The Benighted by A. M. Dunnewin is already six years old and the sequel, which is promised in the subtitle “The Benighted Saga – Book 1” has yet to be released. Needless to say, I will only be reviewing the first book in this series.

The Benighted is about the Royal Princess of Correnth, Skylar Mandolyn. As we learn in the opening chapter, Skylar has been imprisoned. The story is told through a series of flashbacks covering the events that have lead to her current abuse and torture. Memories of her family, court ladies and of course her personal knight, are interspersed with the dark, cold cell, the beatings and pressure to sign a mysterious document.

I really appreciated the out of order telling of Skylar’s life from her brother’s death, meeting Sir Harlin Brien (her personal guard), through the estrangement with her father, the mecanations of the evil court advisor Cross Lutherus, to Skylar eventually being locked in the prison tower. I think the tension that was woven through this tail of reflection would have been lost if everything had been presented chronologically.

It also keeps some of the surprises, those important dangling threads needed for any sequels, nicely hidden until the end of the book. The reader can than look back over the course of events leading to our protagonist being locked up and start to understand some of the rational used to come to this point.

The other aspect that I liked was the level of technology. The world is not deeply discussed in the book. Really, it sits there as a backdrop, more obscured, as Skylar is focussed on her personal grief than the welfare of the Kingdom. Established early on, Skylar’s brother was heir to the throne before his death. And many of her first revealed memories circle around the sense of loss she feels because of her brother’s absence.

While sword wielding knights exist in this world – as is epitomized by Sir Brien’s summoning to court to become Skylar’s personal guard – they also have guns! And steamships. So, the feel of the world is not medieval, though not actually modern either. There is electricity and firearms. There are large metal boats in the harbour and by the end of the novel this is the promise of a threat from a more advanced enemy. However, shortswords are still heavily used in the book. And guns are accepted to be in constant danger of exploding (if not well cared for).

The caste of named characters is also small. Again, we meet Skylar as she is grieving (and locked up). Her thoughts focus on those incidents most relevant to her current imprisoned situation so there is not a lot of names to learn in the story. I suppose in many ways it is more of a character study with its very tight focus on our heroine.

While we learn the actual time of the book spans only a few days, the memories span months. Time is easily distorted in this format.

Overall, I thought it was an interesting read and I would give this book a solid 4 (maybe even a 4.5) out of 5 stars. That said, I have a difficult time imagining how the series can continue forward. Yes, there is a world you could explore. But the real draw of this book was that personal story of a deeply wounded character fighting for sanity in a time when her life was descending into madness. The same format would not work a second time. So the story will have to move in a completely different direction, but to what success? I suppose the only way to know would be to read the sequel – if it ever releases.