Fade to Black

Rojan Dizon #1

by Francis Knight

From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala.

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.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Magic, Noir

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alright, I have a lot of fairly unpleasant things to say about Fade to Black, so I want to stress first and foremost that I don't think this is a bad book. For some people, it's probably even an incredibly delightful book, but I am not one of those people. Francis Knight's Fade to Black is very much a "dude" book. Much as I don't like to subscribe to gendered reading, this book will have more appeal with men, largely due to the portrayal of women.

Let's start off with what I did like, because there was one thing. The world Knight created is dark, eerie, and fascinating. It's a dystopian world, which, while obviously not a utopia in the beginning, has even blacker secrets underneath. The idea of this world thrusting high up into the sky, where people commute by shaking bridges, creates a strong mental image. It's like nothing I've read before, though I've seen a couple of similar ones none were quite like Knight's.

Knight also had an interesting concept with the pain mages. I both did and didn't like this. The idea that they can convert the pain of themselves or others into magic is admittedly cool. I also thought the fact that the magic would corrupt the user was neat too, especially given the dark nature of the magic. Rojan's struggles against using his magic are compelling, and pretty much the one sign that he might not be an asshat of a man.

On the other hand, though, the pain mages thing also allowed Knight to get pretty gruesome. I'm not usually easily grossed out by fiction because I'm not a visual reader. Where horror or gore on a television screen freaks me out instantly, I can read gory horror novels without a problem. Knight revels in the painful stuff, perhaps she even had to, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I could not handle the descriptions of Rojan breaking his hand and then continuing to abuse it all through the book. I feel sympathetic twinges in my own hands now even as I type this. Whiles Knight obviously has writing talent to make me feel this way, I still found the whole ordeal highly unpleasant.

As mentioned previously, my biggest issue with Fade to Black is Rojan Dizon and his sexism. I would say Fade to Black reads a bit like an old school noir, where women are solely seen as sexual objects. Rojan has a firm belief that any woman will sleep with him and regularly has a number of women at any one time, all of whom seem to have been unaware that that was the case, based on their reaction at the beginning of the book. If he wants to sleep around, fine, but don't lie to women about what you want from them. That's so not cool. His attitude and the way he thinks about every single woman he meets made me want to kick him in his manparts with steel-toed boots.

There is one powerful woman, the fighter Jake, the only female who seems strong enough to have any sway in the world. She's been dominating the underground fighting circuit. That sounds good, right? Well, not so much. Turns out she's the only woman who's not interested in him, so obviously it must be love. Insert eyeroll here. Then, later, we find out that the reason that Jake has no interest in Rojan or any of the other men is because she was sexually abused when she was younger, so the touch of a man turns her into a weak-willed, fearful creature just like every other woman. Fan-freaking-tastic. The strongest female character was actually a whore, who escaped from sexual abuse to open a whorehouse, which pretty much sums up what Knight thinks about women.

Fade to Black might be for you if you do not mind reading about men who are rampant sexists and enjoy gory descriptions, perhaps those who enjoy the exploits of James Bond. Sadly (or happily), that is not me.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this ARC from the publisher (YEAH IM ON A LIST!!!)

This is a really cool, dystopian sort of fantasy/sci-fi world mashup, it's hard to describe, because there's magic and yet there's tech as well. It's supposed to be very China Mieville, but since I've never been able to get through one of those books, I'll just take people's word for it, lol.

I DID get through this one, and enjoyed it a LOT! The world building is crazy interesting, the characters are very noir, and the plot was enough to keep me on my toes (although a few things that happen towards the last third are VERY convenient, needed to be set up a wee bit earlier to be smooth, but that's a small criticism).

I'm very excited to read the second in the series for sure! I love this new wave of gritty fantasy/sci-fi world building, it's like Brazil is very en-vogue!! The movie, not the country.

[atmatos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This review may contain spoilers.

First of all I want to say that in reading this book I get the feel the author is not a big fan of organized religion. If you have issues with this I recommend you to not read this book, it will offend you.

I’d call the people entering “worshippers” for want of a better word – most of them only went into get out of the rain. But they gave thanks, Goddess knows what for, poor bastards, and they gave alms. They never wondered, never thought that they were the ones who needed the alms. In the churches Over, no bastard gives a lousy coin. These fools gave because then they were better, weren’t so love they couldn’t afford a bit of charity. It was a piss-poor way to feel better about yourself, and I couldn’t even bring myself to do that any more.

Mahala, a city where in ages past mages used to run the everything on pain magic until the mage king was overthrown, and religion took over. Where a chemical called synth was created to fill the role of the now illegal pain mages, only to be found out years later to be toxic. Scrambling to find a way to keep the machinery, the lifeblood of the city running the mysterious Glow was created. Nobody knows where it comes from or how it’s made until now.

Meet Rojan, a man hiding from a lot of things, including you learn later on, himself. Rojan is a pain mage with a knack for finding people, he uses it to his advantage searching for easy bounties.

In the beginning Rojan isn’t the most likable man, but though out the book he grows as a person. Rojan is quite the cad, he also doesn’t like to think to hard about how the city around him is changing. How children are disappearing, and how the church is slowly becoming more, and more cold.

Temples held no interest for me, not any more. I watched the poor deluded fools going into a bland, white-washed box instead of the temples we used to have, before the Ministry tightened the strings on our souls, before they got rid of anything remotely joyful. It had been a slow, insidious path from gloriou8s Ministry revolution, saving us from the corrupt mage King, to this. At first they’d been benevolent dictators. One little step at a time, but all those little steps over decades added up to total control of mind and body.

Rojan gets a message from his estranged brother, he is in the hospital, his wife has been killed, and his daughter gone. With years filled with guilt over a fight he had with his younger brother, Rojan starts to feel the weight of family obligations, of possibly righting some of the wrongs he did in the past. This is the start of Rojan growing as a character, there are a few more scenes where you can immediately see the changes. This was a big win for me, I like when there is personal growth along with story progression. I would have been seriously disappointed if Rojan didn’t grow up a lot in this book. What Rojan goes through to save his niece, what he learns about the politics in his city would break a weaker man.

I loved this part of the book, it was just so emotionally powerful, the instant growth of character.

