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This is Robert Day's first novel and comprises
the first book in, what will become, the The Nexus Wars Saga
trilogy. When asked about the inspiration for his first novel Day revealed
he was, "Inspired by other
authors who have successfully lifted the Fantasy genre to one of the most
widely read genres on the planet." and this book "came about as a result, and
in tribute to the authors of the 80's and 90's, in whose worlds I became
lost and enthralled for countless hours."
Demon Gates follows the tried and tested formula
of the good verses
evil story line involving magic and leading towards a great
confrontation or battle. From my experience, a first novel in a trilogy
serves a number of purposes: setting the scene, creating the story line and
establishing all the historical background necessary to create context,
introducing all the main characters and putting some "meat on their bones". It
should provide the reader with a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction at having
completed a novel, but, at the same time, leaving them with an anticipation of
what's to come in the next novel in the series. Most importantly the reader,
although knowing it is fantasy, should find the story believable.
Demon Gates is a light read with a basic story
line although it did come across as a bit too contrived. All the elements seemed
to be there. The context was set and the battle lines are well on the way to
being drawn up. I would have liked to have seen the main character, Valdieron
developed further. We know he is the hero of the story but I had
trouble connecting to him. I would also liked to have seen more real character
development in some of the supporting players in the
story. Although this first novel is a self-contained story it didn't
leave me in anticipation of the next novel in the trilogy.
This was my first foray into reading a digital
novel and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I can see myself reading
more and more books this way. One aspect that I did find a little annoying,
which I don't necessarily put down to the author, was some laxness in editing. I
hope that with the move to digital publishing proof-reading and editing skills
won't be assigned a lesser importance.
If you'd like a gentle introduction into the
Fantasy genre then this might be the perfect vehicle as it won't overly tax you
and follows a well worn path. Number two in the trilogy, most likely to be
titled Ashar'an
Rising is slotted for release in the next month or so.
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