Nah. Setting aside at page 58 (halfway through chapter 2) because while things are finally happening (in contrast to chapter 1, which was mostly fathers and sons whinging about each other) I am finding myself skimming the action. Partly because it's quite blocky - there was one page without paragraph breaks at all - but mostly because I just don't care about either Jacob or Carter. Which is in the end why I'm setting it down, because while the back summary promises me kidnappings, slavers, adventures towards freedom, it's going to be those two and it's probably going to be in the slightly rambly too-long style the book's had so far, and I'm not particularly interested. (I am mildly interested in Willow, but not enough to stick with the rest of these annoying blokes.)

Shame, because it's such a pretty cover.

**I am grateful to Nudge for supplying me with a free review copy.**

Jacob Carnehan is leading a settled and peaceful life as a provincial pastor in the town of Northhaven in the kingdom of Weyland. His son Carter, meanwhile, apprenticed to the Guild of Librarians, is dreaming of travel and adventure on the oceans of Pellas. On the day Carter is about to duel his former friend Duncan Landor over a young woman, slavers raid and burn the town and kidnap hundreds of young men and women to work in the Vandian sky mines. With nothing left to lose, Jacob Carnehan is determined to save Carter, no matter what it takes.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Stephen Hunt, even though I’ve got two of his earlier works on the shelf, yet to be read. In Dark Service is an imaginative foray into the world of sci-fantasy, by all accounts set in the distant future on a different planet, but with inhabitants descended from humans at its core. His world building is convincing, and for the majority of the book this plays out as a good old-fashioned, albeit futuristic, western. Although not too keen on the western genre, this wouldn’t be so bad in itself, but the entire novel is let down by clumsy prose, and the characters are forced to utter wooden, gung-ho, smart-aleck dialogue for the better part of the book.

The pacing is uneven: long passages filled with unnecessary and occasionally unintentionally comic and inappropriate elements, others fast-paced and described in often gory detail, with the author seeming to revel in the blood and violence. It’s also not easy to warm to any of the major characters, but at least they’ve been given space to develop and progress; I think the character I had the most problems with was the central character in the novel: Jacob Carnehan. The blurb on the back cover gives away a major plot twist in my opinion, as Jacob Carnehan’s dark and dangerous past is not hinted at at all in the course of the first few chapters, until he makes the decision to become the person he used to be once again; was this the decision of the author or the publisher? To be fair, this played a great part in my ordering the book, as here was the prospect of a tormented and conflicted psyche to be explored. Yet Jacob’s transformation from law-abiding, God-fearing churchman to lawless, ruthless killer plays out too smoothly, and the inner conflict did not convince me, despite his frequent inner monologues. There are several implausible and transparent plot developments with few genuine surprises, and I felt I had to suspend disbelief a little too often. I’m also not so sure about mysticism seemingly playing such a big part in the plot developments, but at least this leaves a few questions unanswered for the next volume in the Far-Called Sequence entitled Foul Tide’s Turning.

In short, despite the fast pace and the frequent violence, In Dark Service really dragged, but there’s enough interest left for me to want to know how the characters fare in the remaining two volumes of the trilogy. ( )