A review by andimontgomery
The Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly
3.0
I remember reading this a long time ago, and wanted to revisit the series when Amazon offered this on sale on the Kindle. I enjoyed it, but probably not as much as previously. That’s mostly because of the great books I’ve read since then which are just better, such as Paradise War (Song of Albion) by Stephen Lawhead, and The Summer Tree (Fionavar Tapestry) by Guy Gavriel Kay.
The Time of the Dark is pure fantasy - two characters from our world travel to an alternate universe, joining Ingold the wizard in his quest to save a young prince. There are nebulous evil beings called “The Dark” trying to kill them and the other townspeople, and a bit of court intrigue.
What I didn’t like was how easy it was for Gil and Rudy to assimilate into this world, with Gil becoming a soldier, and Rudy becoming a wizard. I’m just not buying it. The Fionavar Tapestry did something similar, but so much better.
The Time of the Dark is pure fantasy - two characters from our world travel to an alternate universe, joining Ingold the wizard in his quest to save a young prince. There are nebulous evil beings called “The Dark” trying to kill them and the other townspeople, and a bit of court intrigue.
What I didn’t like was how easy it was for Gil and Rudy to assimilate into this world, with Gil becoming a soldier, and Rudy becoming a wizard. I’m just not buying it. The Fionavar Tapestry did something similar, but so much better.