Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544723
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MAY 2026 CULTURE A Darkness Over Rashford review Myth, madness, and the fall of gods: Buckle's a darkness over rashford is a cosmic epic of tragic grandeur By Lauren Farrugia In A Darkness Over Rash- ford, the second instalment of the Deos Iræ saga, Maltese playwright and author Adri- an Buckle delivers a brooding and emotionally charged epic that reimagines mythological gods in a world on the brink of cosmic collapse. Here, ancient Olympus is not merely under threat—it is unravelling, and with it, the pride, purpose, and power of its once-mighty dei- ties. The novel opens with a thun- derclap of grief. Apollo, god of the sun, cradles the dying body of his son Darrhon in a sacred garden turned tomb. The scene is rendered with visceral po- etry, setting the tone for a tale steeped in loss, vengeance, and divine disillusionment. Dar- rhon's death—at the hands of the archangel Azaz-El—sets Apollo on a tragic path that pits him against his own kin, the an- gels of Yahweh, and the fading legacy of his immortal kind. Buckle's fusion of Greek and Semitic cosmology is bold, even confrontational. The gods of Olympus—Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, and others—are not simply characters; they are fallen titans wrestling with fading relevance, their former grandeur haunting them like old war songs. Zeus is weary and compromised; Athena is torn between strategy and sen- timent; Aphrodite weeps in si- lence. And Apollo, scarred and banished, burns with righteous fury that leads to one of the book's most explosive climaxes. But A Darkness Over Rash- ford is not content with divine melodrama. It asks hard ques- tions: What becomes of gods when no one believes in them? Is survival worth the price of dignity? What does justice mean in a world ruled by celes- tial politics? The prose is rich, sometimes densely so, with flourishes of lyrical intensity. Readers should be prepared for long monologues, operatic image- ry, and a tone that borders on the apocalyptic. But beneath the grandeur lies real emotion- al substance. Buckle's Apollo is no golden caricature—he is broken, furious, and deeply human in his grief. His love for the archangel Micha-El adds a poignant, forbidden thread that enriches the narrative with vul- nerability and quiet beauty. As gods fall and angels clash, Buckle also finds time to ex- plore the human cost. The tit- ular town of Rashford, though only glimpsed in the early chapters, promises to become the mortal battleground in a di- vine war that has long forgotten its earthly roots. Deos Iræ may draw compar- isons to Neil Gaiman's Ameri- can Gods or Milton's Paradise Lost, but Buckle's vision is darker, more operatic, and un- mistakably his own. This is not mythology repackaged—it is mythology dismantled, rewrit- ten, and made to bleed. In A Darkness Over Rashford, Adrian Buckle does not merely continue his saga—he elevates it, delivering a symphonic trag- edy that lingers long after the last divine breath. Verdict: 4.5/5 Haunting, lyrical, and un- compromising—a tragic myth for the modern age. Borrowed Territories by Jade Zammit opens in Sliema A new body of work by Mal- tese artist Jade Zammit goes on display this week, as Borrowed Territories opens to the public on 24 April. Presented at Ma- rie Gallery 5 in Tigné, Sliema, the exhibition brings together paintings and drawings shaped by the artist's travels across Australia, India, Cuba and Cos- ta Rica. Though geographically dis- tant, these locations share lay- ered and often complex colo- nial histories. Zammit's work draws out unexpected visual and cultural parallels between them, suggesting a fragment- ed yet interconnected terrain shaped by traces of European influence. At the heart of the exhibition is a reflection on how ideas of land, belonging and identity have been constructed, and contested, over time. Referenc- ing The Secret River by Kate Grenville, Zammit considers the imposition of European no- tions of ownership onto lands already defined by Indigenous knowledge systems. The decla- ration of land as "mine" emerg- es as a central tension, pointing to histories of displacement while raising broader questions about how belonging is defined. The exhibition also frames colonisation as an act shaped not only by control, but by longing. Settlers often attempt- ed to recreate familiar environ- ments in unfamiliar territories, yet these efforts frequently faltered. Landscapes resisted imposed identities, retaining their autonomy despite cul- tural overlays, a dynamic that informs the exhibition's title, Borrowed Territories. Zammit's approach further resonates with the concept of Anthropophagy, introduced by Oswald de Andrade and later explored by Tarsila do Amaral. Within this framework, identi- ty is not passively inherited but actively reshaped through the absorption and transformation of external influences. Born in 1990, Zammit holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Malta. While her early work focused on del- icate, observational drawing rooted in intimate live sessions, her recent practice has shifted toward heavier compositions, incorporating bold colour and layered textures. Her work continues to explore space and form, grounded in lived experi- ence and close observation. Borrowed Territories runs until 10 June at Marie Gallery 5.