The Dark Griffin by KJ Taylor

The theme of racism has been around a long time in fantasy. It was there when Lord of the Rings set the stage for the genre and has been explored again and again by its successors in various guises.

Few, however, tackle it with such depressing accuracy as KJ Taylor's The Dark Griffin.

The main character Arren is what's called a blackrobe; a derogatory term for a race of enslaved humans. He's unusually lucky because he's also the chosen companion of a Griffin, which makes him aristocracy despite his origins. For someone like him, he's at the best place he could possibly be. So naturally, after a terrible accident, there is nowhere to go but down.

I'll be honest - this was a tough read for me. It holds no punches, exploring  how poisonous internalized racism is and how bigotry becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Several times I had to put the book down and go look at a sunset or watch cat videos.

I think what made it worse is that there's no traditional villain. Everyone is simply doing what they believe is best. It's like a Greek tragedy, except that the fatal flaw doesn't lie within the protagonists but the culture around them. Nor are these problems treated as a purely human failing, which would have been an easy out for the author to take. The Griffins are entirely complicit in this system.

It's a different twist on Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, where rulership is restricted to partnerships with mystical bond animals. But unlike the Heralds' Companions, the Griffins do not come with an omniscient morality licence and choose their partners for reasons just as noble or petty or biased as any human. Which works out exactly as well as you'd expect in the long run.

If you don't mind bleak tragedy, The Dark Griffin makes for a pretty interesting read. Taylor dives head-first into a heavy topic and for the most part she handles it well. Her Achilles heel is characterization, particularly in regards to Arren who remains something of a cipher despite him being the main protagonist. We never get much of a sense of his personality or disposition, outside his desperation to reclaim his old status.

Of course, as the first book in a trilogy, there's still plenty of room for growth.

Final Verdict: Good. With a better developed protagonist I'd have said Awesome.

"And places like this are shrinking. Humans always want more land. Soon there will be nowhere left for you or your kind."