Review: Downfall

Downfall by Marc J. Gregson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book in the young adult Above the Black trilogy, and brings everything to a pretty satisfying end. As I predicted in my review of the second book, Among Serpents, the new and nastier villain is the protagonist Conrad's uncle Ulrich, the self-proclaimed "King of the Skylands" (even though he gained his position through treachery and mass murder). Ulrich schemes against and manipulates everyone around him, and is not above sending his nephew to what will likely be his death in the monster-ridden Below.

We learn quite a bit more about this secondary world in this concluding volume, especially about the Below and its inhabitants the Lantians. In fact, that is my main issue with this book--there is so much necessary plot and background to be revealed that the first third of the book feels overstuffed. There is seemingly endless running and hiding and fighting, and the characters (and reader) scarcely get a chance to breathe. It's not till the middle section of the book that the pacing thankfully slows down, as Conrad lets everyone believe he is dead, takes on a new identity, and begins the preparations to challenge his uncle. He has to become a far better duellist than he's ever been, and he also has to prepare himself to take on the mantle of leadership--because if he defeats his uncle, he will be the new King of the Skylands.

This volume explores Conrad's dilemma, and how he will use what has been given to him by both his mother and father, the seemingly opposing traits of compassion and ruthlessness respectively, and his melding the two. At the story's climax, he does defeat his uncle, but the author acknowledges that the work won't end there. Conrad has to basically rebuild the world, undo the damage the Skylands has done to the Below, and balance many opposing factions. The situation is fragile and precarious, but the book ends with a reason to believe that Conrad will pull it off.

Taken together, these books boast well-thought-out worldbuilding and a satisfying story. They're nothing like most YA fantasies out there, to be sure. I'm happy to have read all three of them, and I think others will be too.

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