Darkness of the Light

by Peter David

Tor Books, 24.95, 412 pages

Peter David may be best known for his comics writing and tie-in novels, but he has also had a fair amount of success with his original fiction, primarily in the fantasy genre. With Darkness of the Light, David embarks on a new series, The Hidden Earth, with a new publisher, Tor, and tries his hand at a story with an epic fantasy feel, but also with some science fiction elements mixed in.

The story is mainly set in Earth's future, when the third wave of creatures banished from another dimension have taken over the world and decimated the human population. The first two waves were tests that were responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs in the first wave and creating the human mythological legends with the second. Thus we have Mandraques, Trulls, Oculars, Piri, Markenes, and other creatures that equate to dragons, vampires, trolls, cyclops, and more. Twelve races in all, with the mysterious Overseer and his Travelers to watch over the banished races.

David introduces us to a large cast of characters, from the "Mort" woman, Jepp, the "Bottom Feeder" Karsen Foux, the Ocular King Nagel and his niece Merrih, The Piri "Mistress" Sunara and her daughter, Clarinda, the Trull Queen and her feuding sons, the Firedraque Nicrominus, the Merk lord Ruarc and the Makene Gorkon. All of them have roles to play in the overall story, some with better fates than others.

The various races have always been mostly at odds with each other, but are governed by the Firedraque Treaty that limits their involvement with each other. That, of course, doesn't mean that there aren't individuals with plots and other ideas within the different races. When Karsen "salvages" Jepp following a Mandraque battle that leaves most of the participants dead, they become part of a series of events that lead to a surprising realization for the new masters of Earth and how their invasion may be causing their home world to suffer. David mixes humor and drama within the book, resolving a few things along the way while setting the stage for the next book in the series. - Lee Whiteside