3.75/5 (5,71/10)

Okay… It took me a few days to do this because I needed time to process it.
I love GGK. I've always loved his novels, some more than others, but he's become one of my favorite authors. That's why I was so excited when I heard this book, Written on the Dark, was coming out. But to my surprise, and it pains me to say this, it was a disappointment. And I attribute it all to the fact that it's so short.

But yes. It was a disappointment. It starts off well, but you can soon see how different it is from the others, although unlike the Children of Earth and Sky trilogy, it's not a welcome change. It doesn't feel like it was written by the author.
The characters aren't memorable, although I must admit that Robbin and Medor were my favorites, and Barratin was interesting. They all have potential, but aren't developed. By explaining so much but not showing it, the characters, and the plot, fall short. My biggest disappointment was the character who plays Joan of Arc. Guy Gavriel Kay had a golden opportunity to develop a half-world concept that appears in some of his other novels: the voice heard in the chapels of Jad. "Written on the Dark" was the perfect novel to develop the mythology of Jad and that religion's relationship with the half-world, but no, nothing. Because that has been another disappointment: the half-world.

GGK's half-world has always been one of the most interesting aspects of his works. That mystical, divine atmosphere, beyond human understanding, full of symbolism, meaning, and feelings every time it's mentioned. But in this story, it seemed more like a parody, something unimportant, used simply to achieve the happy ending the author wanted. It's something that has hurt me a lot, as a fan of his works.

About the plot... The concept and the real historical contrast are interesting. The problem was how it was written. From the beginning, it moves very quickly, so quickly that it doesn't stop to develop what's happening; “Thierry, you have to leave the country.” “Okay.”—change of scene and characters. Back to Thierry—“Wow, it's been almost a month and I miss my country.” Literally, the whole book is like that: it says a lot, but shows very little. Another thing that really bothers me is that, reading the synopsis, it literally tells you the whole story. You read the synopsis and you've already read the whole book.

And that ending (not the epilogue, which I'll talk about later). That ending leaves you with the same feeling you would feel sitting in a cafe, having a random person sit in front of you, says “hello,” gets up, and leaves. Now think, how would that situation leave you at first? Well, that's how this ending leaves you: SPOILER FOLLOWING -they reach the final scene which is a battlefield, they talk, they do nothing but talk, something unprepared by a random character that let the main characters like "wtf" happens, they leave and the story ends- END OF SPOILER.

Now, why do I give it a 3.75 out of 5? Simply because of the epilogue. In my opinion, it's the best epilogue he's ever written. All the feelings he didn't put into the main story, he put in the epilogue.
And finally, adding that "interlude" chapter, which, honestly, wasn't necessary and was very strange to read. I know I'm wrong, but I want to believe, and I'm going to, that this book is simply that, an interlude, because I have a hard time believing that someone as talented as GGK could have written something like this, so... emotionless, quick, short, "tell don't show," wasted, almost parody-like book. I refuse to accept it, and I won't.

A big disappointment.