Rating: 
Summary: Not sure about any of that but the WRITING was BAD
Review: I may be "ingnorant", too, but the reason I have for panning this book is that the writing is simply sub-standard to put it mildly. It's not like I want every writer to match the prose of the classic writers but at least give me college-level sentence structure and logical progression across the page. To be fair to the author I suppose this book is no better or worse than the other ham-fisted grasps at the junior high school fantasy reading audiences. Recommended for those easily pleased and undistracted by jarring sentence structure or awkward dialogue.
Rating: 
Summary: For all the ingnorant reviews you may have read.
Review: This book was great. As to all the people claiming he is homophobic and sexist here is what he has to say.1.) "The Fifth Sorceress", (like all books), is merely a snapshot in time. In this case, a very short time period in a story than runs hundreds of years. There is much more to be told in future books. The first book deal was a trilogy, after all. And books three and four had been pretty much fleshed out by me and my publisher before TFS was published. If all of my subsequent books followed this theme, you would definitely have a valid argument. But they don't. Nor will the three in the second trilogy that I am writing now. This is not because of any criticism of the first book; it was planned this way from the start. As Steven Speilburg says, "Stories don't really have a begnning or an end. They only have a middle, and keep on beginning." 2.) Perhaps you missed it, but the reason why the coven was so bad was very carefully addressed. The sorceresses weren't evil simply because they were women--that would be ludicrous. If you check the book, the reason they were evil was because Failee unexpectedly went mad due to her improper use of the Vagaries, and she held sway over the others. In short, it's the magic that makes folks evil, not their gender. This having been said, the argument might be made that the only "evil" woman in the book was Failee, and the others were only her puppets. Even Failee, before her madness and during her marriage to Wigg, was a "good" woman. The lead wizard loved her very much. 3.) You ask about other "good" women. Don't Shailiha or Morganna qualify? Or any of the gnome wives? And the Minion warriors, (albiet they are under Failee's control), are male, and bad as bad can be. And in his explanantion to Tristan after the massacre, Wigg takes great pains to tell him that there were many good sorceresses living during the earlier war. Yet somehow you seem to argue that not only is there not a single "good"woman in the book, but no references are made to "good" women, either. Wrong on both points, I'm afraid. You might also be interested to learn that in book two, Shailiha is given powers of the craft, and she emerges as a strong heroine. And another strong female character also make her appearance. And guess what--all of the evildoers are male. 4.) Attacking someone personally that you do not know isn't just harsh--it has no basis in fact. I am not a mysoginist nor a homophobe, nor any of the other things you seem to think I am. No publishers in their right mind would continue to employ such a person. I have not attacked your personal character here; I don't think it appropriate that you attack mine. This kind of thing serves no purpose whatsoever. 5.) It's only a story, for Christ's sake. And by their very nature, stories are supposed to make us think, argue, and wonder. I didn't write the book this way solely for those reasons--I had a bigger story to tell; one that I hope will go forth for a long time. I didn't write the book to be provocative. But if I was able to make people question and discuss, a great part of my job was done. Attaching what you believe to be some bad points of my book to my actual personality makes no more sense than believing that Stephen King has an enchanted pet cemetary in his backyard. 6.) The truth test: Honestly, had the baddies in my book been male, would you really be this upset? Have you ever once expressed a harsh opinon about the fact that in most cases males, or groups of males, have so often been portrayed as the villians? True equality means equality in all things, does it not? 7.) True, my book received some harsh reviews from other readers, and I respect that. But in general, the professional reviews were pretty glowing. Apparently they can look at the book objectively, and they know better than to try to make it all about themsleves. And as you look around the web, there seem to be just many folks who rave about it as there are who castigate it. I would also mention here that the book was not only nominated as an Audie award finalist, but I was nominated by the British Science Fiction Book Club for The Best New Voice Award across both genres. You're entitled to your opinion, and I would defend your right to express it to the end. But that doesn't make everyone who disagress with you wrong, either. I happen to agree with him. I can't stand people who jump to conclusions from baseless "facts". I would recommend anyone to read this book and the following novels.
