/lit/ - Literature

I just finished The Darkness That Comes Before, and since I read it on this thread's cancerous recommendation I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Good - The writing/prose really are solid and every character came across very clearly. The plot was very interesting and told well. Setting and world building were great, the complexity actually helped me become immersed once I accepted I would not recognize every minor dutchy or tribe's name but it just created a sense of a broader alien world. I've seen some criticize this and the use of made up language but I found it really well done and the purposeful mirror of particular ancient languages conveyed assumptions about the base culture in a smart way. Also the Lovecraftian feeling of impending doom from an ancient evil was great and was introduced so well by the prologue.

Bad - The pacing sometimes felt breathless to me, jumping from event to event, people separating or dying quickly with very little time for characters to interact/mull things over together (except Cnaiur and Kellhus which was great). Lastly regarding the "muh wimmun" complaint which is all I heard before going in, I have to agree there to an extent. Esmenett's portrayal was great but I found Serwe just really repetitious with yet another "whore" character. The book leaned too heavily into grimdarkness especially on the sexual violence, particularly the scene where Serwe is running screaming through the woods and two cavalrymen encounter her, and immediately start licking their lips/trying to rape her just felt too cartoonish. This incessant portrayal of everyone as so horribly selfish/evil was the only thing that broke my suspension of disbelief.

Overall I really enjoyed it though, I'm excited to read the sequel but will probably read something lighter as a palate cleanser first. Thank you for reading my blog and remember to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!