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Black Sun Rising: The Coldfire Trilogy #1 by…
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Black Sun Rising: The Coldfire Trilogy #1 (edition 2005)

by C. S. Friedman

Series: Coldfire Trilogy (1)

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2,601405,606 (3.91)109
Blending science fiction and fantasy, the first book of the Coldfire Trilogy tells a dark tale of an alien world where nightmares are made manifest. Over a millennium ago, Erna, a seismically active yet beautiful world was settled by colonists from far-distant Earth. But the seemingly habitable planet was fraught with perils no one could have foretold. The colonists found themselves caught in a desperate battle for survival against the fae, a terrifying natural force with the power to prey upon the human mind itself, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life. Twelve centuries after fate first stranded the colonists on Erna, mankind has achieved an uneasy stalemate, and human sorcerers manipulate the fae for their own profit, little realizing that demonic forces which feed upon such efforts are rapidly gaining in strength. Now, as the hordes of the dark fae multiply, four people--Priest, Adept, Apprentice, and Sorcerer--are about to be drawn inexorably together for a mission which will force them to confront an evil beyond their imagining, in a conflict which will put not only their own lives but the very fate of humankind in jeopardy.… (more)
Member:tekneek
Title:Black Sun Rising: The Coldfire Trilogy #1
Authors:C. S. Friedman
Info:DAW Trade (2005), Paperback, 496 pages
Collections:Your library
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Black Sun Rising by C. S. Friedman

  1. 20
    Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop (noise)
  2. 20
    Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (saturnine13)
    saturnine13: If you enjoyed by the relationship between Tarrant and Damien, Those Who Hunt The Night features a similar relationship nearly as fascinating.
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» See also 109 mentions

English (39)  Dutch (1)  All languages (40)
Showing 1-5 of 39 (next | show all)
This turned into quest fiction after a hundred pages or so, much to my chagrin. I stuck with it for a while longer since the beginning showed such promise, but I have zero tolerance for a book length journey. I really dislike plot for the sake of showing off world-building, and oh man, that was this. Extended triptych, no thanks. ( )
  lyrrael | Aug 3, 2023 |
I love science fantasy, but this is actually old school (just) fantasy in disguise.
Too many and too extensive descriptions for my taste.
Not great, not terrible, but quite dated. ( )
  milosdumbraci | May 5, 2023 |
It has interesting world building however the writing is disjointed. I had to backtrack repeatedly to try and see what was going on. The early section of the book was very choppy.
The setting was neat the main characters were meh. ( )
  eleanorg | Feb 15, 2023 |
Near the galactic center humans must adapt to life on an alien planet, but it turns out that the planet and its life adapts quickly to humans as well. Black Sun Rising is the first book in C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy follows a band of humans journey to the lands of the native rahk to hunt down demons that have stolen memories from one of their number and pose a different threat to another of their number.

Twelve hundred years before the time of the novel, a colony vessel arrived on the earthlike Erna only for humanity to find the fauna not only alien but fantastical. The mix of science fiction and fantasy instantly makes an interesting environment to set a story, but Friedman adds to it by having humans upset the balance of Erna that must account for and adapt to the presence of humanity especially when human minds and emotion resulting in physical change of the world. Throughout the book this background is slowly revealed to set up new twists of the story that the five significant characters of the novel must deal with, along with their attitudes with one another. The main two characters of the book, Priest Damien Vryce and Gerald Tarrant are uneasy allies as they venture to the protected area in which Erna’s native inhabitants live for their own particular reasons to face the same antagonist; what makes things more interesting is that Damien is a part of the order that Gerald founded as the Prophet of the Church before turning heretic and becoming near immortal by joining with the dark side of Erna’s magical forces. The unique world and the uneasy alliance between the two main characters makes this a fascinating read.

Black Sun Rising is a well-written very interesting science fiction-fantasy opening installment of a trilogy. C.S. Friedman not only creating an amazing world that the reader explores, but fascinating characters as well. ( )
1 vote mattries37315 | Jun 25, 2022 |
I not sure why but I really struggled to get into this book. It seemed to take for ever to get to the end. ( )
  hipney | May 31, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 39 (next | show all)
Top 25 Best Fantasy Books #12
This is epic fantasy with a different face. Think a mix of epic fantasy, Gothic, horror, and mystery. ... Dark fantasy does NOT follow the standard (arguably tired) fantasy conventions of protagonist saves the world/ gets the princess/ hero always wins. The main characters may die, the hero may die, evil may in fact win. The hero may in fact do questionable things to gain victory. It's fantasy that's morally ambiguous.

If you read this series, you can rest assured it's free from that taint of unoriginality present on 95% of the fantasy fiction out there.

 

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C. S. Friedmanprimary authorall editionscalculated
Whelan, MichaelCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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This book is for several very special readers: Rick Umbaugh, who started it all; Kellie Owens, Linda Gilbert, Lori Cook, David McDonald, and Joe and Regina Harly, who keep it going; and Betsy Wollheim, whose criticism is, as always, worth its weight in gold.
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She wondered why she was afraid to go home.
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Blending science fiction and fantasy, the first book of the Coldfire Trilogy tells a dark tale of an alien world where nightmares are made manifest. Over a millennium ago, Erna, a seismically active yet beautiful world was settled by colonists from far-distant Earth. But the seemingly habitable planet was fraught with perils no one could have foretold. The colonists found themselves caught in a desperate battle for survival against the fae, a terrifying natural force with the power to prey upon the human mind itself, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life. Twelve centuries after fate first stranded the colonists on Erna, mankind has achieved an uneasy stalemate, and human sorcerers manipulate the fae for their own profit, little realizing that demonic forces which feed upon such efforts are rapidly gaining in strength. Now, as the hordes of the dark fae multiply, four people--Priest, Adept, Apprentice, and Sorcerer--are about to be drawn inexorably together for a mission which will force them to confront an evil beyond their imagining, in a conflict which will put not only their own lives but the very fate of humankind in jeopardy.

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Over a millennium ago, Erna, a seismically active yet beautiful world was settled by colonists from far-distant Earth. But the seemingly habitable planet was fraught with perils no one could have foretold, and the colonists found themselves caught in a desperate battle for survival against the fae, a terrifying natural force with the power to prey upon the human mind itself, drawing forth images from a person's worst nightmare or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life. Twelve centuries after fate first stranded the colonists on Erna, mankind has achieved an uneasy stalemate, and human sorcerers manipulate the fae for their own profit, little realising that demonic forces which feed upon such efforts are rapidly gaining in strength. Now, as the hordes of the dark fae multiply, four people - Priest, Adept, Apprentice and Sorcerer - are about to be drawn inexorably together for a mission which will force them to confront an evil beyond their imagining, in a conflict which will put not only their own lives but the very fate of humankind in jeopardy ...
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