Dear reader, if you are new here, welcome, but if you have aren’t, you already know that when you read the name “Tim Mckay” on any of our reviews, things are about to go DOWN! (and then up, and then down and then violently to the sides, in no particular order) BUT, before we proceed with the review of this entry from this amazing author that is Tim Mckay, we HAVE to tell you to look at the cover.
Look at that cover! Just LOOK at it. Sure, we should’t judge a book by its cover BUT, for every author out there using AI for its covers… take some notes. If you want to impress fans and increase sales, this is IT! Glorious work here from Joe Requeza, and the usual suspect, Rachel Botswick!
If you are an author, looking to get yourself a cover that is worth paying for, call Joe Requeza and Rachel Botswick out, these covers are great investments. Excellent job once again.
Now, to the book and it’s contents.
Few authors teach you how to NOT skip right to the first chapter, and Tim Mckay is one of them. The punches of the book start off right at the section where the author leaves a message to its readers, and if you think that the message is the same for every book, then you are wildly mistaken, and after you buy this book, and start reading it, you will know exactly what we mean by this as Tim, in that very small text indicates who will like the book and who will not, so don’t skip.
Ok, so. The first chapter kicks in with a little recap of the previous book, or part one of this series, which you can read here, and introduces us to 2 new elements, one being the Wolves of Hakaz, the dark creatures of shadow and pure evil, and the second element, an arrogantly ironic luck-bathed character.
Remember that character from Deadpool that her super power was being lucky? Yeah, this character has that. Why? Sheer fucking irony. And to add insult to injury, he is the LEAST deserving person of this super luck. He mocks destiny and the gods themselves, and the gods, and destiny itself, bless him in return by making him untouchable. HAHAHHHAHAHHA, masochistic deities I suppose, hahahhahah.
Imagine a guy so smug upon his luck that, in the middle of the battle, he just casually steps to the side and exactly where he was just 3 seconds ago, a cannonball arrives and kills everyone on the spot, and the dude just laughs and casually strolls away saying: “What a glorious day…”
For fans of Fantasy, especially dark fantasy (no, nobody is talking about the “dark fantasy” were people say hi, look in each other’s eyes and muscles and start stripping their pants off…) that entices you with mystery, suspense, slightly horrific and many times gruesome scenes caused by magic and human misguided intents when they have power and swords, then this title will satisfy your reading needs. Why?
Because, in less than 20 pages, you have 2 plots to follow,each with sub-plots and mysteries to solve, dark magic (and magic with all sorts of bright colours), betrayal (if you are asking how can you have betrayal in less than 20 pages, then you should read to find out), you have regret, unsolved memories, lots of dead people, unlikely allies, more pent-up betrayal, zombies, a dark Wolf pulling strings that you have no clue why it exists but you know the reason is going to be bad; fight scenes, slaps on the back of the head and… moving mountains.
Yes, in less than 20 pages. YEAP. So, buckle up because there are … (* checks index* ) … 500 more pages of story for us to read.
If this isn’t a fast-paced book, I do not know what can I recommend you if you are an adrenaline junkie.
After rushing your senses for 25 pages of unrelenting story (just as the introductory first chapters) to bring you up to “speed” in the very sense of the word, Tim Mckay offers you a merciful half-chapter as a break, re-introducing Rhynwhen, the ADHD nuclear bomb child and her funny shenanigans. You will even notice that the narrating style will change, from mystery and war and terror to “lalalala, uh… look at the cute flower over there! I’m hungry.”.
This works nicely because it gives you time to laugh a bit and process all that has happened so far, and every possible implied implication (yes, and also every implied possibility) for the plot, the new and old characters, allowing you to create a map of the fantasy world you are in. THAT, and giving you time to introduce you to a mortal rivalry between a porcupine-squirrel and (I kid you not) a dragon.
And this is why fantasy was made guys, so we can have this type of stuff that is so improbable that our minds cannot even in the wildest imagination come up with as readers.
After the break that Tim Mckay gives us (that we as readers thank him) and because we, the vets of his works, know that after a break comes more punches of plot that continue for a long while, and true to his character, Tim Mckay punishes not us, but the characters (these poor characters), by making them fight FIRE, in, a fucking DESERT! Hahahahah, oh man, and if you think that is bad, just remember, there are 450 more pages to go.
