When True Night FallsBook 2 of the Coldfire TrilogyBy C.S. FriedmanA Retroview by Eric AllenI honestly can't believe I've never come across this trilogy before now. I can't believe that no one I know has ever suggested it to me, or mentioned it in conversation. It takes place in one of the best thought out, and vividly created worlds I have ever read. And the story is both epic in scope, and quite entertaining to read. And so, it was not until twenty years after its publication that a copy of this book came to me. I have really been missing out on a good thing in my ignorance.When True Night Falls picks up a few months after the events of Black Sun Rising, the first book in the trilogy. Though the enemy in the East of the Rakhlands was defeated and the threat she posed in corrupting the Rakh into twisted, shadow versions of themselves was removed, there is still the question of where she came from. Setting out on a voyage that many have undertaken, but none have returned from, Damien, the Rakh woman Hesseth, and Terrant embark upon a trek across the eastern sea.We begin with their arrival in the lands to the east where a thriving civilization has been established. A civilization that believes so deeply in the religion which Damien serves as a priest and Sorcerer that the Fay, which reacts to the emotions, fears and imaginations of man, has no power over them. Machines work because the people believe that God will protect them from the Fay. Firearms no longer pose a danger to the ones using them, because they have absolute faith that God will not allow the weapons to misfire. Fireworks, something that would have been an utter disaster, resulting in many deaths on the other side of the ocean, go on flawless display because the people as a whole believe that they will.Damien is both humbled and awed by the power of the faith of the people. This civilization and their utter faith and domination over the powers of the Fay have been things that he has sought to create all his life.But things are not as they seem. The people are being manipulated by the Immortal Prince far to the south, his pagan people, and the Rakh, which he has corrupted to do his bidding, and to utterly hate all humanity. The church and all its wonders has been infiltrated by the enemy, and the people are being controlled, manipulated slowly, over centuries to face the Rakh in an explosive confrontation that will result in the destruction of their entire civilization.Seeing the Immortal Prince as the enemy that they crossed the ocean to confront, Damien and company set out to face him, and destroy him, freeing the Rakh from his reins of evil, and averting the war of extermination of all people on the eastern side of the ocean. But can they trust their powerful, undead companion Terrant, or will he betray them for a greater reward in kneeling before the Immortal Prince.The Good? The worldbuilding that went into this trilogy and this book are spectacular. The world is incredibly interesting and realistic. The powers of the Fay are truly engaging, because there is such a huge downside to the powers that people gain from it. Any fear, stray thought, or emotion can corrupt a person's working of the Fay and result in a nightmare given flesh. Merely thinking, feeling afraid, or having a nightmare in the right place, under the right circumstances, can cause a person's fears to manifest and murder them. It's a very interesting concept. I've always thought that what makes a system of magic the most interesting is not what one can do with it, but what the dangers of using it are, and this magic system has some incredibly interesting dangers in its use.The first book had some rather vague plot elements where I found myself confused over what was happening and why. This book does not share that problem. Friedman has improved greatly upon the style that she used in the first book, giving a much clearer picture of what is happening this time around, and why it is happening. I enjoy mysteries as much as the next man, but sometimes you just need to sit down and tell your readers what's going on and why, and she did an excellent job of that here. None of the exposition felt forced, and there were no big infodumps either. It was woven seamlessly into the story, making it far more enjoyable than the first book was.The Bad? This is not something that I, personally, thought was a bad thing. I want to make that clear. It was an aspect of the book that I quite enjoyed. HOWEVER, I am aware of the fact that many people out there do not share my views on religion, and may find themselves either bored, or possibly offended by a great deal of the goings on in this book. A great deal of this book deals with the power of God as an idea, and the faith of the people to make things happen. Like I said, I quite enjoyed this aspect of the story. I spent a year of my life working as a full time preacher between stages of my college education, so to me, the questions of whether the faith of the people is still good, or whether it has been corrupted was a very interesting struggle within Damien. It's one of his major focuses in the book, and I felt that it was done very well. But to people who are turned off by the question of religion, it will likely be rather boring. This is not a Christian religion, though it bears some small resemblance to one, nor does the author go out of her way to preach as some other authors are known to do. However, the nature of the character, a warrior priest, who has sought all his live to find paradise only to find it, and then discover that it is being corrupted is an integral part of the story. His inner turmoil over it is his main focus for a great deal of the book. If this is something you don't care for, it may make this book unbearable to you.In conclusion, this book is excellent. I found it to be extraordinarily well written and crafted. Friedman has done a spectacular job of worldbuilding and her grasp of how the inner turmoil of characters should play out is exquisite. I can't believe I had never heard of her before. She is a great author that deserves far more recognition than she has received. This book took everything that was great about the first book and made it better, improving upon the flaws of the first to craft a story that was both bigger and better, leading into what looks like quite a conclusion in the third and final book. I recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys the Fantasy Genre, or anyone looking for a spectacular display of worldbuilding and writing at their absolute best. Check out my other reviews.
