2 out of 4 stars
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Darrienia by K.J. Simmill is a complex story that follows a Zo and a group of her friends as they navigate between their world and Darrienia (the world of dreams). With the guardians of Darrienia trapped by the god Night, the world of dreams, and the tasks the friends must undertake, become increasingly dangerous. Within Darrienia there are runes which, once all are collected, will release the guardians. But Zo is finally starting to remember what happened to her between being a child and waking up in Crowley with no memory of her past. Will she be able to control the darkness she now knows lays just below the surface? Will her friends be able to stand strong together and release the guardians before Night can collect the final Grimoire and regain his full power?
K.J. Simmill has created a world entirely her own. It is complex and contains and almost overwhelming number of locations, races and secrets. The level of thought that must have gone into creating such a world is commendable, especially when the writing makes it clear that the author is familiar with every street in every town that she has created. This being said, the exact location of the travellers is sometimes in question. It becomes quickly confusing to determine if they are in the real world or Darrienia, especially since magic is present in both worlds. It is also difficult to follow where they are in that world as locations seem to move around quite a bit between the two worlds. The use of portals to change location within one world tends to complicate matters further, though their use does hurry the little group along.
The characters within this story are also quite complex. For the most part, each of their backstories is revealed in full before the end of the book. This helps tremendously in understanding them on an individual basis. Throughout the book, each of them makes their own mistakes, both big and small. This, along with the fact that each struggle with their own fear, makes them very relatable. Even when they make mistakes, their thought process is understandable.
While the level of thought that went into the creation of this world is indeed commendable, there were many times that I found it distracted from the story. There are always so many things going on at one time that it is often confusing as to what is really happening. This, paired with the long winded and often repetitive descriptions and thought processes make the book rather tedious to read. While the story is an interesting one, I found that it got lost in the pages of description. While some people will like the complexity, I felt it to be unnecessary, and that the same enthralling story could be told with a few less flourishes in many less pages. I also found several spelling and grammar mistakes.
Overall, I would rate Darrienia 2 out of 4 stars. While the story is an interesting one, it did get lost in the many details and long winded descriptions throughout the book. Therefore, this novel would appeal most to someone who enjoys a fantasy that keeps them constantly on their mental toes.
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Darrienia
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