The Gates Of Dawn (Chronicles of Blood & Stone 2) [Kindle Edition]

The second novel in Robert Newcomb's series, and to be honest is quite an improvement on its previous release. This one is better developed and alot of the slow clunky uses of language have been removed in order to make this novel a better peice by far. It has often been said that the second novel is the hardest to write and with this piece would have to agree as the critisms of the previous novel have been looked at carefully by the author and beautifully crafted into what more people should read as this authors debut. If you've been put off by the original in the series then just try this one and I think you'll be impressed in the way that this authors writing has developed.

Robert Newcomb is truly one of the brightest new stars in the fantasy world. He made his presence known with his first novel 'The Fifth Sorceress', and now he continues the high standards set by that book with his sophomore effort 'The Gates of Dawn'. With this new novel Newcomb demonstrates that his craft as a writer has improved by leaps and bounds, he writes more tightly and concisely, and though it is hard to imagine, his vision is clearer and more focused than it was with 'The Fifth Sorceress'. It is obvious that he has a plan, a goal, and a destination in mind with this story. Though the first book was chock full of detail and description of the realms, magics, and peoples of the world that Newcomb has created, with 'The Gates of Dawn' he delves more deeply into the workings of the craft of 'blood' sorcery that he has established, revealing many surprising intricacies as well as expanding the boundaries of the lands that the characters call home, which serves to broaden the scope and epic feel of the series. In this new book, Mr. Newcomb takes us further into the minds and hearts of his characters, causing the reader to sympathize more closely with characters that had already earned their place in the reader's heart from the first novel. The ridiculous fears and qualms that Mr. Newcomb's characters, and world, if not Mr. Newcomb himself were sexist that some readers had expressed after reading 'The Fifth Sorceress' can be safely laid to rest after one reads 'The Gates of Dawn'. There are few if any EVIL women in this book, and many GOOD women are introduced, and deeply developed. Just for the information of those doubters out there, this book had almost been completed by the time that 'The Fifth Sorceress' had been released, so Mr. Newcomb had always intended to have major female characters of a heroic nature play a significant role in the story. As most readers of Epic Fantasy know, by its very nature Fantasy is not for the faint of heart. Newcomb doesn't pull any punches, and renders violence in a very realistic manner. Fans of Jordan, and especially Martin, and Goodkind will feel right at home with Robert Newcomb's 'The Fifth Sorceress' and 'The Gates of Dawn', which serve as the first two books in his 'Chronicles of Blood and Stone' series. As with 'The Fifth Sorceress' as soon as I had finished 'The Gates of Dawn', I was anxious for the next book, and I will be counting the months, weeks, and days until the third volume is released.

This second book in the series somewhat tones down the dodgy sexual politics of the first book. The extremely evil female witches of the first book are dead, but an even more evil and equally one-dimensional male child has taken their place as Big Baddie. Meanwhile, the `good' characters have new challenges but do not seem to really develop very much. While Tristran now fully accepts his responsibilities under more difficult circumstances than he could ever have imagined before, he never fully comes to life on the page, just as he did not in the first book, and it's difficult to pin down why this is. His twin Shahila, who had been manipulated into becoming an extremely evil witch in the first book, is able to recover her original memories and personality with the mage's help. This happens all too easily without any apparent rebellion or suspicion which might have been expected from someone who had completely gone over to the evil side previously. For someone who we are repeatedly told is as strong willed as her brother, her brain appears to be easily washed. Towards the end she does become slightly more interesting when she develops a magical skill, which helps a little. Easily the most engaging character in the book is Faelan, the damaged old mage with a suprising childish playful streak, which adds a little welcome levity at times. But then he's more of an easily recognisable type - the madly eccentric old wizard - than a character with any complexity who truly comes to life on the page.

However, Faelan is responsible for one of the biggest plot holes. At convenient points in the plot he will come up with verbatim quotes of prophecies he recalls from the missing magical Tome. Later on he tells us that he never read the Prophecies section of the Tome at all. For some reason he thought this would be best left until later (er, they are prophecies - wouldn't it have made sense to read them in advance to find out what's supposed to happen?) There appeared to be other confusing aspects surrounding the discovery of the Tome and the Paragon which seemed contradictory at times. This seems to be a failing on the part of the author and the editor.

The Big Baddie sets a deadline for a cataclysmic event which means that the clock is ticking away towards the end for those who would oppose him under impossible circumstances. All of which sounds quite familiar. It doesn't end in quite the same way, but the unexpected way that it does end isn't very convincing at ALL. However, it was never going to be. After all, we all know that there's a third book - it's no spoiler to say that things will resolve themselves in some way only for there to be yet more trials in the last book.

Is it worth reading? Probably, if you've already got through the first book and that didn't annoy you too much. It's OK, but the mistakes are probably more memorable than the characters, ultimately.