Dark Rise

by C. S. Pacat

Ebook, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Publication

Quill Tree Books (2022), 464 pages

Description

Fantasy. Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: * Instant New York Times Bestseller * Indie Bestseller * In this stunning new fantasy novel from international bestselling author C. S. Pacat, heroes and villains of a long-forgotten war are reborn and begin to draw new battle lines. This epic fantasy with high-stakes romance will sit perfectly on shelves next to beloved fantasy novels like the Infernal Devices series, the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and the Red Queen series. Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. Then an old servant tells him of his destiny to fight beside the Stewards, who have sworn to protect humanity if the Dark King ever returns. Will is thrust into a world of magic, where he starts training for a vital role in the oncoming battle against the Dark. As London is threatened and old enmities are awakened, Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own. Like V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic and Shelby Mahurin's Serpent & Dove, Dark Rise is more than just high intrigue fantasy�it's fast-paced, action-packed, and completely surprising. Readers will love exploring the rich setting of nineteenth-century London. This thrilling story of friendship, deception, loyalty, and betrayal is sure to find a passionate audience of readers..… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member rivkat

Will is on the run from Simon, a magician of some kind who killed his mother and wants to kill him. Will is the descendant of the Lady, who defeated the Dark King, and he’s supposed to fight the reborn/resurrected Dark King, but can’t figure out how to do it. Violet is the illegitimate daughter

of a merchant who works for Simon; she shares her half brother’s unnatural strength and wants to follow in his footsteps, but a chance encounter with Will changes her course. It starts as a fairly standard “chosen one” narrative, but takes some interesting turns along the way. Decent YA; violence but not sexualized (there is a bit of close-to-chaste consensual kissing).

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LibraryThing member Tikimoof

To be honest, a lot of the plot was pretty standard YA fare, and the twist was extremely obvious. There was stuff in the world-building that I think was supposed to make me sad, but I wasn't reading closely enough to really feel anything about the unicorns being dead or anything. But the characters

were fun even when they were betraying each other. Violet being the bruiser was awesome, she was my favorite character by far. Solid, but nothing groundbreaking.

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LibraryThing member brittaniethekid

While I ultimately really enjoyed this book, it was a little over-stuffed with Lord of the Rings-esque lore (that seemingly ends up being completely pointless) and some very trope-y insta-friendships (love?) that didn't really work for me. The last 100 or so pages of this is what really makes it,

with twists and punches one after another.
Aside from the obvious LOtR influence, it's interesting that it takes place in late 1800's London but where reincarnation is key to unlocking ancient magics. Will has been on the run his whole life and watched his entire family murdered one after the other. His only way to survive is to keep the promise he made his dying mother and to keep running. Unfortunately, he's captured anyway but learns his true purpose during an unexpected rescue. He, along with his new friend and sidekick Violet, are taken to another world where ancient lore is the way of life and collecting artifacts the key to survival. Will, at only 16, seems to be the smartest in the room and figures a few things out throughout the book that leads to an ultimate betrayal and a world-ending awakening.
If you can get past the majority of the book, I think it's a good payoff and will make a hell of a series, especially if you secretly rooted for Saruman's armies.

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LibraryThing member ktreads22

Okay. So buckle up.

Do you want a book that has all of the ingredients of a regular coming-of-age, prophesy, LGBTQ fantasy but then MAKES SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THAT YOU END UP CRAVING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?! Because this book delivers that experience. Stupidly strong female character who

you LOVE? Prophesized hero/villain trope with a twist? And a dash of HOMOEROTIC SEXUAL TENSION? MAGIC? MURDER? MYSTERY? AND its just the first book in the series that for SURE will RIP your heart out and STEP on it and make you BEG for MORE?! Then you should definitely read this book.

Also, if you liked The Captive Prince series, you know that C.S. Pacat delivers a great fantasy read with unexpected twists and turns that both END you and WARM you. I HIGHLY recommend. like SO MUCH.

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LibraryThing member Sammelsurium

As you start this book, you may think that it's another one of the mediocre "Chosen One" stories that are so ubiquitous in fantasy, especially children's and YA fantasy. You'll immediately notice a lot of capitalized words signifying important worldbuilding vocabulary, a convention that mediocre YA

fantasy is infamous for. It's also very, very obvious that this author has read Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. But if you can get past all the mediocrity front-loaded in the first half of the book, you may be surprised where the story takes you. There are some great character moments, good twists, and compelling relationships in the latter half of this book. Dark Rise is mostly memorable because it has a lot more to say than most YA: in drawing on Tolkien, Rowling, and other fantasy of the kind in the way it does, it makes a critical commentary on those works that I've never seen presented in this format. The book also alludes strongly and interestingly to themes of queerness, race, and immigration, even without making issues like racism and homophobia explicitly central to the plot. In the end, I found the book to be fairly enjoyable and not at all generic--and though many parts of it were awkward or not to my taste, the ending of this book left me desperate for the next one.

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LibraryThing member tornadox

The title and worldbuilding started off feeling like it was a riff on The Dark Is Rising series, but it becomes its own story. The three main characters struggle with how to be good people, or at least do good in this world. Of course, it's complicated by family expectations, blood, destiny, and

the choices we make along the way;

I looke forward to reading the next book.

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