A cataclysmic battle to save the city of Nexus has left the four noble heirs scattered across the realms.
Taesia, the shadow-wielding rebel of House Lastrider, and Nikolas, the reluctant soldier of House Cyr, have been cast into Noctus, the realm of eternal night. But they are not alone. The dangerous and unpredictable god of light has traveled with them, and he will do anything in his power to destroy Noctus in his bid for cosmic control.
Risha, the peacekeeping necromancer of House Vakara, must navigate her way through Mortri, the realm of death. But still she cannot help the wayward spirits, nor does she have any idea how to return home. All she knows is that no mortal can survive for long in Mortri. And the creatures that prowl the realm of death don’t take kindly to the living.
Angelica, the stubborn elementalist of House Mardova, is on her own in Vitae, trying to keep Nexus from unraveling. But Angelica secretly suffers from an illness that her god left in her veins. And when she is sent on a delicate diplomatic mission, she knows that any weakness will have disastrous repercussions for her family, her kingdom, and her dreams of the throne.
All will encounter old friends and new enemies as they attempt to restore the balance of the universe. But the gods grow stronger. And their descendants will need more than their magic and their wits to survive the war that is coming…
Tara Sim’s THE CITY OF DUSK was one of those fantasy books for me where I had to fully give myself over to the vibes of the whole thing, as opposed to trying to completely grasp everything that was actually happening in the book. It was weird & confusing & beautiful & funny & emotional…I loved it, completely. As much as I would have (and did) struggled to explain what happened.
So certainly I went into THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM (book two of THE DARK GODS trilogy) with a much better idea of what to expect (and what to expect of myself) and I fucking adored this book. I honestly think this is one of the coolest multi POV fantasy series happening right now, and I find myself thinking about the characters long after finishing this one.
Oh! One thing fantasy readers LOVE is a recap, so huge shoutout to Tara Sim for the WIDLY detailed recap of THE CITY OF DUSK on her website, which I consulted frequently. I feel like there’s been a slight uptick recently in authors including recaps for book one in book two (and so on) at the start of the book. The one on Tara Sim’s website would likely be way too long to include at the beginning of THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM, but just the fact that she put so much into the recap is much appreciated, and extremely helpful!
The book picks up not long after the utter chaos of Godsnight. And so instead of anything approaching a united front, the heirs of the noble houses of Nexus are kinda…scattered to the wind. The different realms of this world, which seemed more conceptual to me than anything else in book one, become frighteningly real in THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM.
I really latched onto Risha a whole lot in this book. She finds herself in the realm of the dead, Mortri. Which, as a necromancer, she’s at least moderately equipped to handle. But she’s also accompanied by the spirit of Jas, her recently-deceased betrothed. And they are being guided by a talking decapitated head who may not be what he claims to be. This is a wild place to take the story & I just loved it. Risha is carrying a lot of grief with her, and has some really emotional scenes here. But too, there’s quite a bit of humor in her chapters which keeps things from feeling too dire all the time.
Like in the first book, it was Taesia Lastrider that stole the show for me. Her and Julian have wound up in the shadow realm, Noctus. Taesia’s god, Nyx, continues to whisper in her ear, pushing her closer and closer to…bad decision territory. Taesia & Julian meet up with a renegade princess & her allies, and they all go on something of a quest. But yeah, all the while it’s easy to see Taesia slipping closer and closer to the darkness. She is an unrelenting, fierce badass & I am dying to see where this story takes her. A chaotic character, to be sure. But one that I will just always be rooting for.
The relationship between Angelica and the thief, Cosima, takes on quite a different tone from the first book, with kind of a fun, awkward romance developing between them. There’s a bit of a nautical adventure happening in their storyline which I’m always going to be a sucker for. There’s even a goddamn kraken!!!
Hopefully no one came into this review hoping to learn too much about what this book is actually ABOUT, because whew! It’s a lot. Like I’ve mentioned, it’s easy for me to get a little lost in these books. But everything just feels so fucking massive in this book & I ate it up. It’s wildly emotional, the writing is gorgeous, and it’s also incredibly fun. Even with all the heaviness & sadness & the potential for the world(s) to seemingly end at any moment…these books are just a wild, fun ride.
As has become my habit, I mixed in quite a lot of the audiobook, so mega thanks to Hachette Audio for the audiobook. The narrator’s name is Nikki Patel, and she could honestly be my favorite audiobook narrator ever? If not, it’s a real close thing. She just has an incredibly cool voice & I loved listening to this one so much!
However poor a job I’ve done at describing much about this book, I hope people will check out this trilogy. It has such a vibrant & unique feel to it. I do think it would appeal to folks who have enjoyed the ROOK & ROSE trilogy, maybe? Nothing terribly similar plot wise, but both just have this really lush quality to the writing, and incredible characters. And both trilogies also feel (to me) perfectly balanced, in terms of their fun moments, and their incredibly dark, emotional moments.
THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM was one of my favorite reads of the year, no doubt. Dangerous magic, strange realms, vengeful gods, and one of the most likable & interesting cast of characters I’ve ever met. Cannot wait to see how Tara Sim wraps up this amazing trilogy with THE DAWN THRONE!
Huge thanks to Orbit for sending a copy my way!
Grimdark Dad 