Swallowing Darkness

Rating NR Genre fantasy Author Laurell K. Hamilton Publisher Ballantine

This seventh book of Hamilton’s wildly imaginative Merry Gentry series opens almost precisely where the previous book, A Lick of Frost ended. While recovering from a brutal attack by her uncle, Taranis, Princess Meredith and her men are hit with another assassination attempt. Only this time, it is Doyle and the other guards who are the intended targets. 

In a bid to control Merry as well as the fate of her unborn children, Taranis and the Seelie court launch a vicious attack to eliminate the babies’ fathers. This results in the death of someone very close to the princess. In her grief and rage, she calls upon the power of the goddess. When the wild magic is released, it heralds the return of relics of power so ancient the oldest of the sidhe had nearly forgotten them. Merry must use these to battle her way out of Faerie to safety in the human realm and ultimately decide if she can be queen enough to rule.

This is an elegant, furious tale told with Hamilton’s typical blend of lyric sensuality and earthy grittiness. The action starts almost immediately and never lets up. When one sequence is finished, another build up begins almost immediately. There is always a sense that something is about to happen and that Merry is never quite safe. 

The revelations begun in A Lick of Frost continue in Swallowing Darkness as ongoing subplots such as the murder of Prince Essus, Merry’s father, as well as the final fate of Killing Frost are resolved. Ms. Hamilton spins a tale of wondrous imagining, an enchanting world with vividly complex characters, amazingly told in the first person. Her prose and descriptions are so graphic and distinct, it is almost as though we can breathe the chilled air and touch the magic. In Merry, Hamilton has created an immediate and visceral connection for the reader that is sustained magnificently throughout each book. 

The only drawback is that the series must be read in order, although Merry does give a summation at the start of each book. However, with the workings of the magic, the various intrigues and the huge cast of characters, if you start in the middle, you may feel lost. That aside, I highly recommend Swallowing Darkness as well the entire Merry Gentry series. Laurell K. Hamilton is a uniquely gifted writer not to be missed.