Rating:
Summary: Rascist, Sexist, Homophobic... and poorly written to boot
Review: Women are very, very bad. Oh, maybe not ALL women, but given the chance, most women would very happily turn to eeeevil without any regrets. Men are wonderful, virtuous creatures who would never ever turn to eeeevil, even under torture. That's why they have to keep women from practicing magic, for their own good, of course. We wouldn't want any more of them to turn evil, now would we? Oh, wait! The evil women captured the good princess! Oh no, now she's evil, too! Evil and pregnant! We'd better send her twin brother, who's an idiot but at least not evil, after her, along with the requisite wise and condescending wizard who can patiently explain to him why it's his duty to fight against all these evil women and why it's certainly not the WIZARDS' fault the women turned to evil in the first place, nosiree, we didn't do NUTHIN' that would have pushed them over the edge, nuh-huh! (It never occurs to anyone in this book that the sexist practice of forbidding women to learn magic from the good wizards ensures that they can only learn magic from the evil ones. Duh.) I tried to look past this, I honestly did. I gritted my teeth every time women were equated with Everything Wrong With the World and kept reading. I swallowed my sarcastic comments every time someone told the main character that it was because he was "the male" of the set of twins that he was the "Chosen One" of Prophecy. I tried to ignore all the other problems with this book, too - like the way the main character, Tristan, would do something stupid and reckless, and everyone would shake their heads and murmur amongst themselves, "If only he knew the truth," and then NOT EXPLAIN WHAT TRUTH HE'S SUPPOSED TO KNOW, and leave both him and us wondering what the HECK is going on, especially when he CONTINUES doing stupid and reckless things because the author wanted to maintain an aura of "mystery" to keep his reader "intrigued". Then there's the obsession with "pure" blood, which is mentioned pretty much on every page. If you don't have pure blood, you're not worth wasting time on, as far as the main characters are concerned, and the purer your blood (i.e. untainted by "common" blood) the better. Wait, where have I heard this before... Oh yeah, it's called "eugenics". And let's not forget the homophobia. I can't even count how many times lesbianism was referred to as an example of "depravity". In fact, the entire book reads like a Catholic schoolboy's guilt-inducing wet dream, with hot Asian women dressed in black leather S&M gear and PG-rated girl-on-girl action, all of which induces "shock" and "horror" in the virtuous males that are forced to witness it. Inevitably, this leads to Tristan being "raped" (forced to have sex with the evil sorceresses) several times over the course of the book because he's just soooo desirable. Honestly, this is just a Freudian analysis waiting to happen. Which brings us to the women. I don't mind villainesses. In fact, an evil female character is far preferable to a meek, stay-at-home-and-wring-her-hands, passive and pretty sidekick. My favorite fictional villain of all time is a woman (Melisande, from Jacqueline Carey's "Kushiel" series). What I do have a problem with is when a male author paints every single female character as either inherantly evil, or so weak-willed that she can easily be swayed to the side of evil, and every male character as either good, or bad only because he's been tempted and seduced by those evil evil women. All of this speaks to me of Major Issues that should have been dealt with BEFORE the book was written. Not only is it offensive, but it makes for dull, unlikable characters and a plot that manages to be both stagnant and overly complicated. People, it's called "motivation", and it SHOULD be what drives the characters along and makes them interesting. "Just because" doesn't count as character development. Quite frankly, by the end of the book I was rooting for the outcome where the sorceresses blow up this rascist, sexist, and homophobic world and everyone in it ceases to exist.
Rating: 
Summary: What else can I say?
Review: There is not much else I can add here that someone else has not already mentioned. The first few pages intruiged me enough to buy the book. A huge mistake! From a contrived plot, completely lifeless characters that all act like third-grade children, to plot twists that can be seen from miles away, I can't believe that the publisher let this be printed. I really dislike knocking a new author, but this novel reads like it was conceived, written, edited and published in two weeks total. It reads like the author was the Dungeon Master for a role-playing game and merely copied down what the players did and said. Even when the plot manages to twist in a slightly (very slightly) original way, the author spoon feeds the reader the resolution in the next paragraph. There is absolutely nothing left for the readers to try and figure out themselves. Especially the "wise" wizard Directorate. Their wisdom is the level that you read from fortune cookies. I managed to read the entire thing with the same vain hope that it MIGHT get better. Sorry Mr. Newcomb... I will not be buying the rest in the series nor any other books you produce.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: Probably THE worst fantasy I have ever read. That is not an exageration. Even if I recieved this book for free it would not be worth my time read.
Rating: 
Summary: What A Terrific and Different Fantasy Read
Review: No, this is not your normal good conquers all fantasy. Good people do actually die, bad does prevail, and there is graphic sex and violence. This book is so great because of its differences. Prince Tristan and his royal family are so innocent in the beginning of the tale, only to lose that innocence in a very violent and brutal slaughter on the Princes coronation day. He loses so much that day, including his pregnant twin sister, to a group of very evil sorceresses. They believe that his sister is their "fifth sorceress" needed to complete their evil plans. Tristan, along with his surviving wizard, must learn find his sister and stop the evil sorceresses. This is a wonderful read as is the second book in the series, The Gates of Dawn. Read and enjoy this enchanting book!
