''Dark Rise'' is a 2021

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

fantasy novel by Australian author C. S. Pacat. Published on September 28, 2021, it is the first book in the ''Dark Rise'' series.

Synopsis

In 1821 England, 17-year-old orphan Will Kempen has been on the run from his mother's killers for nine months. Though unsure why he is their target, he ends up captured and imprisoned aboard the ship of Lord Crenshaw, a wealthy businessman. While captured, Will witnesses a seemingly magic sword destroy parts of the ship and kill several of Crenshaw's men. Amidst the ensuing chaos, Will is saved from drowning by Violet, the illegitimate half-Indian daughter of a lord who seeks to follow in her brother Tom's footsteps and become a well-respected member of Crenshaw's crew. After overhearing a family secret concerning her, Violet runs away with Will and together they discover a secret society called the Stewards, an ancient order of people devoted to protecting the world from dark magic. They learn from the Stewards of a once powerful Dark King, who the Stewards believe will rise again. With reason to believe that Will is from a bloodline with powerful magic, the Stewards seek to train him and unleash his inner magic in order to defeat the Dark King.

Reception

The book received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise for reinterpreting tropes of YA fantasy. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' wrote that "Pacat uses fully fleshed-out, realistically flawed characters and a rich, if occasionally rote, mythology to explore issues of faith, fate, and free will." Natalie Zutter, in a review for

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

, praised the setting but felt that the Stewards were too one-dimensional and pure, while the themes of temptation and darkness were underexplored compared to Pacat's previous work. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' praised the complex characterization of the novel, but felt that the head-hopping between POV characters made it difficult to connect with the story. Carrie R. Wheadon of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

wrote that, despite good worldbuilding, the characters were largely unlikeable with the exception of Violet. The book received the 2021 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

References

LGBTQ speculative fiction novels Young adult fantasy novels 2021 fantasy novels 2021 LGBTQ-related literary works Quill Tree Books books LGBTQ-related young adult novels 2020s LGBTQ novels {{2020s-LGBT-novel-stub