”What are you doing?” I found my voice at last. “This is torture. You’re no better than they are, no better than the Ministry. At least Ministry just kill people. They don’t see them in agony first.”
Pasha stopped at my voice, and the gun was pointing at my face again. There was no quivering this time. “You think? Come and take a look.”
I hesitated; I wanted nothing to do with this. Even if the mages were kidnapping girls, for whatever reason, I wasn’t sure they deserved this. Prison, yes; long slow torture, no.
“Come on.” He was glaring at me, his eyes hot and frantic with some emotion I could only guess at. One of the men to my side drew a fun from inside his jacket…
…I only knew that his transformation from wizened, comical monkey to avenging angel was scaring me badly. He heaved the door open and a waft of fetid air rushed out, making him gag a little as he let the door clang open.
“This is the hole, where they put them when they’re done, when they’ve used them up,” he said, gesturing into the dark with his gun. “The girls here are ones they’ve finished with, mostly, which is why they’re easy to find, because they don’t care about them any more. A body can only take so much, they hand them to the goons to take their please in what’s left. Look in.”
I felt the prod of a gun barrel at my side. I had no choice, but I didn’t want to look down there, I didn’t want to see what had made this mouse of a man so ferocious, or why others thought torturing the people who owned it was of no consequence…
…“Look,” he said, and there was such a dead, defeated quality to his voice I could do nothing other than obey…
I swallowed hard. I had a sudden knowledge of what I was going to see when I managed to aim the lamp into the dark mouth of the hole. The stench warned me, and I tried not to breathe as I looked down…
…I’d been jolted out of my comfortable existence, where I’d been peripherally aware that not everyone had my style of life but sure that, the Ministry notwithstanding, there had been a reverence for life; that something like this would not, could not go on…

This book was very emotionally powerful, with side characters full of depth, both strong and yet so fragile. Rojan being thrust upon this world where he knows nothing of the hardships, both helps and hurts the people around him. This also helps him grow, for in the end when Rojan has a choice to make what impacts him the most is not himself, it is others that he is thinking of. A once selfish man, thinking only of himself sacrificing for the good of others. Making this, a story that could have been so dark, a story of hope and redemption.

I really enjoyed this book, and am excited for the next installments.

*Draft Two

[TheBookSmugglers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Original review posted at Kirkus

"I believe in cash, and that men aren’t made for monogamy, that there isn’t a woman alive I can’t get into bed if I try hard enough, and never cross the Ministry. Shit like that. I believe them like crazy."

The city of Mahala is built upwards and its populace spread across different levels. The sunlit summit is for the rich, privileged ruling class, called the Ministry. The levels below are for all the rest, and the lower one goes the poorer–and darker–it gets.

Somewhere in-between the highest and the lowest levels lives protagonist Rojan Dizon, a thoroughly content, self-proclaimed womanizer, pain mage and bounty hunter who likes both his cash and his women to be as easy as possible. His life is shaken to the core when his estranged brother asks for Rojan’s help tracking down his kidnapped daughter. All of a sudden Rojan is faced with responsibility, and when evidence suggests that his niece has been taken down below, Rojan embarks on a journey that will lead to great change–for him and Mahala itself.

Fade to Black is a formulaic noir-ish dark fantasy novel with futuristic dystopian elements. The former subgenre is exemplified in Rojan’s activities as a bounty-hunter/detective who dons the role of Reluctant Hero as he travels the underbelly of his own world. Been there, done that so many times, I saw most plot developments a mile ahead. The latter is probably the most distinctively original aspect of the novel: a futuristic world that hints to a calamitous event that set technology back many years; a world in which guns have just been invented and in which there is no electricity. This dystopian element stems from the ruling class of Mahala, as the Ministry is a brand of Government-cum-Priesthood that purportedly acts on the will of an all-seeing Goddess. Most of the rules that govern this world are born of religious ideas and are strictly enforced following a recent revolution (which greatly reminded me of Cromwell’s Commonwealth reforms).

Now, whilst the setting itself is distinctive and interesting, I am afraid the same cannot be said about Fade to Black’s character development–which is SO dull and done by means of Angst by Repetition. You know the type: the main character goes over and over the reasons he is feeling bad, or the reasons why he should not be doing something. Most egregiously, we are told–many, many times–rather than shown how Rojan feels about everything. Everything about Rojan’s arc is extremely contrived, paint-by-numbers and telegraphed from the onset of the book. The more he tells us he doesn’t care about anything, the more we know that this will obviously lead to him caring a lot–especially after he falls in insta-love with Jake, an emotionally damaged woman who earns her living with stage fights.

Although there is certainly an element of unreliability in his first-person narrative, as Rojan doesn’t admit certain things to himself (for example, how powerful a mage he truly is and how therefore he is in fact, a Special Snowflake), the fact is that this comes as no surprise at all to any reader familiar with the tropes of Dark Fantasy. There is clearly an attempt to make Rojan into a likeable character, especially after he has been changed by the Power of Unrequited Love–but the problem is that it is very difficult to sympathize with him because his suffering is only brought upon by how bad he feels about other people’s very real misery.

Which brings me to my last point: I cannot finish this review without mentioning a very problematic aspect of the novel. Please avert your eyes NOW if you don’t want to be spoiled!

In his travels, Rojan comes to find out Mahala’s biggest secret: that the city is literally powered by pain. Kids are kidnapped and horribly tortured for years, and this pain is harvested by pain-mages to use as fuel to keep the city running. Now, here is the twist: the kids taken are girls. And only girls. How does this make any sense at ALL? Pain is pain, so why only girls? Is a female’s pain better by any chance and I missed the memo? WHY. Why do I even need to be bringing this up at all? This is an internalized, unchecked misogynist aspect of the novel that did not sit well with me at all.

Needless to say, Fade to Black will probably fade from my mind the minute I finish this review.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fade to Black is Francis Knight’s debut novel, and I have to say, it kept me glued to my seat.

It starts off with Rojan, the protagonist, trying to catch a runaway girl, who tries to electrocute him and set him on fire when he goes after her, and keeps at that level of action until the last page of the book.

Rojan, while a little ruff around the edges at first is a likable protagonist who over the course of the next few books in the series has the potential to really grow into a fantastic protagonist. Now, the character I really would have liked to have read more about was Dendal. Everything I read about Dendal I really enjoyed and in my opinion he has the potential to offer the story some Yoda style wisdom to help explain some of the happenings of the events as well as some comedic relief. I’m not saying the other characters were bad, in fact I really liked most of the characters, I just really liked Dendal and would like to read more of him.

One of my only problems with the book was the way that the author, Knight, kept repeating herself. I understand that she was trying to make the points that; that Rojan was scared of his magic and didn’t like to use it, that he was a womanizer, and that the synthtox, the predecessor of the glow, killed loads of people including Rojan’s mother. But the number of times I read and re-read these points was ridiculous and began getting a bit annoying as it takes the reader out the story and detracts from the overall level of enjoyment in the book.

That said, this was Knight’s first book, and I really enjoyed it overall. Further, I was able to read a preview of the next book in the series Before the Fall, and Knight does a great job picking up immediately where she left off, starting the story at a jog, and getting readers into the story with a bang.

So while Fade to Black wasn’t perfect, it had tons of action, had some good characters, and it entertained me. All in all, I really liked it and plan to read Before the Fall when it comes out as well.

http://whatchamacallitreviews.blogspo...

