Tides of Darkness

Beyond the Lost Coast, Book 2

De: Andrew Van Wey

Narrado por: Tom Jordan

In Greywood Bay, time doesn't heal—it devours. After the fire of Raven’s Valley consumed their community—and the lives of their neighbors—fourteen-year-old Zelda and her uncle Mark are determined to rebuild within this small coastal town. It’s a place of serene beauty and rich history, a bucolic enclave they hope to call home. If only the ghosts would leave her alone.

Haunted by the spectral echoes of the dead, Zelda must fight for her sanity while navigating the turbulent waters of adolescence. And her uncle Mark must battle his own demons, both inside out. Alone, they will crumble. Together, they might just have a chance. Because something sinister is rising off the foggy shores of the Lost Coast: an entity beyond time itself, one who has long had her eyes on these lands. Her whispers won’t be silenced. Her shadows can’t be ignored. And her debts will never be forgiven. For beneath its surface Greywood Bay is built on borrowed fortunes and grim pacts. And soon retribution will wash over the town with Tides of Darkness.

©2024 Andrew Van Wey (P)2024 Andrew Van Wey

Super fun!

I truly enjoyed this second installment! It is very “stranger things” and Lovecraftian, yet very self aware. It wasn’t trying to be anything pretentious, it was simply a sweet story of a girl and her uncle trying to make it all work out. I loved every character, and was very happy with the ending! This is a perfect series to pickup if you’re looking for something a little lighter, with a great cast of characters, a fun twisty story, and a huge nod to the Great Old Ones. Looking forward to the next installment!

Amazing book 2

I absolutely love this series. As a cosmic horror fan it hits all the horrors that I love.

Highly recommend and I look forward to book 3

Love this series!

Tides of Darkness by Andrew Van Wey is a sequel to By the Light of the Dead Stars. I don’t want to give anything away, but our heroes, Zelda, her friends, and her Uncle Mark, step up again to fight cosmic terror. I love everything about this series. It is so immersive! The world-building is out of this world! It is carefully planned out. I got easily sucked into this book as the events unfolded. The characters are all loveable (except for J'harr, of course. J'harr is truly evil and such a good villain); it continues the story so well, and I really enjoy the small-town horror aspect too.

Zelda has a special place in my heart. She has been through so much and has a lot of emotions to sort out while also trying to adjust to living with her uncle. This book focuses even more on her experiences. Since book 1, I could identify with her. At 13, my life got turned upside down, and I had to live with my great-aunt. I wish I had these books when I was her age. Tides of Darkness isn't a YA book, but I feel teens would like this series too. Zelda is an excellent role model for teens in similar situations. She is smart, sarcastic, strong, resilient, and she has such a huge heart. She shows that teens can get through the worst circumstances. That it is okay to get help, including friends and family. I can’t wait for the next book, and hopefully, they can conquer evil for good!

Eldritch thrill ride

“Some people spend their whole lives climbing up ladders, then smile while kicking them down.”

I first want to thank Tom Jordan for gifting me an Audible code to listen to this book. He is a great narrator. I listened to By the Light of Dead Stars, so I felt right back at home listening to Tom pick up right where he left off.

Tides of Darkness by Andrew Van Wey is the second book in his Beyond the Lost Coast series, and this one hits just as hard, if not harder, than By the Light of Dead Stars.

Tides takes place a few months after Dead Stars and we pick right back up with Zelda and her uncle Mark as they try to pick up the pieces of their life after what happened at the end of book one. As school starts, Zelda starts hearing the voice of the Eldritch entity. It’s not through with them yet.

There are a lot of twists and turns to this book, and it left me hanging on every word. Andrew does a really great job of painting a picture of the town and of all the characters, and Tom brings each character to life.

As a side note, there are a couple of characters in this book who I really hate in the Dolores Umbridge kind of way. In Harry Potter, you have Voldemort, but people don’t really hate him; the loathe Umbridge though. I have the same feeling with these characters in this story. Ugh, they made me cringe and feel for poor Zelda.

