Customer Reviews

Dark Haven - Book Three in the Chronicles of the Necromancer

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unfortunately, this book is a total break from everything and anything that was decent about the first two books in the series.

Ms. Martin seems to have thrown this one together with no planning and very little thought. 300 pages of the 600 are dedicated to describing costumes, festivals and trivial conversations between the characters. 100 pages is sheer repitition. (Not only repetition of things the reader has previously read in the series, but repetetive statements of facts and descriptions from within this single volume itself.) Finally 200 pages are plot.

Once she decides to write about the plot, Ms. Martin does her normal admirable job. However, after 600 pages of reading, EVERY plot thread is left unfinished. She does not even attempt to close up ANY of the subplots before the end of the book. This is simply the first half of book 3 which I imagine will be completed with book 4.

At the end of the 600 pages, I was truly just irritated with Ms. Martin and her transparent tactic to sell me a yet to be written book. If she had simply discarded all the pages of garbage from the novel, she would have had plenty of room to complete the subplots started in this book.

Dark Haven is Gail Z. Martin's third book in the Chronicles of the Necromancer series, the first being The Summoner then followed by The Blood King. Dark Haven is a direct continuation of the first two stories and should be read in such order as several events in this book directly correlate to events previously written.

This novel is just like its predecessors, a fast, action and story driven tale made even stronger by in-depth and engaging characters. In this story, the tale starts off approximately three months after the events in The Blood King. King Martris "Tris" Drayke has defeated his brother, Jared the Usurper, and the Blood Mage Arontala, and now is trying to piece the kingdom back together while routing leftover supporters of Jared. Tension is thickening as rumors of a bastard child whose claim on the throne may be legitimate arise from the southern lands, threatening war with the northern kingdoms, which are still suffering from the devastation of Jared's rein and probable starvation as winter hits the land full force.

Tris must coordinate the autumn festival, his wedding with the princess Kiara, and the siege at Lochlanimar against Lord Curane, a Jared supporter rallying the southern lands. At the same time, Jonmarc Vahanian, Tris' friend and self-appointed protector, was given the title of Lord of Dark Haven, a northern stronghold and land holding, after the battle against Jared. He must take charge of the battered keep by restoring it and restoring hope to people of the land. All the while he must make peace with the Blood Council, a cabal of vampires, called Vayash Moru, as the appointed mortal lord of their realm. With a splinter group of vampires who no longer respect the old ways, the old pact between mortals and immortal undead, Jonmarc must prove himself worthy of being their leader.

Martin, again, spins a fabulous tale that is not only interesting and engaging but chock full of scenery and lore. In the previous books we learned about many of the customs throughout the northern lands and some of the rules the world is built on, but in Dark Haven she elaborates more on those rules while introducing us to more cultures. Throughout this book she doesn't bore us with inane details and unnecessary trivia, it all matters and is an enriching experience at the same time. As with The Summoner and The Blood King, I enjoyed returning to the characters and seeing her world come to life.

First, to get past the negative, because it really isn't negative, I will confess one disappointment. The first two books are comprised of one encapsulated story, meaning each book is, in its own right, a logical beginning, middle, and end. With The Summoner and The Blood King, I could read those two and if I so choose never read another word of Martin's work. Those two stories stood by themselves. Dark Haven reads like a continuation of the first two books and does not complete itself. This book reminds me of the middle book of a trilogy where the story just kind of continues as a placeholder for things to come. I'm left feeling like I'm truly missing out on the best part of the whole story. I don't call this cliffhanging; it's more like climbing the mountain and only making it halfway while the rest of the way is set for another time (the next book's release - Dark Lady's Chosen, due in 2010).

That's really my only gripe. I loved the story, I would still gladly pick up this book and read it again - to which I will when the next book is released. I love her writing style; it's very fluid, dynamic, and involving, never lagging or tiring. The world she has created is beautiful and rich in texture, always getting better with each book. The characters are truly three dimensional and enjoyable, my favorite being Jonmarc. But, with all the trials and tribulations the characters are involved in it's easy to get entranced by the events unfolding.

She is definitely making an impact in the fantasy genre as her stories change, evolve, bringing a degree of tension and drama that still maintains the classic fantasy feel. I will certainly be grabbing her books off the shelves as they come out for years to come. Definitely something I'd recommend to fantasy and non-fantasy readers, especially when her next book comes out.

Three months have past since King Martris "Tris" Drayke defeated his brother, Jared the Usurper, and his ally Blood Mage Arontala (see THE BLOOD KING). Winning a war seems easy to Tris in retrospect. Now he must move on and rule a devastated kingdom. Apprehension remains high as some forces loyal to the Usurper continue to fight with enemy Lord Curane and his troops trapped at Lochlanimar and rumors spread that to the south a child has a legitimate claim to the throne. With all that Tris must find a way to feed and shelter his displaced refugee population especially with winter coming to freeze the lands to the north. Meanwhile Tris also prepares for his wedding ceremony with Princess Kiara.

He appoints his protector best friend Jonmarc Vahanian to take over as Lord of Dark Haven, a key estate to the north. Finally as the lord of their realm Margolan, Jonmarc negotiates with the Blood Council of vampires the Vayash Moru at a time when some of the vampires believe the mortals are unworthy of ruling especially since the Flow of magic The Flow is unbalanced, which means the blood magic of vampires is stronger than the light magic of the SUMMONER.