Rating:
Summary: Putridity with plenty of hype
Review: It's a mystery that this pompous, unoriginal, often offensive tome wasn't handed around the editorial department for the sake of comic relief, and then rejected with extreme prejudice. There are plenty of hack fantasies out there, but "Fifth Sorceress" may take the cake for the most putrid. After a war between the sorceresses and the wizards, the wizard Directorate sends the four remaining sorceresses to sea on a perilous voyage to who-knows-where. Centuries later, young Prince Tristan is about to become king of Eutracia, where those of "endowed" blood get to rule. Except he doesn't want to. When he gets lost in the woods and ends up in a cave full of red water, his sister Princess Shailiha and the wizard Wigg search for him -- and encounter signs of the sorceresses' return. Tristan's coronation is interrupted by horrible flying creatures that murder all the wizards but Wigg, his parents, and most of the people in the area. Then the sorceresses kidnap Shailiha -- and her unborn baby -- with the help of a mysterious fifth sorceress (the title character has virtually no impact on the story). Now Tristan and Wigg must rescue Shailiha before the sorceresses get their hands on unspeakable magical power. Few books can truly be said to have no redeeming characteristics, but "Fifth Sorceress" is among those. It's a stinking, sloppy, poorly-written and poorly-characterized mess. There are only so many ways that things can be handled originally in fantasy. With wise and cryptic wizards, magic trinkets, winged warriors and a chiseled hero, how original can the book be? Even the concept of "pure blood" was painful. The writing is poorly edited and inconsistent. At one point, Tristan is raped by one of the sorceresses. Weirdly enough, he doesn't seem traumatized at all by this. Killing his own dad has only slightly more effect. Newcomb's style is unsubtle and repetitive; the words "blood," "endowed," and "Chosen" show up constantly. His obsession with sex shows in his weird choice of words (how can a person have a "sexual longing" for WATER?), and his "shocking stuff" (heads being strung on rope like beads) either read like bad porn or an unnecessary effort to shock. Perhaps the most offensive aspect of the book is the way women are portrayed. Either they're evil, perverted dominatrix fiends who wear sexy clothes (gotta have some gratuitous leg-flashing), or they are subserviant idiots who either get pregnant and cry, or serve as convenient sex toys for the protagonist. Apparently Tristan's endowed twin Shailiha (Princess Leia, anyone?) is supposed to be a spunky female character. The less said about Shailiha, the better. Tristan is a whiny, spineless excuse for a hero. While reluctance can be a good trait in a hero, here it just makes him seem like a spoiled brat who doesn't want to deal with responsibility. Wigg is a cookie-cutter wizard. Shailiha is so much baggage; she's basically a walking womb for an "endowed" baby the sorceresses want. She goes insane fairly soon into the book (apparently a woman can't retain her sanity if her husband is killed), and is even more annoying when she's insane. "Fifth Sorceress" comes across as "Star Wars" reimagined by an S&M enthusiast. A putrid, poorly-written, excruciating excuse for hack fantasy. It takes the worst of the genre and cobbles it together in one reeking bundle. Avoid at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: Just plain bad
Review: I have read Jordan, Goodkind, Card, Le Guin, Guy Gavriel Kay, and a host of others. And I like the majority of their books, so you can use that to judge my opinion of this book. The Fifth Sorceress is terrible... do not believe the hype and the ratherly overly dramatic reviews on the cover and that abound on most standard book reviews. Bad plot, word usage, use of point-of-view, character developement, and "author's magic wand". The only saving grace of this book is the way the author creates magic in his world... but even that is a rather simple redoing of "pureblood," where magic power is basically determined by the purity of your blood. I can't recomend this book to anyone, instead I would highly suggest reading Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea series. I am still in shock at how people thought this book was any good....
Rating:
Summary: Just not a good book
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I love fantasy novels and I liked the idea of this one. But it's really quite horrible. It's poorly written, frankly boring in parts, and it's totally misogynistic. Every female character in this book is an evil, ... torturer. The only one who has any good qualities is a cookie cutter angel (literally - she has white feathered wings) who he only meets, and saves of course, for five minutes before he supposedly "loves" her. Yet, despite this love, he easily leaves her behind even though he knows her to be suffering. There are logic gaps repeatedly throughout this book so huge you could drive a truck through them. Each time one of these "huh?" moments appear the author presents a pat, stupid, nonsensical explanation. The author seems so smug it is as if he were saying "See, you thought I'd miss that, didn't you?" but he doesn't even notice that his own explanations only add to the problems. The only reason I finished the book is that a part of me kept saying "Maybe it will get better." It never did. Just pass this one by. The only reason I even gave it one star is for being a fantasy novel. The story itself deserves none.
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: I was surprised when I saw this book's low rating and high number of vitriolic reviews. I thought it was pretty good. I'm not much of a fantasy reader; maybe that's what my problem is. I'll grant that the writing isn't especially good in the way of word choice, and there are some logic errors, but the story still pulled me in. I liked the characters and the story and I couldn't put the book down. That's good enough for me, redundant prose notwithstanding. As for the book's 'controversial' aspects, the violence and sex didn't bother me, and I loved the fact that the villains were women. +5 stars for story, -2 stars for prose.
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