HemGrupperDiskuteraMerTidsandan
Sök igenom hela webbplatsen
Denna webbplats använder kakor för att fungera optimalt, analysera användarbeteende och för att visa reklam (om du inte är inloggad). Genom att använda LibraryThing intygar du att du har läst och förstått våra Regler och integritetspolicy. All användning av denna webbplats lyder under dessa regler.

Resultat från Google Book Search

Klicka på en bild för att gå till Google Book Search.

Laddar...

Fade to Black

av Francis Knight

MedlemmarRecensionerPopularitetGenomsnittligt betygOmnämnanden
19113141,210 (3.29)3
"It's a city built upwards, not across--where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under. Rojan Dizon doesn't mind staying in the shadows, because he's got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can't hide for ever. Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan--this is going to hurt."-- P. [4] of cover.… (mer)
Laddar...

Gå med i LibraryThing för att få reda på om du skulle tycka om den här boken.

Det finns inga diskussioner på LibraryThing om den här boken.

» Se även 3 omnämnanden

Visa 1-5 av 13 (nästa | visa alla)
On the whole, I enjoyed the story. The idea was good, the world interesting if dark (somehow, it reminded me of the bleak atmosphere and darkness in Blade Runner), and the plot was OK.

There were no likable characters, although some have potential, and maybe there'll be a good character development in the sequels.
The ending was satisfying, leaving space for sequels, but could have ended there and then.
Still,there's a lot of potential for further stories, and it will be interesting to see, where Francis Knight will take the story.

Narrator Paul Thornley did an excellent job, and I might check out other novels read by him.

I received a complimentary copy and I chose to willingly post an honest review. ( )
  Belana | Dec 15, 2021 |
Malhala. A vertical city, where buildings and streets are built on top of each other. People move between the area across bridges and walkways that shake when they are used. It is ruled by the Ministry, an all seeing, pervasive authoritarian government. The lowest of the city are the forsaken, who live right at the bottom of the city.

In this almost alien city is Rojan, a single guy who finds people when all is lost. He does this by breaking the law and using his illegal 'power mage' skills. Life for him exists in the shadows until his brother finds him and says that his niece has been taken. Using his power briefly he finds that she is been taken to one of the lowest points of the city. He agrees to descend to the lowest levels and try to rescue her, and to do so he must trust two others.

As Rojan discovers who is holding her, and that he holds the key to Malhala's future, he realises that he is going to have to use his maximum powers, and can hide no longer

Thought it was reasonable good overall, the descriptions of the city and the streets were really good, as it felt dark, creepy and dangerous. The use of pain to do magic was original too, with some not particularly pleasant scenes as he releases his powers. The plot was a little predictable, hence only three stars. ( )
  PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |
Fade to Black by Francis Knight is a book that’s been written in the shadows – no, it’s not bad, it’s just a little darker than your usual urban fantasy novels – Rojan Dizon is our main character and he doesn’t mind sticking around in the shadows, in fact he prefers it, because he’s got a few things to hide himself. Part pain-mage, part bounty-hunter, Rojan Dizon is in his element in the dark. However, when his niece gets kidnapped, he draws on his forbidden power in order to find her, which means he won’t be able to hide forever anymore. It’s a city that’s built upwards, the wealthier you are, the higher up you live… It’s a world where class-differences are still a way of life (and important), but it’s also a world where magic still lives.

Our main character, Rojan Dizon, is an intriguing bloke with a tainted past. He enjoys using women for sex and although he’s slightly unlikeable in the beginning, he starts to grow on the reader. Sure, he’s got a few issues, but that’s what makes him more realistic in my opinion, because we all have issues, don’t we? His character does grow though and I’m sure in the sequel he’ll be a changed man, but regardless of that I kind of thought that more people could relate to him the way that he is in Fade to Black. That being said, he’s not the only reason people should read the book. The world that Francis Knight created is a lot like Sin City/Dredd with hints of fantasy and a lot of dystopian. It also handles real world problems, such as corruption. So yes, it’s much more than just your average urban fantasy. However, I do feel that the book was a little rough around the edges. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic book and the scenery is quite intriguing, not to mention that the characters are fun in their own ways, but here and there I got the distinct impression that there was something lacking.

Fade to Black is worth a read though, especially if you’re in the mood for something out of this world. With the sequel being released in June 2013, it’s probably wise to get your hands on it as soon as you can, because something tells me that Book 2 is going to be even better and it’ll be a must-have.

(originally posted on http://www.killeraphrodite.com/2013/03/book-review-fade-black-francis-knight/ ) ( )
  MoniqueSnyman | Oct 3, 2019 |
Fade to Black was a good but not great novel. It paints a good picture of a bleak, dystopian world. In a city where electricity and power comes in the form of magic provided by pain mages, who draw their power from physical hurt, either their own or that of others, the lowest of the low class live under ground. The higher up people are in wealth and class, they literally live higher up in buildings that are built massively huge, piled on top of each other. There is a deep, dark conspiracy afoot, one in which Rojan Dizon finds himself right in the middle of. Rojan is a pain mage and bounty hunter, who keeps his magic a secret, although it’s not a very well kept secret. Rojan is forced to go to the pit, where the lowest of the low live in search of his kidnapped niece.

There were things I liked about the novel and things that didn’t work for me. On the plus side, I think the author successfully builds a nice bleak atmosphere to the novel. The writing fits the mood and works well. There are some good plot turns, and decent conspiracies. On the negative side, Rojan is a pretty bad character. It’s hard to have much respect for him when there were so many obvious things happening that should have been obvious to him and he was completely clueless about. It’s hard to get into a novel with a weak protagonist who I found to be generally unlikeable. The novel ends with a bang. I also liked the whole simulated fighting that they had in the pits that reminded me of pro wrestling with weapons. I would give this novel a thumbs up, but not an enthusiastic one.

