Great start of a tale.
What is lacking for me is the characters. I need to love, hate or even feel SOMETHING about the people. This story lacked any proper development character wise.
Usually this wouldn't be so much of an issue, but by the end of the book I still felt nothing.
Sometimes I'll decide the tale is worth reading anyways and decide to continue with the next book, but I also read Wards last trilogy, and ended up cold. It also lacked what I needed and wanted.
So, no. I will not and cannot recommend this crap to anyone else.

This was my first book by this author, although I have seen his name around before.

The book is told from Kat’s perspective and another from Castellan Damant. She is a thief on another mission. It starts off with her doing just that, but things don’t go as planned for her and her accomplice. I thought the relationship they had was okay but kind of annoying in a way. It felt like the relationship was the biggest thing about her and took away from other aspects. She was at least interesting at times and did for the most part liked seeing her development.

The mysterious mist was made for a cool setting and setup for the plot. I was very curious about it and it made me continue reading on to see what would happen next. There is also a lot of political intrigue which added to the intensity of the story.

Overall, this was a pretty good and I would continue on with the series to see how it goes.

Matthew Ward has always written incredibly deep and well thought out epic fantasy. Much like George RR Martin and Steven Erikson his cast of characters is vast and there are many factions vying for supremacy. It's a big reason why I love his books, I know he's going to deliver an incredible story that goes well beyond the surface tropes of the genre. His latest book THE DARKNESS BEFORE THEM is no different and is a promising beginning to this brand new epic fantasy series.

I knew I was going to like this book from the jump because I'm a huge sucker for supernatural phenomena or entities in my fantasy reads. In this case that takes the form of The Veil, a mysterious mist that threatens to gradually engulf the entire kingdom and surrounding cities. That element alone had me hooked on the story immediately. But then throw in some incredibly cool characters and next level worldbuilding and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of THE DARKNESS BEFORE THEM.

One thing I admire about Ward's books are his ability to pen characters who aren't simply black and white. There is a great deal of nuance in the way they behave, their motivations, and their ability to evolve in their belief system. This is definitely present in this book as well and I can't tell you how much that significantly ups the investment with the reader. You can't ever write off any of his characters as "good" or "bad" because everything could change with them by the final book.

So many aspects of this compelling story had me completely focused on the plot to the detriment of everything and everyone around me. And the final few chapters really left me wanting more, which I hope won't be too long. Suffice to say, if you love well-drawn characters, tight dialogue, political maneuvering and strategy, and multi-layered storylines that are anything but superficial, then you should pick this one up right away. Good news, it's available to purchase right now! Oh and be sure to also check out all of Matthew Ward's other books as well. He's among my very favorite fantasy writers going today.

I really tried to get into this book, but if you get 200+ pages into a book and it’s still a struggle it’s simply not a book for you.

I see a lot of comments and reviews saying the world building was great, and while yes there was – it also felt like I was dropped headfirst into book 2. The author assumes you know a lot about the magic system and politics. The world is so rich, but for a first book of a series it doesn’t ease the reader into it. It felt like I was in a foreign land without a map.

Another point of contention for me was the characters, their choices were strange, and I thought putting the one character on a boat and away from all the action in the city didn’t really make sense. Things felt so dense and I didn’t find myself enjoying what I was reading at all.

First off I want to thank Netgalley for the ARC
This is a great new world from Matthew Ward with some awesome new characters this is 100% Pure Fantasy great start to book one I haven't read his other books but after reading this one I'm going to be reading them

**3.5/5 Stars Rounded Up**

Ward’s Legacy trilogy captured me from the first book’s prologue. I picked up Legacy of Ash by chance at a Barnes & Noble and purchased it after reading the beginning. With the Legacy trilogy, Matthew Ward secured a reader for life in me. I loved his imagery, his imagination, and his storytelling. He created an intricate world, every detail figured out. I could not start The Darkness Before Them by Matthew Ward fast enough. It took me far longer to read than Legacy of Ash for two reasons—a hectic schedule…and a plot that didn’t interest me as much.

