Dark Harvest

Darkling Mage, Book Two

By: Nazri Noor

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dustin Graves has three days to live.

The darkling mage has found himself in the company of scoundrels. Maybe that’s what Dustin deserves: a werewolf, a vampire, and a talking sword for teammates, and a rogue sorcerer as his mentor and master.

But a doomsday cult has surfaced. Twelve mutilated bodies are found drowned in blood and in wine. The massacre stinks of both the divine and the supernatural. Worst of all, an ancient god sends Dust on a lethal mission, one he must complete in three days. The reward? He gets to live. Well...maybe.

If you like snarky heroes, snappy dialogue, and a bit of grit and gore, you'll love the second book in Nazri Noor's series of urban fantasy novels. Explore the darkling mage universe and discover Dark Harvest today.

©2018 Nazri Noor (P)2019 Nazri Noor

The shadows can't protect you forever Dust...

This series scratches a big itch for me. I'm a big fan of urban fantasy and with several mainstays wrapping up and Peace Talks still months away, Nazri Noor comes along and delivers exactly what I needed to get me through. I absolutely loved the first book in the series and, while the story here is a complete one that more than stands on its own, you would do well to listen to the first book in order to fully appreciate this one. The action is here, the suspense is here, the wise-assness is here, It's everything you could want from an Urban Fantasy setting less the romance plot.

As has become my custom for reviews, here is my 5 and 5 list:

Things I liked:
1. Character growth. Dust gets some much-needed humble pie in the early and mid-stages of this book that force him to grow and adapt. It was really well done.
2. Sterling makes me laugh... a lot
3. The interplay between Dust and the gods is really fun to listen to because you never quite know what they think or what they want. Nazri Noor does a great job keeping them mysterious yet approachable.
4. COMBAT. Just like the last book, the magical combat in this one is extremely satisfying.
5. The story felt complete. There wasn't a super-dramatic cliffhanger ending that forces you to buy the next one to figure out what happened. Noor is justifiably confident that you'll want to continue Dust's tale without having to be really heavy-handed like some others in the space.

Things I didn't care for as much:
1. Habitual recall to the fact that "somebody should have written a book about it" regarding actions from the first book. The first time was funny, the second was less-so, the third felt excessive.
2. At times Dust gets a little too snarky/juvenile given the reality of what's happening to him in the book. To quote Wayne from the TV show Letterkenny, "Why don't you take about 15% off the top there Squirly Dan".
3. I feel like Carver needs some more page time. Often you know he's doing something really awesome, but we only get glimpses of his power. Sometimes it feels like he could actually solve some of the problems Dust gets into in about 5 seconds.... though that is kind of the point of some of the book.
4. A couple of times in combat things feel a little too convenient for Dust to leverage his unique skills.
5. Dust needs a better foil than Bastion. I'm hoping that Sterling kind of becomes more of the foil-in-chief going forward.

So there you have it, friends. The book is so much fun that I didn't even have to talk about how amazing Luke Daniels is in the things I like section (but he does a great job too!). The series as a whole is on my "would recommend to friends list and I can't wait to see what shenanigans Dust et al get themselves into next!

**Note I asked for and received a promotional copy of this book from the author in exchange for the unbiassed review above**

Magically Brilliant Series

I love this series. It has action, adventure, magic and characters that you quickly become invested in. The storyline is original and keeps your interest throughout. The narrator is awesome with perfect pacing and character voices that are easy to distinguish and understand. I look forward to more in this series

Darker than the first story

After listening to Shadow Magic for a second time and enjoying it even more on the re-listen, I went straight into Dark Harvest. Dark is applicable here, because this story is darker than the one told in Shadow Magic, and, for my taste, even better than the first. The darkness is lightened by the snark and humor, so that while I was on the edge of my chair one moment, I was laughing out loud the next. Nazri Noor has just the right touch, balancing the humor with the dark to equal great, original storytelling.

Luke Daniels again brings his talents to bringing Dusty and all the other characters vividly to life.

Not as good as the first book

This book was just not as good as the first book and that had nothing to do with Luke Daniels. I really wanted to like this but I just could not get into this as much as I got into the first book and that's a real shame. I also felt that it was over long on a lot of the story was kind of lost with a lot of side things and set up the kind of went nowhere.

enjoyed it

📖 I enjoyed Dark Harvest, it is darker than Shadow Magic but still has a good pace, entertaining story and interesting characters. I like Dustin's new "friends"! 🎧 Luke Daniels as an excellent narrator and does a good performance on Dark Harvest. His rhythm and cadence are consistent between Books 1 and 2 and he brings the story and it's characters to life. I look forward to the next title in the series.

Great series

2 books down in 2 days with this series. I’m sad to see only 5 books in the series.

entertaining, if a bit 1d

I do like what the authors going for here, overall, it was a pretty fun listen. During Rona, I've burned through so many book series that I'm running out of options. I'm giving this one a shot because Luke Daniels is one of my favorite narrators, and I love series kinda like this one (Iron Druid, Dresden, etc.). Just a few gripes though... 1) author goes back and forth on where it is gods can be killed... in book one, gods were only vulnerable outside their hidey holes. Like there was a whole thing about how you couldnt really kill Hecate in her realm. And with the rat god being killed on earth. But then in this book at one point they say the ONLY place a god could be killed is in their home realm. The author goes back on that at the end and reverts to the original model during the last conversation with a god (avoiding spoilers with my vague reference), but the inconsistency bugged me. 2) the twists in these books don't have any clues leading up to them. Like, you can't look back and use hindsight to see them coming. Sure with Thea turning out to be his killer in book one, that was almost cliche and formulaic, but it wasn't like she slipped up and said something she shouldnt have been able to know about the night he was sacrificed, or he found some clue or met some outside ousted member who warned him, or any of that. She just snapped and became the villain out of the blue. There needs to be more build up to that sort of thing, even if it is obfuscated. Wont get into what happened with her here, but it was exactly the same.

I think these will get better as the author gets more experience, so I'm going to keep going. He's got a lot to learn / practice to get to like a Jim Butcher level, but I think just like his protagonist, the potential is there. May not seem like it, but I'm rooting for you, Mr. Noor.

Fun!

This book made me laugh out loud! The performance is excellent and the main character is hilarious.

Better than the first book!

With the basics established, the second book dives into a ripping story! Dustin Graves is with a new team, and his old team isn't happy about it. Especially when they both wind up on the same trail.

Entertaining and enjoyable

I really enjoyed the book but at times the writing seems somewhat childish, predictable, and unrefined. i would not let that dissuade you though if you are a high fantasy or litrpg fan as it is a fun book to read and a somewhat different modern style like that of Dresden and the Iron Druid. I am going to continue and as with all writers I'm sure it will mature and become a loved series by me at least.

Strong follow-up novel

This book builds nicely on the first one nicely, but it is not simply more of the same, while Dustin is still in danger it does feel more personal and on a slightly smaller scale than the previous book. This is not a bad thing as the author had done a lot of the world-building in the first book and now has more time to spend on character-building this time round with the supporting cast seeming to get more attention this time round.

This narrator again gives a strong performance that helps to enhance the story and to help to bring the characters to life more fully with distinctive voices for most of the cast.

Overall, this book works really well as part of the series and as a book in it's own right and I am looking forward to some of the subsequent ones in the series being released as audiobooks.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]