The Gates of Dawn (The Chronicles of Blood and Stone, Book 2) [Hardcover]

Robert Newcomb (Author)

Book Description

Series: Chronicles of Blood and Stone | Publication Date: June 10, 2003

Epic fantasy found an exhilarating new voice in Robert Newcomb, whose monumental debut novel, The Fifth Sorceress, was hailed by readers and critics alike. And now, for all those spellbound by the tale of Prince Tristan, heir to the throne of Eutracia, his twin sister Princess Shailiha, the ancient wizard Wigg, and the fate of their enchanted land, there is indeed more—much more—to be told. . . .

THE GATES OF DAWN

For three centuries, Eutracia was a kingdom at peace, ruled by a benevolent monarchy and guided by a council of wizards. But a horror from the past, long believed vanquished, returned with devastating fury. And when the battle against the bloodthirsty Sorceresses of the Coven was finally won, victory was not without its price. Now, the royal palace lies in ruins; the king and queen, the royal guard, and the Directorate of Wizards are dead; the land is lawless; and Prince Tristan— forced by the Coven to murder his father, the King—is a wanted man.

In a cavernous underground labyrinth, once headquarters of the wizards’ council, Tristan has taken refuge with his sister, Shailiha, her infant daughter, the wizard Wigg—the lone surviving member of the Directorate—and the crippled wizard Faegan, returned from self-imposed exile in the forest of Shadowood. Together they face the daunting task of restoring order to Eutracia and winning back the allegiance of her subjects. But suddenly, even these challenges pale beside a truly terrifying turn of events. The sacred jewel that is the source of all magic has inexplicably begun to lose its power. Without its age-old enchantment to sustain their spells, the immortal wizards will perish . . . and magic will vanish from Eutracia forever.

At the same time, a mysterious and ruthless mercenary has declared a bounty upon the head of Prince Tristan. And an army of wizards on a mission to rid Eutracia of monsters created by the Coven has fallen prey to an insidious breed of creatures—beings that can only have sprung from forbidden use of malevolent magic. With time and their powers dwindling, Wigg and Faegan desperately seek to discover who, or what, has succeeded the dead Sorceresses in laying siege to Eutracia. But when the shocking truth is revealed, and an evil that transcends life itself is made known, it is Tristan, more than any other, who will be stunned to his very soul. And it is Tristan who will be thrust into the ultimate battle—for his life, his land, and the course of his destiny.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Gates of Dawn, sequel to Robert Newcomb's debut, The Fifth Sorceress, is somewhat repetitive and clunky, but significantly superior to its predecessor. Most epic fantasy fans will thrill to the sequel's action-packed plot and Newcomb's vivid imagination. However, feminists may want to avoid The Gates of Dawn, since its large cast has only three semi-important female characters (all passive). The squeamish should note that Newcomb can be very tough on his characters, and that the magic of his fantasy world depends on blood--sometimes a lot of blood.

Prince Tristan, the Chosen One of ancient prophecy, has defeated the vicious Sisters of the Coven, but at enormous cost. Thousands have been slaughtered, his twin sister is gravely ill, they're both in hiding, and the Chosen One's vast magical power is of little use--he is still untrained. If these aren't troubles enough, Prince Tristan has an active, deadly enemy he doesn't even know exists: a trained wizard who is, astonishingly, even more powerful than the Chosen One. The hidden wizard has an intimate connection to Tristan that the prince could never have imagined. And he is restoring life to the evil souls of the still-potent Guild of Heretics, an act that requires raising the notorious Gates of Dawn and consecrating them with magically endowed blood--the blood of the Chosen One, Prince Tristan. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

When the Paragon, the mystical crystal that harnesses the power of the endowed blood, starts to lose its power, Tristan of the House of Galland fears this means the end of his country Eutracia and the end of all magic, in Newcomb's dizzyingly uninspired second Blood and Stone fantasy (after his controversial debut, 2002's The Fifth Sorceress). The forces of good-headed by Tristan, his twin sister Shailiha, and the two wizards Faegan and Wigg-must find out who is draining the stone, why it's being drained and, most importantly, how to stop the magic from disappearing from Eutracia completely. As the prophesied "Chosen One," whose azure blood is the purest ever seen among the endowed, Tristan has a lot going for him, though the author's repeated emphasis on the purity of blood smacks uncomfortably of eugenics. As in volume one, the "data dump" method of offering plot points slows the action, what little there is of it. The wizards spend most of their time talking, while Tristan can scarcely contemplate lifting a sword against his evil nemesis. Those readers who were hoping Newcomb might avoid some of the first book's problems will only find more ammunition here.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1 edition (June 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345448944
• ISBN-13: 978-0345448941
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,932,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars clunky and frustrating, July 7, 2003

