First let me say that this book has some of the most unique ideas I have read in the Fantasy genre. That alone is probably what kept me most interested in this book.
As a stand alone novel, this book is very difficult to read. It is the sequel to his previous novel, Dusk, that won the Bram Stroker Award. The story takes place in a land called Noreela. There is quite a bit of background that I must presume is found in Dusk that is not explained in Dawn. The read is left to keep up on their own and try to piece together what happened in the previous novel as the author makes no attempt to fill in the blanks, nor was there any attempt at a summary in the form of some type of preface.
The most interesting part of this book as I said was the unique ideas, such as tumblers (I picture them as a larger than man saw-like construct that literally rolls around smashing people and adding them to its intellect. The "souls" it absorbs becomes part of the parent entity.), Red Monks (as near as I can tell, a group of warriors, dedicated to irradicating magic, yet in the end, their cause changes. They are almost inhuman in their ability to absorb wounds and continue to function), and a very special definition of machines (constructed of both earth, and flesh from dead or living tissue and magic, these are usually defined as some type of transportation vehicle that also has both a consciousness and a large array of weapons).
The characters in this book are full and alive, but there is a definite dark overtone to the novel that the author attempts to rectify at the end. Among the opening scenes of the book, you are immediately introduced to Lenora, the Mage's commander of their "Krote" army. Lenora has lived for 300 years with the two Mages, Angel and S'Hivez who were cast into exile in Fire and Ice. (This seems to be some sort of personal hell?) Lenora explains how the Mages have once again obtained the use of magic by tearing apart a child's body (Rafe) and "searching for something vital amongst his brains and flesh." She goes on to explain how they tore through his body to obtain what they were looking for and ate that part and that is how they regained their powers.
The overall storyline depicts the main characters in an impossible struggle against the magic of two Mages who have stolen magic from the boy who was slain in the first novel. Fighting against these two who have discovered magic and stolen it back into the world is deemed an impossible struggle, and indeed, even the powerful Elder Mystics all decide that suicide is better than living to face the revenge of the Mages.
Through it all, the lone hope remains in a single character, Aleshia who spends the majority of the novel unconscious to the real world, instead traveling through her library, an obvious metaphor for the history of Noreela. In the beginning of Dawn, the library is burning and things stalk her, yet at the very end, the Library is empty, as Noreela has been cleansed, and the history may be rewritten.
As a reader, I found the whole concept of the library very frustrating, as the single hope for Noreela was this, Aleshia who for reasons unexplained, has a body that continually grows YOUNGER. She is said to carry the seed of magic, once carried by the boy Rafe (the boy who died, as the Mages stole his magic, he was apparently able to pass the seeds of magic along to Aleshia before his demise). Yet as a hero, she falls completely short, as she is seemingly unable to care for her self and would never have completed her journey if not for three companions, Kosar, Hope, and Trey.
Kosar ends up leaving the group early on, but returns with an army of warriors to stave off the Krote army. Hope is a mad witch who grew up learning magic, but never being able to use it since it no longer existed in the world until the birth of Rafe (actually the book says he was not born, because he had no navel, but was created from the land). Hope's madness leads her to nearly kill Trey, who ends up a mere sacrifice at the end of the novel.
In the end, I found that Lebbon really needed to go into further detail on just what all these things really meant. What created the tumblers, and how did they operate before taking in dead souls? Why do people in Noreela die, leave their souls ("wraiths") behind and have to be "chanted down" into the afterlife? Some simple background on what exactly the Krotes were, the Shantasi warriors, and the Mystics of Hess would also be immensely helpful.
Overall, the story is pretty well written. The plot is lacking where I have already said, and I have some major issues with the main character, but the story is so very unique that it kept my attention long enough to read it in 5 days.
I would recommend it to someone who enjoyed a darker, fantasy based sci-fi, but only after reading the first novel.
Mathius
As a stand alone novel, this book is very difficult to read. It is the sequel to his previous novel, Dusk, that won the Bram Stroker Award. The story takes place in a land called Noreela. There is quite a bit of background that I must presume is found in Dusk that is not explained in Dawn. The read is left to keep up on their own and try to piece together what happened in the previous novel as the author makes no attempt to fill in the blanks, nor was there any attempt at a summary in the form of some type of preface.
The most interesting part of this book as I said was the unique ideas, such as tumblers (I picture them as a larger than man saw-like construct that literally rolls around smashing people and adding them to its intellect. The "souls" it absorbs becomes part of the parent entity.), Red Monks (as near as I can tell, a group of warriors, dedicated to irradicating magic, yet in the end, their cause changes. They are almost inhuman in their ability to absorb wounds and continue to function), and a very special definition of machines (constructed of both earth, and flesh from dead or living tissue and magic, these are usually defined as some type of transportation vehicle that also has both a consciousness and a large array of weapons).
The characters in this book are full and alive, but there is a definite dark overtone to the novel that the author attempts to rectify at the end. Among the opening scenes of the book, you are immediately introduced to Lenora, the Mage's commander of their "Krote" army. Lenora has lived for 300 years with the two Mages, Angel and S'Hivez who were cast into exile in Fire and Ice. (This seems to be some sort of personal hell?) Lenora explains how the Mages have once again obtained the use of magic by tearing apart a child's body (Rafe) and "searching for something vital amongst his brains and flesh." She goes on to explain how they tore through his body to obtain what they were looking for and ate that part and that is how they regained their powers.
The overall storyline depicts the main characters in an impossible struggle against the magic of two Mages who have stolen magic from the boy who was slain in the first novel. Fighting against these two who have discovered magic and stolen it back into the world is deemed an impossible struggle, and indeed, even the powerful Elder Mystics all decide that suicide is better than living to face the revenge of the Mages.
Through it all, the lone hope remains in a single character, Aleshia who spends the majority of the novel unconscious to the real world, instead traveling through her library, an obvious metaphor for the history of Noreela. In the beginning of Dawn, the library is burning and things stalk her, yet at the very end, the Library is empty, as Noreela has been cleansed, and the history may be rewritten.
As a reader, I found the whole concept of the library very frustrating, as the single hope for Noreela was this, Aleshia who for reasons unexplained, has a body that continually grows YOUNGER. She is said to carry the seed of magic, once carried by the boy Rafe (the boy who died, as the Mages stole his magic, he was apparently able to pass the seeds of magic along to Aleshia before his demise). Yet as a hero, she falls completely short, as she is seemingly unable to care for her self and would never have completed her journey if not for three companions, Kosar, Hope, and Trey.
Kosar ends up leaving the group early on, but returns with an army of warriors to stave off the Krote army. Hope is a mad witch who grew up learning magic, but never being able to use it since it no longer existed in the world until the birth of Rafe (actually the book says he was not born, because he had no navel, but was created from the land). Hope's madness leads her to nearly kill Trey, who ends up a mere sacrifice at the end of the novel.
In the end, I found that Lebbon really needed to go into further detail on just what all these things really meant. What created the tumblers, and how did they operate before taking in dead souls? Why do people in Noreela die, leave their souls ("wraiths") behind and have to be "chanted down" into the afterlife? Some simple background on what exactly the Krotes were, the Shantasi warriors, and the Mystics of Hess would also be immensely helpful.
Overall, the story is pretty well written. The plot is lacking where I have already said, and I have some major issues with the main character, but the story is so very unique that it kept my attention long enough to read it in 5 days.
I would recommend it to someone who enjoyed a darker, fantasy based sci-fi, but only after reading the first novel.
Mathius
