Pre09: I've read this one many times and will read it many more. It's just that awesome. I actually like the characters; they're believable and so is the world. And yet the whole setting is just so out there. I really like Friedman in general.
Characters: Over the top. The hunter is classic and the lead fella is solid.
Plot: Still very solid. Believable world with believable problems.
Style: Just great. Gritty enough with still enough action and thought to keep you entertained. ( )

Coldfire: Black Sun Rising

Author: CS Friedman
Review: April 07, 2009
Edition: 1992 printing
Pages: 586
Overall Rating: 2/5 [OK]
Synopsis: On the planet Erna, trouble stirs in lands beyond normal reach, in the Forest where the Hunter feeds on fear in his perfectly created world, and in the territory of the rakh--the intelligent natives who despise humans. Four venture forth to confront this evil after it ignites personal tragedy in their own lives.
Strengths: Strong world-building, vivid scenery.
Weaknesses: Repetitious, characters fall short, ending sort of falls apart.
Further Review: Black Sun Rising starts very strongly, boasting a handful of good concepts--my favorite of which is the idea of a reactive planet that responds to stimuli itself--but unfortunately doesn't live up to expectations. Almost 600 pages is far too long for the huge lack of substance it contains. Repetitive writing leads to reading almost the exact same paragraphs every few pages, all of which contain too many instances of the same words (such as 'chilling,' for example). And while the action is well-written and suitably gory, this book's aim is to be character-driven. Here, it fails. Very rarely does Tarrant come across as being as heinous as his past actions imply, and despite how much fawning and attention is devoted to him his motives are nonsensical. Ciani, whose tragedy sparks the entire quest to begin with, gets no character growth and very little attention. Zen is even more meaningless--by the time he gets the spotlight 400 pages in, his tragedy is... lackluster. I feel worse for the rakh that Tarrant uses (which even then doesn't cover the extent of his supposed corruption), even without knowing their stories. Damien seems to have the most depth, but his dedication to Ciani is sometimes imbalanced and thus confusing, and his thoughts about the Hunter are so repetitious. The enemy of this novel gets no backstory, no name, no development--nothing. The final confrontation is extremely disappointing and frustratingly divorced from the characters in many ways.

I'm terribly let down that I feel this way about the book, because when I read This Alien Shore and The Madness Season ten years ago, I was surprised by their complexity and twists. In Black Sun Rising, no plot twist had me guessing and the complexity that this book starts off with is sadly neglected. An interesting world with an interesting history and biology, and populated by a culture with fears and feelings and desires, ends without even exploring a modicum of its available potential. I'd have given this novel a much higher rating if it had been action-oriented rather than over-emphasizing the flat characters.

I will probably continue with the series because it looks like the second book is more promising... ( )

he one is a fantasy that strikes the questions that only Fantasy can ask: What is the purpose of Power? How does Power damn the one who uses it? How can one chose NOT to do so? Gerald Tarrant is the Uber Demon who makes the reader question all the little passively accepted 'Truths' of Life. If you haven't read this book and the rest of the trilogy-- BUY IT. READ IT. That's all there is to say. C. S. Friedman writes like a Man-- this is not a soap opera filled with princesses and princes. It's hard choices with sharp edges that draw blood every time ( )

This will be my third attempt at this book, starting with its publication in 1991. I've read and enjoyed so many of Friedman's books, I don't know why this one won't stick.

This book is an excellent introduction to the series, and readers should definitely take the warning "DARK fantasy" straight to heart! It is a well written and dramatic story set in a very creative world, although I think some of the ideas about the fae should/could have been explored in more depth and detail - there is a sense of "assumed common knowledge", a lot of concepts would have benefited from being unpacked in greater depth throughout the story rather than being treated as assumed knowledge. Other than that there is a lot I liked about this story, especially a general lack of predictability which is always nice. I am looking forwards to reading the next two when I get a chance to pick them up! ( )