Carl Alves – author of Reconquest: Mother Earth ( )
  Carl_Alves | Jan 20, 2019 |
Rojan Dizon is a bounty hunter in the city-state of Mahala living a quiet life in the shadows and trying to stay out of trouble as much as possible. He’s also a pain mage, and his magic has been outlawed by the Ministry that controls the city. His life is going great when his long-lost brother asks him to find his missing daughter, and he can’t bring himself to refuse, despite knowing that he’s messing with the Ministry. And of course, he ends up finding much more than a missing girl.

I enjoyed FADE TO BLACK a lot. Rojan Dizon is pretty much your standard Mat Cauthon (from Wheel of Time) template – roguish, out for himself, ultimately moral. He does become more heroic over the course of the book, but it’s believable – it’s because he cares for specific people (his niece, the people that help him find her) and because he’s a fairly nice guy, which is established early on. Also, his blatant womanizing was pretty funny, and just like Mat, when he actually likes someone, he’s clueless.

The relationships (I don’t mean romance) in this book are complex and made the characters seem realistic. Rojan and his brother Perak are estranged, but they still respect and love each other. Rojan worries about his business partner Dendal’s use of magic, and it’s clear that they have a solid friendship. And I enjoyed the complicated relationship that he develops with his contacts in the Pit, Jake and Pasha – there’s a little bit of a love triangle, but it’s mostly just messy.

I’ve mentioned elsewhere that I really enjoy city-states in fantasy; I’m not really sure why – maybe because books set in city-states tend to make them more atmospheric, and also focus on the economy and structure of how everything works. Anyway, Mahala was a great setting, nestled in a mountain pass, with no choice but to build up to expand, and with only precarious walkways to navigate. I’m not sure about how that would work in practice, but I assume that since this world has magic, that would help somehow. It certainly makes for a very picturesque image. I also enjoyed the somewhat industrial setting, although electricity is just being discovered and magic powers the factories. I’d like to read more about how that works; luckily there are two more books. The magic system is neat, too – the author takes the general rule of “magic has to have a cost” almost literally, since magic is fuelled by pain.

I was a little bit confused by the writing style of the book – it’s first person, and I think it’s supposed to indicate that Rojan is writing this long after the events have happened, but that took a while to get used to, and in the beginning, I thought there were just a bunch of inconsistencies. One example is when Rojan reunites with Perak (not really spoilers, it happens in the first couple of chapters), before meeting him that it was no surprise that of course he’d end up in Alchemical Research (which is part of his overall narration), but then when Perak explains his job, he’s truly shocked (but that was his reaction in that moment). There are more things like that, but once I figured the style out, everything made sense.

My other complaint is that things wrapped up a little too neatly at the end. I was hoping that the case that Rojan is working on at the beginning of the book was just a look at his everyday life before he got sucked into something crazy – just establishing his character – but it turned out to be plot-relevant. I also did not like the identity of the main antagonist, he ended up conveniently wrapping up not one but two other major threads in the story, although given Rojan’s character of avoiding responsibility, there would’ve been no other way to set him up for the next two books without those threads being resolved.

There’s more stuff I haven’t talked about, like the way FADE TO BLACK approaches religion (both organized religion and belief), but words are deserting me today. I’ll just say – I’m pretty excited to read the next two books and see what happens to Mahala. Maybe we’ll even see Outside! ( )
  kgodey | Apr 11, 2017 |
Visa 1-5 av 13 (nästa | visa alla)
inga recensioner | lägg till en recension

Ingår i serien

Du måste logga in för att ändra Allmänna fakta.
Mer hjälp finns på hjälpsidan för Allmänna fakta.
Vedertagen titel
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta. Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
Originaltitel
Alternativa titlar
Första utgivningsdatum
Personer/gestalter
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta. Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
Viktiga platser
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta. Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
Viktiga händelser
Relaterade filmer
Motto
Dedikation
Inledande ord
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta. Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
I forced the door, nice and quiet, with my ever-so-slightly-illegal pulse pistol at the ready.
Citat
Avslutande ord
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta. Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
(Klicka för att visa. Varning: Kan innehålla spoilers.)
Särskiljningsnotis
Förlagets redaktörer
På omslaget citeras
Ursprungsspråk
Kanonisk DDC/MDS
Kanonisk LCC

Hänvisningar till detta verk hos externa resurser.

Wikipedia på engelska

Ingen/inga

"It's a city built upwards, not across--where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under. Rojan Dizon doesn't mind staying in the shadows, because he's got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can't hide for ever. Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan--this is going to hurt."-- P. [4] of cover.

Inga biblioteksbeskrivningar kunde hittas.

Bokbeskrivning
Haiku-sammanfattning

Pågående diskussioner

Ingen/inga

Populära omslag

Snabblänkar

Betyg

Medelbetyg: (3.29)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2 5
2.5 1
3 15
3.5 1
4 12
4.5
5 3

Är det här du?

Bli LibraryThing-författare.

Orbit Books

En utgåva av denna bok gavs ut av Orbit Books.

» Förlagets informationssida

 

Om | Kontakt | LibraryThing.com | Sekretess/Villkor | Hjälp/Vanliga frågor | Blogg | Butik | APIs | TinyCat | Efterlämnade bibliotek | Förhandsrecensenter | Allmänna fakta | 203,224,520 böcker! | Topplisten: Alltid synlig