- Paperback: 512 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; paperback / softback edition (14 July 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575068957
- ISBN-13: 978-0575068957
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.4 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 975,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Noonshade
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In a market already overcrowded with heroic action fantasy, it is always refreshing to discover an author who does more than tread out the usual sword-and-sorcery tale in three huge doorstopper-sized volumes. James Barclay is just such an author as he more than adequately proved with his scorching debut Dawnthief. Now, his band of slightly ageing past-their-prime mercenaries, The Raven, are back and attempting to right the wrongs from the previous story. The Dawnthief spell has been cast but it has ripped apart a hole between dimensions that will allow an invasion of dragons into Balia and signal the land's destruction. The Raven are forced into an alliance with Sha-Kaan, a dragon whose brood are fighting a desperate war in the dragon dimension. With Balia having to defend itself against armies of Wesmen, The Raven are the only ones able to help the Kaan defeat their enemies and save Balia.
What follows is, quite simply, spectacular storytelling. Barclay reads like a seasoned fantasy veteran, not a writer on only his second novel, and his plotting, characterisation and dialogue are all perfectly honed. Where he excels most though is in the action scenes and Noonshade contains some of the best sword and magic battles ever written. You can feel the air burn with the crackle of spells, almost cry out in pain yourself as a sword cuts through flesh and mourn for a slaughtered character as you would a loved one.
The plot twists and turns with energy and pace but it is the characters that make this such a real treat, especially the Raven who deserve the same cult status as Gemmell's Waylander. Each member of the Raven is a fully realised character, with plausible motivations and plenty of emotional conflict. And it's good to see the female characters getting a bit more page-time too.
The third volume of this trilogy, Nightchild, is out in 2001 and Barclay leaves us hanging wickedly on a thread with just enough questions and unresolved conflicts to be tied up in book three. The Chronicles of the Raven is one the most exciting and exhilarating series in a long time and on this showing James Barclay is a writer with a fantastic future ahead of him. Stunning stuff. --Jonathan Weir
Review
"Multiple plots are detailed and woven together in an incredible fashion. The story yanked us along and we loved every minute of it--all the way up to, and including, the satisfying conclusion. At this time we would like to remind you all that this is, in fact, the second book of a trilogy. So let us repeat this. There is a satisfying conclusion. Let there be much rejoicing in the land!...In Noonshade, we are given everything that made Dawnthief incredible, with added layers of detail of the world and its characters. We are positively thrilled that we finally have these novels here in the US! Seriously, if Barclay's next novels continue to be this enjoyable, we may have found the guy that tops our Heroic Fantasy list of favorite authors. Noonshade bears a cover-quote from the late and great David Gemmell. It is one of the few novels that actually deserves those words of praise from the Legend." -- Elitist Book Review, November 6, 2009
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a superb follow up to Dawnthief. Barclay has a style that moves the action along yet allows you to build a rapport with the characters. There is no one "hero" in the Raven, all are important and all are developed characters, and as we found out in Dawnthief, they are not "immortal". The book does not have the dread symptom of the middle one in a trilogy, where it is obviously a filler for the final book. This is a tremendous story on its own (but read Dawnthief first)and keeps up the high standard set in Dawnthief. If you think Eddings, Gemmell, Salvatore, etc. are good, then read Barclay and be amazed !
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Raven battle to undo the damage that Denser inadvertently caused in casting Dawnthief. In doing so they must recover writings of Septern to enable them to formulate a spell in order close the rip, avoiding the still invading Wesmen, before venturing back into Beshara.
They make some unexpected alliances and get themselves into just as many sticky situations as only the Raven can.
The story is told in the same spell binding way as Dawnthief, with another superbly gripping plot.
If you liked Dawnthief, then you will love Noonshade.
They make some unexpected alliances and get themselves into just as many sticky situations as only the Raven can.
The story is told in the same spell binding way as Dawnthief, with another superbly gripping plot.
If you liked Dawnthief, then you will love Noonshade.
Format:Paperback
Though i read a few reviews with a question mark over this book, i really loved it & it did the job, entertaining me on my daily commute!
A worthy addition to my collection
A worthy addition to my collection
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good Read
More of the same good stuff following on from the earlier book. If you liked No1 then you will like this too.
Published 12 months ago by Don
The boys are back in town...
Those who felt there wasn't enough character development in the first book (Dawnthief) can rest easy in the knowledge that this book seems more character centric. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2007 by GeekZilla
review of the two trilogys
I think D. J Read should have a little look on Amazon and then he may realise that the 'Trilogy' are actually paired with another trilogy, which makes six. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2007 by Ms. S. A. Morgan
Tosh, pretty much.
As I approached writing this review, I had an epiphony. Wouldn't it be so simple for an author to simply set up multiple accounts on Amazon and give his own book 5 stars? Read more
Published on 10 July 2006 by Mr. D. J. Read
the second step is stronger.
You've read Dawnthief and are thinking about trying the next one? then do it. This is how a series should progress, getting better with each step. Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2005 by genejoke
Still going strong
Chronicles of the Raven is now into its second book. The Raven have now lost many of their side characters. They now have three mages and two fighters. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2004
Continues The Excellence
With Noonshade, Barclay continues the developments in Dawnthief, and gives further insight to the world and history of Balaia, and other dimensions which interact with it. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2003
Disappointing
This is trivial comic strip stuff - It's "Biff", "Bash", "How do you like that Mr BadGuy!". It's fast-moving and the plot comes up with the occasional surprise, but the characters... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2002
HERE BE DRAGONS
Dragons? check. Hard as nails mercenaries who are noble and heroic? check. Five hundred pages pf violence intrigue mystery and occassional swearing? check. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2002
the dizzy height of boredom...
I found this book the dizzy heights of boredom. James Barclay made an impression with Dawnthief - original, fast, intriguing, average use of the english language, but enough! Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2001
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