If you are looking for a fun thrill ride, you really need to check out the Beyond the Lost Coast series, and Tides of Darkness the most.

5 Stars.

Bearing Witness in the Shadow: A Reflection on Tides of Darkness

Andrew Van Wey’s Tides of Darkness, the second in his Beyond the Lost Coast trilogy, is more than a horror novel—it is a meditation on memory, evil, and moral endurance. It cloaks itself in the language of the supernatural, but at its core, it’s a deeply human story about choosing to care when apathy would be easier.

Zelda, the teenage protagonist, avoids the trap of becoming a hollow “chosen one.” She stumbles, scars, and grows. Her greatest strength isn’t power, but presence. She listens to the ghosts—literal and figurative—when the adults around her refuse to. She does what the elders cannot: she remembers. And in doing so, she redeems.

The novel’s true terror lies not in its eldritch horrors, but in its portrayal of banal evil. Those who serve the god Jahar are not monsters in the dark—they’re familiar: privileged, self-protecting, and bureaucratically brutal. Their worship is convenience, and their legacy is rot. And yet, even as they’re devoured by the very god they served, the novel warns us: evil survives. It adapts. It waits.

What lingers most is not the dread, but the defiance. Zelda does the right thing not because it will save her, but because it is right. And that is the kind of story worth reading.

For those of us who walk halls heavy with other people’s pain, Tides of Darkness is not just fiction. It is reflection. It reminds us that the we might go through the shadow of death - sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do in the face of cosmic indifference and care anyway.

A town's dark past that bleeds into the present

Received as an ARC, this is an honest review. The fiery, visual and visceral and poignant sequel to the By the Light of Dead Stars, Tides of Darkness continues the exploration of Greywood Bay's darkest of secrets.

Received the audiobook from the narrator, Tom Jordan, whom puts on an magnificent performance.

Being a teenager already is complicated, but Zelda's friends and even her enemies have a simple existence because they aren't marked to be a voice of the town's dead or hunted by a dark, ancient and twisted entity hell bent with sick dreams on consuming Greywood Bay's sanity. Moving through mastering Chester's lessons of seeing within the All; and ordinary life- Zelda is being worn thin as the biggest war against J'harr and her minions begins... with dark consequences that will no longer just being scarring Zelda's mind alone.

Highly recommended.

Great lore and action

As the latest installation in the series it did not disappoint. I find myself desperately rooting for the good guys and despising the bad guys.

Welcome Back to Greywood Bay

Ahhh, Greywood Bay, how I missed you!
Coming back we find Zelda and co recovering from the fire tthat destroyed their entire development. plans to rebuild are at a standstill, held up by a council with 'other' interests.

If you haven't read the first installment, I strongly recommend it.

We find Uncle Mark battling the town council and being drawn into a battle he never saw coming, with the ultimate 'Karen'. Disguised as an author and influential long time resident, who has deeper interests in the towns heritage and what the residents can do for her.
While also still battling his in laws for the custody of his niece, who can't seem to stay out of trouble.

The character development and arc in this series is so wonderful to see.
We watch Zelda grow and mature and the dynamics of friendship and family grow and change with it.

It's a beautiful story of what family truly means, the foibles of human nature and the way we can choose to make our battles work for or against us and how we see the world around us.

Oh, and there's monsters.

I'm very much looking forward to returning to Greywood Bay, and seeing what the next installment brings.

Best horror novel I've read in years

This book just set so many standards for me and is by far the best horror novel in, like, forever. Loved the story, atmosphere was fantastic, the reading was top-notched. I really liked the first book, but this second book was just so much better. I love me some really Lovercraftian-style horror. Great, great, great.

Excellent Horror in the modern Eldritch tradition

I love that the relationships evolve. I love that the world grows and progresses. Most of all, I love the horror that's familiar in a way and new all at the same time. This has now overtaken the Dread Void series as my favorite. I anxiously await the next installment!