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

Yawn. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of this book. Or maybe bland. Both are apt descriptions for FADE TO BLACK. A few chapters in I wrote in my notes that it seemed as if the author had a checklist of everything she thought should go in an urban fantasy novel and merrily went down the list as she wrote the book. This feeling never changed as the book progressed.

The main character of the book is Rojan Dizon. He’s a stereotype of every best-selling urban fantasy character rolled in to one. Badly. I’m having a hard time expressing how much I detested this character. Everything about him had me rolling my eyes in annoyance. It’s so bad that I’m kind of hoping the author meant him to be some sort of avant-garde statement on horrible urban fantasy clichés, but I really doubt it.

Now for the plot: Rojan’s niece is kidnapped! Oh noes! Maybe I hated this plot so much because when I’m not reading urban fantasy I’m probably reading a mystery novel and the family member getting kidnapped plot is one of the most overdone storylines. That isn’t to say the kidnap plot can’t be done well, but it certainly isn’t here. The plot seemed to just be a way for the author to make Rojan take some responsibility for himself. Which is fine, but why can’t we have characters who are already responsible? Anti-heroes can be fun, but Rojan just comes across as an angsty, emo asshole.

Anyway, there are some cool things about the book. The city of Mahala is interesting and kind of reminded me of the giant cities built in David Wingrove’s Chung Kuo books. Sadly just having a neat location isn’t enough to fill a book. All in all this a standard, paint-by-numbers dark fantasy and not one I can recommend. There are too many good books out there to waste time reading ones like this.

Sexual Content:
Sex Scenes

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh man, this book and I didn't get along. There were bits I appreciated, the dark, gritty, almost post-apocalyptic atmosphere, the idea behind the pain mage, the fact that the writing is pretty crisp, and such. But I just had a lot of ragey issues with it.

Now, I'll acknowledge that Rojan was an anti-hero and normally I can handle, even like an anti-hero. But combined with the sexism in the book, it was more than I could handle and still come out liking the character or the book.

We'll start with the easy one. Rojan is a womanizing jerk. If he wants to avoid monogamy, fine, but he lies to his female partners and has NO RESPECT FOR THEM. Now, again, I don't have to like everything about a hero. So, I could acknowledge this fact as an unfortunate part of the character's character and move on. Unfortunately, I don't think Francis Knight respects women either. Because there are so many ways women are disrespected, often in unnecessary and maybe even unintentional ways in this book that I couldn't also accept Rojan's sexism as a simple character trait. Instead it became one more symptom in the diseased whole.

About 30% into this book I stopped and sighed. I sighed and said to myself, "Oh, this is ANOTHER book pretty much entirely predicated on the victimization of girls and women." (God, I am so tired of how common this is.) Basically all of the victims of violence (that does not need to differentiate by gender, the magic doesn't know the difference) are female. I'll give Knight credit for having a few token boy victims; that's more than a lot of authors like this manage, but tokens really are all they are. At one point someone asks the main character how many little girls he sees running around and the answer is none, only boys. All the girls have been kidnapped to be abused. So, the reader gets this endless parade of unnecessarily gendered victims. Why only girl victims and male abuser? Gee, couldn't be that old misogynistic idea that women are victims and men are in control?

Then we have the constant background rapes. Repeat after me, sexual violence does not always occur in conjunction with physical violence. Pain magic needs pain. That's all, just pain. But women, girls really (the oldest they rescue from being raped was 12), are constantly being raped in the background. Sure, I get it. The old prison experiment; given unequal power the group holding the upper hand will move toward taking more liberties and a group of men holding a group of women are likely to take liberties with the women. I get the idea. But a reader can know it happens without being slapped in the face with it over and over and over again. Luckily none of it was overly graphic, but it's constantly there. Women reduced not only to their victim status, but their sexual victim status. Honestly, I felt this was more emphasized than the beatings, which were what was necessary for the magic to work. And honestly, with a brainwashed and complicit victim (because they all become willing eventually, WTF) rape wouldn't even be a very effective way to produce pain! I honestly thought it would have been a stronger book if Knight concentrated on pain, not the horror of victimhood. (Make no mistake; it's the second one that is apparently important here.)

What's more, with all these rapes happening behind conveniently closed doors, or overheard, or having just happened there is no accounting of who is doing the raping. One assumes mages and the guards, but you never actually see who it is. It's like women are out there getting raped by the air. Hey look, women in the wild, in their natural state—raped. Notably not, hey look, a man is raping a girl. There is only victim in this scenario, no identified predator. Men remain blameless and women alone associated with the event.

Then there is Jake. OMFG, I had so many problems with the portrayal of Jake. She's supposed to be strong, because she's a strong fighter. But the man who knows her best undermines that by claiming it's all show, all fake. So, she's not actually a strong fighter. Couldn't have that. But apparently she's not strong mentally either. The second they enter danger she falls apart and becomes a whimpering, teary mess. Why? Because she's been repeatedly raped since childhood, of course, and as a result she is afraid of touch. The man she loves and who loves her can't even touch her. But good old Rojan forces himself on her all the same. Sure, it's a soft little kiss, but a soft little kiss to a haphephobic is traumatizing. Plus, this sudden need to kiss her, even knowing she would in no way be receptive, was in the middle of a dangerous situation. It made no sense at all. But then it got worse. The best friend/love shows up and got angry, manhandling her and ultimately running off to betray her because she allowed Rojan to kiss her and not him. Because he had been the patient one, the kind one, the friend, the nice guy. He had earned her and letting another man touch her (ignoring that it was forced) was a betrayal of him. No concern for the fact that she's essentially falling apart. And guess what, he's rewarded for his buttholeness by getting the girl in the end.

Then there was Rojan's love for Jake. He firmly believed he can get any woman in bed. In fact, he was only interested in women until they get in bed with him. Since Jake was the one woman he couldn't have he fell in love with her. He basically chose her over every other person in the city. He sacrificed for her in the big climatic scene. It's real love, apparently. But he was thinking of getting in another woman's knickers literally on waking from that same event. Plus, this was the last sentence of the book; just to make sure we know what's important.

The single strong woman in the book was a prostitute who had escaped the rape mages. But even then, she's a prostitute because she's come to view abuse and sex as normal. She needed it, so even in freedom she sought it out. See guys, it's not so bad to rape and abuse women. In the end, they love it for real even crave that stuff. So, have at it. The single woman Rojan didn't want to have sex with is a complete b/witch, so, you know, any woman who won't sleep with you can't also be a nice person. The single non-sexual girl given any agency turned out to be Rojan's sister and sexually unavailable to him anyway. The innocent victim that prompted him to go into such danger? His niece, all because he felt guilty for watching his mother die. (See, female victims, victims, victims everywhere.)

