Into the Dark

by Gena Showalter

What I Thought...

Containing three novellas and some behind the scenes companion information on Showalter's beloved Lords of the Underworld series, Into the Dark is full of good stuff, but unfortunately, much of it I'd read before. The novellas The Darkest Fire, The Amazon's Curse, and The Darkest Prison are all offered to Kindle owners individually, and I'd read two of the three of them that way, so I can't say that this book was all I was hoping it would be. I'd be more likely to recommend it for hard core LotU fans without a Kindle or those Kindle owners really committed to the few companion pieces of LotU that are offered here.

The companion information, a cute Q & A between Kresley Cole and Showalter - two obviously great friends, and the interviews of the Lords by William and the ladies by Gilly were amusing, but lacked any true hilarity. The camaraderie between Cole and Showalter was the brightest spot of the companion information for me. There was little other information of note - a FAQ and a narrative by Showalter about coming up with the series, a rundown on the Lords. Nothing much is provided that couldn't be had by reading the series or visiting Showalter's website, and that is where the true shame lies. This book falls in the LotU timeline between The Darkest Whisper (Sabin) and The Darkest Passion (Aeron), so reading this anthology will provide no new insight if you're current in the series, and reading it before the series will provide too many spoilers.

I do recommend the novellas, in whichever format you want to read them. I have also read Showalter's Tales of Atlantis series, so The Amazon's Curse was a nice surprise. It's the only one of the three I hadn't yet read. All three stories are meaty little gems with Showalter's flair for story telling. I especially enjoyed The Darkest Prison and I hope that some of the developments there are brought into the series, as there's ton of potential.

If I hadn't already read the novellas, I think I would have been far happier, but because I had, I was left feeling like the book contained very little that I hadn't already known or read before.

Novellas of Into the Dark:

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Reviewed Books by Gena Showalter