The Darkness Before Them centers around two groups of different social standings. One, the ruling class, from the view of Ihsen Damant, Castellan to House Bascari. He has served the family for years, unquestioningly. The other, from Katija Arvish, a thief who soon finds herself in the middle of Bashar Vallant’s rebel group, a group with whom she had no desire to associate. But after the death of her girlfriend and committing a crime that catapulted her reputation to unintended heights, Kat commits herself to making her lover’s killers pay.

Matthew Ward’s character development is incomparable, particularly with Damant and Kat. That and the author’s perfectly placed moments of humor save The Darkness Before Them. The novel, however, is clearly the first book of a trilogy. I felt most of the book was setting the scene for Ward’s future novels. Did things happen? Yes, and they all contributed to Damant and Kat’s growth. But the novel could have been shorter. I understand what Ward was trying to do, but he wasn’t as successful in this one as in his Legacy trilogy. He demonstrated the morally gray areas associated with the “two groups” truism. Both sides do despicable things, and innocent lives suffer the consequences. Politics are murky, as they are in real life.

But The Darkness Before Them by Matthew Ward was…exhausting. And maybe that’s because I read it in times of weariness, and my brain just didn’t want to think that hard. The novel is anything but simple. It is still very “Game of Thrones”-esque with the twists and minutiae. But the plot moved slowly, and I grew bored. It seemed to pick up closer to the conclusion. Disclaimer: It wasn’t until the last 100 pages or so that I could read without constant interruptions, so that could’ve contributed. Overall, Ward pulled me in enough that I will read book two, but I’m not as eager as I was to read Legacy of Steel upon finishing its predecessor.

4 stars if you want a doorstop fantasy and perhaps 3.5 if you just want a fantasy in general. The world building is the strong point of the book but it does sometimes run a bit slow because of the detail level. I did particularly like the magic system. It was intriguing with the trapped spirit powers. It felt fresh and different than the usual fair.

Tl:dr - I liked the characters and loved the magic system. However the writing was really difficult to immerse myself in, and led to me feel rather confused during certain scenes.

Characters: 4/5
While following the two perspectives throughout the book, Katija/Kat and Ihsan, we are able to explore two very different social classes and different aspects of the world. I felt like both of these characters' perspectives were really fleshed out, and balanced. I also really liked the use of the found family trope.


Story/Plot: 3/5
I loved the magic system in this. The use of souls in the magic system was unlike most fantasy I have read.
There was a lot of world building and groundwork being laid for the future books in the series, and it could be overwhelming in places. But overall I was intrigued by the world. The pacing did seem fairly slow in some places however and I found my attention wandering in parts.


Writing: 2/5
This is where the book was a struggle for me. For some reason I did not mesh well with the prose, and I found it difficult to picture what was going on in the scenes. I was often confused as to what the visuals would actually look like. The prose were fairly complex without being flowery or quotable. I feel like the audiobook might be easier for me to absorb.


Final Verdict: 3/5


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with a copy of this eArc!

The Darkness Before Them had such an interesting premise, I’m sad I didn’t like it more. For me, the issue is entirely in how Matthew Ward writes and the pacing of the book, which is mostly slow. It caused a big disconnect for me. I do feel that there’s lots of people who will really like this. The world building is thorough and it has an epic feel, it’s just going to be one of those books where some people love it and some just cannot get through it.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

Oh, goodness. Overall rating: 1.7 (rounded to 2).

This fantasy book writes of a FMC who is finding her place in the world, driven by repaying a debt that her father left her with. She is betrayed, left alone to face execution, finds “family,” and conquers the impossible. Other tropes: lovers to enemies, found family, and some others I cannot think of. There are some sea faring pirate like characters. An empire falling apart, and a scramble for power. All in a world of magic and a terrifying “mist.”

This book seemed to want to be like Priory of the Orange Tree with The Daevabad Series, with dual POV. Where did it fall short? Many places. The writing? There were run on sentences. The fighting scenes couldn’t keep track of the characters. World building was hard to follow even with an appendix/glossary. The language and word development was so difficult. Everything felt out of place. Sentences seemed to be run on. The beginning was slow, and at times super painful. I really thought about not finishing, but I carried on and saw it through to the end.

This book had potential and it simply fell short. A FMC who has these earned powers due to her father’s mysterious workings and experimentation? Oh boy, I wanted more. I wanted to see more come from this. Parts were longer than they should have been, and others neglected.