My God, if I thought about it I could probably go on and find more example. I could probably look into the fact that the prevailing religion worshiped a goddess, but it was wholly controlled and subverted by male priests. (No indication why only men held positions of power in a female based-religion, but whatever.) So, even female deities fall under the purview of human men. What chance to mere mortal women have? Basically every aspect of this book is infused with problematic sex and gender issues that I'd bet dollars to donuts Knight didn't even know she was writing. Unfortunately it was so thick I could barely even dig through it to find the rest of the story. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was to discover the Knight is a woman. I almost don't believe it, but then misogyny can be as internalized for women as men.

Ultimately, I decided this is a man's book. An author wrote a book incorporating a lot of problematic, but common ideas about women for entertainment of men, who would likely relate to them without even noticing them. But you know, I'm not a man. I noticed and I wasn't amused. On how much I enjoyed this book, I'd give it a one star. But other than some repetition, the writing is pretty good, so I'll reluctantly stretch it to a two star.

[Craig Slater · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not all quite there yet, but the characters (broken twisted intriguing and enticing), the world (the sordid, layered filthy depths of the city), the magic (clever painful ideas) and how these fantasy ideas meet technology (smart, wind-up girl, near future ideas) meets urban fantasy (dark, funny, surreal ideas) -that's good - no great stuff!
Part Perdido Street Station, part (Simon R Greens) something from the Nightside.
A lighter (almost YA) writing style but with some pretty gruesome and heavy scenes and themes. I love the characters in this book. Hope there are many more books to come and that, like Butcher's Dresden Files, the books get better and better as the writer grows into herself and her style (and world).
Definitely a good read for anyone that's into Urban Fantasy (though I guess it's not - technically!)

[Christal · Rating 3 out of 5]

See this review and others like it at BadassBookReviews.com!

Fade to Black by Francis Knight was an interesting new world, but it did feel a little rough around the edges. I am looking forward to seeing how Ms. Knight continues to develop her world after the events of this book and will definitely be checking out the second installment.

Rojan Dizon is our main character. He's part PI part bounty hunter but things get personal when his niece is kidnapped. Rojan promises his brother that he will do anything he can to get her back and finds himself in a political plot much bigger than he expected. Rojan was a suave character and his point of view was nicely developed, but sometimes I felt he came off as almost a misogynist at the beginning.

Now, this might have been Ms. Knight's intent, but it made him kind of unlikable from the start . It took witnessing some pretty serious and depraved violence to realize that he had treated when as objects too and that he needed to change his ways. Now, he was never violent or anything, but he did use women for sex and it was implied that he gave them the idea that they were monogamous even though he was really sleeping with other women. It would have been better if he had just been upfront with the girlfriends. I have no problems with a sexually active character; my problem is that he lied to the women.

Rojan's character does grow throughout the story and I think we will see a changed man in the next book. The fact that he finally learned to care for other people softened him. He also realized how he let fear dictate his life in many aspects and has started to conquer that. In the process, he has lost some of his gruffness, that outer wall he put up to keep people away. I am excited to see what kind of man he has developed into for the next story.

The supporting characters ranged from very strong to fairly forgettable. Jake and Pasha are with Rojan for most of the book and they are the ones that really help to tear down his wall. They both have a personal stake in what is happening with his niece and they worked together pretty well as a team for much of the book. I hope that we will see the character of Lise again. The teenaged alchemist fascinated for some reason, she was in very little of the book, and want to learn more about her and her life and how things have changed now that she lives with Dwarf.

The world building was very cool. Instead of a city spreading out, it spreads upward. The higher up you live, the more wealthy you are. It reminded me of the super-high skyscraper cities in the "Dredd" movie. Thumbs up from me. The plot was well done and I was genuinely surprised by the reveal of the villain's true identity. I just did not see that coming. The idea of pain magic was also fascinating, but I think it wasn't quite as shiny for me because I had already read Jeff Somers' Trickster this year, which featured a similar cost for the use of magic.

All in all, a pretty solid debut novel. The descriptions did get a bit lengthy and tedious at times; I ended up doing some scanning but never felt like I missed anything essential to the plot. I definitely intend to pick up the second book to see how this world develops. Though this book is more of a dystopian fantasy than an urban fantasy, I can see it appealing to fans of dark and gritty urbans like Neil Gaiman's "Nightside."

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for providing an ARC copy of this book!

[Tuğçe Gökırmak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bu yorum daha önce www.tugceninkitapligi.com da yayınlanmıştır.

Karanlığa Doğru, Francis Knight’ın ve Rojan Dizon Serisinin ilk kitabı. Fantastik bir distopya – dark fantasy denilen türden – olan bu kitap, distopya türünde ki birçok benzeri gibi gelecekte geçmiyor, daha çok alternatif bir şimdiki zamanda geçiyor. Elf Yayınlarından 14 Mart’ta raflardaki yerini alacak kitap, oldukça karanlık ve yer yer zorlayıcı sahnelere sahip ama bence oldukça yaratıcı ve bir ilk roman için gayet başarılı, en azından ikinci kitabı merakla bekletmeye yetiyor.

Mahala, dikine kurulmuş bir şehir, tabii ki güneşe yakın, aydınlık kulelerde zenginler ve güçlüler yaşıyor. Başka şansı olmayanlar da, aslen boş olması gereken karanlık, pis yer altı katlarında. Şehri ayakta tutan ticarettir, ticaret ve büyü. Şehir dini bir lider tarafından, demir bir yumruk ile yönetiliyor ve acı-büyüsü kullanımını yasaklanıyor.

Rojan Dozan, orta seviyelerde bir yerde yaşayan, güçlerini rejimden gizli tutmaya çalışan bir ödül avcısı – para için aranan insanları buluyor diyelim; sessiz sedasız salaş barlarda birasını içmekten, dikkat çekmeden yaşamaktan ve başarısız ilişkilerinden memnun birisidir. Ta ki; yeğeni kaçırılana kadar… Çukur adı verilen en alt kata, yeğenini bulmak için indiğinde; daha önce bilmediği bir canlı bir yer altı dünyasını ve birilerinin kendi menfaatleri ve Mahala’yı etkileyebilecek sonuçlar için kızları kaçırdığını keşfeder. Ama olacaklar için okumanız gerekiyor tabii ki…

Teknoloji ve sihirin kaynaştığı değişik bir konsepti var kitabın, ayrıca şehrin yapısı ve acı-büyüsü fikri son derece yaratıcı bence. Gerçi dikine şehir yakın zamanda seyretmiş olduğum bir filmi hatırlattı bana sürekli, herhangi bir bağlantıları olmamasına rağmen. Neyse konumuza dönelim… Mahala kitaptaki karakterler kadar etkin bir role sahip hikâye içinde, yaşayan bir birey gibi; gerçekten son derece canlı ve güzel resmedilmiş, adeta alt katlardaki kokuyu duyabiliyor ya da Rojan’ın üst katlara nadir yaptığı seyahatler esnasında güneşi yüzünüzde hissediyorsunuz. Yine de dengeyi kaybetmemiş yazar, bu detaya rağmen karakterlerim önüne de geçmiyor.

