Platinum Tinted Darkness (The Legacy of Boulon #1), by Timothy Wolff
The Book
Synopsis:
The Kingdom of Boulom has been lost.
The realms have already seen what happens when the Gods and their Harbingers are left unchecked.
Destruction. Chaos.
Death.
The Gods cannot be trusted. No one knows that better than David Williams, the leader of the Guardians tasked to protect the realm from the gods and their powerful Harbingers ever since the fall of Boulom.
Six Guardians take their pledge to leave the squabbles of kingdoms behind and live only to stop the Harbingers and protect the realm from the gods.
Serenna Morgan, a famed Crystal Mage and Guardian, struggles with the Guardian Pact when the Kingdom of Terrangus invades her home.
She's supposed to stay out of it.
But she can't.
When she breaks her Oath and joins in the skirmish, she earns the favor of the God of Death when the conflict escalates to an all-out war.
And he makes her an offer, one that'll make sure she'll never fail in her goals again.
To become his Harbinger. To partake in the ecstasy of destruction.
My Review
Platinum Tinted Darkness is the first book on the Legacy of Boulon series, a dark/epic fantasy proposal written by Timothy Wolff, and which was one of the SPFBO9 entries. A book that introduces us to a world of gods, mages and lizard people, with heavy inspiration from MMORPGs, and that fits totally the vibe of "what if we go to fight against gods".
In Boulon, gods are the embodiment of powerful forces, such as death, fear, strength, etc... and cannot be trusted. A few chosen ones are used as their Harbingers, turning their bodies into vessels for an incredible amount of power, becoming an immediate threat to the world, needed to be stopped. This is the labour of the Guardian, six powerful individuals that combat together, and who swear to maintain themselves apart from political disputes.
But all changes when Serenna Morgan oversteps and breaks the Pact, tired of seeing her people dying, attracting the attention of Death to become its Harbinger.
The actions of Serenna open a crack in the Guardians, as not all of them are sure she should continue being part; but with how twisted are gods' intentions in this world, letting one of the best Guardians go is not exactly an option.
With this premise, Wolff continues exploring the relationship between them, how some get targetted by gods, while at the same time, Boulon is struggling with the political and militar fights.
Wolff introduces us to a rich world, with several kingdoms that are fighting between themselves; in the middle of all, the Guardians are the institution that ensures a certain stability against the gods' designs. They are supposed to be the best warriors/wizards, working and fighting in a style that remembers to the job system in FF; as they are against forces much more powerful, coordination and teamwork is the key.
I personally appreciated that gods are developed and we get to know more about their past lives; instead of being generic forces, we soon discover how they are relatively known figures in the history of Boulon.
The pacing is quite fast, full of action and combats, really well written; however, it can feel confusing at the start, especially with how the Guardians start at different places during the book.
Platinum Tinted Darkness is the gate to a world with so much potential, that you will love if you are a fan of JRPGs or even DnD. Can't wait to continue with the adventures in the second book, which will be released this December.
The Author/s
Timothy Wolff
Timothy Wolff lives in Long Island, New York, and holds a master’s degree in economics and a career in finance. Such a life has taught him the price of everything but the value of nothing. He enjoys pizza bagels, scotch, karaoke, oxford commas, and spending the day with family and friends. The obvious culmination of the past 35 years was to write a 400+ page fantasy novel where a drunk teams up with a swordsman, two mages, and lizard-people to oppose god. Why do we write these in the third person?
Strength without honor—is chaos!