Turning Darkness Into Light
By Marie Brennan
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: August 20th, 2019
Tor Books – Macmillian Publishing
Description:
Marie Brennan’s Turning Darkness Into Light is a delightful fantasy of manners, the heir to the award-winning Natural History of Dragons series, a perfect stepping stone into an alternate Victorian-esque fantasy landscape.
“Overwhelmingly fun.”—io9 on The Tropic of Serpents
As the renowned granddaughter of Isabella Camherst (Lady Trent, of the riveting and daring Draconic adventure memoirs) Audrey Camherst has always known she, too, would want to make her scholarly mark upon a chosen field of study.
When Lord Gleinheigh recruits Audrey to decipher a series of ancient tablets holding the secrets of the ancient Draconean civilization, she has no idea that her research will plunge her into an intricate conspiracy, one meant to incite rebellion and invoke war. Alongside dearest childhood friend and fellow archeologist Kudshayn, Audrey must find proof of the conspiracy before it’s too late.
My Review:
Turning Darkness Into Light is written in a unique way, as journal entries, letters, and ancient texts, all woven together to tell the story of Audrey Camherst and her quest to translate a set of tablets that very well may change the world’s view of Draconeans, a humanoid-like dragon people.
Despite my aversion to reading anything similar to diaries, Turning Darkness Into Light held my interest all the way through. The quest to translate newly-discovered tablets of ancient lore piqued my curiosity and fed my love of ancient languages and cultures. This book is great for those who enjoy reading books written as diaries or journals, as well as language and history lovers, as well as anyone who wishes dragons existed. Though dragons are mentioned, the Draconeans take center stage in the story and are just as interesting as the mythological beasts.
The plot holds just enough mystery to intrigue the reader and just enough foreign words sprinkled throughout without being overwhelming. Overall, Turning Darkness Into Light is a satisfying read.
I rate it: 4 stars
NOTE: I received an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
About the Author:
Marie Brennan is the pseudonym of Bryn Neuenschwander, an American fantasy author. Her works include the Doppelganger duology (Doppelganger and its sequel Warrior and Witch, respectively retitled Warrior and Witch on later printings); the Onyx Court series; the Memoirs of Lady Trent series; and numerous short stories. The first of the Onyx Court novels, Midnight Never Come, published on 1 May 2008 in the United Kingdom, and 1 June 2008 in the United States, received a four star-review from SFX Magazine.
As an undergraduate at Harvard University, Neuenschwander served as co-chair of the Harvard-Radcliff Science Fiction Association. After graduating from Harvard, she pursued graduate studies at Indiana University Bloomington, studying folklore and anthropology; in 2008 she left graduate school without completing her Ph.D., in order to pursue writing full-time.