Dark & Day 1

A Well-crafted Adventure of Mecha and Magic

Review by: The Audiobook ReviewDark & Day 1, written by Jacob Israel Grey is an engaging story marrying a number of genres together to make a story I had a hard time pushing pause on when life said I had to do other things. It's written at a level similar to the early Harry Potter novels (more on this later), where even though it could easily be enjoyed by children, adults will find a lot to enjoy here as well.

The story follows Jono, a sickly boy living in the twilight area of a world that is permanently locked in place. One half always facing the sun, the other always in the dark. The people of the two halves couldn't be more different. Those living in the dark evolved to enhance themselves and their lives with mechanical means. Those in the sun wield magic.

The two sides live in fear of the other side, and the time where the return of a mystical item returns means their way of life will come to an end. Our hero, Jono, finds the item and so kicks off a race to possibly the end of the world.

Throughout the story, you can feel influences from several popular references. A little Star Wars, a little of what I felt was Final Fantasy, certainly Harry Potter. The training academy could quite easily be set in the halls of Hogwarts... which I certainly don't mean as a bad thing. It's not a straight-up copy of the HP universe, but what feels more of a carefully crafted love note to it.

Narration by Wayne Farrell was spot on. No obvious errors or issues to pull me out of the immersion. His voices were distinct and easy enough to follow along with.

Long story short, this book rocked along quickly to the point I was quite surprised at how quickly the end of the book came. There are (at last check) 3 other books in the series, and it certainly had me wondering what direction the future books would take.

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I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I have not let this gift affect nor influence my opinions of this audiobook and have left an honest review.