The light of Mezzara by Tim Mckay is a book that you want don’t want to read fast, and surely, as the author instructed, it’s hard and relentless on the mind.
Why? Let us tell you why.
Have you ever read a 300+ page book that after you finished, you were disappointed because it could be told in 80 pages? Yeah? This is the opposite. This book has so many relevant events that at first you don’t think that they will be relevant, and they are so packed and connected that even missing one or two of them and their connection, will totally distort your perception of the book, and we are not even considering the previous book.
Yes, it’s that packed, but don’t worry, as the author faintly reminds you (at times) the connections that can’t be missed, so you get that “oh, yeah” moments as you read.
Betrayal. This is a VERY prevalent theme in this book. Which makes sense because you have torn nations, scattered armies turned either to militias or rebellions, lots of grudges, unlikely alliances and disguised enemies moved by personal interests and manipulated by dark forces.
You think someone is safe? The author pulls a backstabbing scene. That person that backstabed gains power and thinks it’s going to rule a kingdom, BUM, gets thrown in a pit by someone she loves! That person rules for 3min and 47s and BUM! Sword to the gut because dark forces promised the other person power. All in order to bring about the destruction of the world as we know it. You cannot, and I repeat,cannot predict anything that will happen in this book at any given time.
Everyone is schemming something and waiting for their time to make a move into the directions of their plans, be them, survival, revenge, absolute power or restitution of their old factions or kingdoms.
Besides sworn and overtly menacing characters, and even old enemies, that openly display hostility you will not know who the bad guys are many of the times, and sometimes, those you think are the bad guys, or might be, turn out to be future unlikely allies. Because of this, the book feels like a game-of-thrones, and very much like the series because there are dragons as well, this time with a new queen that was given the duty to rule although she can’t lay eggs and is completely unaware and out of depth to her role.
As the reader, even if you are highly experienced in fantasy or scifi, you will hardly be able to tell who is the enemy or who will betray the party of main characters as the various plots go along, and this keeps you on the edge as you read the book, even after you realize that you cannot trust a soul, something that many authors try to do, but cannot pull off so smoothly as Tim Mckay does here.
To answer the questions of scifi lovers: YES, there is a bit of sci-fi in here, and yes, there will also be butt-slides inside a spaceship somewhere in this book. You asked for it and the author gave it to you. You are welcome!
For the first 200 pages, do not expect answers to anything, or anything to make sense. Just enjoy, laugh, try to keep up with the speed of the fights, take as many details as possible and don’t worry, because by the middle of the second part, you will have most of the answers for your questions, the most important being: “WHY is Drascar doing this?” , “What the hell is actually going on in the bigger picture?”, “Where are the dragons that filled the sky every other chapter in the previous book?”, “How many plots are in this book?” and above all, “Why is the most powerful human being to ever exist in this story is risking her life for marshmallows?”.
Don’t worry, the author is doing this for a reason and everything will start to make sense in the second part of the book, just be patient and enjoy.
Now, if you are a seasoned reader, like us, you know that there is a class of characters in books that are always on the background but they are HIGHLY inportant to the story while serving as a comic relief of the story, and although many readers don’t notice it, we do. In this book we have 2 characters like that, and once you seem them, you will love them.
Bewitched, that’s the word. You will be bewitched, by this book. Absolutely gripping. If you like thrillers, and plot-twists, grab this and brace yourself for the ride and the brutal fights.
“Sovregan soldiers stood to either side of his chair, hands at their swords and braced for his rage. It drew a smile from him, seeing that even these foreign invaders knew to fear his people.
“You’re to be escorted with the prisoner to Manaphen.”
“Am I a prisoner now as well?” asked Einath, voice hard and challenging. The soldiers stepped back, and two raised crossbows with their magic-stained bolts at the ready. “We will not ask again.”
Einath grunted, rose from his chair, and pulled a dozen or so sivems from the coin bag at his belt. He dropped them on the table with a nod to the barmaid. “For the drinks, and the damage.”
“What damage, mister?” she asked, still standing away with the decanter held tight to her body.
She’d hardly finished her question when Einath threw the nearest soldier against one of the canopy stilts, so the enormous turtle shell came crashing down and knocked two more Sovregans into the water. A soldier behind Einath began drawing his sword, but bloodlust gave him speed and strength enough to grab the man’s throat before he could finish, lift him overhead, and slam him down with such force that the platform broke beneath them and took both men into the swamp.”