Rojan Dizon, hikayemizin ana karakteri için aynı keyifle bahsetmek pek mümkün değil, aklınıza gelebilecek her türlü klişeye uyuyor kendisi bir kere; hemen hemen her şeye rahatsız edici bir lafı var kendisinin, kadınları seviyor, kadınlar da onu seviyor denebilir ve bunu sağ olsun gözümüze sokuyor.(: Korkusuz ve işin içine düşünmeden bir anda girmekten çekinmiyor, belki bunlarda bir sıkıntı yok ama hani o yaratıcı bir atmosfer ve kültüre biraz tezat oluşturuyor, çünkü Rojan’dan bir dolu var bu tür kitapların arasında, haliyle kendisi olması gerektiği kadar dikkat çekici değil. Ama Rojan’ın iç sesi zaman zaman oldukça keyifli bir hal alıyor onu da belirtmeden geçemeyeceğim.

Acı-büyüsü fikri, bana gerçekten yaratıcı geldi, gerçi aynı zamanda oldukça da riskli bir yol sanırım, acı üzerine kurulu bir büyü sistemi ama yazar bu potansiyel sorunu oldukça hassas ve yer yer becerikli bir espri anlayışı ile başarılı bir şekilde ele almayı başarmış ve üstesinden gelmiş. Konuyu ve işleniş şeklindeki karanlığı düşününce, birkaç oldukça komik sahnenin varlığı da ferahlatıcı olmuş.

Küçük bir not da kapak için ileteyim, kitabın benim dikkatimi çekmesindeki en büyük etken kapağı olmuştu ve Elf Yayınlarının bu orijinal kapağı kullanma tercihini de haddim olmayarak takdir ediyorum. Kitabı çok güzel temsil eden ve dikkat çekici bir kapak olmuş.

Karanlığa Doğru, son derece dikkatli kurulmuş bir arka plana sahip, yaratıcı ve bol aksiyonlu bir hikâye. Zaman zaman kısa kalıyor olsa da kesinlikle okuru etkisi altına alabilecek, fazlası ile gerçekçi yaratılmış, başarılı ve şanslı bir ilk roman. Türün sevenlerine ve farklı bir şeyler okumak isteyenlere öneririm.

[Rusty's Ghost Engine (also known as.......... Jinky Spring) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Let me say first of all that the ideas behind this book were totally original. I mean a city that goes up instead of across and the ability too draw power from pain (either yours or someone else's) were totally new ideas to me and I was desperate to get copies of this series. So why did it not live up to expectation?

Well to start with I didn't really understand the writing style as I was confused on more than one occasion when the writing suddenly revealed something that was a part of the mystery as if it was completely normal and the characters just seemed to accept it. I can't really explain it but this type of writing made me lose the plot and make me wonder if I'd missed anything important. I've got to admit also that the world building and the way the world was described disappointed me as well. Basically the city of Mahala originated from an ancient castle an old warlord built there (didn't say how long ago) in the heart of a valley that is also a trade path between other nations. The vertical city was built on from there and that was one of the reasons the city became successful. The city was powered by pain magic and was ruled by the pain mages who harvested it. That was until a new religious sect called the Ministry came along and discovered a much more powerful power source called synth. They executed the mage king and took control of the city but soon found out that synth had disastrous effects on the population so they let all the synth drain away to the pit which they sealed off locking away all the undesirables of society away from all light and hoping the synth would just kill them all off....

The people of Mahala are very religious believing in a Goddess who sacrificed her hand to a tiger called Namrat (also known as death) to stop him hunting people even though people still died in their time but they were taught to be grateful of the Goddess' sacrifice because of the short time they had life. When the power source of synth was taken away, the city's rulers brought back pain magic to fuel their machines for trade.. And because the city had grown so big and prosperous on synth they couldn't go back to the old days when pain mages inflicted pain solely on themselves so they made use of the children of the people in the lowest level of the city, branding them and making them believe they'd sinned against the Goddess and had to redeem themselves through pain...

So like I was saying the biggest letdown of this book was the world. I mean I did not expect it to be set out in a fantasy world at all I mean I even had dreams about this being a walled post apocalyptic world where magic was something the government was afraid of like in real life all through the ages. In fact I even expected it to be something along those lines I mean I can think of like a gazillion different SF scenarios that could have birthed this vertical city and also I can think of many different ways to better describe the class and law system of the city which was also something that wasn't really realized. The idea of pain magic was mildly interesting but like I said before would have fitted in better in a SF background. There was just so much wasted potential here.

The characters were flawed but felt real enough and that doesn't mean I like them. I mean Rojan's attitude towards women annoyed me throughout and I could even imagine him being involved in rape. The things I did enjoy were the suspense in the narrative and the shocking revelations in the end most of which I did not see coming.

I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a different high fantasy novel but doesn't mind poorly described settings.

[Bettielee · Rating 4 out of 5]

First person POV has become a hallmark of the Urban Fantasy genre. But this is more than urban fantasy. The author uses the term “noir” and that’s fitting. Noir needs voice, grit, and colorful characters. Add to that a government that holds its people in an iron grip, poverty, lingering seepage of a substance called Synth that was an alternate power source until they realized it was killing everybody, and the sorts of people that flourish in the dank and dirt of a city choking on it’s own populace, darkness, and fear. This is the setting alone.

As for plot: Rojan is a pain mage who prefers not to resort to pain. He’s good at finding people, especially through magical means, but as that is illegal, he does his best to do it without cutting himself or dislocating a finger. (ouch) So, you know what’s ahead, right? You don’t get to be a pain mage and sit on the sidelines when your niece is kidnapped. He has to use his magic to find her, and it tells him she’s in a place she should not be. A place cut off long ago due to the Synthtox. But down there he must go.

This book gets going and really rolls. Snappy pace, great characters, secrets upon secrets, I’m almost afraid of giving too much stuff away! I really recommend this if you enjoy Urban Fantasy, dark fantasy, thrillers with fantasy elements. It’s a great read.

[Julia Sarene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must say that I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second half.
The worldbuilding was great - as was the mystery of how it all happened - and what exatly had happened. Also the main character was humorous and fun to read.
In the second half we see only a bit of the world anymore - and besides one major reveal nothing new appears anymore. Also the witty character starts to doupt himself more and more. That would be quite fine, if it was a progression of the character, but at first he is a womanizer. He is sure he can get any woman he wants if just really sets his mind to it. And then there are those doubts about WHY he is the way he is, and that it has a reason, and oh so much insight into him.
The story is quite dark, so I really enjoyed the witty side of the main character more - it balanced out all the gore and dark parts nicely.
And back to progression - the last sentence it full on back to how he was before. => That just didn't feel believable to me.

