Weaver
Sage
In Siege of Daylight, by Gregory S. Close
(You'll notice that I'm not the author of this novel. Why, then, am I posting on the Self-Promotion forum? See, there's this guy named Thomas Weaver mentioned on the acknowledgements page...)
Here's the official description of the novel:
In Siege of Daylight: Book One of Light, Dark & Shadow is an epic fantasy with richly developed characters and a strong debut for a promising new series. Calvraign, the hero of the tale, is an apprentice to the king's bard. His studies are filled with prophecy, romance, mythic enemies, and magic, and he contents himself with such fantasies until the day that he is suddenly called to the capital city. His best friend Callagh, the most skilled huntress in their village, senses something isn't right with Calvraign's hasty summons and follows him. Her instincts prove true, as his arrival throws the king's court into chaos, and the two are abruptly torn from their simple country life and plunged into the real-life version of Calvraign's tales.
A dead wizard's menacing prophecy reveals that an all-encompassing dark magic has already been loosed upon the world, and there is only one way to stop it. Calvraign and Callagh must protect the life of the crown prince, Hiruld, at all costs. They are forced to contend with the realities of the king's court - a constantly shifting web of intrigue, romance, and carefully executed maneuvers hidden behind the glittering façade of royal life - while simultaneously battling dark forces to keep Hiruld alive. Calvraign must find a way to ensure that all is not lost and that evil cannot triumph for all eternity. And Callagh must keep him alive long enough to do it....
It doesn't take long for author Gregory S. Close's greatest strength as a writer to reveal itself as characterization. His hero and heroine, along with a plethora of memorable characters, are complex individuals who accomplish the greatest task of literary figures: making the reader forget that they are fictional. His writing style is highly literary, calling to mind the boggling imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien but more easily readable in many ways, making this book an easy one to consume.
Close manages to take a genre sodden with tired plot lines and offer a number of refreshingly original takes on them all, keeping the reader guessing even while in seemingly familiar territory and intrigued with its highly entertaining plot twists. One of the novel's most important and enjoyable characteristics is that it does not always choose the most obvious outcome; happy endings are relative.
In Siege of Daylight is a strong debut that is sure to captivate die-hard fantasy fans and create a generation of brand new ones. The book boasts a number of strong female protagonists; a departure from many fantasy tales that cast the women in the hapless wench or sidekick roles. This should be a strong draw for female readers in a literary genre with an overwhelming number of males within its fan base.
My own attempt at a review:
Daylight reminded me more of fanasy by Tad Williams (especially Shadowmarch) than of anything by Tolkien, for its complexity of interlocking storylines that don't always merge in the ways a reader may expect. It is far more "approachable" than Tolkien's writing and more appealing to the tastes of most contemporary readers. One of the things that really struck me about this novel is that the dwarven characters (Mr. Close calls his underkin) are real and fully developed, not all-of-a-kind cliches that show up far too often in epic fantasy. The female characters -- human and otherwise -- are also real and complete people, not stereotypes of one extreme or the other. (We've all seen fiction in which the author uses the female characters as cardboard props on a soap box to rail against stereotypes.) The plot is big and far-ranging and always makes sense. I've read this novel twice so far, and it held my attention all the way thorugh both times.
From a review from Clarion posted on the author's web site:
"It is no mean feat to craft a fantasy world that is different, familiar, interesting, and fresh.
Gregory S. Close has done that and more with In Siege of Daylight: Book One in the
Compendium of Light, Dark & Shadow, a weighty and daunting tome, but one worth delving
into."
You can read the rest of that review here:
Greg Close's Worthless Novel(s) Blog
(You'll notice that I'm not the author of this novel. Why, then, am I posting on the Self-Promotion forum? See, there's this guy named Thomas Weaver mentioned on the acknowledgements page...)
Here's the official description of the novel:
In Siege of Daylight: Book One of Light, Dark & Shadow is an epic fantasy with richly developed characters and a strong debut for a promising new series. Calvraign, the hero of the tale, is an apprentice to the king's bard. His studies are filled with prophecy, romance, mythic enemies, and magic, and he contents himself with such fantasies until the day that he is suddenly called to the capital city. His best friend Callagh, the most skilled huntress in their village, senses something isn't right with Calvraign's hasty summons and follows him. Her instincts prove true, as his arrival throws the king's court into chaos, and the two are abruptly torn from their simple country life and plunged into the real-life version of Calvraign's tales.
A dead wizard's menacing prophecy reveals that an all-encompassing dark magic has already been loosed upon the world, and there is only one way to stop it. Calvraign and Callagh must protect the life of the crown prince, Hiruld, at all costs. They are forced to contend with the realities of the king's court - a constantly shifting web of intrigue, romance, and carefully executed maneuvers hidden behind the glittering façade of royal life - while simultaneously battling dark forces to keep Hiruld alive. Calvraign must find a way to ensure that all is not lost and that evil cannot triumph for all eternity. And Callagh must keep him alive long enough to do it....
It doesn't take long for author Gregory S. Close's greatest strength as a writer to reveal itself as characterization. His hero and heroine, along with a plethora of memorable characters, are complex individuals who accomplish the greatest task of literary figures: making the reader forget that they are fictional. His writing style is highly literary, calling to mind the boggling imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien but more easily readable in many ways, making this book an easy one to consume.
Close manages to take a genre sodden with tired plot lines and offer a number of refreshingly original takes on them all, keeping the reader guessing even while in seemingly familiar territory and intrigued with its highly entertaining plot twists. One of the novel's most important and enjoyable characteristics is that it does not always choose the most obvious outcome; happy endings are relative.
In Siege of Daylight is a strong debut that is sure to captivate die-hard fantasy fans and create a generation of brand new ones. The book boasts a number of strong female protagonists; a departure from many fantasy tales that cast the women in the hapless wench or sidekick roles. This should be a strong draw for female readers in a literary genre with an overwhelming number of males within its fan base.
My own attempt at a review:
Daylight reminded me more of fanasy by Tad Williams (especially Shadowmarch) than of anything by Tolkien, for its complexity of interlocking storylines that don't always merge in the ways a reader may expect. It is far more "approachable" than Tolkien's writing and more appealing to the tastes of most contemporary readers. One of the things that really struck me about this novel is that the dwarven characters (Mr. Close calls his underkin) are real and fully developed, not all-of-a-kind cliches that show up far too often in epic fantasy. The female characters -- human and otherwise -- are also real and complete people, not stereotypes of one extreme or the other. (We've all seen fiction in which the author uses the female characters as cardboard props on a soap box to rail against stereotypes.) The plot is big and far-ranging and always makes sense. I've read this novel twice so far, and it held my attention all the way thorugh both times.
From a review from Clarion posted on the author's web site:
"It is no mean feat to craft a fantasy world that is different, familiar, interesting, and fresh.
Gregory S. Close has done that and more with In Siege of Daylight: Book One in the
Compendium of Light, Dark & Shadow, a weighty and daunting tome, but one worth delving
into."
You can read the rest of that review here:
Greg Close's Worthless Novel(s) Blog