I appreciate NetGalley and Orbit Books for allowing me to read this for a review.

This was a thick baby, and I loved sinking my teeth into it.

It’s been rare over the past two years for me to get into a fantasy epic on the bottom floor, just as its’ beginning. It seems with almost every other epic fantasy series going on I came into the ARC reviewing/book reviewing scene after the series had already started and it’s a little hard to catch up to everyone else when you’re reading around 25-30 ARCs a month (let’s not talk about my inability to turn down every yummy ARC I see on NG). So when I saw the synopsis for this book, I was so intrigued I decided to give it a try and see if I liked it. If I did, then I had just done what I wanted to and gotten in on the bottom floor of a promising epic fantasy series.

I thought this book was absolutely wonderful. At nearly 600 pages I could’ve done it in one day, but I decided to split the reading over two days: I read the first 30% on the first day and read the rest on the second day so I could be fresh as a daisy for the middle portion of the book. It turns out I may have not needed it as I usually do for longer fantasy novels, because this book was compelling and intriguing from start to finish.

I don’t read a lot of epic fantasy. I’ll admit it’s because epic fantasy tends to be a genre ruled by white, male authors and I tend to dislike most fantasy written by white, male authors. I think what captivated me about this book from the start was our protagonist, Kat: I love thieves. I love underdogs. I love rebellions. I might as well say it: I love that Kat is a lesbian, too. While I’m not usually a fan of white men writing queer female characters (unless they have a sensitivity reader), it helps that Kat is way too focused on keeping herself alive for most of this book to worry about fluttering her eyelashes at anyone.

The worldbuilding in this book is excellent. Ward shouldn’t have cause to lack in this department, seeing as his background is in RPG worldbuilding. The magic system is a little fuzzier on the details, but I think that’s because there’s more than one way of conducting magic in this world and we don’t know exactly how all of it works yet.

While I greatly enjoyed the plot, with all its court intrigue, drama, crosses and double-crosses, there was definitely some predictability here and there. It didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book, though, so I’m not holding that against the rating.

I’d definitely recommend it if you want to dig into a new series or if you’ve been wanting to try a series and just haven’t yet. It’s a lot of fun.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review was written without recompense. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/Epic Fantasy/Fantasy/Fantasy Series/Sapphic Romance

This is a wonderful start to a new series. My biggest disappointment is that I will now have to wait until I am able to read the next volume of the series. This is my first time experiencing this author but will not be my last. I want to thank NetGalley and Orbit for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The author has created a rousing, long sweeping fantasy adventure set in an imaginative middle eastern influenced world with an interesting magic system around souls. The magic system can be complex at times and was difficult to understand early, but eventually I was able to understand this world to where I was no longer confused. I give the author credit that he didn't bog down the story in pages of explaining his complex magic system. But with that said, early on you are thrown into this world with little explanation and it will take a few chapters before you feel comfortable in the world and enjoy the adventure you are about to embark on.

The novel is told with dual POVs.

First is Kat, a thief with the ability to manipulate souls through her skin glyphs, tattoos. She is part of the lower class, quite literally, at the bottom, while the higher class are on top in this middle eastern inspired city of Tyzanta. Kat with her girlfriend Azra seek one last big score to pay off the debt of Kat’s father and to make it to where they can live in the lap of luxury together for the rest of their lives. But things do not go as planned.

Second POV is Damant, he is Castellan to the House Bascari, he is the advisor of the Countess Elinor, the upper ruling class. His days as castellan are numbered as the Countess is getting more and more senile. Her family members are fighting to see who will be the next to rule Tyzanta.

The use of souls as a usable resource as the main catalyst of this magic system was imaginative, interesting and was one of the highpoints for me. For example, to be able to take and encapsulate a soul of someone like a captured thief in a metal golem- kiolos- to guard against future thieves for all of eternity was disturbing.

Also, this idea of a vortex of soul laden winds that is a constant current moving to and centered on Zariqaz the city of the religious center of Khalad was enjoyable.

The action sequences were fun, especially if you like sky barge combat. It seems like more and more books I read in the fantasy genre lately include sky barges or airships. The twist and turns I didn’t see coming, which are always rewarding when investing several hours reading a large book.

