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A review by toggle_fow
Of Absence, Darkness by Rachel Neumeier
5.0
The portal fantasy series continues, and this time how the turn tables!
Tenai, in the previous book, dropped into the modern day as a dark avenger who could see nothing but her all-consuming bitter rage. She learned to see beyond it and live again, creating her own life, helping others, and forming relationships.
This book starts from that point and doesn't waste even a word before plunging Daniel, a mild-mannered psychiatrist, his college-age daughter Jenna, and Tenai back into Tenai's fantasy world. This is a rude shock to Daniel and Jenna, but they roll with it. Their journey, adjusting to the strange new world and seeing Tenai with new eyes, is very enjoyable.
The Tenai everyone in this world knew was a merciless butcher who could neither be gainsaid nor reasoned with. Tenai, now that she has changed, is as much of a shock to everyone in her world as the world is to Daniel and Jenna. Her very presence threatens to destabilize everything, and the plot revolves around Tenai and the young king Mitereh struggling to keep the kingdom from sliding back into warfare.
True to the Rachel Neumeier form, there is politics! There is ritual! And, of course, strong, twisted threads of loyalty and duty binding all the characters together! I loved it.
I could wish that there were maybe more meaningful moments between the characters. Ritual and duty carry SO MUCH of the emotional pathos of the relationships that there are only a few times when Jenna and Daniel, or Daniel and Tenai, or Tenai and Jenna are together. I wish they got to actually talk about something meaningful or even just enjoy each other's company in a way that reinforced their relationship. In addition, Tenai, while her journey back to the light in book 1 was wonderful, becomes less and less of a fleshed-out character the longer she stays in her world. She seems more of a force of nature that everyone is reacting to, and we're not given much insight into her inner world anymore.
However, even without this I was compelled. I think that this book and the next one, rather than being Tenai's books, are Mitereh and Daniel's books. Daniel is still playing his role as a foil for Tenai when he can, but he seems to spend much more time being the foil and audience POV character in interactions with Mitereh. While I do regret Tenai's relative distance from the narrative compared to book 1, I love Mitereh so I can't be really mad.
I am, however, mad about the END OF THIS BOOK! The rudest reveal and most suspenseful cliffhanger ever. Horrible. Awful. Unforgivable. I had to get the next book right away even though I was supposed to go to bed after finishing this one.
Tenai, in the previous book, dropped into the modern day as a dark avenger who could see nothing but her all-consuming bitter rage. She learned to see beyond it and live again, creating her own life, helping others, and forming relationships.
This book starts from that point and doesn't waste even a word before plunging Daniel, a mild-mannered psychiatrist, his college-age daughter Jenna, and Tenai back into Tenai's fantasy world. This is a rude shock to Daniel and Jenna, but they roll with it. Their journey, adjusting to the strange new world and seeing Tenai with new eyes, is very enjoyable.
The Tenai everyone in this world knew was a merciless butcher who could neither be gainsaid nor reasoned with. Tenai, now that she has changed, is as much of a shock to everyone in her world as the world is to Daniel and Jenna. Her very presence threatens to destabilize everything, and the plot revolves around Tenai and the young king Mitereh struggling to keep the kingdom from sliding back into warfare.
True to the Rachel Neumeier form, there is politics! There is ritual! And, of course, strong, twisted threads of loyalty and duty binding all the characters together! I loved it.
I could wish that there were maybe more meaningful moments between the characters. Ritual and duty carry SO MUCH of the emotional pathos of the relationships that there are only a few times when Jenna and Daniel, or Daniel and Tenai, or Tenai and Jenna are together. I wish they got to actually talk about something meaningful or even just enjoy each other's company in a way that reinforced their relationship. In addition, Tenai, while her journey back to the light in book 1 was wonderful, becomes less and less of a fleshed-out character the longer she stays in her world. She seems more of a force of nature that everyone is reacting to, and we're not given much insight into her inner world anymore.
However, even without this I was compelled. I think that this book and the next one, rather than being Tenai's books, are Mitereh and Daniel's books. Daniel is still playing his role as a foil for Tenai when he can, but he seems to spend much more time being the foil and audience POV character in interactions with Mitereh. While I do regret Tenai's relative distance from the narrative compared to book 1, I love Mitereh so I can't be really mad.
I am, however, mad about the END OF THIS BOOK! The rudest reveal and most suspenseful cliffhanger ever. Horrible. Awful. Unforgivable. I had to get the next book right away even though I was supposed to go to bed after finishing this one.