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Darkmage
Author: M.L. Spencer
Publisher: Stoneguard Publications (November 18, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0615567983
Trade Paperback: 560 pages
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Darkmage is a self-published, debut novel which asks the age-old question: just how far can you go with the idea that the end justifies the means? Determined to show us the fine line between good and evil, first-time author M.L. Spencer has penned a unique fantasy that’s wonderfully written and impeccably edited. Also, in my opinion, other than the use of one questionable plot device, there’s nothing of the author that gets in the way of the story. This is an accomplishment worthy of our TD Recommended award…
The questionable plot device I just spoke of goes by a handful of names and may be unfamiliar to many readers. So, please, relax, and I’ll tell you all about it…
I prefer to call this oft frowned upon plotting tool—The McGuffin. A favourite of the original Star Trek tv series, The McGuffin is something the heroes want passionately, or it’s a nameless horror they can’t seem to best. They may even be fleeing from it. “What was it, Spock?” is a phrase well remembered. Sometimes the answer was, “Perhaps we’ll never know,” and sometimes it was a bastardized Shakespearean quote, courtesy of Bones… “There are more things in heaven and earth, Spock, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” My memory of these phrases has no doubt been warped by time, but you get the idea, right? The McGuffin is a plot element designed to grab your attention or to drive the story, but it can be anything and it doesn’t have to ever “come on stage.” I used Star Trek as an example because so many of us fondly remember the crew of the Enterprise as they fought or helped or were chased by some strange, undefined creature. Often, we never found out what these “things” were. And it didn’t matter. They’d served their purpose of driving the story forward. They were the mysterious, meaningless, McGuffin.
But… this isn’t always how The McGuffin works. Sometimes The McGuffin isn’t ambiguous or undefined; sometimes it’s very, very real to the characters and the readers. My favourite McGuffin is one used by Stephen King. An entire novel was based on it. Care to guess? The novel was called Under The Dome.
In Darkmage by M.L. Spencer, there are actually 2 McGuffins. One is brilliant in its construction and use. The other bothered me, and I know in my gut that its use made this brilliant debut sparkle a little less brightly.
At the beginning of the novel Darien Lauchlin is returning from years of exile to claim what’s rightfully his. He will complete what he has trained for all his life; Darien shall become a Sentinel, a great Mage and a sworn guardian of the land known as the Rhen. But… everything goes wrong as his brother opens a gate to Hell, right in the middle of the ceremony.
Throughout the rest of the story we are reminded again and again of The Well of Tears, the ghastly light that continues to shoot out of it and the evil creatures who may have used it to escape Hell. This is because Darien has sworn to close the well, no matter what the cost. After all, his brother had sacrificed the woman Darien loved, opened the gate to Hell and brought forth demons who destroyed his home and who killed every capable mage but Darien. However, we do not see the Well of Tears again until the concluding portion of the story. Why? The McGuffin has done its job, sending the plot forward at light speed.
The next McGuffin is The Enemy, who are needed to create a plausible threat to the Rhen and create problems Darien must solve, face or destroy before he’ll be free to close the Well of Tears. And so we have “the enemy,” who inhabit the impenetrable Black Lands and who have finally amassed an army capable of breaking through the Rhen’s defenses. Thus, Darien must create a plan so fantastic as to allow him to find an acolyte and turn him into a powerful mage in just a few, short weeks; devise a way to break free of the physical and mental chains that keep him from doing the kind of harm he must do if he’s to save his land and his people; then convince his own soldiers, then a king and a queen, too, so that they might appear to be falling back with their armies to a place where the enemy can converge on them from two directions at an exact moment, and at a place of Darien’s choosing.
This McGuffin is too obvious in its purpose, and this is why I have a problem with it. There are constant battles against this enemy throughout the entire novel, as The McGuffin pushes the plot to its desired end. Now, I think a well that spills yellow light into the sky and is never seen again until it is required in order to force the story to a close, is perfect use of this plot element. But a black-armoured army of faceless, nameless and never ending enemies? That doesn’t work for me. A clash between the good guys and the bad guys must involve the reader. It must make us believe there is a chance of failure. And a soldier shouldn’t fall because of a sword or arrow that came from nowhere. We want to see the green, yellow and red eyes of a demon-raised army of (possibly dead) warriors who can’t be killed–only stopped by beheading (*My example. This isn’t in the book).
