Cry of the Newborn: The Ascendants of Estorea Book 1 (Gollancz S.F.): Amazon.co.uk: James Barclay: 9780575076204: Books

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Review

"The large scale battles are detailed and exhilarating. Cry of the Newborn is a satisyingly self-contained fantasy blockbuster.. set against a more thoughtful, realistic background." (David Langford SFX )

"A novel of staggering scope and skilfull storytelling. The Cry of the Newborn is a massive and epic work and looks likely to (deservedly) cement Barclay's place amongst the UK's very best fantasy storytellers." (John Berlyne SF REVU )

John Berlyne, SF REVU

"A novel of staggering scope and skilfull storytelling. The Cry of the Newborn is a massive and epic work and looks likely to (deservedly) cement Barclay's place amongst the UK's very best fantasy storytellers."

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Epic and spectacular, 5 Mar 2007

By

Mr. James A. Flinders "Barefoot Wanderer" (Nottingham, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cry of the Newborn: The Ascendants of Estorea Book 1 (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

I bought this as soon as it came out. I read the Raven novels with great enjoyment, so I had very high hopes for this.

I wasn't disappointed. It is a little slower in pace than Dawntheif at the beginning, but once it builds up the momentum, you cannot put it down. Again James Barclay has created a wonderfully visual and brilliantly imagined magic system, a set of characters beautifully realised, some you will love, others you will hate. Paul Jehred in particular is a blazing character :) utterly brilliant stuff.

I'm currently reading Shout for the Dead, which is continuing the series in excellent fashion.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic! but i am biased, 8 Jun 2006

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Ms. K. Elworthy "weak107" (brighton, uk) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cry of the Newborn: The Ascendants of Estorea Book 1 (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

i loved the raven series and was mortified when i finished the last of them, so i was really pleased when i heard about newborn. this was tempered slightly when i saw the size of it, its a monster! and for the first half of it i was
lost in a sea of funny names (for people and places) and alot of administrative detail that i found hard to digest. however i believe its all necessary and totally worth it. when it all 'kicks off' the story flys and the characters are so solid they might as well have been real people. the children are a little plodding as characters but they seem to be picking up with age. all in all i loved it, the battles are exquisite (as Barclay always are) im so looking forward to the sequel, cant believe its not out till september!

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good things come if you wait...!, 12 Jan 2006

By

N. Brett (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cry of the Newborn: The Ascendants of Estorea Book 1 (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

After his highly entertaining Raven series, many of us were waiting this new series with eager anticipation.

This is set in a world where a Roman type empire is expanding and funding itself through taxation and the drafting of local armies. Very much the key elements are expansion, tax and religion. Into this world comes the birth of four children with exceptional powers that are at odds with the agreed religion of the empire.
This comes at a time where the empire over-expands and becomes involved in a war that they are on the verge of losing, the future of the empire is at stake! And what of the powers being wielded by the four children…?

This is a brave attempt by the author to move away from his Raven chronicles and to venture into new territories. I loved his Raven stuff and was really looking forward to this….

Initially I was quite depressed and frustrated, the story gets off to a very slow start and some of the hierarchy was confusing and over detailed. For 100 pages or so I thought the author had delivered a stinker but then suddenly it all kicked off and the story sucked me in. The story became exciting, the characters started to flesh out and the action became intense.

In the end I really enjoyed it and all credit to the author, it is another winner.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious
Spoilers

I was a fan of chronicles of the raven but certainly it was nothing out of the ordinary in the sword and sorcery section of the fantasy genre. Read more