Saturday 25 May 2019

Review on Dark Lands #3 The Forgotten



Webb's final battle with The Dark Man is fast approaching, and it isn't looking good. With the help of the Not Where, The Dark Man has created an army of nightmares that the Glorians have no chance against. With The Dark Man once again planning on bringing war and chaos on the living world, the Glorians must find a way to stop him once and for all. However, Webb soon discovers Kane's plan to send Iggy into the Dead Forest, knowing there is little chance of Iggy and his companions surviving. With time running out, Webb has no choice but to go along with a plan that is almost guaranteed to fail.


So here it is, the last book in the series! I've really enjoyed reading this series, and Lyn I Kelly is definitely one of my favourite Indie authors. I've loved going on this adventure with Webb and Sundown, and I'm actually quite sad I won't be reading about these characters anymore.

This book was definitely the darkest in the series (pun unintended!) Webb lost a lot of people he was close to in this book, and it soon became a case of who would survive rather than wondering which character would die. Webb suffered a lot of grief and guilt, turning all of these emotions into pure hatred and anger towards The Dark Man. Webb's anger issues are something I've wondered about throughout the series, so I was happy that it was finally addressed. As The Dark Man feeds off fear and anger, it was important for Webb to rein in these emotions. It was practically like asking Harry to not feel anger towards Voldemort, so letting go of that fear and anger was a huge step for Webb. I loved how once it was clear that no one feared him anymore, The Dark Man lost all his power.

There were plenty of emotions running throughout this book, but the thing that broke me the most was Iggy's back story. We are not told exactly what Iggy's disability is, but we do know that he was born with a disability that made his mother see him as too much work. We learn early in the book that Iggy is terrified of his closet, which we come to learn is because his mother used to lock him in there for hours on end, and eventually killed him. This part of the story was particularly difficult to read, as parents often do abuse their children, and find them undesirable if they have a disability. Although we are never told exactly what happened to Iggy, it is hinted at that he is going to a better place.

I was a little disappointed that Fangus didn't become a more central character. I've found him interesting ever since it was revealed that he was once a Glorian, and even though I correctly predicted that he would go against The Dark Man, he was never developed as a character, and his only role was helping Iggy towards the end of the book. I felt as if Fangus had potential that was sadly wasted. The one other thing I wasn't too keen on was the addition of a God-like figure towards at the end of the book. This seemed a little out of place and unnecessary, and seemed like a lazy way of giving everything a "meaning". Throughout the series, there is no indication that Webb even believes in God, so to me, it felt as if the author was just trying to explain some of the complex storylines through religion, which did little but leave a lot of questions unanswered.

This book was thankfully less confusing than book three and brought up some previously unexplored information about the characters. The most mysterious character was The Willkeeper, a man who records the history of every living thing. I loved that we were given some backstory on The Willkeeper, and learned about his connection to The Dark Man. I loved how although they started out on similar paths, The WIllkeeper was able to right the wrongs he had done, while The Dark Man remained on the path of darkness and chaos.

I still have so many unanswered questions, but I also love when books keep you thinking about the story long after you turn the final page. It gives the reader the opportunity to create their own theories. Honestly, the one downside to Indie's is it's difficult to find other readers to discuss them with! If you do decide to read this series then please come talk to me about it! Aside from a few minor hiccups, I'm impressed with the quality of this series. Indie's tend to get a bad reputation for poor editing, but if I didn't know better I would assume this series had been traditionally published. I highly recommend Dark Lands to all fans of YA fantasy!

Dark Lands: The Forgotten is now available to purchase!


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