Dawn [Paperback]

Tim Lebbon (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 27, 2007

Award-winning author Tim Lebbon takes fantasy to new heights in his thrilling new epic as unlikely allies struggle to keep the light of hope burning against a tide of unending darkness...

Noreela teeters on the brink of destruction, but at its center pulses a magic grown stroner than ever before. Now the Mages have raised an army of terrifying warriorsand unstoppable war machins. Their goal: the annihilation of all Noreela through a reign of bloodhsed and death unlike any ever imagined.

But Noreela's last survivors will not go quietyly into the never-ending darkness. One man will lead a desperate band of rebels, including a witch, a fledge miner, and a dreaming librarian. For an ancient prophecy predicts that the future of magic will emerge in a child still unborn—if only our heroes can stay alive until dawn.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this flawed follow-up to Dusk (2006), a genre-bending amalgam of horror and fantasy that saw the ascendance of the vengeful Mages, Angel and S'Hivez, the dark powers continue their rampage across the land of Noreela, which they condemned to eternal darkness after killing Rafe Baburn and devouring his seed of magic. The fellowship that helped Rafe on his flight across Noreela—Hope, Alishia, Kosar and Trey—is left with one small hope: Alishia's conviction that Rafe passed her a small bit of what he carried; Noreela can be saved if Alishia reaches the mystic city of Kang Kang. Dusk was a revelation as a shocking, vital tale of a dying land, but Lebbon overplays his hand in this sequel. No longer dying, Noreela is essentially dead and in need of resurrection, and all but the few main characters appear resigned to destruction at the hands of the two-dimensional Mages. Not even Lebbon's wild inventiveness—bio-metal-stone war machines and rolling sentient balls of bone and flesh—can compensate for the hopeless scenario and wooden villains. (Apr.)
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About the Author

Tim Lebbon's books include the British Fantasy Award-winning Dusk, Dawn, Berserk, The Everlasting, Hellboy: Unnatural Selection, Face, Exorcising Angels (with Simon Clark), Dead Man’s Hand, Pieces of Hate, and the novelisation of the movie 30 Days of Night (shortlisted for a Scribe Award). Future publications include Fallen and The Map of Moments from Bantam Spectra, The Reach of Children from Humdrumming, and The Secret Journeys of Jack London (in collaboration with Chris Golden) from Atheneum. There are also more books due from Cemetery Dance, Necessary Evil Press and Night Shade Books, among others. He has won three British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, a Shocker and a Tombstone Award, and has been a finalist for International Horror Guild and World Fantasy Awards. His novella White is soon to be a major Hollywood movie, and several more novels and novellas are currently in development in the USA and UK.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (March 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553383655
• ISBN-13: 978-0553383652
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been published for ten years now, and you can find out loads about me at my website www.timlebbon.net. I'm the author of over thirty books, including the Noreela series of fantasy books (Dusk, Dawn, Fallen and The Island), the NY Times Bestselling novelisation of the movie 30 Days of Night, and several books with Christopher Golden, including The Map of Moments and the forthcoming Secret Journeys of Jack London for Harper. I've also written several screenplays and some TV proposals. I've won several prestigious awards, and some of my work has been optioned for the big screen.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars From Dusk to Dawn...big difference April 28, 2009

By Brendan Foy

Format:Paperback

I thoroughly enjoyed Dusk. I thought it was a breath of fresh air for the Fantasy genre when it was first published. It was good to see a serious Dark Fantasy novel as well as one which was well written and with captivating characters. Lebbon has a wild imagination and though some of the creatures his mind creates seemed a little "weird" to me, I was deeply immersed in his world. Dusk had me glued to the pages from start to finish and in serious withdrawl after the cliffhanger ending.

Unfortunately, Dawn is half the book Dusk is. It has been a while since I read Dusk but I don't remember being so annoyed with Dusk constantly changing to different character narratives the way Dawn does. If Dusk did tell its story like this, then the characters must have been more interesting. It seems that just when things are about to get good from one characters perspective, you are left hanging and have to follow around one of the more boring characters. The book sticks to this rigid pattern the whole way through. You read from Lenora's point of view, then Kosar, then Hope, then Trey, with a little bit of some other minor characters as well before you're back to Lenora again. Eventually, as the characters meet up and their paths cross, things start to speed up a little more. Overall the pacing of the book is off.

I wouldn't mind the sluggish pacing if the characters were interesting though. They are well thought out and plenty diverse from one another, but some are just boring. Lenora is a major character in this book and I just can't stand her. I was bored to tears the entire time the story followed her around. Kosar's story is much more enjoyable, especially when he hooks up with Lucien, but I felt like skipping through all of the Lenora stories just to get to him. As a matter of fact, I found parts of the Hope/Alishia storyline to be agonizing at times as well and they are a major part of the story. Trey was a big part of Dusk but in Dawn he is essentialy a throwaway character which is too bad because he was one of my favorites. Kosar and Lucien had the best storyline but the author abandoned their burgeoning relationship rather callously which didn't please me in the slightest. Lebbon obviously has plans for Lenora, but since she is such a dull character I doubt I'll read any more of this series if she plays a central role.

The first 250 pages of this book are a real chore to get through. Things definitely pick up from after they are over and get more interesting and exciting but the ending is anti-climactic. It really isn't a suitable sequel to Dusk. Dusk, at its core, is an exciting chase novel while Dawn is more of a siege novel (where the good guys have to hold off the bad guys). Dusk is just much better at what it does. If you really liked Dusk then I suggest you check out Dawn. Just force your way through the first 250 pages.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not nearly as good as Dusk :( June 8, 2007

By PG

Format:Paperback

I loved Dusk and was pretty disappointed with this book. There were some good parts to the book but for the most part there was a lot of wasted pages dealing with the dream of a burning library. WIth such a great start as Dusk this was one of the most anticipated books for me this year. It kind of reminds me of Kill Bill. Part I was simply awesome but the second part--while a good movie in its own right--was a huge letdown. It is possible that if you read this book without reading the first book, you might just think it is fantastic. It is very well written as is everything from Lebbon but just didn't have the power of the first book. Oh well. I am still a fan of Lebbon and will probably read many more of his books in the future,

PG

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, but not quite as good as Dusk September 24, 2008

By K. C. Parrott

Format:Paperback

Dawn is a good book. Not great, but good. It picks up right where Dusk left off with Kosar and the gang trying to find a way to stop Noreela from being destroyed. The problem the book seems to have to me is that the other characters other than Kosar just aren't interesting. Trey I could care less about, Alishia is unconcious the entire novel basically, and Hope is just annoying and stupid. I hated her in Dusk and still hate her now.

The Mages continue their invasion of Noreela, but I just don't feel that Lebbon made them as terrifying as they were implied to be in Dusk. They seemed rather pedestrian for some people that were supposed to bring about the end of the world. I was expecting some cold-blooded killers, when in reality they were just dull to me.

The Shanti were interesting enough I guess, although they really don't get used properly until the last half of the book.

The most interesting part other than Kosar is the Red Monk Lucien that accompanies him to New Shanti. I love the fact that Lebbon doesn't really say what they are, but drops hints as to what they COULD be without ever really confirming it. It makes Lucien a much deeper character and his "change of heart" all the more interesting to read.

I know there were a lot of complaints here but the book itself is not that bad. Its just that Dusk is so much more amazing to me, probably because of the opening scene to it alone.