A vampire-demon, a non-human cat woman, and a priest … (It sounds like a bad joke “…walk into a bar”). This is the second book in the trilogy – and the last one for me. My guess is that some editor convinced the author that a pretty good Fantasy novel (the first) could be stretched into three books. Not! Then again, it could be just a “middle book” (but I’ll never know).The reader first learns the ancient history of this strange planet – an earth “seed settlement”. On this planet, there’s power in sacrifice. (Creepy.) The reader also gets a summary of the first book – but it’s so bizarre, it’s hardly understandable. Then, there’s a series of (weird) incidents (adventures?) on some-kind-of quest. It does do a decent job of “explaining” magic i.e. the earth’s forces – yikes, I can’t believe I just wrote that – but, as far as the story goes, the “good guys” and the “bad guys” kept changing! (This is like professional wrestling.)This trilogy came highly recommended (from, of course, avid followers of this genera) but, in general, I’m not sure about “Fantasy”. “The Hobbit” is a ‘merry tale’ because the hobbits are cute and most of the story is written from their perspective. This is dark. It’s like reading “The Hobbit” from an orc’s perspective. (But is this novel any different than that of a zombie apocalypse novel?) Different tastes I guess …I kept on thinking that I could be reading something else. I couldn’t wait to finish it – to get it over with.
What do You think about When True Night Falls (2005)?
Damien, Tarrant and Hesseth the Rakh woman (Rakhs are Ernas native species) dare to cross the ocean to find and destroy their enemy the Dark Prince who has built his palace in the Black Lands on the eastern continent. Arriving there after a long journey they find a wealthy empire but have soon to realize all that glitters isnt gold. They are forced to flee and embark on a journey to find the crystal palace of their enemy through a hostile wasteland. On their way they rescue the young girl Jensen
—Inara
This is a solid continuation of The Coldfire Trilogy. Friedman has created a world unlike any I've read in which the power of humanity's faith and imagination comes to life. The plot is a somewhat typical traveling quest, but it is made interesting by the angst of the main characters and the rules of the world they find themselves living on. I felt like it slowed down a lot in the middle, and I got tired of the main character continually battling his conscience over the same questions. That constant wrestling with his nature and with evil hurt the flow of the story just by being so constant and repetitive.This series has definitely has a darker tint, but unfortunately I don't think the fiction strays too far from the truth about humanity. In other words, the way the characters act is believable given the circumstances they find themselves in. When fears create demons and doubt causes disaster, it's gonna be a tough life.There's one interesting facet that is coming more into focus as the series progresses. In the story, the church has a vision of a planet controlled by faith. Since the planet's forces respond to human will, their idea is to either reach God, or create God, through the power of the prayer and faith of millions. Even in modern life people make some serious cash selling books about positive thinking, and many religions are based on a foundation of faith, including mine. That creates an interesting perspective while reading this story, and seeing the interaction of fear and faith, belief and doubt.I don't think everyone will "get" it, but for those who do, this is a unique and thought provoking series.
—Bryan Stevenson
When True Night Falls is just as good as its predecessor, if not more so. Unfortunately, it took me an extremely long time to finish mostly because I had less personal time to spend reading. This book is not much different from its predecessor. It is a fairly straightforward adventure novel with a very small cast of characters spanning over 600 pages. Something that I admire about this series is that it manages to always hold my attention even after 500 pages in. This is something that many books could not do even with 300 pages. The book is long, but it does not feel rather excessive. I’m sure that there are many scenes here and there that could be trimmed, but it never feels redundant.When True Night Falls is also just as dark, if not more so, than the previous novel. The author is not afraid to kill off characters. Tarrant is just as dark and brooding as ever and the relationship between him and Damien is one of the most important central themes to the novel. Damien spends a lot of time deciding whether or not to trust Tarrant, which makes sense because Damien vowed to kill Tarrant by the end of book one. As with Black Sun Rising, the villain did not seem to be particularly well-developed. By the end of Black Sun Rising, I never really felt like I got a chance to know much about the villain, who she was, and what her motivations were. I had similar feelings during this novel, but the Prince was far better developed and more interesting. The book also has an excellent cliffhanger ending. I feel like it perfectly sets up the stage for the finale in the trilogy. This is one of the best fantasy series I’ve read so far.
—Patrick
