This is the second of two books in this series written by Josepha Sherman, and I have to be completely honest and admit right up front that it was always my least favorite. This caused a fair amount of frustration when it also turned out to be the only book I was EVER able to find in stores during my desperate and totally unsuccessful search for Sun Blind and The Final Test.
But I digress.
So why did I have such a problem with this book? Not because it was badly written, which it wasn't. Not because I disliked the new villain (which I didn't, for the most part). There was even another kiss between Sheila and Darian, which, as you know by now, I was a complete sucker for.
Nope, had no problems with any of that.
I simply found The Dark Gods to be... well... silly. Even as a grade-schooler I thought it was a little over the top. This is a weird-sounding statement, I know, but nothing drives me crazier in a fantasy story than "silliness," and I was quite turned off by it here.
The thing is, when I checked out other people's reactions to The Dark Gods, I was surprised to learn that a lot of them thought it was funny.
What? Funny?
That was when an entirely new thought occurred to me: Was it possible that Ms. Sherman was going for humor with this book? Was it possible that I simply took it all too seriously back then?
Well, of course it is.
As I skim through The Dark Gods today (something I haven't done in years), I can see that's probably what she was going for. And again you can tell that the book was written by a true "writer." Kumuru and the Dark Gods are two names that are mentioned in several of the other books, only to be finally dealt with directly in this one.
The only thing I can really find to still complain about today is Illyria's "awakening." That drove me absolutely nuts as a kid, and it still bugs me today. I mean - come on. There's silly and there's humorous and then there's just " ...wha?"
Anyway, one final thing that I must mention in the book's favor: Ms. Sherman gave one of her characters a last name that was almost identical to my own - off by one letter, I think - and I always found that funny.
Which, now that I think about it, is rather ironic.
MY RATING: 
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