Anyways, as I still haven't completed it...seriously, FFVI is a hard review to write, I figured I'd do a review of yet another wonderful novel that I really enjoy. Today's topic is The Legend of Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reichert.
In case you haven't heard of Reichert, she's a pediatrician who's written 22 titles over the last two decades, with a five year gap between her latest two books. She's also set to write a prequel trilogy to "I, Robot" about Susan Calvin. Not sure how that's going to work, but as "I, Robot" is also on the list of books to cover, that's kinda cool to me.
But more on to Nightfall.
Seriously, this is one awesome title. The story follows a rogue by the name of, you guessed it, Nightfall, who has spent years pulling himself up in the world and becoming the most feared man alive, so much so, that many have begun to believe that he is in fact the demon for which he is named after.
The thing that really draws me to this story now and again is not the story itself, but its mythology. Of all the fantasy realms out there, this book's is one of the few that I truly find marvelous.
Given that it's fantasy, you can immediately expect one thing to be well in place with the book: magic. However, the way it handles magic feels more like superpowers that what we would instantly consider magic. Point in fact, the way I can best describe this series usage of magic is to compare it to Heroes' (the television show) abilities.
Ok, if you're familiar with the show, you can skip this and the next paragraph, but if not, make sure to read this paragraph. In the show, characters are born (or in some cases, given, though not as important to my point) with special abilities, be they mind reading, healing, flight, whatever. These abilities are special, and make some seen as outcasts. Some use their powers for good, and some don't.
Then there's Sylar, an evil mother fucker (most of the time) bent on gaining as much power as possible, killing anyone with powers to get them. He's good at this, and each he kills he becomes much more powerful.
Ok, Heroes explanation over. Back to Nightfall. Nightfall's world has people who aregifted with special abilities similar to those in Heroes. Nightfall himself is one of these people, granted the ability to change his mass as he sees fit.
Now you might not think this a useful talent, but coupled with his acrobatic, stealth, and thievery training, it allows him to outmaneuver almost every opponent he comes into contact with, scale buildings with ease, run at rapid speeds, and put massive force behind any punch he throws. It's actually a rather powerful talent comparative to others in the story.
However, like Sylar, there are those who can steal powers. These people are alsogifted, though in a far darker manner. These are people born without souls who can rip those from other people, specifically gifted, to bolster their own powers and learn their memories. This kills the person, and traps their soul in the sorcerer, who is gifted with unnatural life as well. The sorcerer then tortures the soul to bring out the power he has claimed.
Sorcerers are truly evil beings in the world of Nightfall, with the sequel proving just how evil they are when one who is but a small child is revealed to have already ripped the souls from a few of his fellow villagers by the time he crosses Nightfall's path. There are multiple instances of them, and generally, and over the course of the two books Nightfall's been in, both times, the main antagonist has been a sorcerer or sorcerers.
In the first novel, the main antagonist comes in the form of Gilleran, the adviser to the King of Alyndar, one of the four kingdoms of the world), and a sorcerer who has done Nightfall great harm even before they meet. He and the King capture Nightfall in the first chapter and bind him to the King's second son until he is settled or until his deadline runs up, or else, Gilleran gets his soul.
With this damning end looming over him, Nightfall, now posing as the second prince, Edward's, squire, he does his best to get the young prince landed, find the former love he believe has betrayed him, and dodge other sorcerer's whose paths they cross.
It's a very interesting novel, and I've not really seen a mythology like this in a fantasy book since (once in a piece of amateur fiction, but it was never published). If you can find it, I highly suggest picking it up.
I, myself, have two copies of the book. One I got when I was six years old, making it one of my first novels (the book was published in 1993), the other again, when my mom picked it up when I was 12, having forgotten about the book previously. I'm glad I have two copies, as the first copy is currently being held together by rubber bands due to wear and tear on the binding (note, I'm highly careful with my books, and only one other book have I read so much that the bindings have come undone; it's coming up).
So, check this book out. If you want to know more about the book, just ask me, or you can check out Reichert's website as well. Let me know what you think.
-Sara
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