That’s the level of badassery waiting for you inside this book, and if you read the first ones, you know that Tim Mckay NEVER disappoints when it comes to action.
One of the things I personally LOVE about this book in this series in particular, is how much the author focused on the dimension and the span of evil.
Weird, I know, but once you take a step back and see the amount of people that are serving the evil forces, be them knowingly or with very good intentions towards good, the forces themselves do not give a single fuck. They will bend people to their own destruction. And once you add the fact that there isn’t just one, but 3 or so distinct forces manipulating, scheming towards the destruction of the world, or even neutral forces being used or bent to do evil things, you get to see how dire this whole situation is.
And why I love that? Because when you put out MC, Valdaris, at the center of it, and then put Rhyn, alongside the others Valdaris “touches” to be on his side, you realize that, even with all their powers combined, they are just 0.1% of light fighting 99.9% of evil.
It’s so hopeless to the point that if the main characters lost in the end, you would not be surprised at all, and yet, the slight chance of their success (that not even plot armor can guarantee) is what keeps you reading through their struggles that most of the times seem completely in vain, specially when you have the voices of evil telling you so in every other page. Every victory always too small, every defeat always too costly, and luck never on their side (because apparently Tambren takes all of it), as they are forever the underdogs.
And once you realize how well it fits into our current times around the world where all that we see and are fed are visions, news and reflections of darkness, evil and hopelessness, to the point that we can barely move ourselves off from the bed somedays, as you read the ulterior motives of our main character you start to realize why he has no choice but to do what he is doing, otherwise all of the world will perish , and maybe, just maybe, that’s the point of it all.
The Light of Mezzara by Tim Mckay is a book that we should buy in paper, hardcover preferably, and give to children, young boys and teens, who would see themselves a lot in these narratives, in order to prepare them for the concept of dealing with evil with integrity and honor, while making sacrifices that may cost dearly for a greater good.
We NEED more books like this one. WE Need more series like this! We need more characters like these!
Yes, this whole series SHOULD be read by young boys, and yes, we know how gruesome this series is. Trust us, they’ll love it! I wish I had this series to read when I was a kid. Awesome, awesome, awesome continuation of the series, and the end of this book promises a very chaotic and action driven 3rd chapter. Grab yours now if you haven’t already! And If you are new to the series, click here to see the first book.
“And if fear of deception is all you learned, the only lesson you’ve drawn from what you saw in the Malda, you will never escape the Dark One’s curse. Fear is his greatest weapon, the trap by which Hakaz keeps our peoples enslaved, never knowing the truth that would free them.“
“And what truth is that, Cereman?” asked Hamal. That cold, inner void, the place in his soul once home to his father’s love, now boiled into hate — an anger like nothing he’d ever felt. “The truth?” asked the Cereman. “That there is no light, save for that which our deeds bring to life.“
Excellent narrative, and very fluid, as it the narrator not only incorporates not only the POV of the characters, but also their dispositions based on the current events of the story.
Excellent story, FILLED with plots to follow and keep track of, unpredictable in every sense, and well connected between the various POVS without losing the sense of the story.
Every point of the story is relevant, every action matters.
High tension and high stakes approach to the whole story except for the various “lazy” and funny stops scattered in the story.
Excellent characters! Diverse in terms of moods, motivations, abilities, temperaments and reactions. Every character feels like a person well constructed and evolves as the story goes.
Lots of action, and fights that will mark you and that have marked the story.
You can tell a lot by the actions and choices of the characters, to the point that you start expecting certain actions from them, but the fact that the circumstances change a LOT in the book, they surprise you by many times going against the expectations due to internal thoughts that are later revealed by the author in their POVS, or the POVS of other characters. It’s always in the little details.
A righteously long book that the more you read, the more you understand that the book is long because this is the shortest way the author could tell us this part of the story. Yes, this is only the second part of the story.
Connection to the other books (The Father of Shadow and Death), that if you haven’t read it, you can pass by, but if you have read it, it makes the story so much cooler.
Badassery in terms of fights and interactions. If you like action, grab this book now.
A promising end of the book, the next chapter will be ruthless!
Favourite characters: Tambren, Drescar, Rhynwhen.
Lesson of the book: Only have mercy of your enemies if they can serve a purpose that advances your cause, but don’t lose them out of your sight, because you must them cut them in half as soon as you have the chance.
Scribble's Worth 
Leave a comment