There is one important female chharacter that gets some pagetime - and I very much enjoyed how badly she can kick ass. Untill we found out - she actually can't... That was annoying.

It was a quick and fun read - if you can something this dark and gory fun... ;) So despite the weaker second half I'll give it 3,5 stars.

[Indru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fade to Black is the debut novel of author Francis Knight. I picked up the book after reading about it on Chuck Wendig's website, terribleminds.com.
A dystopian urban fantasy novel, Fade to Black features the city of Mahala, a vertical place where the most rich and powerful lived above, and got to know how the sun looks like, and the poor people lived below, into darkness and corruption.
The main character is Rojan Dizon, a bounty hunter turned "recovery agent" the moment his niece gets kidnapped by some very bad people.
Although not the best debut, it's written fairly well, but it's not astonishing and it tends to get boring at some points. The writing technique is good, but the storytelling ability is weak. There's also the fact that the author is a woman, and the narration is first person male stuff, which probably is not a good idea for a debut - you need to develop some skills before you can cross-gender narrate.
The series has a lot of potential, though, and the characters are definitely worth watching as they develop. That's the main reason for which I'll buy the second book as well.

Verdict: 3/5

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a bummer when you decide to give up on a book. Then again, if you've only been able to finish 50 pages after a week of trying it's not so sad anymore, it's a relief.
•I just couldn't get into this book, I kept finding / making excuses to not pick it back up.
(Even though I try to give a book a chance to at least 100 pages in)

•I wasn't a fan of the writing "style" at all
-The writing was bland, it felt very young, forced and rigid.
(I got over 4 pages of info-dumping in chapter 3 if that's a helpful indicator)

-The dark fantasy setting and subject matter didn't mesh with the main character's voice whatsoever.
—>Rojan, from what I can tell, is meant to be about 25-ish years old. But his voice in the book read very much as a 15 year old. (One that's watched way too many bad-boy movies and takes pointers from them.)

•Honestly, I don't care for the book & I don't feel bad about not finishing it.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great idea in this one. I really enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I kept reading it until, nay, while, I fell asleep, thus missing some plot points. Knight did a good job keeping me up to date though, as I was able to keep track.

I love the idea of the city that has multi-layers, strata of demographic based on how close you get to the clouds.

Yes, it does evoke Mieville's 'The City & the City', but only in terms of a city that provokes thought about class and privilege. They do both also emulate the noir feel - the hard-luck detective or wannabe detective that end up getting pounded more often than not. The prose, however, is entirely different. Nobody writes like Mieville.

Knight tells a good story, with relaxed prose and well-integrated characters and motives. I'll be signing up for the sequel!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique setting and a fascinating culture really isn’t enough to make Fade to Black stand on its own. While this is a solid book, with a fast moving plot and some great prose that bring Mahala and the events that transpire to life, Fade to Black just lacks the imaginative qualities I look for. The protagonist is incredibly stereotypical and the plot is also very predictable due to its own been-there-done-that qualities. That being said, I realize that not everything has to be new, fresh and inventive to be enjoyable. Fade to Black is a fun read that would scratch a noir fan’s itch – just don’t expect something genre shattering.

Read my full review here:

http://www.bookwormblues.net/2013/03/...

[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those "it's not you, it's me" cases. I think. Read to around 175 pages before admitting this just wasn't grabbing me.

Mini review to come.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. This was alright - but it wasn't anything special. The characters seemed very bland to me and the story was so predictable. It made me roll my eyes and sigh out loud because I had already figured the "plottwists" out as they were happening.

[Roger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fade to Black is published by Orbit. Normally anything they publish is gold. This novel is the exception. It is a painful slog. I kept reading it because I kept expecting it to get better. This is really just a bad Dresden Files adventure, and our hero is a walking collection of cliches that are prevalent in modern fantasy/SF. But so is everyone else. Skip this and spare yourself.

[Cathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the story. I think it could have been 50 pages shorter. There was a lot of description I didn't need.

[Misty Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

**2.8 Review - As posted on KindleObsessed blog**

Today’s review is brought to you by the letter D, as in…defining a genre.

For the last four years I have taken for granted that my readers know the details of genres when I bring them up. Thriller, paranormal, high-fantasy…all of these words flow out of my mouth without a single thought. I assumed as a reader you knew what you were picking up. But it wasn’t until the rise of New Adult last year that I realized this might not actually be the case. I have to admit, this kinda of shocked me.

Despite the fact that I apparently assume too much, my biggest concern was for readers themselves. How exactly can you find a book you will like if you don’t know what TYPE of book you enjoy? I can offer up suggestions all day long, but if your thing is mystery and I flash-deal you contemporary young adult, chances are…you’re going to be a tad bit disappointed. So that’s why today (for the sake of understanding what kind of book “Fade to Black” is) I’m going to throw around my limited education.

If you look closely at the back cover of this book it claims to have noir roots. For those of you that enjoy classic crime dramas from the 40′s and 50′s you probably know what I’m talking about. For those of you that don’t… Noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Cynical and sexual…those are very important words.

But FTB is not all smokey bars and snarky men, it’s also an Urban Fantasy. UF is, well, pretty self-explanatory, it is primarily in a city setting and contains aspects of fantasy (mythical creatures, magic, paranormal entities…you get the idea.) The only real difference between this fantasy genre and other genres (say…mystery or thriller) is that they are generally told via first-person narrative. As is the case in FTB.

The combination of the two genres makes this book a dark one. Both literally and figuratively. Set in a world surrounded by corrupt government officials and magic gone haywire (the more pain you are in the stronger your powers are) the characters in this book find themselves in numerous very sticky situations, high-lighted by pages and pages of bitter sarcastic reverie.

But first…how about I let you read the synopsis.

"From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala.

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."

If you were to go strictly by my star rating chances are you’d think I disliked that book. That’s not the case. In the overall scheme of things this book was incredibly original and had an action packed plot sure to entice even the most skeptical fantasy reader. Unfortunately, no amount of originality can make up for poor execution. And that my dear readers is the downfall of this novel.

Banking on intricate world building instead of character building left this story feeling stale, and while I am a fan of complicated scenes and breathtaking descriptions, no amount of flowery detail can make up for a lack of character chemistry. Long story short, if the sparks between reader and protagonist (or villain for that matter) don’t fly, the book is going to flop. Rojan had all the characteristics of a great noir/urban fantasy character. He had wit, bled sarcasm, and internalized enough self loathing and female appreciation to stand with like personalities in the genre (for example Harry Dresden) but for some reason there was a huge disconnect. Instead of being interesting he came across as predictable. It wasn’t until the last 10% that I really started to enjoy him, but by that point it was almost too late.

