I Have not been the biggest fan of this series, although I am a huge fan of the author. However Ya Fantasy Historical fiction does not seem to be her forte.

It was much of the same as the other books in this series however there was no progression to an actual outcome of the whole situation. It has drama and intrigue but it is seems to be somewhat diluted. Maybe YA is just not my genre? This book did keep me more captivated than the other ones I have to say, the Dancing Curse was a little odd and out there and a few strange things happened along the way that kept my interest, however this was a case of “Do I actually care to find out what happens to these people?” If I was not such a stickler for not leaving a book unfinished I don’t think I would of bothered.

I’m just not feeling this series AT ALL.

4.5

When I first started this series, one of the things that I liked best was that there was a scientific explanation for the wonders and signs of the end of days that Luca was inquiring about. I feel like the 3rd book, and now this one, departed from that. There was no explanation about what the Alchemists were doing. And now this “Being” is never explained. I would like a return to that.

I also would like to see Isolde’s story progress a little more. I feel like very little on that front has been accomplished since book 2 began.

Though I think that it might have helped if I'd read the first three instalments of the Order of Darkness series, this worked so well as a standalone. Such an interesting premise, obviously based on historical facts. So interesting (and also a little scary) to witness the mistreatment of Jews even back in the 1400s. The ending was poignant and drew the novel to a close so well. Powerful.

3.5/5 Stars

19/03/18

Overview:

The Dark Tracks is the fourth book in the Order of Darkness series. In this series we follow our main character, Luca Vero who is considered a ‘changeling’, and as a result he is recruited by the Pope into the Order of Darkness, where he will travel the world as an inquirer to investigate the perceived ‘end of days’. In this instalment, Luca and his band of friends continue to inquire about the end of days in Christendom.

Character – Rating: 5/5

Probably the best thing about this whole series are the characters. Obviously after four books I like the series and feel for the characters as I’ve followed them for such a long time. I originally read the first book when I was 12 years old and reading this book was a massive throwback for me. Luca, Isolde, Frieze, and I guess, Brother Peter are all complex and just wonderful characters to read from. My favourite though, is Ishraq, she’s just a pure bad-ass woman who doesn’t take any nonsense, and she’s just great. I think the characters do make this novel, as if the characters were mediocre then the book would just be quite a nothing book in my opinion. Gregory definitely saves it with her complex characters.

Plot – Rating: 2/5

I did think this was one of the weaker plots in the whole series, to be honest. I felt that there was never really a clear storyline and it was just a mixture of things. It starts off on the basis that there is a dancing sickness that forces people to dance, and Luca and the crew are trying to inquire about how this may relate to the end of days. I felt this plot line got a bit lost in the whole relation to the oppression of Jews, and whilst this was interesting, the dancing sickness never really concluded. I never really felt we had been given a definitive answer, and the book felt like the whole adventure had been pretty much for nothing. However, we did get the progression on Isolde’s fight for Lucretili, and that was quite interesting and fun and added an underlying plot to the storyline which I felt the books needed. And oh my lord the romance! The first three books we are pretty much told the budding romance, but it all changes in this book, and to be honest, I’m conflicted. Whilst it’s pretty adorable, I still feel like the woman should be with someone else 3 which I’m not going to reveal as I don’t want to spoil anyone.

World Building and Writing – Rating: 3.5/5

I decided to incorporate writing in this, as it’s not a fantastical world really. There is a brief lay out that I feel is described well by Gregory, however, I would like to know more about the history of the Ottomans and the Jews, as I think that would give me more knowledge about the struggle between religions. However, the world is relatively standard. I do think Gregory is one of the best historical fiction writers to ever grace the earth – all of her stuff is well researched and she manages to tell the story very compellingly. Although, I feel as if this series restricts her writing and it seems very simplistic and more like this happened then this happened, then this happened, it didn’t have the same flow that most Gregory novels do. This is possibly due to this being aimed at quite a younger audience. So, yeah, I think the world building and writing was pretty standard, nothing special but certainly not bad at all.

