Opening:
My journey into the Dark Law series began back in the Spring of 2024 when I read Dark Theory for the SPSFC-3 competition. It was one of the more dense reads I had for assigned reading yet I still ended up enjoying it. I knew this was one of those series and authors I’d end up continuing to read from that point on.

I also read Dark Kingdom at the beginning of this year and it was also entertaining. Fast forward a couple of months and I was excited to not only hear book two Dark Prophet was releasing but I was also able to get my hands on a copy.

Pacing:
The page count came down considerably from the eight hundred plus of book one to a much more reasonable just over five hundred for book two. Combine that with the fact this read was purely a visual read while the overs from this series were experienced with the audio as well, and I honestly ended up connecting with this one a bit more than the other two.

Dark Theory still took me a couple of weeks to get through but that was simply due to me not having as much time to visually read as I often do over the winter and early months of Spring. I though the flow of book two worked very well for me. There is plenty of ebb and flow to avoid the feeling of either too much action or getting lost in a slog of unnecessary details.

Even with that being said, this is the type of story that kept me on the edge of my seat whenever I did get a chance to sit down and dive back into the story. I didn’t notice any real editing issues nor did I have any trouble with names of characters or places to trip me up.

I will finish the pacing with a brief mention of time travel. I though the author does a good job in guiding us through these moments but if you’re a reader that doesn’t enjoy these aspects or struggle with them, just be aware they exist in this story.

World Building:
This has been such a unique world to explore in the Dark Law series and especially Dark Prophet. Though technology exists there still seems to be a feeling of a primitive type of setback in society. The various factions, regions and depth of history shared more traditionally by the characters as well as found technology and time twisting in on itself really kept things fresh and intriguing throughout this read.

Each time I sat down and picked up where I left off, it didn’t take me long at all to lose myself in the story and visualize the scenes as they unfolded.

Another aspect that I picked up on more this time was the amount of philosophical themes this time around. I’m sure there was plenty in the previous reads but I really got stuck on them this time. Some of this could be related to focusing on a strictly visual read for Dark Prophet. Looking back at the title though, it does make sense.

Character Development:
There are several groups of characters and their point of view taking place throughout book two. Their paths do eventually come to together but it was a smooth transition to that point and I easily kept up with each PoV as I progressed. As I mentioned previously even the timeline twists were easy enough to keep straight and it only lead to some great “Ah hah!” type of moments.

I don’t want to mention many characters specifically which could end up being one type of spoiler or another. However, I will say each of the returning characters are complex. I never felt any of them to be one dimensional or boring. There are some amazing new characters introduced in Dark Prophet though including one of my favorites Befel. You’ll just have to read the series through to this point to meet this character and judge for yourself though.

Closing:
Something I wasn’t sure where to mention in the above sections is some great artwork that only helped to fuel my vision through various scenes and this world in general.

I’m not sure how long this series is intended to go but things are certainly setup well at this point for a possible finale in book three.

If you are looking for a science fiction tale along the lines of post apocalyptic world in the aftermath of a highly advanced society, interesting politics and religions, unique characters and that head scratching timeline twists, look into the Dark Law series.

Scoring:
Pacing 4.0 / 5.0
World Building 5.0 / 5.0
Character Development 4.5 / 5.0

I haven’t read book 1 in the series (I didn’t realise this was a sequel) so I only read a few chapters and as I think I’d really enjoy the whole thing I’ll try and read book 1 first. Excellent set up and looks like an epic story.

Goodness me, it’s been a couple of years since I read the first book in this series. However, to commend it, it is one of those books that has stayed with me, and I was avidly waiting for the sequel to be released.
Dark Prophet, is the second book in the Dark Law series (however, technically it is the third book because there is a novella called Dark Kingdom and is integral to some of the plot points in Dark Prophet) and takes us back to the world which is on the brink of disintegration.
The story mixes the aesthetics of the epic fantasy trilogy with hard science fiction, and if Dark Law was The Fellowship of the Ring, this is definitely The Two Towers.
The party that was formed in the first book is now well and truly split and all undertaking sperate tasks. The book alternates between these different POV’s giving us a much wider look at the world in general.
In the first book, the world building was excellent and in this second book, the layers of the original are built upon to give the reader a rich and expansive backdrop to a crumbling world.
As the characters go about their individual quests, we learn more about them and their depth is greatly expanded. One of the standouts was learning about Galiaro and the astrocysts (effectively the wizards of the story!) and how the society is set up.
There is a bit of timey wimey stuff in it which always mashes my head a bit, but this builds the complexity of the story. However, I did find that when this came into play, the story’s pacing slowed down a little in order to set up the reasons why the events that were happening were taking place.
The story then kicks back into a gear when Weckler throws the choke open and throttles the story to full pelt for the last third of the book.
The story twists and turns with the various plot points leaving the reader avidly waiting for the third book in the series.

I listened to the 2 first books back to back and was completely immersed in this dark world, very grateful to be given the opportunity to read book 3 early, thanks, I will be ordering the audiobook as soon as it’s released

Sinopsis en español:

El tiempo se desmorona y la Tierra está condenada a vagar por la oscuridad del espacio, desvinculada de la galaxia. El plan de Galiaro para que la humanidad escapara a otra dimensión fracasó y sus creaciones robóticas de materia oscura, Beetro y Curse, quedaron atrapadas en un agujero negro nanoscópico. Ahora, el planeta entero sufre la sequía, los océanos se desbordan y miles de personas se encuentran desposeídas. El fin del cosmos fue predicho por un antiguo profeta alqueano llamado Othel.

Hace miles de años, Othel dejó la profecía de la Tierra Oscura para que el planeta sobreviviera a la calamidad. Ahora, la comunidad de Dark Theory —el astrocisto borracho Galiaro, Arym del culto clandestino, la ladrona Miree, la viajera del tiempo Hawera y la rata callejera Ribcage— debe recoger las migajas de la búsqueda del antiguo profeta para salvar la Tierra. Por separado, recorren el mundo moribundo y reciben noticias alarmantes: los robots de materia oscura, Curse y Beetro, han escapado de su prisión de agujero negro. Antaño enemigos de mundos paralelos, los dos hermanos robots ahora tienen una alianza precaria, y con una ventaja… Curse ya conoce la profecía. La ha visto antes, la ha usado antes y ha destruido su propio mundo con su poder. Ahora, al borde de la aniquilación, quien maneje la profecía de la Tierra Oscura desatará el poder cósmico que podría salvar —o condenar— la realidad misma.



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Disfrute de la lectura, más no la amé. Ojo, no digo que sea mala (mi calificación es de cuatro estrellas), solo digo que siento que le falto algo. No puedo decir con exactitud que fue lo que falto o sobro. Pero en general es un buen libro.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

The world building is so well done! The characters were memorable and a lot of fun! I am excited to see where the story goes from here!!

4.5/5

You can tell the author put genuine effort into writing this book. The atmosphere of a place doomed to die and a robot following its own path creates a profoundly grim mood – yet it perfectly suits the book's reality. I'd add an extra half-star to the rating, but the website unfortunately doesn't allow it.

What I love is the naturalness that fits so seamlessly with how events unfold in the plot. The language used in the book was occasionally challenging to read, though I'll blame that on my own limited proficiency rather than the text itself.

The worldbuilding is remarkably rich, and the way it portrays the conflict between sides is fascinating. While the confrontation seems to lead to an obvious resolution, the epilogue proves things aren't as simple as they appear. I truly loved this book – thank you. Reading it was an absolute pleasure!

* Copy provided by Demodocus Publishing LLC via NetGalley & 100% voluntary review.