Into a Dark Realm

Into a Dark Realm

Into a Dark Realm first edition cover.
Author	Raymond E. Feist
Cover artist	Dominic Forbes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Darkwar Saga
Genre	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Voyager Books
Publication date	September 4, 2006
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	386 pp (first edition)
ISBN
Preceded by	Flight of the Nighthawks
Followed by	Wrath of a Mad God

Into a Dark Realm is a fantasy novel by Raymond E. Feist. It is the second book in the Darkwar Saga and was published in 2006. It was preceded by Flight of the Nighthawks and followed by the final book in the saga, Wrath of a Mad God.

Leso Varen has moved to wreak havoc on the world of Kelewan and Pug and the Conclave of the Shadows are determined to find him, only to find out he has stolen a body of a Tsurani magician. Meanwhile, Pug, Magnus, Nakor and Ralan Bek lead a desperate expedition into the Dasati realm hoping to find the key to defeating the enemy who threatens their homeworld.

Into a Dark Realm continues the Darkwar saga and mostly concentrates on two groups of characters. The first group consists of Pug, Magnus, Nakor and Ralan Bek who are attempting to reach the Dasati home world. The main problem facing them is that the Dasati exist on the Second Plane, the next lower plane of existence, a separate reality considered to be the first of the seven planes of hell (where the seven upper planes are considered heaven). The second group consists of Tad, Zane and Jommy who are sent into training by the Conclave of Shadows for their future as generals in the Conclave.

Tad, Zane and Jommy are sent to a monastic university in Roldem, where they will undergo training and education to prepare them for their future roles with the Conclave. Upon arrival, they instantly clash with a group of boys led by a bully named Servan, who they later discover is related to the king of Roldem. Eventually, the two groups of boys are forced to work out their differences, for they are soon released from the university, and commissioned as junior officers in the Roldemish army, where they immediately begin serving together in campaigns against raiders from Roldem's border colonies. There Tad, Zane and Jommy are reunited with Kaspar, another agent of the Conclave, who is a senior officer with the army.

Meanwhile, on their journey to the Dasati realm, Pug and his companions spend time with the Ipiliac, a race related to the Dasati, on their world of Delecordia, halfway between the first and second planes. There they become acclimated to the conditions they will face in the second plane, and undergo crucial training and education to help them survive in the harsh Dasati society. As he spends more and more time closer to the second plane, Bek realizes he belongs there, easily acclimating to the nature of the plane as well as the culture, and expresses a desire to stay behind when the others return.