The author has created some interesting and unique secondary characters. My favorites are Yali, a lock smith that communicates through sign-language, and Rima, a supernatural sword master, who before she duals and fights her opponents, has a great catch phrase, “Are you sure you wish to go through this?”

Also, we have this theme of the greater good at what cost, which is one of my favorite themes in fantasy novels.

My only issue is the author created a very complex world where it does take some time through many read pages to get comfortable within it. Also, there is so much that goes on during this book, it can feel overwhelming at times to remember all the plot lines and keep them straight. But for a first novel of a much larger story, I certainly want to know where the author will take us next and can’t wait to read the next novel.

This was such a great story and one that I plan on continuing when the next book comes out. I was completely absorbed in this story. I adored Kats character and it was so good. I really enjoyed this.
I just reviewed The Darkness Before Them by Matthew Ward. #TheDarknessBeforeThem #NetGalley
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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Darkness Before Them sounded like an amazing book following a thief in a kingdom ruled by an immortal king and a magical mist consuming the land. It has a unique magic system and rich world building.

Unfortunately this was not for me and I am gonna have to DNF at 15% of the way through. I am struggling to get into the world and finding this to be much too slow for me. Nothing is really keeping my attention and because of that I am unable to read this for very long before I find myself getting bored. From what I’ve read I don’t think this is a bad book, just not for me. I will say I found myself very confused with all of the world building, but that is possibly from my attention wandering while reading and missing details of the world.

I’m sad I wasn’t able to get into this because it sounded so good. I might end up giving this one another try in a couple years, but right now I just can’t do it.

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
Kat finally has a plan to becoming free. As a talented thief nothing will stop her from pursing her biggest score and to finally settle her father’s debts. Spirits may hold vigil at every vault but that won’t deter Kat as she can not only can speak to them but also command them. All the while the Kingdom of Khalad is on the brink of war with an uncaring immortal king at the helm. Kat may have to choose where she stands in order to get her old life back, proving that her planned heist isn’t the only hurdle she must cross.

The Darkness Before Them is the first installment in The Soulfire Saga series as well as this being my first time reading one of Matthew Ward’s novels. I’ll start out by saying this book was a bit of a struggle for me. There is a heavy focus on revenge and on the politics of this world with backstabbing family members, a city on the verge of chaos, and a looming war. While the plot is focused on these aspects I had a difficult time connecting to the characters, ultimately making it harder for me to truly care about their motives and actions. Connecting to the main characters is personally a big key factor into my enjoyment in books. The world building is extremely throughout and detailed which at times made the pacing of this book feel slow, however I fully appreciate the authors dedication to this world he has created because that does show thru in the writing. The book is told in two POVs which I thought gave the reader great insight into how the differing classes of Cinderblood and Fireblood differ. The magic that is showed is also very unique and intriguing. The ending leaves so many openings for Ward to explore in future installments in this series. While as stated it was not my favorite read I still feel that this book will have no problem finding its audience and is overall a successful first installment to what looks to be a very intricate world and series.

The Darkness Before Them comes out November 7th, 2023.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Orbit Books for providing me the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I found this book a real struggle to get into. The worldbuilding at the start is quite intense, and normally I love chunky epic fantasies with lots of detail. There are so many names at the start for the spirits (ifrit) that power everything that I felt overwhelmed by an otherwise really interesting magic system.

The characters never really grabbed me and I didn't end up caring for Kat or any of the secondary characters.

I think this book will appeal to many readers of fantasy and political scheming plots but it wasn't the right book for me.

The Darkness Before Them follows Kat as she has turned to criminality as she attempts to pay off her father’s debts so that she doesn’t end up losing her soul. The cast of characters Kat meets along the way truly make the story come alive, and a second POV from the castellan to a royal family helps to provide context to the hierarchy within the world.

Where I think this fell short is with the main character herself and some of the world building. I had some difficulty understanding Kat’s powers and also her motivations. Beyond having a dead father and a girlfriend she loves, I don’t feel like I really got to know her or understand her capabilities.

If you enjoy a good heist novel, then this might be right up your alley. There were also a few good plot twists that I enjoyed, and the author didn’t hold back with the action. Even though I didn’t love this one, I think it will still be enjoyed by many. It just wasn’t for me, unfortunately.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the advanced copy; I am leaving this review voluntarily.