So, in my opinion, M.L. Spencer lost the opportunity to bring much more vitality to her book. You see, by making the enemy as real to us as her own soldiers, this author would have brought a whole other dimension to the story. And I’ll even tell you why this is so important. Darien plans from the very beginning of his nightmare to destroy the enemy army. Now, let’s say they’re a force of at least 100,000 individuals. In M.L. Spencer’s novel, that would just be a number and some words. But had we looked those enemies in the eyes, no matter how evil and deadly they might be, that number and those words would suddenly become people. No one wants to be a part of mass murder—even if the people are the enemy, even if those people might be the walking dead.
Enough! Despite the rather large error, I still find myself wanting to say “Hell of a first novel, M. L. Spencer! Just stay away from those no-good McGuffins. Do so, and the 4 stars you get today will easily become 5.
Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2012
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M.L. Spencer was born in 1971 in Redlands, CA. She fell in love with Fantasy fiction at the age of seven when her grandmother bought her the complete collection of Stephen R. Donaldson’s books. At thirteen she won First Place in the Writing Celebration and has been writing ever since. A high school science teacher, Ms. Spencer has a passion for nature, music, art and family. She lives not far from where she was born with her three children and her cornsnake, Rajah.
Now, M.L. Spencer gets a chance to tell you about Darkmage her way…
THE BACK COVER
The hope of the world rests in the hands of a Darkmage
The Well of Tears is open and the terror of the night has been unleashed. Now, the last Sentinel left alive with the power to defend his world against the minions of the Netherworld is a man destined to be corrupted into the image of what he hates. In the name of duty, Darien Lauchlin will see oaths forsaken, crowns toppled, friends sacrificed and the land he loves desecrated. For there is a very thin line between duty… and brutal inhumanity.
“A beautifully written tale that challenges our convictions of right and wrong.”
PLOT/THEME
When I set out to write Darkmage, my goal was to take a strong main character, break him down through a harsh serious of trials, and then reshape him into something completely in opposition to his moral integrity. So I came up with a plot that subjects my hero, Darien Lauchlin, to a slippery-slope descent into darkness, where every choice he makes seems to be the “right” decision at the time. Unfortunately, as in real life, seldom are such decisions as black-and-white as they seem.
The theme of the novel is an exploration in the moral and ethical choices we all make; specifically, how much evil should one commit in order to achieve a benevolent outcome? Each of Darien’s choices is made with the best of intentions?but all are morally questionable. After all is said and done, one can wonder if Darien hasn’t become a greater threat than the evil he fights against. Which is a big problem, as he happens to be his world’s only chance of salvation.
Darkmage chronicles Darien’s plight he strives to save his people from the terrors his brother has unleashed by unsealing the Well of Tears, a gateway to the Netherworld. After his brother’s betrayal, Darien finds himself the only mage left alive capable of defending his homeland against an invading alliance between the ancient Enemy and eight darkmages released by the unsealing of the Well. But Darien’s hands are tied; he has sworn the Oath of Harmony, vowing to never use his power in the taking of a life. He is forced to choose between clinging to the moral traditions of his predecessors or forsaking them altogether and charting a course that can only result in him becoming the most dangerous power his world has ever known. Along with his acolyte, Kyel Archer, and Naia Seleni, a priestess of Death, Darien embarks on a perilous quest to turn back the invading armies and seal the Well of Tears. Ultimately, Darien must choose between abandoning his people to the devastation wrought by the Enemy or fully embracing the evil he opposes.
how far he can make him go in the direction of self-sacrifice. He must be brought to emotion, which is the exact opposite of Richard Draman in The Immortalists. Draman is pushed and twisted until he ceases to care, until he starts a war where only one man will be left standing at the end. What? A protagonist who becomes, for all appearances, one of the bad guys? Somehow, I see this as Kyle Mills trademark. He can take things we have seen in life or on tv or have read in a book and twist them like no other, just to see how far they will bend. 