The most intriguing character wasn’t even a main character at all, which just goes to show you that Knight HAS the ability to write aww worthy material, Rojan just wasn’t it.

As for the plot itself. It was a great story. Think human trafficking with a magic kicker. The beginning may be a little slow (and felt like it took me a month to read) but it ended with one hell of a bang.

Overall…this is not a book for everyone. It’s probably a book for very few. It’s very detailed, slightly abstract and has wobbly characters. I say…take a pass. There are plenty of fantastic Urban Fantasies out there that hit high in all marks. This just isn’t one of them.

Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

[E. Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow holy fuck what an ending.

There were parts of this book that I definitely wasn't a huge fan of. As in, from a writers perspective I would have done it differently, but I can respect how this author chose to do it. But there were other parts that had me sitting up and taking notes.

[Solara300 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurzbeschreibung
Rojan ist ein Kopfgeldjäger und schreckt auch nicht davor zurück ein Mädchen zu ihrer Familie zurückzubringen auch wenn er weiß dass es ihr dort nicht gut ergeht.

Allerdings gibt er dem Mädchen einen Plan zur Hand wohin es beim nächsten Mal flüchten kann.

Rojan scheint in erster Linie kein Gewissen zu haben, allerdings scheint mehr in ihm zu schlummern als ihm selbst bewusst ist.




Cover
Das Cover macht Lust auf mehr von er Geschichte des Mannes der auf eine Stadt hinabblickt. Und auch der Titel verspricht für mich interessante Lesestunden. Alles in allem sehr passend zum Cover der Inhalt.



Charaktere
Rojan der als Schmerzmagier eine Fähigkeit aufweist die ihm mehr als einmal schon hilfreich war. Er ist einsam und schottet sich ab. Nur wenige wie z.b. sein Freund Dendal sind ihm wichtig.
Er kann aber auch loyal sein und ist sich seiner inneren Stärke noch nicht bewusst.

Perak ist Rojans Bruder und hat es in Mahala sehr weit gebracht. Er ist ein hohes Tier und genießt den Status als Kardinal. Trotz allem scheint er aber immer noch auf dem Boden geblieben zu sein. Durch einen Bruch seit dem Tod ihrer Mutter haben sich die Brüder lange nicht gesehen.






Schreibstil
Der Autor Francis Knight hat hier einen flüssigen Schreibstil an den Tag gelegt, der einen mitnimmt in die Welt Mahalas in der alles so langsam zu Grunde geht. Denn Synth. der Treibstoff für alles hat eine zerstörerische Kraft.
Die Charkterbeschreibungen z.b. bei Rojan oder den anderen sind für mich in dieser Zeit sehr authentisch und lassen einen mitfühlen was als nächstes passiert.




Meinung
Rojan lebt sein leben.
Zwar eher schlecht als recht, aber durch den täglichen Anblick des Verfalls ist Rojan immer mehr abgehärtet.

Auch wenn er nicht immer mit seinem Auftrag einverstanden ist scheint er doch im inneren zu wissen was das richtige ist.

Wie z.b. bei dem Auftrag eine verlorene Tochter zu ihrer Familie zurückzubringen.
Obwohl er genau weiß das der Vater sich an dem Mädchen vergreift.

Aber in dem Ministerium wo der Mann sitzt wird so etwas nicht publik denn da hat man zu gehorchen.

Wer jetzt denkt das Rojan das Mädchen einfach zur Flucht verhilft der Irrt.

Denn Rojan weiß was dieser Mann in Kraft treten würde und gibt dem Mädchen einen Wink wo es in Zukunft wenn es soweit ist Unterschlupf suchen könnte.

Denn Rojan hat als Schmerzmagier nicht nur die Fähigkeit ein sehr genauer Kopfgeldjäger zu sein sondern er war mal in der Garde und wenn er dazu bereit gewesen wäre, wäre er heute ein Teil der Spezialeinheit des Ministeriums.

Nun fragt man sich warum er dieses bessere Leben nicht vorgezogen hat, anstatt in den Slums und zwischen dem Dreck nach Außreisern zu suchen.

Ganz einfach die Antwort darauf lautet er wollte nicht töten. Denn genau das wird von ihnen erwartet.

Nachdem er dann auch noch eines Tages Nachricht von seinem Bruder erhält denn er seit Jahren nicht gesehen hat.

Wird ihm schlagartig klar das aus dem Hallodri Perak ein Kardinal mit höherem Rang geworden ist und er eine Frau und ein Kind sein eigen nennt.

Allerdings ist seine Frau ermordet und seine Tochter verschleppt worden während Perak angeschossen im Krankenhaus liegt.

Perak bittet seinen Bruder um Hilfe denn er soll Peraks Tochter die 6 Jährige Amarie finden und befreien.

Für Rojan ist es in diesem Fall ein Auftrag der größere Dimensionen annimmt, als es Rojan erahnen konnte und doch macht er sich auf die Suche...



Fazit
Für mich eine empfehlenswerte Geschichte!!! :D



5 von 5 Sternen

[Brid-Aine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember those episodes of Star Trek TNG where Picard and Data would don fedoras and hit the holodeck from some much needed R'n'R sleuthing in 20th century America? I loved those episodes, knock-out dames, gangsters, the glitz and glamour of the 30s era and a good mystery are incredibly appealing. So appealing that authors and TV shows still draw on those kinds of stories, whether directly like the Castle episode "The Blue Butterfly" where Castle imagines Beckett and himself as the stars of a cold case mystery set in that time, or indirectly, by evoking the same themes and style in a different world.

Francis Knight's Fade to Black is this kind of fiction. Despite the magical setting, the novel is a quintessential hardboiled detective story, starring Rojan Dizon as the private dick, who, of course, specialises in finding people. Fittingly, Rojan occupies a dizzying vertical city - the typical urban landscape squared - although it's more evocative of another supplanted detective story, Blade Runner, than it is of 30s Chicago. The fact that Rojan is a pain-mage, who can use his own physical injuries to power up his Major and Minor talents and help find his lost charges, is central to his character arc, but almost incidental to his detecting skills, particularly when he uses it to power his pulse-gun, completing his gunslinging sleuth image.

Unfortunately, although Knight brings the best detective tropes to her imagined world, she forgets to leave behind some of its more tired clichés. Rojan is a philandering bastard who can't get close to women, is a stranger to his own feelings and has a properly ancient chivalric regard for damsels in distress, who can naturally only be saved by his good self. The top female character in the novel is that most unflattering of feminine fantasy portrayals, a woman whose "strength" lies in behaving like a man and attempting to have no emotions, a strength that is quickly found to be no more than a facade with a (often literally) quivering little girl underneath - who also needs saving by Rojan obviously. And how did she get like that? Naturally, both the strength and the quivering come from her treatment at the hands of men, giving her an entire character that's only defined by the guys around her. I'm all for nostalgia, but actually taking characters directly from the 30s is going just a little too far. Which is a shame, because other than that, the book is actually quite good.

