Into the shadows | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books
There isn't anything like the grand intellectual ambition of Pullman here; none of the serious moral intelligence of His Dark Materials. Likewise, while the horror elements should appeal to Shan fans looking for their next fix, Becker doesn't yet have Shan's command of tone. Where Shan excels at building a sense of creeping unease, keeping the tension levels constantly rising, Becker is a little too preoccupied with plot mechanics to create genuine terror.
"All of which is to judge a first novel by the very highest standards," adds S F Said, in his review of Tom Becker's Darkside.
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