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| "I have to live-and love-and risk it all every day." |
Dark Time: Mortal Path (written by Dakota Banks) almost has this balance. Described as a "dark urban-fantasy thriller" the story feels like it passionately tries to create a distinct voice for itself, but just comes up a bit short. There are good ideas are at play here which do make this an entertaining (albeit somewhat flawed) introduction to an ongoing novel series.
The year is 1692 and expectant mother Susannah Layhem is a herbal healer living a quiet life in Massachusetts with her loving husband Nathan. Everything changes when she is falsely accused of practicing witchcraft by a local girl and placed on trial. Corruption pervading throughout the court results in Susannah being malnourished and poorly treated for her pregnancy during her long imprisonment. She gives birth to a still born child the night before her execution and absolute contempt for humanity forms within her. Sentenced to be burned at the stake Susannah stands before her family, friends, and the townsfolk who've completely abandoned her as a broken soul. With no hope of rescue, her faith in humanity shattered, and rage consuming her heart, Susannah is ready to be taken by the flames.
Just as she is about to die an ancient Sumerian Demon calling itself Rabishu appears, claiming to have heard her cries of anguish. Making promises of immortality, power, and revenge, all Susannah need do is be his ever living assassin. With all of her hate Susannah accepts the pact and is transformed into Rabishu's ageless servant imbued with super natural abilities.
For the next 250 years Susannah relentlessly follows Rabishu's orders and becomes one of his most proficient killers. Going under the alias of Maliha Crayne she feels little remorse or compassion towards her targets and takes great pride in her abilities to kill. It isn't until she is asked to kill an innocent child that she finally realizes the depths of the deal she has made. In every way she has truly sold her soul, and now she wants it back. It turns out that she can reclaim it too. Rabishu is bound by a greater set of rules, and the pact they formed provides an out for Maliha- that she become partially mortal once again, and balance the debt of lives she has taken with new lives she has saved.
Maliha commits herself for the next 50 years to her personal redemption, and to the defeat of the demonic influences over the world at large. If she can assemble a certain set of ancient artifacts she may be able to completely destroy Rabishu and those like him forever.
Oddly enough this is just the setup for the over arching story of the series. Dark Time focuses mostly on Maliha's modern day involvement in a corporate espionage scheme to sell America's national security to the highest bidder. Knowing that many could potentially die if she doesn't do something, Maliha uses the numerous assets she has accumulated over the course of her long life to thwart the plan at every turn. All while trying to maintain her cover as a pulp novel writer to her current set of friends and lover.
It is here that Dark Time mixes Mission Impossible/007 style storytelling with metaphysical overtones, to varying degrees of success. While it is interesting on either end of these two aspects, I do feel that the plot takes too many wide leaps in its timeline and tone to make the narrative feel consistent enough with itself. The more fantastical elements begin to feel neglected by the middle act and only come back in for a fight or two at the end. Had the story taken an approach similar to that of the film Highlander I think Dark Time may have had better coalescence between its parts. In Highlander the fantasy elements are consistently interspersed throughout the more modern scenes. Allowing the viewer to get a better perspective of the world at large and the character's place in it as the story progresses. While Dark Time does delve into parts of Maliha's more fantastical past, the sequences don't seem to carry the weight that I believe is being implied, so it all feels a tad hollow.
Aspects of the demons and their control over the world seem only to be glossed over at times in the story making it feel like confronting them is not that big of a deal. At least not yet. The book does end on a cliffhanger so some may be turned off by that. I found myself though curious to read the next installment to see if the demons begin to play a larger role in the plot. As an introduction to the world and the characters Dark Time does its job well enough. It just feels a tad flawed in its execution.
The main character Maliha is an interesting case of a heroine, in that she skirts the dreaded "Mary Sue" character type ever so close, but never outright crosses into it. For those not familiar with the term, a "Mary Sue" is a character that usually serves as an idealized/flawless, wish fulfillment avenue for either the author or the audience. It has a negative connotation and is considered a sign of poor writing when a character is identified as such. Symptoms include but are not limited to: Being depicted as an exotically beautiful character, with distinct exotic features, and an exotic name. Everyone (regardless of most circumstances) appears to be romantically enraptured (or at least captivated) by the character's ever so "amazing" presence. Most importantly, they usually possess some kind of over written talents or abilities that seem implausible even by the story's own rules. This ultimately destroys any chance for conflict/challenge in the narrative, which is the fundamental root of all storytelling. Definitions of the term range and vary from person to person, but these are some of the most generally accepted features.
