LitPick Review
Dark Destiny
After narrowly averting impending disaster in 20th century Europe, the Irregulars, a group of British mages gifted with mystical powers, are looking forward to returning back to a somewhat ordinary life—in England, 1804. Yep, that’s right—the Irregulars are magical time travelers, ordained to save and protect Earth through the centuries. However, their task proves to be difficult, especially when their own home, Lackland, is withstanding an impending attack by Napoleon and his troops. Faced with almost impossible odds, the mages (Tory, Allarde, Jack, Cynthia, and Elspeth) find that they might need a little more than magic to save their beloved city.
Back (or forward, I suppose) in 1940, the new mind-reading mage Rebecca is struggling to control her newfound power. She is astonished to discover that she can control people’s emotions and motives just by touching them. But when the British mages call for her and her fellow mage Nick’s help to defend against Napoleon’s attack, will she be able to display her new powers in time?
“Tory saw a pair of guards to their right, and they were raising their weapons. She threw herself around Allarde and yanked them straight in the air……The fortress exploded.”
Opinion:
If I could have one word to describe this book, if would be…..inconsistent. The first part of the book was, bluntly, abysmal—then, in the second half, it was like somebody flipped a switch. At the beginning, the sentence structure and dialogue was painfully awkward; the plot jumped from one thing to another, and the characters were horribly annoying. Then, in the second half, it was like a whole different book--the writing was impeccable, the direction solid, the characterization strong. I couldn’t put it down! There was action; there was intrigue; there was desperation and angst, and, most of all, GOOD DIALOGUE! By the ending, it felt like that author finally got “settled” into the story. But for a plot as unique as Dark Destiny’s, you really need to capitalize on good writing skills and details that make the reader feel like they’re there—throughout the entire book. Something that I would strongly recommend for those of you interested in reading this book would be to start at the beginning of the series—Dark Destiny is book number three of the Dark Mirror series, and maybe reading the first two will help clear up some confusion. All in all, I think that this series has a lot of potential, but just needs to focus more on the basic concepts of writing and less on an intricate, complicated plot.
“So far, so good. Tory wondered if the soldiers realized the British and the tiger by the tail. And she was in no mood to be eaten.”
I would recommend this book for ages eleven and up—the content is mostly clean, except for a little section where the word “strumpet” and its various affiliates are used quite liberally.
Will Rebecca and the British mages be able to save Lackland—or will they watch in defeat as Napoleon’s Army takes over the city they once loved? Dark Destiny by M.J. Putney is the only way to find out!
NOTE: Interested in starting the series? Dark Mirror is book #1, Dark Passage #2, and the prequel novella (Fallen from Grace) has also been released!
