This is an excellent first novel which had me gripped from the off. The characterisation is excellent, the Peak district locations are tangible with some brilliant and telling details and the narrative is superbly judged. I can heartily recommend Dark Peak for any sci-fi fan, or for that matter anyone interested in a thoroughly engrossing read. Top notch.
I was transported by this mystical adventure; empathising with the hapless, unwitting main character, caught up by the need-to-know-what-happens-next plot and relishing the sumptuous language that details with warm observation, the physical, emotional and magical states that this book inhabits.
I was especially drawn in by JG Parker’s detailed knowledge and exploration of the geological underworld and the eternal power of the earth’s elemental forces. The magical forces rooted in the ancient world are explained with equal authority. Set in contemporary times the underlying environmental warning has an unsettling poignancy.
I look forward to the next knee-grazing, oil-bubbling dramatic journey and perhaps the film….
Dark Peak introduces us to the world of Elementals (I hope introduce, I hope this will be the first of many adventures). Stone is an elemental who needs to alert his new companion to a terrible threat facing Earth by a mysterious destructive force. The problem is that Jake, the companion, doesn’t know what his role is and is a little reluctant. Jake is living, temporarily in a cottage in the peak district with his mother and sister, Bett. Bett and Jake’s father has just died and it is through his father’s line that Jake inherits the role of companion to the limestone dragon.
The writing is perfectly paced with beautiful East Midlands voices coming through in the dialogue. Although the protagonist is a teenage boy, and teenagers may well like this book, it is classic cross-over book with plenty to grab the adult reader. If you love Alan Garner, you will totally get this book with its key narratives of place, landscape and voice.
