Greg Park, Veil of Darkness

Veil of Darkness

Greg Park

Bladestar Publishing, May 2007, $26.95

ISBN: 0978793188

The demon god Maeon feels the time is right for his annexation of humanity into his devilish realm, as the veil between life and death has thinned. The malevolent deity senses that the Earthsoul spirit is diminishing rapidly, with no Gifted champion to reverse its deathly trend.

However, Maeon ignores warning signs of the meek shall inherit the earth, so his earthly agents, the Hand of the Dark initially fails to detect young Jase Farimor living on a farm with his mother near the tiny town of Kindel's Grove. At the same time that the lad begins to believe he is Gifted with Ta'shaen magic, Dreadlord Throy Shadan has crossed the veil with an army of the dead Darklings, enhanced by the living Shizu warriors. Jase mentored by mage Gideon Dymas is the last hope to save Earthsoul, but must defeat the invincible Dreadlord as the first impossible cleansing step. However, to do so he must use the Blood Orb that could take him to the dark side.

This coming of age opening epic fantasy is a terrific tale that fans will enjoy. The Park universe is filled with a wonderful assortment of interesting characters, dead and living, and good and bad. This makes for a wild time, as Jase must defeat the undefeatable if he is to save his world. Jase is the key to the first act of the Earthsoul Prophecies, as he learns to employ magic on the job as time has run out. Readers will enjoy this Tolkien like saga, and look forward to the next escapade on an orb still counting down the end.