When we first met him, Sloot Peril was a loyal subject of the Domnitor (long may he reign). All he worried about was following the law and generally avoiding trouble. Two books later (after Peril in the Old Country and Soul Remains), Sloot has been through a hell of a lot—including a long trip to hell. In this third entry, Now Before the Dark by Sam Hooker, Sloot’s quest is to put reality back together again after a lot of demonic and human scheming, divine interference, transformations, and far too much to sum up in just one little book review.
Sloot Peril, now a demon 100th class, is too afraid of what might happen to not take on the task set for him by the Coolest (the entities that seem to be in charge of this little bit of reality). He also has the added motivation of getting his girlfriend of out hell to spur him on. Oh, plus there are all the threats from various interested parties who want to get a leg up in the next version of reality. Sloot spends most of Now Before the Dark running from pillar to post trying to complete all of the challenges set before him—unfortunately hampered by an allegedly reformed gremlin who wants to be Sloot’s bard.
The entire series of Terribly Serious Darkness is very silly. Hooker never avoids absurdity when he can charge right into it. But what I like about this series is that Hooker does what a lot of very good funny writers do: he uses the humor to draw readers into a story that will turn out to be about a lot of very unfunny things. Now that I’ve read Now Before the Dark, I can see that this series is about heroism, true love, the responsibilities of power, and the costs of revenge. Sloot, an utterly cowardly accountant, turns himself into the savior of humanity. Two characters give up everything to rescue each other, only to desperately seek each other again after being separated. We all have to see the effects of plots to destroy everything as all the survivors have to deal with the fall out. Sure, this series is silly, but the unexpected depths make for a great reading experience.