Black Sun Rising

Coldfire Trilogy, Book 1

By: C. S. Friedman

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 23 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

The Coldfire trilogy tells a story of discovery and battle against evil on a planet where a force of nature exists that is capable of reshaping the world in response to psychic stimulus. This terrifying force, much like magic, has the power to prey upon the human mind, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams, and indiscriminately giving them life.

This is the story of two men: one, a warrior priest ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of humanity's progress; the other, a sorcerer who has survived for countless centuries by a total submission to evil. They are absolute enemies who must unite to conquer an evil greater than anything their world has ever known.

©1991 C.S. Friedman (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Magic as a natural force of the planetary biome

Compelling characters. Good storyline with unexpected twists. Humans changed by the forces of the new world they settled on also reshape the existing world and the path of evolution there simple because they ARE human. I read these books in print in the 1990s when they were first published and loved them. This well-read audiobook production does not disappoint.

did it have to be this long?

Black Sun Rising is a long book. I mean, really long.

It's an interesting concept, giving us a fantasy world growing out of a science fiction backstory, and yes, it is Fantasy, not science fiction. you can't just put a story in the future and say it's science fiction. this had the traping of fantasy, including magic, so it is fantasy.

With this out of the way, I enjoyed this book, although I wish it had been shorter. I like how Miss Friedman explained why the magic isn't reliable and also why the technology failed. the world itself is interesting, as are the characters, One aspect I think Miss Friedman over did is he insistence in giving me a PoV from her antagonist. I'm not sure why as the only thing those Scenes did was ruin what would have been an amazing revelation had I not known ahead of time it was engineered by the bad guys.

As for the length, it's too long. too much time is spend pining. and in place it's is done in exactly the same way multiple time, which came across as lazy writing, rather than a conceptual decision.

due to personal Bias, I wish we'd spent more time under the Canopy exploring the people there, instead of having the characters pine after what they could easily have if they just stopped being idiots.

in spite of all that, Miss Friedman got me sufficiently engaged, and curious, that I've put the next book in the series in my to-read list.

Hard to get into, good in the end

I was recommended this book by a friend and really wanted to get into, but it took forever to really feel like I was with the main characters and concerned for them in their pickles and happy for them when good things happened.

The book started out pretty fast paced from the beginning and I didn't feel like I was able to get to know the characters very much before the story really got going so it was hard to feel connected to characters as they progressed through the story.

The narrator was overall good but I feel like he was trying too hard to sound intense and and captivating that it was just a little annoying at first. Eventually I got over it.

By the end, however, I was enjoying it and it was worth the read. I am definitely going to keep reading through the series.

So close

The actual story is pretty good and when not obscured by the author’s description of some superfluous stuff, you’ll want to know what’s going to happen next.

Wonderful author, love all her books

This is my favorite series by her but they are all great. Beautifully written , this is my first time listening to the audio version and the performance is top notch

Slow start but really quite fun

The opening of this book was hard to get through as the setting at first seems alien enough to be difficult to grasp and familiar enough to be generic (it's a post sci-fi fantasy). We immediately meet a character who is committing a heinous act and, with no appreciation for who he is, it's jarring and unpleasant to read. Eventually, the book comes into its own, with the introduction of some very enjoyable characters (although they seem a little flat at first).

The magic system presented is more detailed than much fantasy but doesn't quite achieve a level of detail where the reader can appreciate the limitations/strengths of the magic characters without being told directly about them by the narration. It doesn't have as much detail as the Mistborn series, but that also means that it doesn't get bogged down by that detail the way that I feel that Mistborn was.

By the epilogue, I realized that I had actually grown attached to the characters, as I was smiling and chuckling at their actions.

Better if you read it yourself

I've read the Coldfire Trilogy multiple times. I love the story and characters. So, I was particularly happy to find it as an audiobook so I could listen to it on my commute. Imagine my dismay at hearing the narrator's halting read, like he was channeling an early William Shatner. In chapter four he started using some pseudo-European accent and I had to quit. I couldn't even finish the chapter. Since I only listen to audio of books I've already read, I'm used to narrators sounding different from what was in my own head; this is the only time I haven't been able to accept it. I'm returning the books.

Let it unfold!

The 1st 5 to 10 chapters of this book was difficult. Strenuous. And unsure of where it was going. But I must say I read so many different fantasy scifi authors that it probably could have been me; It could have been the fact that I had been reading something with an totally different style and it took me a while to grasp the tone. However I have to say the middle and the ending was glorious. I was laughing out loud I was cheering out loud and I found myself wishing it wouldn't end. Enjoy!

loved it again and again.

loved it when I read it the first time.
loved it when I read it again years later.
loved it when I listened to it now years later again.

Exciting

This first book was very exciting to listen to. Can't wait to download the rest of them. Going to be a great story I can tell.