Novel Review: The Gathering Dark: (Quest of Fire, Book 1) by Brett Armstrong.

 I reviewed this novel on 01/01/20 in a previous blog, now defunct.

The Gathering Dark.

Jason is an expert at running from his past. But when it catches up, he finds himself hiding in a peculiar inn listening to a tale from centuries past.

The story is Anargen's, a teen who is pulled from all he loves to follow his oaths of loyalty to the fabled King of the Realms. Together with his mentor, Cinaed, he rides north on a special quest to mediate peace talks between ancient foes—the men of Ecthelowall and the dwarfs of Ordumair. Nothing goes as planned. Many on both sides of the dispute despise Anargen's Order. Worse, an arcane evil has returned to the North. This "Grey Scourge" seeks to ruin the peace talks and ensure a lost treasure held by the dwarfs is never found by those for whom it is meant.

As Anargen's story unfolds, Jason begins to wonder whether it is truly just a fable. He soon finds himself drawn into the conflict Anargen faced. A battle which has shaped and can destroy his world.

Perspective by Peter:

I’ve wanted to read this novel since its release and have now been able to due to being on holiday over Christmas and therefore have more time to squeeze it in without affecting my review schedule. The other reason is that his new release, Veiled Sun, the sequel to Day Moon (Tomorrow's Edge series) will be released on January 21 and I did not want to be behind in yet another novel for this author.

This was a very wise decision. I loved this novel and I pray the sequel is not too far away. At least in 2020? 

Having only read Day Moon, I feel that Armstrong is a better writer and creator of fantasy tomes than science fiction and futuristic ones. I loved Day Moon nevertheless. However, I have not read his other novel, Destitutio Quod Remissio set 4 years post-Jesus' resurrection (4 AD) so cannot say the same here. 

Maybe, fantasy is where he shines best. That would suit me as I do prefer fantasy above science fiction. The latter is still a favourite though. 

Armstrong has constructed this novel well. The worldbuilding forms a solid foundation for the plot, characterisation to be well embedded into. Everything springs forth from this. This adds to the success of an author where then they construct their novels on this principle. It adds credibility and depth. 

The characters have been developed to the point where they are relatable and earn the reader's endearment. You will love Anargen and share in his coming of age, his doubts, learning where he fits in, learning about love, being true to himself, standing up for what is right and true and his developing relationship with the High King. The reader will see Sir Cinead as a Gandalf type figure, with his sense of mystery and only revealing what needs to be known at that time, you will be endeared to him as well, you will regard Caesarus as an unknown quantity, wanting to do things his way, impetuous, impatient, but still loyal to the cause of being a Knight of the High King.

Armstrong is very competent at depicting the politics of warfare and conflict between regions or countries. He would make quite the diplomat in our reality. I am not very political and I was lost a few times in this depiction. But that is not a fault of Armstrong, he had that down pat, this was my deficit showing! This politics was another part of the worldbuilding and formed a believable and understandable basis of the war between the Ecthelowall and the dwarfs of Ordumair. 

Another aspect of a successful novelist is the depiction of fighting and warfare. Armstrong succeeds here. While I thought some of these were long, this was only because I like these to be of shorter duration, but that does not mean they should have been. Again, this is not a fault of the author's construction but of myself. These fight/warfare scenes play out in your mind as if you are watching a movie. It might be one thing to depict these scenes between humans and another when it is between different species such as humans and monsters. This adds another layer of complexity the author needs to deal with realistically. Armstrong deals with this well in his depiction of the Knights fighting the werebeasts and the Grey Scourge. I know warfare and fight scenes are the bane of authors, they either don't get it right or they do. Armstrong is in this latter category. 

Another pillar of this novel is the story within a story. The quest of the Knights of the High King to mediate peace talks between the two warring countries is told to Jason and others in an Inn in their real-time. Jason stumbled upon this storyteller Innkeeper when he enters Brackenburgh (Bracken in Anargen's day) on his mission to repay a debt. We are told nothing of this debut or its significance but I was not so concerned with this as to the significance of the Innkeeper. This adds a satisfying twist at the end where the tale of Anargen and the Knight's quest intersects with Jason and the Innkeeper. Unfortunately, I discovered this through a review on Amazon so this twist was not a surprise to me as it should have been and as planned by the author, but all this did was raise my curiosity as to how this occurs until I arrived at the end of the novel. This intersection lends itself very nicely to the continuation of this series in book 2, hopefully in 2020. It raises the question in this second novel, what is the connection between Jason and Anargen's tale seeing the latter occurred about 100 years before Jason is hearing about it? Also, why was the councilman so animated about the Innkeeper telling this tale and why did he take such drastic measures to have it stopped? 

