Review: Stand Against the Dark

Denton Salle’s latest high fantasy epic.

Denton Salle’s Stand Against the Dark is another solid, epic fantasy novel that is theoretically YA, but is really too good to waste on children.

The Story

Young Jeremy has been in training with Master Anthony and the others of the Wizards keep for years now. He’s more or less tamed his inner panda avatar, he’s become a warrior, and the jury is out about whether or not he could level cities if he were annoyed enough. He’s now at the point where he acts as point man for Anthony on a serious threat: A plague has hit a major port city, and Anthony suspects that it is a necromantic bioweapon, as in the dark times. Jeremy’s mission is to find the source of the plague and stop it if he can, by any means necessary.

Denton’s books continue to get better with each novel. Stand Against the Dark had epic battles that Edgar Rice Burroughs or Tolkien would have enjoyed. Unlike previous novels, Denton didn’t show us the battle in an epic after action report, but went over the battle step by step, with strategy and tactics, and showing us just how deadly Jeremy and his fellows can be.

Character

This one is a little light on character development, with the exception of Jeremy. Our hero has progressed a lot since book one, and it’s clear that he’s come into his own. He doesn’t need a lot of backup and support until the end, when it the book goes from fantasy mystery to multi-stage combat.

And there are cute bits of business with Jeremy like, well, this.

“I thought you were going to walk through the door. That’s how the legends say Oleg entered the Iron Mountains.”

“Why? When I can undo the lock?” Jeremy was confused.

“Jeremy, you got an image to uphold. A volkh war-wizard. Unrestrained power, bloodthirstiness, and more than a bit mad.” Bolgor was laughing as he said it.

“Master Anthony values efficiency,” Jeremy said. “He says showy will get you killed.

The next best character explored here is Jeremy’s girlfriend, Galena. They’re charming together, with a matching sense or humor that can be a touch dark.

Outside of Jeremy and Galena, the various characters are a weakness here. Unless you’re reading the books back to back, you may have trouble tracking who’s who. Jeremy has gathered a lot of friends along the way. Remembering all of them can be a challenge. Though I will admit, some of Jeremy’s friends get to indulge in an awesome bit of blarney.

Jeremy also gets a dog … okay, he’s a supernatural hound called a Grimm, and he’s called Vetter. As WC Fields noted, he didn’t like working with children or animals, because they would steal scenes.

Like the following.

“Vetter, can you manifest again please? I bet Galena will scritch behind your ears again if you do.”

“You try to bribe the very wind of polar cold like he is really a dog, pup?” Vetter’s voice rumbled in his mind.

“Yep. Is it working?” Jeremy replied. He felt more than saw the shadows condensing into the familiar black dog shape.

“This time. But I want tummy rubs too.”

I laughed.

The World

Most of Stand Against the Dark involved heavy world building, since the bulk of the book takes place in a new city and a new culture. The culture and regulations surround duels are explored for a bit. Since there is a bit of a mystery involved in this bioweapon attack, the plot goes into cultural norms, local history and even what local diets look like.

Also, the dwarves have moonshine. Because of course they do.

Politics

The only politics here is that “we find evil, and we kill it.”

For example…

“Ah, to be young again and ride into battle for a good cause, with a song on your lips, laughter in your heart, and your companions beside you,” Master Anthony said, shaking his head.

“To bring the sword and fire, terror and fear among the dark’s servants, while crushing them underfoot, and hear the lamentations of their women.

I don’t know when Conan the Barbarian became Russian, but sure, why not?

Content warning

Unlike most YA, their isn’t anything cringe here. Fantasy violence is the worse warning I can give.

[The locals] are neutral about his people and he’d seem less threatening than a predator, like Galena, or an evil volkh warrior, like you blood-drenched spellcasting seducers.”

… “Yeah, that’s us. Eating small children and enchanting maidens.”

Let’s see Harry Potter get away with lines like that.

There are sword wounds, which are never neat. And there is at least one moment where Jeremy goes full Fist of the North Star and an assassin gets his organs ruptured and vomits blood.

At one point, the fighting gets so bad, they create a desert and call it peace.

Who is it for?

For anyone who wants better character and world building than Harry Potter, and something more on this side of Tolkien or John Carter of Mars.

Why read it?

For anyone who wants a fun fantasy epic with solid world building and solid action.