Dark Solus: An Assassin’s Tale

“Dark Solus: An Assassin’s Tale” is filled with non-stop action that makes for an exciting story that flows smoothly from beginning to end.

You know life is going to be filled with plenty of adventure when your mom is a witch, your dad is called Demon, and your grandfather is a shape-shifting dragon, but Dark Solus probably never expected to take on a quest for powerful talismans that would allow him avenge the murder of his parents.

I really enjoyed this first book in the Dark Solus series because the action comes at a fast and furious pace. The book starts with Dark’s parents in the middle of one of their adventures and the pace just gets faster with each turn of the page. Even though he’s an assassin skilled in the ways of dark magic, Dark is still a likable character and his interactions with his feisty, although slightly short-tempered, grandfather provides plenty of humor along the way.

Still, there are a few things that disturbed me as I was reading because some things just don’t seem to fit. Dark’s grandfather, Mephistopholes, is ridiculously powerful and it seems like there’s very little the ancient dragon is unable to accomplish, but for some reason Dark is assigned the task of collecting the talismans needed for his ultimate battle. At one point, the grandfather mentions that there is a reason for him not being able to do the deed himself but that reason is never given. At one point, Mephistopholes even takes on the job of retrieving one of the objects of power and the quest is so easy for him that I couldn’t help but wonder even more about his self-assigned role as mentor. It’s possible that Dark must undertake the journey so that he gains enough inner strength through his trials to emerge victorious in the final battle, but that’s just an assumption on my part because no other reason is offered.

I was also dismayed by some of the inconsistencies that seemed to exist just to introduce drama where none would have otherwise existed. For example, Dark gains an enchanted necklace early in the story that will magically shield him from arrows but he is later wounded by an arrow. No reason is given for his magical protection to not work so it simply appears to be a flaw within the internal logic of the story.

Still, even with the above-mentioned flaws, “Dark Solus: An Assassin’s Tale” is a fun and exciting read. One must just allow themselves to get caught up in the fast-paced adventure and not notice those minor details. This might be a problem for some while others have no issue with it. If you’re looking for an entertaining read, then you will probably enjoy following Dark on his journey but if you’re the type that will worry over the inner mechanics of why a character does or doesn’t do certain things or why magic does or doesn’t work at certain times then you might have a problem with the story.


Dark Solus: An Assassin’s Tale
David Andrew Crawford
Eloquent Books (2011)
ISBN 9781609113391
Reviewed by Marty Shaw for Reader Views (12/11)