Not much is explained about Jason. He is identified as a main character but the tale of Anargen and the Knights of the High King and their quest takes up the majority of the novel. However, enough is explained to keep your interest growing about him and his past. I look forward to this being further developed in the next instalments of this series. 

I know Armstrong not only reads for entertainment but for the deeper things he likes to see in his reading. What he yearns for is the spiritual specifically from a Christian/Biblical worldview. He writes from this worldview as well. This is evident in his novels. In The Gathering Dark, he has the Knights of the High King and their supernatural empowered Spiritswords.

Armstrong describes them as, 

The very words of the High King were inscribed upon it. No other sword had ever existed to be its equal. Though Anargen had never seen it or even tried to touch one, it was said when a Knight took hold of its hilt, the Spiritsword would take on a life of its own. Fire would catch on the blade and burn till released, though it neither burned the holder nor charred the sword or softened it. It was afire without being consumed.

To me, this description is very similar to the burning bush that Moses had to confront where God spoke to him. This fire that did not consume or burn is represented as God's Spirit here in both cases. Even the name Spiritsword hints to this. So this was a weapon used physically by the Knights but its end result or effectiveness was from the Holy Spirit. This reminds me of the verse in Zechariah 4:6 which states,  

So he answered me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.

The other aspect of these Swords being of the Holy Spirit was that when they were being used, the Knight would hear instruction in their mind from the High King in avoiding the offensive actions of the werebeasts, Grey Scourge or the Ecthelowall. What did this do to the Knight? It encouraged them to trust and obey their High King and reinforce their loyalty to Him. These Swords were the sole effective weapon against the werebeasts and the Grey Scourge. Even the Ordumair acknowledged that none of their weapons were any match against them. But they were blind to the knowledge of the werebeasts being possessed by some demonic entity. I was reminded here of the Biblical truth that we need spiritual weapons to fight spiritual enemies as Ephesians 6: 12,

For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 

There was one poignant account of Sir Cinead presenting the Knight armor to them and he explained the spiritual significance of the armour. I loved Armstrong's description of this armor. Specific to them as Knights of the Light. I was not surprised from this account that this armour would be based on the spiritual armor that is described in Ephesians 6:10-17,

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.

The Knights existed as a last remaining force representing the High King who used to rule across the Realms. With the peoples of these realms, such as the Ecthelowall and the Ordumair, falling away from the reign of the High King, the Knights were the last representative of the High King's rule and existence and their mandate was to reunite the peoples of the Realms to the High King. We see some very encouraging evidence of this at the end of the final battle at the novel's end. And this sets the scene for the continuation of this mandate in the next instalment. 

This is allegorical for fallen man in the Bible and what we are experiencing today. In this novel, the Knights to me represent the members of the Church with our mandate of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20, 

The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Spiritswords represent the Holy Spirit and the power of His Word and His presence in our lives. The rebellious nature of the warring factions the Knights are mandated to bring peace and restoration to represent the various nationalities of our world and how our sin and rebellion against our High King has resulted in wars, greed and selfishness towards each other and God.

Armstrong has demonstrated well in this novel that Christians are to be a light in a dark world beset with darkness from those forces in direct opposition to the High King. The Knights are representative of this. One way, amongst others, is when Anargen stands up to the Ordumair authorities and their Thane about the spiritual origins of the plight and war they are now engaged in and that the only way for them be free of the spiritual oppression and dominion this war threatened them with was to repent of their rebellious ways against the High King they used to serve in their heritage. 

This novel I enjoyed and appreciated more than I thought I would, which is not an offence to this author. It is engaging, addictive and uplifting. It not only entertained me, but it encouraged my faith in my High King and reinforces the reason Christians are to be a light unto fallen mankind and the mandate of the Great Commission. 

Highly Recommended.

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