Rating: 
Summary: High Hopes Dashed
Review: I really liked the first book in this series, it gave me high hopes that I had finally found another author to put in my rotation of must-buy books. This second outing is much much less notable - the hero could have never gotten involved and things would hardly change at all. I don't intend to ruin the story for anyone so I won't talk about it, but this author will have to work awfully damned hard to make this series worth reading after this. The writing is not bad, but the storyline and resolution needs help.
Rating: 
Summary: I love this story
Review: I really loved the first book, and couldn't wait to read the sequal. Newcomb sure didn't fail in keeping the story exciting. I just could not put this book down. The only thing I am disappointed in is that I have to wait til June to read the next book. Great Book!!!!
Rating:
Summary: I love this story
Review: I really loved the first book, and couldn't wait to read the sequal. Newcomb sure didn't fail in keeping the story exciting. I just could not put this book down. The only thing I am disappointed in is that I have to wait til June to read the next book. Great Book!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good until the end
Review: I thought this was a very good book, the characters where pretty predictable. The females are all weak, and depend on the men. The plot was complicated, but understandable. The end was terrible, not to give away anything but come on, otherwise it was a good book
Rating: 
Summary: It just goes on and on and on...
Review: I was incredibly disappointed in Newcomb's second novel. While the sections where there's actually action and adventure going on are just wonderfully enthralling, there's very large parts where it's just Wigg and Faegan explaining thing over and over. Those parts were very boring and actually put me to sleep at one point.It's a good read, but you could skip most of the hub-bub of the dialogue and still know what's going on with the storyline. And how many times is Tristan going to see the most beautiful woman he's ever seen? I think Celeste was woman number 4 described that way when she first appeared.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly Bad Ending
Review: In a nutshell, nothing the heros did or might have done made any difference. The bad guys lose on a technicality and the author spends 20 or so pages explaining what the technicality was. If the good guys stayed home talking about how hopeless the situation was for the entire book, instead of 90% of it, the result would have been the same. Don't waste your time on this piece of garbage.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: Let me start out by saying that Robert Newcomb's "The Gates of Dawn" is a stunning novel. Literally. After several hours, I blacked out from the migraine accrued while reading the book. The Gates of Dawn is Newcomb's second foray into the epic fantasy world. And I pray to God, it's his very last. Here are the four reasons why the novel is drivel, and I'm sure you could come up with several dozen more without breaking a sweat: 1) The writing is absolutely horrific.
I have never, ever witnessed a book with such awkward, ponderous, and downright BAD, prose. Newcomb doesn't have even the slightest modicum of writing ability. "Gates of Dawn" is choked full of grammatical errors, cheesy, horrfic dialogue, repetitive phrasing, adverb tags, etc. Put it this way: anything that can be done wrong, grammatically, Newcomb has done it. Whoever edited "Gates of Dawn"should be fired on the spot; it exhibits all the qualities of a first daft. The writing is so bad that an elementary school dropout could find the errors. Was it even edited at all? For example:
In a dialogue scene between evil villains, Newcomb actually has one of the villain call someone "sophomoric". It's a word, but completely out of place. Geez, talk about an egregious breach in continuality... 2) Most of the book is pure exposition.
Newcomb treats his readers like idiots, bashing them over the head with not-so-subtle plot pointers. He also pumps the entire plot through the overactive mouths of Tristan's two wizard friends; indeed, practically every third page is yet-another-explanation, ad nauseam. If after five pages you tire of the two wizards equivocating with Tristan, brace yourself; you have only another 300 pages of it. Any reader expecting the protagonist to actually do something-other than stand around chatting with the wizards-will be sorely disappointed. 3) The Plot is tenuous and contrived.
Tristan's friends spend most of their time hiding secrets from him. These "secrets" get doled out in very large chucks (pages and pages) during the course of the novel. The plot goes something like this: Tristan doesn't know what to do. He talks to wizards. They pretence ignorance. Tristan moans for fifty pages. Wizards then reveal a secret that will help Tristan. Ad infinitum. To add insult to injury, I can't say how frustrated I felt after spending a good 10 hours finishing the book(i've run marathons that are easier), only to find out that the ever single action by the protagonist (and friends) had zero impact on the ultimate plot ending. Indeed, Tristan and Co. could have gone to Disneyland and the outcome would have been the same. I don't recall ever reading a book with this type of scenario. 4) Dismal female characterization. In his first book, "The Fifth Sorceress", every female character was either a
a) sexual deviant
b) victim of rape
c) helpless hanger-on, useful for soft porn scenes
d) combination of two or more Did he improve his female characters in "The Gates of Dawn"? No. The two leading female characters are insipid. Tristan's sister mopes around, crying whenever Tristan leaves. His "love interest" spends several hundred years getting raped by an evil wizard. I think we all know what Newcomb's personal opinions of women are. I'll stop there. Summery:
I equate Newcomb's newest offering the same entertainment value found in mowing the lawn. Spare yourself the headache.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, better than the first
Review: Man, this is a good story. But before I get to the substance, for all those people complaining about typos, etc, in the first book, get a grip. In one of the reviews to the first book, the reviewer complains about typos and grammar. Ironically, in that very same review I found typos and a score of passive language that would fell even the most hardened English teacher. Enough, get over it--blame the editor, don't blame the writer. This book has a fantastic story to tell. Missing, and thankfully so, is the overpowered protaganist. Yeah, he's the Chosen One, but thus far he hasn't got a clue as to how to use his abilities. Sure we know what's going to happen, but Newcombe's vehicle is far better than the plotting by the numbers that has become so typical in fantasy today. As fast pace as the first book was, this book is even faster, and sure doesn't fall in the "middle book rut" we so commonly see. Indeed, like Martin's books, each installment gets better and better. Newcombe also does a great job of developing the characters, even with the fast pace. Tristan is certainly the impulsive hothead everyone thinks he is, but there is a reason for it. Frankly, the most interesting character in the book is the blood stalker Rangor, who with 300 years of vengence on his mind, is an intriguing character. Everything you hoped would be clarified from the first book is, with still more questions that will be answered in the 3rd book. Great book and for those who complain that Ocean's don't contain "brackish water"--who cares, it's a made up story with made up people, in a made up land, with made up magic. Give the author a break and just enjoy the book for what is, namely, a fresh take on the plot by the numbers approach to fantasy that we have all grown tired of. Goodkind's books by the way, don't hold a torch to these two.
Rating:
Summary: Not As Great As First, But Still Good
Review: No, This one isn't as well done as the first book in the series, The Fifth Sorceress. BUT, even with all the good wizards annoying repetition of explanations, it's still a very good read. The action almost makes up for all the slow parts of the book. And I find the other reviewers remarks about the women being passive a little puzzling. Prince Tristans twin sister is very stubborn and speaks her mind regularly. You can see the setup coming for the females to study magic. Hopefully in the next book(s), the good female characters will steal a little more of the focus, but they are hardly subservient. Overall, I did find myself wanting to finish rather quickly instead of savoring this book as I did with the first. Try this book and lets all hope that the third one will be the best yet.
Rating:
Summary: Del Rey should be ashamed
Review: Ok, even a publisher who has sunk a lot of money into a longshot author needs to know when to quit. With the tide of crappy books on the market these days, Robert Newcomb has made his mark as the worst of the worst. Yet here is his second book, carefully packaged despite the howls of protest from fantasy fans such as myself who believed the hype about the first one, then read it and wondered if we had purchased the same book. More of the same brutal and inconsisent nonsense fills this book, with dull characters and a stupid plot. Spare yourself! Skip this book. And ignore every piece of marketing from Del Rey from now on.
| 
