Review of Venturing into the Darkness

[Charlienmegan Wehner]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Venturing into the Darkness" by Erna J. Weissman.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Venturing into the Darkness by Erna J. Weissman is a fictional novel that follows Jonathan, an outcast orphan who knows little about his biological parents or where he came from. Jonathan runs away from the orphanage one night and is quickly thrown into a world he never knew existed. He is forced to overcome many difficult challenges and battles as he makes his way through a magical Underworld. With every turn, Jonathan encounters mysterious creatures that live in this world teeming with magic. As he works to unravel a mystery so complex, he learns more about this world and himself than he could have ever imagined.

I enjoyed entering Weissman’s fantasy world. There was every type of mythical creature you could envision, including shadow beasts, the undead, mages, and angels. The story is fast-paced and very exciting as the protagonist works through a series of trials. The author paints the story with robust descriptions that allow the reader to easily visualize this world. I also appreciated that I was constantly guessing throughout the story as the mystery slowly unraveled. The author wrote in a suspenseful way that had me turning the pages well into the night.

I did find that throughout the story, the protagonist meets a wide variety of supporting characters. These supporting characters are just as quickly introduced as they are discarded in the story, which made for a challenging time for me to remember who each of the characters was. I would suggest the author pairs down some of the side characters so that it’s easier for the reader to keep everyone straight. Furthermore, I believe it would have been more enjoyable if some of the significant supporting characters were more thoroughly explored. For example, the protagonist meets friends at the beginning of the book. These friends are not in the majority of the story, but they do come back at the conclusion. The friends are almost written as an afterthought and even though we discover information at the end about them that seems crucial, the information is quickly moved beyond.

I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The author was innovative in the creation of their world. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was pleasantly surprised by some of the unexpected twists. The book was well-edited which made for an easier reading experience. I do believe that if some of the significant supporting characters were written with greater complexity, it would have been an even more engaging story.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys escaping into a fictional world of magic and mystical creatures. Readers that love the unexpected and enjoy constant adventure will find this book very satisfying.

******
Venturing into the Darkness
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Chiwendu Ikechukwu]

from this review, i cant but say that the storyline is powerful and the author did a great job. nice review.