While somewhat symptomatic of being a "Mary Sue" Maliha never feels like she is a flawless author avatar placed into the story for simple wish fulfillment. Her exceptional abilities and beauty were granted to her through means that play to the established rules of the plot, and at no point does she seem so overpowered that nothing can present a challenge to her. Maliha's long life experiences of over 300 years actually lend credibility to her possessing numerous skills and assets. Beyond that she is not the only character to have made such a deal as she encounters others who are in league with the demonic forces. Some of which are even more lethal and skilled than she is. I also found it interesting that Maliha doesn't fall into some of the cliches that are found with most immortal characters. Instead of being stoic and emotionless, Maliha displays a good degree of humor. She isn't afraid to let herself feel love or sadness, and in fact relishes at the prospect of being able to reclaim parts of her once lost humanity.
Sadly I do feel that the supporting cast is not quite as memorable as Maliha herself. They mostly serve as a means to show Maliha's progression of trying to reclaim her soul and humanity throughout the lengthy timeline. While they are not entirely one dimensional I never found myself becoming attached to any of them at any point. Even the main antagonist of Dark Time feels somewhat forgettable as he amounts to nothing more than the average corporate sleaze you would find in most modern thriller stories. Thankfully the interactions they have with Maliha do come off as natural and most conversations in the novel do have a smooth flow/pace.
Action in the book is limited but bloody good when it occurs. In fact it may even be Dark Time's best feature because to put it bluntly, these are the page turner pieces. Maliha has spent the better part of two centuries becoming a top level assassin and it shows. Dakota Banks describes the action in a very direct but vivid fashion that allows for intense and gratifying set pieces that would feel right at home in a summer blockbuster film. Not everything is violent either as some of the moments when Maliha has to incorporate stealth are expertly handled and feel riveting as they go. If I had one complaint about the action, it would be that the cover depicts Maliha with a pair of sai that she never once uses in the story.
As an adult novel there is adult activities going on. Every now and again Banks does have the story indulge in acts of sex to off set the violence, but never to a point that it becomes pornographic. It is handled with a good degree of taste and was actually even quite scintillating at points. I will say though that at times it did feel like it was distracting from the main story a tad too much. In short, Maliha's sex life is definitely an active one. These scenes may not be for every reader as some of the acts may come off as somewhat cavalier in their depiction, but not egregiously.
The actual writing itself is spot on with competent sentence structure, and only a few marginal spelling errors. Dakota Banks' prose has a well rounded and contemporary feel, while maintaining use of colorful and effective descriptors. Dark Time is a longer story than some novels, but at no point did it feel like words became overblown or overused. If anything Dark Time is a fairly digestible read for its 300 plus page length.
Some critics have brought up Dark Time's lack of historical accuracy as a negative. I will agree that the novel is pretty far from factual events, but I don't think it stops the story from being entertaining. I believe it either was Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway who once said "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story." and frankly I agree with that sentiment. In order for a story to work (or even be possible) liberties have to sometimes be taken. Others though may find that their willing suspension of disbelief is compromised by the construing of history and some scientific facts to fit the narrative's purposes.
Overall I can say that Dark Time: Mortal Path is an entertaining read if you're willing to go in for the long haul. At just over 300 pages it does take a bit of a dedicated effort to get through, but at no point did I regret the time invested to reading it. With an interesting heroine that is more than capable of delivering on the action quota, as well as being an interesting mix of genres, I can say that the novel is a modestly solid first installment in a series of stories to come. It isn't exactly perfect in its chemistry, but it gives it a good go nonetheless, becoming just engaging enough to justify continuing the series. I will read book 2!
Positive Factors
- Interesting mix of genres that does feel fresh. Think 007 meets Highlander with demons.
- Good use of cliffhanger ending to set up future overarching stories.
- Maliha makes for a pretty good action oriented heroine that doesn't fall into "Mary-Sue" stereotype.
- Dialogue flows naturally and at a great pace.
- Action is always gratifying in its depiction. Suspenseful stealth sequences only add to the flavor.
- Sexual content is handled for the most part with tact.
- Writing is competent throughout with solid style to the prose.
- Lack of historical/scientific accuracy never keeps the story from being entertaining.
Negative Factors
- Not all of the plot's elements mix at times. Some feel kind of neglected.
- Secondary characters lack dimension and memorability. Villain feels somewhat cliche.
- Maliha never uses the sai on the cover once.
- Sex scenes can feel a bit distracting from the plot at times and cavalier in their use.
- History buffs and the scientifically inclined my have difficulty reading.
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