A review by lyris51101
The Dark Realm by Anthea Sharp

4.0

I very much enjoyed these books. I have my own fey novel that I started writing ages ago about fey-human-borderland interactions (involving computers in some versions) and it's fun to read this version that involves human-fey interaction via gaming software. Anyone who enjoys Sword Art Online will enjoy these books because there are many similarities. Sometimes I feel like the book steps too obviously through the pages of Alan Lee and Brian Froud's Faeries book. I happen to be very familiar with that book- having read it cover to cover many times and have memorized all the artwork. The descriptions of the Seelie and Unseelie court denizens in the Dark Realms books often mirror the exact details shown in the Froud and Lee illustrations. On the one hand, I have an instant and perfect visual for each creature encountered, on the other hand, I feel like the characters are on a guided tour of that book. Anyway, the Dark Realms books are well written. They do have typos and flaws in the editing, enough for me to notice but perhaps missed by the average reader, and, I would say, not enough to negatively impact my experience as a reader.