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Gates of Dawn (The Chronicles of Blood and Stone, Book 2) (Hardcover)

His nation virtually destroyed, Prince Tristan wishes only to rebuild. But his own son has gained impossible power and now drains the very magic that supports the world's sorceries. Aided only by two wizzards and his sister, Tristran is virtually helpless against the powerful magic that the once-dead and now alive Nicholas can bring to bear. Nicholas has subverted the league of wizards that are supposed to help the people and Tristran, posted a huge reward for Tristan's capture, and is ahead of Tristran and his wizards at every step. It doesn't help that Tristran can't trust even the two wizards who support him. They think nothing of keeping secrets from him--mostly for no apparent reason.

Author Robert Newcomb delivers an intriguing magic system based on the mystically imbued blood that certain people have. The concept of blood magic is well developed and interesting. Nicholas and his assistants, poisoned Ragnar and assassin Scrounge are strong and sympathetic. Each has suffered at the hands of Tristran and the system that has brought him to power.

THE GATES OF DAWN suffers from three problems: First, Newcomb's writing is ponderous. Characters spend too much time thinking, remembering, discussing ad nauseum, and not enough time actually doing things. This is expecially true in the first half the book but continues to the end. Second, Tristran's wizards keep too much secret from Tristran. This feels like an artifice--constructed to keep the reader in doubt rather than something that flows naturally from the story. As a result, Tristran seems like a manipulated child rather than a heroic character. Third, the resolution is terrible. Essentially, if Tristran and friends had headed to Las Vegas and gambled, the end wouldn't have been changed. All of the plotting, near-death experiences, and acts of bravery are so much wasted time. Reading nearly five hundred pages only to find out that it didn't matter is a frustrating experience.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cumbersome and cluttered with disengaging phrases, May 10, 2005

By 

S. E. MCADAMS "DFB" (Seattle, Wa usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gates of Dawn (The Chronicles of Blood and Stone, Vol, 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Oh this was disingenuous fantasy. Newcomb appears to have no grasp of consistency or of the genre. I kept being thrown out of the book by simple things like knives pulled from "quivers" (Knives and daggers come form sheaths, braces, boots. Arrows come from quivers. A quiver may have a knife sheath on it but even then a quiver-knife comes from its sheath).
Also I was annoyed by the excessive use of made up phrases for ordinary things like the name of a season (something "crystal") when a simple word like "winter" would have sufficed.
If there is a festival or a cultural event during winter known as "blah-blah crystal" that is fine, but in this book it appeared that some simple things were made obscure just to make them seem exotic somehow.
Other inconsistencies that made me put the book down time after time were things like Tristan's sister being able to telepathically talk to butterflies as well as the crafted bird-like creatures, but for some reason the minions ("of day and night") don't have any immediate bond with her or any telepathic communication with her. Why is that so? I gathered from reading what I could that she was "forestalled" to be one their mistresses, (oh may be he's saving that for book three).
I could go on but I think I mostly agree with the review that lists other possible ways that the ubber-villain could stupidly die at just the right moment.
Perhaps the villain could suddenly explode for no apparent reason and then later while the good guys are licking their wounds they could just sit around and say that they have no idea what the `fraggle'. (Read that 'what the heck happened' - Gee its fun to make up nonsense phrases).
Finally the clincher of how bad this was. I only read this second book but from the beginning to the end there was a need for the protagonist to learn the Craft because he has the wunderblud that will make him the greatest, and by the end of the book he still hasn't done anything about it.
The hero sucked and was never in control of anything- much like the writing style of the book itself.

Just my opinion,
Stanley

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars PAINFULLY dull, August 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gates of Dawn (The Chronicles of Blood and Stone, Book 2) (Hardcover)

I am very hesitant to ever call a book entirely awful, but Newcomb's writing is so terrible that I can't mince words. Since his first novel was not well edited and was his after all, his first effort, it was almost understandable that it was poor reading. I had hoped that the author would get over his ponderous style with practice but I could see no improvement in this second book. I found this novel painfully boring and poorly constructed. This leaves me to conclude that Newcom simply lacks the talent it takes to write a decent book. Perhaps he should go back to selling cars.
In my opinion, two elements make an excellent novel and these are characterization and plot. These elements were lacking in Newcomb's sophomore effort. I found the continued weak roles of the female characters particularly exasperating. It is a pity the first book was launched with such fanfare. And by the way, the suspiciously effusive reviewers that compared this book to Tolkein and Goodkind were way off the mark.