Darkfall: Deathborn
Darkfall: Deathborn
By Lee Mountford
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
This is going to be a very interesting series. We start with a chase in the first chapter and then we slow down for a while and learn about our main character. Both he and his son have suffered the loss of a wife and mother to illness. Which is bad enough. But as this is a dark genre book it gets worse, way worse. I’ll just say if you are sensitive to violence against children there are some intense parts that may not sit well with you.
Turns out the man being chased is mutating into a monster. A very, very large monster that even the monster hunters have never encountered. Jack, our main character proves himself to be useful in the fight against this beast that has killed his son and earns himself a place among the Deathborn. A secret organization that hunts the things that lurk in the dark.
It’s a brilliant concept for a series and the main characters motivation is definitely relatable. The sad part of it is that he is hell bent on locking everyone else out in an effort to not suffer loss again. That is a losing battle, especially in a life and death type mission where you need to be watching your comrades back. So far we have seen a Wytch, Banshee and the unknown monster at the start. The banshee battle is very interesting and infuriating due to one specific character.
Banshee
Personally I really like Gus and Len. They seem to be good guys. We don’t really get to know them a lot here but I still think they are decent guys. Edwin can suck my dick. That dude is a bullying, selfish, spineless, coward who only gives a shit about himself. That become apparent the moment we meet him. And proves it over and over again. Such as in the case of the Banshee battle. He himself causes death to the small team. Unfortunately he makes it out alive.
Max is not in too much of the book but I have a feeling that he is going to be an integral part of the series overall. He has tact unlike Theodore. The ability to see past his nose and title so that he can see situations and individuals for what they are and not what he assumes them to be. He’s even kind to Assandra all the way to the end. Seems to be of particular honorable character. His only flaw is showing respect to unrespectable individuals based on rank. I’ve never been one to follow this. You have to earn respect in my book. It is NOT automatically shown.
Have to do a dishonorable mention here with the Knight of Olin, Theodore. Dude is an asshole who thinks that his shit does not smell. Sees the Deathborn as more lowly than the shit on his shoes. He pissed me off. He makes a few good points but it becomes very obvious that his soft skills leave much to be desired. His approach with the Wytch is not the correct one. I think she would have been more loose lipped if he had spoken to her like a human being (which she is) but short of Gus, Max, and Jack they do not treat her very well. I will say that there is one thing that Theodore does that, in the most miniscule of ways, endears him to me and that is when he deals with Edwin. It’s really too bad that he did not run him through. Edwin did disobey orders after all. As things progress however my opinion is that he is a moron that is going to get everyone killed. If Jack had not spoken up they would have been dead long before the final battle. I’m not sure where they are going to take this Theodore character but where ever it is I hope it includes him perishing in a horrible manner.
We get to know Gus a little bit more later on in the story. He does not get away unscathed but makes it out better than Len. We lose Len during the final battle and it is not a peaceful passing. Quite the opposite in fact. Makes me sad because he seemed to have it together. I was not expecting his death but I suppose we had to lose one of the likable characters for dramatic effect. We still have to suffer Edwin and Theodore. They have to get theirs eventually. They just have to.
Wight
Closing thoughts:
There is an open end here. It says “To Be Continued” so we know there is going to be another installment at least. Plus at this point there are four so we know that there is a part two for sure. The story is engaging and I feel like there is a connection to all of the other stories that Moutnford had written. They find a monolith by the wytches cabin and this is something that we have seen before but on a much grander scale. The pillars from the other dimension. I’m wondering if the “God” they are referring to is the giant eye in the sky. I’m thinking that we will find out eventually. When Gus touched it he ended up seeing visions of that other place and then fell into a coma. This reminds me of Sarah touching the heart. The only difference is that she was born to withstand the strain, Gus was not.
Very well written. A fascinating story set back in the late 1800’s which makes it all that much more interesting. There is some stronger language occasionally but nothing overly rough. There is some gore as well but it is relatively tame compared to “Tormented”. The battles are intense, especially that first one. If you are sensitive to violence against children it may be disturbing to you. A great start to what I hope to be a very interesting series. Tasty!
