The Shadow and Night, Part II

The Power of the Night, Chapter 1 (Chapter 21 of The Shadow and Night):

It is like being at the prow of a ship, thought Merral Stefan D’Avanos, as he gazed southward out of the rain-drenched windows of the Planetary Affairs building at the sodden houses, roads, and parks of Isterrane below.

Beyond the high gray wall that protected the city from storm and earthquake waves, he could faintly make out the angry white breakers of the ocean’s edge. A storm. How appropriate. A storm has been unleashed on this planet…And we must face what it brings. Do the others feel this?

[The ellipsis indicates omitted text to preserve the ending of the previous book.]

The Story: Disaster has hit Merral’s home planet, and to protect it he must engage in the unthinkable: war.

Building on part one of The Shadow and Night (The Shadow at Evening), Chris Walley’s futuristic novel continues to reveal evil in its many hideous—and oft overlooked—forms. In this latter part, even more than the first, I found myself blinking at the words I had just read and thinking, “That’s a manifestation of evil?!” And the end of this tale is a dramatic display of the God’s intolerance of the smallest sin…and the magnificent depths of his grace.

The Writing: The good writing of The Shadow at Evening is even better in The Power of the Night. He continues to use long description passages—a distraction in a few faster paced scenes—but many of the smaller problems have vanished, increasing my level of enjoyment.

Summary: I strongly recommend this second part to adults and young adults alike, even more than the first part. It is well worth the few hours it’ll take to read.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5