DARK DAYS

In Clayton’s dark fantasy, a boy and a girl fight to survive among merciless beings who’d just as soon devour them.

A fearsome being called Dinah, the “Bringer of All,” leads an army conquering a city at the behest of the Last God. This deity, apparently disappointed in the battle-weakened Dinah, deems her “disgraced” and names someone else as Bringer. Nine-year-old Ralen is one of the conquered city’s many people who are taken to be used as food for the victors. He and a younger fellow captive, Anjee, grow close to and protective of one another. Dinah believes Ralen is special (distinguished by “something I can’t define,” she says) and doesn’t want to eat him—at least not yet. The boy, who promises never to leave Anjee, does what he can to keep the both of them alive. This entails spying for one of Dinah’s stooges (who suspects treason among Dinah’s soldiers) and learning logistics and strategy from the First Commander. No matter how hard Ralen tries to secure his and Anjee’s safety, recurrent visions suggest his future is grim. Clayton jam-packs this novel, the first in a series. The huge cast includes golden-armored Fae, the clawed, rainbow-scaly “Drakein” who work for Dinah, and black-winged angels, two of whom take an inexplicable interest in Ralen. References to other worlds and species are mere hints, much like the characters who pop into the narrative and then vanish just as quickly. But the author maintains a clarifying focus on the superbly developed Ralen, Anjee, and Dinah (who, in between flashings of her fangs and threats to kill Ralen, may garner a touch of sympathy). There are unnerving elements aplenty, from creepy, “leathery” creatures that nibble on toes to Dinah’s minion Grin the Keeper, whose body is made up of various corpses. The story serves up a host of mysteries (including Dinah’s plan for Ralen), but Clayton opts for a cliffhanger and nominal resolutions.

A sometimes baffling but consistently engrossing tale of somber, menacing worlds.