The Well of Darkness focuses on main characters that would be considered evil in a standard medieval fantasy setting. Although, the authors have made subtle differences such as orks being a giant sea-faring race rather than being green-skinned monsters. The authors have decided to begin the story when the two protagonist are children so the audience can watch the events that unfold as they grow into adults. However, the authors have a habit of telling the audience what happened or why that happened rather than showing the reader. This can be seen when they tell the audience that one of the main character's father doesn't love his child, but doesn't show it when these characters interact. This is off-putting at times, considering the authors imply the lack of fatherly love is one of the biggest contributors to the character becoming a villain. Another problem would be the romance in the story due to the fact it is told rather than shown between two characters. In fact, these individuals are supposed to be having a loving affair that could plunge their nations into war as well as burning with passion. Instead, the first sex scene between the two is written in less than three sentences while the authors claim it is a whirlwind romance that has both characters heads over heels in love. It is disconcerting when these two lovers come from different races that can't interbreed, have considerably different life spans.The main characters are followers of void magic, or otherwise known as death magic that has a severe punishment for anyone caught, regardless of their station. In addition, the magi as well as the guards are aware of void-magic. But somehow, these two major characters surrounded by people who have been trained in these matters can't detect void magic. Not only that, someone suspects that these two protagonist are followers of the void, but doesn't say anything to spare his father's feelings. What about the people who have been trained to spot void-worshipers? For example, magi who would be able to sense void-magic, but it isn't really addressed in the story. On the other hand, the story takes the very unique approach of focusing on the bad guys as well as being incredibly interesting in watching the two main characters grow up from innocent children into bad guys.
A few weeks ago I remembered that I once read a little piece of a fantasynovel in which a boy with a port-wine stain starred. I couldn't remember the name of the novel, and it took me a while to finally remember that it was definitely written by Weis & Hickman. After that, the search ended quite soon. The Sovereign Stone! I remember that a chapter of 'Well of Darkness' was once covered in a Dutch fantasy magazine and now that I found out which novel/series it was, I had to start reading immediately.Gareth! I read the first lines of chapter one and everything came back to me. That is, everything that I read in that chapter that was in the Dutch magazine. Strangely enough, the plot of novel three seemed so familiar, even though I surely haven't read it yet. But let's start with 'Well of Darkness'. Dagnarus is a pain in the ass. I don't like him at all. From the first moment he arrives in the novel until the very end of the book. I could tell from the first moment he was going to be trouble, and my, did he turn out to be trouble. Poor Gareth doesn't have a backbone at all in the novel.. Perhaps only in the last moments of his life, where he FINALLY stands up against his prince. Nice reward he gets for that..The whole thing with the Domainlords are new to me, and I've read some fantasy in my 24 years. I liked the idea of 'knights', each with a particular area to be concerned about. Helmos' nomination of Lord of Sorrows told me enough. He would not see the next novel.I only gave it four stars, mainly because Dagnarus is annoying and Gareth is a pussy. I wonder who will stand up to Dagnarus in the next two novels. I sure hope they are more tough/awesome than Gareth...
What do You think about Well Of Darkness (2001)?
While the book had its interesting moments, I was not particularly impressed. In a fantasy series, I usually like to have at least one character I can root for. In this book the good people were either weak, or naive, and the evil people were,,,,,evil. Nobody even approached being heroic. Actually, my favorite character was Dagnarus, who was the villain. I know these authors can write, as I had previously read the Deathgate books, so I will give the second book of this trilogy a try. However, they need to give me something decent to chew on within the first hundred pages or I will have to write it off.
—Gerald Heath
An enjoyable, more adult work from the prolific team of Weis and Hickman. I'm a big sucker for fantasy/medieval politics, and this book handled it well, giving as assassination, betrayal, underhanded scheming, manipulation, spying, all sorts of fun stuff. Some may not like the world-building, which can border on excessive at times. I like these sorts of details, personally, and they're inserted pretty tactfully here; any time the writers go off on a tangent, it has at least some bearing on the current situation. There were some issues with the pacing. It takes a while for the book to really get moving. The first two-thirds are primarily spent setting up the dominoes. Once they start to fall, however, it gets exciting.The climax was sufficient. They left enough sequel hooks to justify a second book, and they baited them well enough to make me want to read it. Which I will.
—Blake
De eerste hoofdstukken waren een heel moeilijke start en moeilijk om door te komen. Ik miste wel een beetje (klein beetje ) het 'fantasy'-achtige van Poort Des Doods of De Roos Van De Profeet. De Verheven Steen neigt meer naar de Middeleeuwen ofzo, met al die hofdames en dienaars en zo. Anders gezegd, het is meer een mix van realiteit en fantasy. Het moet echter gezegd: Dagnarus is me wel een heel vervelend kereltje, altijd alles willen weten, altijd z'n zin krijgen, ... opgefokt doen omdat ie p
—Tim
