The Dark Realm (Feyland, #1)

by Anthea Sharp

What if an immersive game was a gateway to the treacherous Faerie Realm?

WHEN A GAME...
Feyland is the most immersive sim-game ever designed, and Jennet Carter is the first to play the prototype. But she doesn’t suspect the virtual world is close enough to touch — or that she’ll be battling for her life against the Dark Queen of the faeries.

TURNS REAL...
Tam Linn is the perfect hero — in-game. Too bad the rest of his life is seriously flawed. The last thing he needs is rich-girl Jennet prying into his secrets, insisting he’s the only one who can help her.

WINNING IS EVERYTHING...
Together, Jennet and Tam enter the Dark Realm of Feyland, only to discover that the entire human world is in danger. Pushed to the limit of their abilities, they must defeat the Dark Queen… before it’s too late.

• ISBN10: 1680130013
• ISBN13: 9781680130010
• Publish Date: 4 December 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Fiddlehead Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Feyland: The Dark Realm is pure, delightful fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging quest and romance. It blurred the lines between reality and gaming. While I have absolutely no experience playing this type of video game; I have watched enough of my son playing quest games to appreciate the plot and understand the world of Feyland. I love the way in which Sharp weaves fairy folklore and Scottish ballads into this tale.

The protagonist is Jennet Carter and her father’s employer, VirtuMax, designs gaming systems that enable the player to experience first person playing through his or her avatar. Jennet’s Dad brings home two systems that they play together. When the creator of the software program dies while playing the game; Jennet’s Dad forbids her to play. Jennet a typical teenager begins playing secretly. She moves through Feyland completing quests and fighting bosses. She reaches the final level and does battle with the Queen. Something goes terribly wrong and the Queen steals Jennet’s essence. She becomes ill in real life and must find a knight to win back what she has lost. Tam Linn is a guy with problems. He lives in the slums, has a mother who is mentally ill and a brother that will make anyone crazy. He has built his own gaming system and works for spare parts and free games. In the game world he is confident and brave. In the real world, he has few friends and heavy burdens. He may be the only one who can save Jennet.

The tale that unfolds is beautifully written and moves at a steady pace. The romance between Jennet and Tam is sweet. I loved the characters in Feyland and the world-building there. The way in which Sharp blurs the lines between this world and Feyland was cool. When I close my eyes I can almost see the characters and creatures that dwell there.


I highly recommend Feyland to fans of fantasy, video games, quests and romances. This is the first in a series or trilogy. The next book entitled Feyland: The Bright Court will be published in the spring of 2012. This novel is currently available in digital and paper formats. I will be watching for more from this author.
I want to thank the author for providing me this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

[lizarodz]

I received an ARC of Feyland last month for review and I have to say I am impressed with this book. It’s not what I expected, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Jennet is a strong female lead. She is resourceful and tries her best to be brave, even in the face of danger. She “lost” the game of Feyland and now is need of not only a strong player, but a knight to champion her. She finds both in Tam. Tam is brave, stubborn, and a bit impulsive, and just what Jennet needs. Tam’s family life is so difficult that my heart was breaking for him. I really liked Peter (the Bug) Tam’s brother and his friend Marny. Jennet’s father was kind of absent, but he did care for her and tried to be involved in her life.

Fayland is a fantasy placed in an unexplained future in which technology is more advanced, but economic and social differenced seemed not to have changed much. I don’t understand why the “big bad company” would spend millions developing a “game”, but there were people in such dire circumstances, but then again, that is a reality of life. I hope there are some changes about Tam’s family situation in the future.

The plot was very original (although is loosely based on the Ballad of Tam Lin, which I’ve never read before). The main idea is that the game acts as a “in between” for the Fey realm and the real world. Ms. Sharp’s writing is really good, fluid, and easy to read and full of descriptions. Even this being an imaginary world it was easy to relate and understand the story, as well as the technology behind it. I am looking forward to the sequel

About the cover: The cover portraits the general idea of the book, that the “game” comes to life.