Overall Rating – 3.5/5

Overall, the Order of Darkness books are never going to be the best literary texts in the world, and is certainly not one of the best from Gregory. However, it’s a really solid historical/fantasy series that is very enjoyable and holds lots of sentimental and nostalgic values to me.

I really wasn't in the reading mood at all this month, but suddenly read almost the entire book today. I really enjoyed this book, at times I thought that it was hard to keep up with and I couldn't fully understand the situations or scenes because the descriptions didn't really make sense to me. I couldn't picture how the 'Being' looked, or sometimes the time scales, for example when frieze was trying to save Isolde. I'm really curious about the love triangle, and where it will all go, also how Isolde will react to Ishraq and Luca.

I waited for ages for this book to be released and just recently I finally got around to buying it. I have read all the previous books in the series and really enjoyed them, I loved them so much I bought the first two as a present for my niece to read. So as you can imagine I was quite excited to read this book. Sadly the book did not live up to my enthusiasm and I doubt I will be recommending it to my niece.

The story continues with the same five characters from the series, Luca, Brother Peter, Freize, Isolde, and Ishraq. Luca is a novice not yet a full monk who works for the Order of Darkness a secret order that is monitoring things for the signs of the end of days. Brother Peter is a full monk who is following Luca writing down everything that they see and writing the reports for the secret order. He is also the oldest member of the five and makes sure that Luca remains faithful to his training to one day be a monk. Freize is Luca’s manservant who is extremely loyal and unfailing in his service. Isolde is a noblewoman who is trying to fight for her lands and castle with her friend Ishraq who she grew up with.

Luca, Brother Peter and Freize have been sent off to follow and study the people affected by the dancing sickness or madness, people in groups have decided to go off and dance leaving everything they know behind them. As their road is the same as Isolde’s and Ishraq’s they carry on travelling together.

The dancing sickness or madness was a phenomenon that was recorded in medieval times and times after that and there have been many theories as to the cause, however it has never been confirmed as to what it is. I always enjoy Gregory’s books because of the historical references within them and I was intrigued by the dancing sickness when reading about it in the blurb, however the book did not reveal as much as I would like to have learnt about it and the final result the characters came up with regarding it was a huge disappointment, it was like Gregory just wanted the book to finish within a certain word count and so gave up.

The other issue she discussed in the book was the treatment of Jews in the medieval times and this I did find interesting and was horrified about what I learnt from it. The scene at the end of the book was also very interesting. This issue is basically why the book did not get just one star.

In this book I found the two females sadly lacking, in the previous books they had been so strong and not the typical weak female of the time. However, this time Isolde fell in love with a pair of shoes and Ishraq some earrings when they knew they were meant to be on their guard. They came across as very vain and uninteresting. Ishraq did show her fighting skills and that was good to read but Isolde just came across as a protected spoiled brat and the more I read regarding her the less I liked her.

Considering this is the fourth book in the series the characters are not growing and to be honest have grown stale. I want to see their characters develop and to see them grow intellectually and emotionally and to be honest they almost went backwards in this book. Brother Peter and Freize were the only two who made the book bearable.

Overall the book showed what we already know, nobility in medieval times were horrible, self centred and cared nothing for their people. The treatment of Jews was a surprise for me and the dancing sickness was interesting to read about. However I could read about the Jews’ history and the dancing sickness in a history book and probably find it a great deal more interesting. The characters were severely lacking and quite frankly dull. I doubt I will bother to read the next in the series which is a great shame as the previous three were excellent.

Despite Gregory's style, which I often find stilted, I am enjoying this series that I initially picked up for a song in the works. A valid examination of prejudice and fear of that which seems "other". The characters are bold and I enjoy Isolde and Ishraq's no nonsense attitudes and am curious to see how the series ends. They are short reads that vary between mindless and challenging (in terms of our own views - this latest installment particularly at this time of rising prejudice).