This is a super third tale that fans of the Necromancer fantasy saga will enjoy. Tris and Jonmarc learn how complex it is to change from rebel to ruler as they struggle to insure the kingdom's subjects don't starve to death or are further victims of war. Although well written, DARK HAVEN is a middle book that sets up the next entry as no major plot line is completed. Still exciting and well written, Gail Z. Martin provides a deep tale that makes the case that John Milton's "Better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven" omits how much more difficult to rule is than to serve.

Harriet Klausner

I have really enjoyed this series and can not wait for the next to come out. This is the 3rd to the necromancer chronicles and does not disappoint. Although if you are one to not like cliff hangers, you'll want to wait for the series to be published in its entirety. Martin does not disappoint with this latest installation to the series. It's full of action and uncertainty within each characters lives and leaves you wanting more. If you like fiction, you will like this imaginative tale of Mage's, vampires called vayash moru, healers, warriors, and their trials and tribulations to overcome evil once and for all. Only downside is the waiting for the next book to come out.

Wow! Kudos to Gail Z. Martin for continuing to write such an excellent series! I couldn't put it down. I was a bit frustrated when it ended with all of the characters in different states of peril. I can't wait to see where she takes the fourth book...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH---a whole year of waiting!!!!!

1st was best, second was pretty good, this was good. More romance in this one but there is still a decent bit of action. Still a good read.

I'll keep it short.

1. I don't like being roped into another book to see what happens in all 4 plot lines.

2. Far, far, far, too many spelling and grammatical errors. Shouldn't they print a handful and read them first?

3. I do still find the story entertaining despite it's flaws.

The book itself is great according to my husband but this particular book is a revised copy and had 30 extra pages then her original version. Amazon sells both versions and the price difference is about $5. We got the more expensive version and they sent us the cheaper version, we sent it back and it kept happening 3 times!!! So if you are purchasing the more expensive version with the extra pages you will most likely receive the 608 page version because Amazon can't figure out which one is which! Don't sell two things with the exact same cover that are actually different and charger two different prices and not be able to send the correct item!!!!!!!! Just thought I'd warn everyone because it is a pain to return an item 3 times! We just gave up!

Coming off of the second novel "Blood King" I had a very mixed feeling about the series. I found the first novel "The Summoner" to be a decent fantasy romp with a relatible protagonist and fun storyline about lose and justice. It was a fun adventure and I praised it as a first entry into an ambitious series. Unfortunetly the charm wore off in the sequel Blood King. At least fifty percent of that novel was the group's journey back to Shekerishet (the main character's besieged palace). While the first half was pretty engaging, the second half was a complete drag, and when your novel is over six hundred pages long, then you have an issue with keeping the reader's interest. The entire novel just felt like an over-extended ending to the first book that was cut out at the last moment in order to make a sequel. However I'm happy to say that Dark Haven is a massive improvement over not just the second book, but a bold and much more engaging direction for the series.

The big change in Dark Haven is that the majority of the main cast are now in a position of power, meaning that their actions have consequences and every decision they make has added weight to them. Tris is now the rightful king of Margolan, Jonmarc Vahanian is the lord of Dark Haven, and Kiara is Tris's newly wed wife and queen. Tris must now cleanse the palace of the tortured souls of his brother's betrayal, uproot any of his brother's remaining supporters, maintain peace and prosperity to his lands that were recently consumed in turmoil and civil war, and finally wage war on Lord Curane. Vahanian on the other hand must earn the respect of the Vayash Maru (vampires) and maintain order and peace in Dark Haven.

Author Gail Z. Martin also elaborates more into the lore of the Winter Kingdoms. She takes a very well realized universe that she'd established in the previous novels and greatly expands on them. Such as customs for ceremonies and proper mannerisms and various trades from other neighboring countries.

However there are a few minor flaws with Dark Haven. The first is that while each story arc is very interesting in their own right, none of them are resolved, making Dark Haven feel more like a prologue to the next novel "Dark Lady's Chosen." The other issue I have is that there are WAY to many throw-away minor characters to remember. I'm talking about servents, captains, guards, and nobles to name a few. A lot of them return often but they're so unrealized and transparent that you'll almost never remember who's who, with the exception of a few stand outs.

Regardless, Dark Haven is a fantastic fantasy novel and a tremendous step in the right direction for The Chronicles of the Necromancer series.

I think the first book in the series had potential but by the time I finished it, and especially by the time I got to this one, I started to lose interest in the story. I listed my major complaints so if you felt similarly or think that you might, this review will be a faster read.

1) the characters are very stereotypical/average. you've got Tris, the sensitive hero with the heart of gold, and Kiara, the sensitive warrior woman, also with a heart of gold, whose his love interest...Jonmarc was actually interesting in the beginning, but then he completely losses all his hard edges, and becomes just like everyone else

2) no class distinctions? while elitism isn't attractive, it was unfortunately very, very ingrained in European society in the middle ages, which is the point in history this novel seems to be based on

3) similarly, what is it with Gail Z Martin trying to pair off every character in some cutesy couple? that plus*

***spoiler*** everyone being nobility in disguise, really didn't help in terms of the story being believable.