The city of Mahala is a fascinating little dystopia, with hints at a greater world around it that could provide rich pickings for future works from Knight. Pain-magic is also an interesting concept with a lot of originality that is still has miles to go by the end of Fade to Black, leaving tantalising hints and questions about what Rojan's future adventures could bring. He also does plenty of growing up in the novel, which could see him ditch some of his more two-dimensional macho traits and take up a more well-rounded personality. Without that depth however, and maybe a proper woman or two, the Dizon novels will stay at popcorn status - fun at the time but leaving a rather unsatisfied feeling and a few bits niggling in your teeth.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fade To Black is Francis Knight’s first novel. It is also the first volume of a series about the private detective/ bounty hunter/ soldier of misfortune Rojan Dizon. In this introductory volume, Rojan has just “recovered” the daughter of a prominent citizen of the towering city of Mahala when he is approached by his brother who wants him to rescue his daughter, recently taken by the mysterious agents of the Ministry for some nefarious purpose of their own…

As it is the first volume of an eponymous series I can tell you safely that things do not end badly for Rojan. However the status quo of life in Mahala changes significantly over the course of this book so that future volumes will be quite interesting.

Which is good because this is quite a promising series: Rojan is a dark character, with a history of sadness and bad things and magical talents that he has barely begun to plumb due to the societal mistrust of things magical. And the setting has loads of potential as well: Mahala is a city state crushed between two larger nations and it has had to resort to some fearsome practices in order to stay alive. And due to the increasing population and lack of space they have grown up rather than out. The result is a city that wants to remind you of Blade Runner, Lankhmar, New Crobuzon and every New York mean street you ever walked down but more often than not – at least for this reader – brings to mind the setting of Marvel’s 2099 series from many years back. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It has a lot to offer a reader who is interested in genre mash-ups. It is a soap opera, a fantasy saga about magic being passed genetically down a line, a war story, a detective novel, a thriller and it contains enough mindbending concepts that could be the basis of novels or stories all on their ownsome, which is what you should be getting when inspiration strikes true.

But for me, it felt a little samey compared to what other writers have achieved with similar stories. However, I wouldn’t say no to picking up future volumes because Knight tells a cracking story and keeps those pages turning.

(This review is also published at http://stuffianlikes.aussieblogs.com....

[Erica Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to read this book because I ran across a blurb for it online, and it just looked interesting. It was a page turner and I never stopped wanting to learn what would happen next (in fact, I put down the other books I'm reading in order to finish this one first). I enjoyed Rojan, the protagonist. He had a clear and distinctive voice and enough pathos to be intriguing but with plenty of redeeming features. The author dribbled the information and backstory into the tale at just the right pace to create a sense of mystery without confusing me about the premise. The other two major characters were less clear to me, but this was a consequence of its being in first person. The reader had to learn about their personalities and motives as Rojan did.

I also enjoyed the setting and the world. It was fantasy, but it was not set in a standard quasi medieval or pre-industrial settings. The world in some way resembles a futuristic high tech nightmare setting like you might see in Blade Runner, or even the Fifth Element (with Bruce Willis, but with no space ships or aliens). At first it seemed like the magic element was going to be very subtle in the world, and I wondered why it wasn't written as a science fiction story instead of a fantasy. But the role that magic played became much more clear as the story unfolded. Some world building purists may pick nits about people still using swords and only just recently having discovered guns/projectiles in a setting where magic powers factories and whatnot. But for me this was a minor concern, as it was a very atmosphere and character driven story.

I thought there were a couple of minor plot holes regarding the antagonist's rise within the social order and his motives and his reasons for setting things up the way he had, I thought--or maybe they were just things that weren't completely clear to me. Since I tend to be more intrigued by characters and setting (and this was a very character drive and setting driven novel) than all the nuts and bolts of plotting, for me, this was a relatively small flaw. I felt the resolution was satisfying and I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

[Nk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim while wandering around my local Barnes and Noble. I'm usually very picky about what I read; with a limited amount of time available I don't have the desire that I did as a child to read through every book that I come across. So I was a little surprised with myself that, not only did I buy the book based on the cover and blurb on the back, but that I ended up really enjoying it. I finished it that day, reading well into the early hours of the morning. The story starts with Rojan, the protagonist and only viewpoint, looking for a missing girl and keeps on running at full speed until the conclusion of the book. Rojan is a interesting protagonist. His personality and portrayal are not exactly original, occupying that role of the loveable rogue popularized by such actors as Harrison Ford in Star Wars and Blade Runner, yet its done well enough that you can't help but like him. He sells his services as a finder of people, a service which he accomplishes using his magic. In Francis Knights world, magic is the dominion of the "pain-mage", who cast spells through the use of pain. This pain can either be directed towards oneself, by say dislocating your fingers, or through the pain experienced by someone else. To make matters worse the magic is addictive, with the eventual fate of most mages to become lost in the pleasures of inflicting pain. As you can imagine this magic isn't exactly looked on favorably by people, so by the beginning of the novel all the pain mages in Mahalla have either been executed or have long since fled. Rojan's struggle with the fear of his magic is the driving force behind the plot, and its handled deftly enough that the reader remains connected with him, sympathizing with how this one aspect of his life has completely altered who he is. By the end of the book I was already itching for the next in the series, a feeling I haven't experienced in a while.

[Mia]

DNF at around 60%.

It's not a bad book, but neither is it a good one. The world/setting is interesting enough but the positives largely end there. It has a protagonist but not much else by way of characters. Sure, there are other characters that encounter the protagonist but their roles are limited and subordinate, even incidental. It might not be entirely problematic with an adequate protagonist but we don't have one here. The protagonist is not likeable, not an indispensable requirement in itself, but together with an uninteresting, predictable and two-dimensional one, it leaves no room for redemption.

The mystery to be solved had potential to be engaging enough and the setup for a spotlight on social inequities could have led to a compelling discussion, but not with an unoriginal self-proclaimed Lothario at the helm. It might not have been so ineffectual had there been other characters to at least provide a counterpoint or to temper the stereotype that is the lead, but there are really no secondary or supporting characters to speak of. What other characters do exist are props or caricatures at best. The absence made the read grating and exhausting.

At least up to about 60% of the book, it was virtually a monologue, a one-man act, a singular focus on the protagonist who was largely unbearable, swaggering, self-aggrandizing. Even the narrator started to sound like he was merely droning on, with very little room for him to spread his narrating wings.

I listened on further than I really wanted to but I kept hoping it would turn a corner, start building steam, but it only got worse. Perhaps my unrewarded persistence is primarily responsible for this rather harsh review but this book certainly faded to black for me.