Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Darkness Before Them by Matthew Ward, which is available now wherever you pick up your books.

The first in an exciting, action-packed new trilogy from epic fantasy author Matthew Ward, The Darkness Before Them introduces readers to a world ruled by a dangerous immortal king, where souls fuel magic, and a supernatural mist known as the Veil threatens to engulf the land.

These are dark times for the Kingdom of Khalad. As the magical mists of the Veil devour the land, the populace struggles beneath the rule of ruthless noble houses and their uncaring immortal king.

Kat doesn’t care about any of that. A talented thief, she’s pursuing one big score that will settle the debt that destroyed her family. No easy feat in a realm where indentured spirits hold vigil over every vault and treasure room. However, Kat has a unique she can speak to those spirits, and even command them. And she has no qualms using her power to her advantage.

Kat’s not a hero. She just wants to be free. To have her old life back. But as rebellion rekindles and the war for Khalad’s future begins, everyone—Kat included—will have to pick a side.

I feel like I’ve been reading this book FOREVER. I’ve picked it up and put it down so many times and have read entire other books in between. Everything I’ve seen about The Darkness Before Them made me think this book would be a great fit for me. Even looking back on it, it seems like it checks all the boxes of something I would love. It had heists, rebellion, political scheming, and an interesting magic system. Unfortunately, I struggled to maintain interest in this story despite it having so many elements I love.

I think my difficulty with The Darkness Before Them largely boiled down to three things. First, the pacing and writing just made huge parts of the book feel like a slog to endure. The writing in the book wasn’t bad. It was just brain-numbingly tedious at times. There were plenty of riveting moments, such as the sky ship battles or the heists, but they got overshadowed by the drudgery of the rest of the book.

Second, the plot of The Darkness Before Them got a bit lost amidst the world-building. The story meandered and often felt driven by whatever new elements needed to be introduced or explained. It just bogged things down, even if the world-building was interesting. There were so many cool things introduced, including a soul-based magic system, beings with hundreds of thousands of years of history, dangerous mist that eats people, and a corrupt governing system overseen by an immortal god-like being. I liked each of the concepts a lot, but I struggled because most of them had very little exploration before bouncing off to the next one.

Finally, the POV characters in The Darkness Before Them just did not hold my interest for most of the book. Their background wasn’t explored in much detail until pretty late in the story, and I had a hard time connecting with them. There were some moments toward the end of the book that could have had a real emotional impact if more weight had been given to getting to know the characters. For example, some revelations about one character’s family could have packed much more of a punch if her relationship with her father had been given more than a few lines up to that point.

All that being said, I am actually now quite invested in this world and the characters. The last 150 to 200 pages of The Darkness Before Them pulled things together in a way that I wasn’t expecting. The political scheming and nefarious machinations were next level, and the characters finally got some depth that made me care about what happened to them. I do plan to continue on with the sequel. I just hope the next book has more depth to the storytelling from the start now that the world-building elements have been introduced.

Overall, The Darkness Before Them was a slog to finish, but it ended up in a place that has me interested in seeing what the sequel can bring. It took forever for me to care about the characters, but the story eventually got there. I did enjoy all of the political machinations and found the world-building fascinating, if lacking depth. I’d probably never re-read this one, but I am glad I finished it. If you enjoy fantasy and have a lot of patience, this might be something you’ll like. I rate The Darkness Before Them 3 out of 5 stars.

Have you read The Darkness Before Them? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!