Dawn of Night: The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Book II [Mass Market Paperback]

Dawn of Night is the second book of the Erevis Cale Trilogy (following Twilight Falling) and continues the exploits of Erevis Cale and his three companions, Jak Fleet, a Halfling cleric, Drasek Riven, a one-eyed human assassin and Magadon, a psionic tiefling (demon-spawn).

As book two begins, we are introduced to the being manipulating the major events of this trilogy, The Sojourner. It is he who has "created" the slaadi, the three main antagonists from book one who were responsible for stealing the Weave Tap, a "sapling" of immense magic, and whose actions turned Cale from a human into a shade, a creature half man and half shadow. In this novel, the three slaadi are sent on an errand to place a seed from the Weave Tap into a massive power source located in the bowls of the planet, outside of an underground cesspool of a city known as Skullport. This seed's function is to connect the magical power of the Shadow Weave and send it back to The Sojourner, where the a second seed is harnessing the power of the Weave itself.

Before even getting to Skullport, Cale and the others, who we left at the end of book one about to drown beneath the cold waters of a lake, find themselves marooned on The Plane of Shadows, a realm that sucks the life, color and energy out of everything, but seems to give Cale a better understanding of his abilities as a Shade.

This novel, first and foremost, is a character study of Erevis Cale and his transformation from human into shade. He learns the limits of his new abilities and, with the help of Jak, Riven and Magadon, flee from the hideous creatures of the Shadow Domain and return to world of Faerun. They are all on a mission now...to destroy the three slaadi, discover who The Sojourner is and stop their plans from succeeding.

This journey eventually finds them Skullport, an underground city catering the very worst creatures and the most despicable vices associated with such monsters. Again, we discover more and more about each of our main protagonists. Magadon is at war with his demonic half, Jak must face down the horror of witnessing such vile and desperate acts that he sees in Skullport, while Riven himself must face down memories of a previous time he spent in the city of skulls.

The final confrontation is a magical battle that is both tour-de-force in its intensity and in the shocking betrayal that is hinted at throughout, but is so difficult to actually watch happen. That final point, in my opinion, is what makes Mr. Kemp superior writer. That ability to create empathy in even the most heinous of individuals, along with the ease in which I found myself effortlessly turning page after page, make this an excellent second novel of the trilogy.

Granted, there is not as much action, not as many smaller hurdles to overcome for the characters, but those that do present themselves are more difficult for the characters and more violently rendered. This is certainly not a novel for pre-teens, as the graphic imagery is sometimes difficult to digest. Rest assured, however, that the violence is essential to not only the storyline, but to the characters as well and is, at no point, gratuitous in nature.

Dawn of Night is a FIVE STAR sequel to Twilight Falling and, as its predecessor did before it, leaves us with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger where death is certainly possible and the darkness can only expand and deepen.

The Erevis Cale Trilogy concludes with Midnight's Mask...and not a moment too soon!

I was turned to these book after I didnt hear from a close friend for almost a month. Seems he was shacked up with the Cale books and wouldnt leave his house. I was soon to follow in his steps. This book begins to take you down a road to places you couldnt imagine. Paul Kemp is without a doubt one of my new favorite writers. His dark characters and amazingly played out fights and plot will stay in your mind for quite some time. trust me. you will enjoy the books all the way to the end.

Dawn of Night is a worthy sequel to the epic adventures of Erevis Cale started in Twilight Falling.

DoN picks up where Twilight ended and takes us on a journey through several different settings, each interesting and thought provoking in its own way. DoN gives us a feel for the Antagonist of the trilogy and lets us into other preparations being made to further his overall objective. The Pace is quick, and the detailed fight scenes are very well done. As always, Mr. Kemp does a very good job of giving a feel for the setting and mood in order to add to the story line. The characters are well defined and each is interesting separately. The protagonists are evolving as the trilogy continues, which gives them a 'real person' feel.

This book delves into the grittier side of the story, in a way not seen often in this genera. The surprising ending makes one wait for the final book in the trilogy with eager anticipation.

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