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Bomoki's Gate
Bomoki's Gate, the hellhound of a necromantic god, has waited centuries to open a gate large enough for his master, the abyssal god Orcus, to enter our world. Though Bomoki barely remembers his life as a person and mage of Tania, he knows Tania will fight to stop this from happening, to end him. With plans well set, he needs just one more thing to affix the gate and allow Orcus to enter our world. Soon, the valley high in the mountains of Bloodstone will shake and tremble with the marching tread of gods, demons, and the undead who would claim all creation as their own. Malcor Kell'tayris joins the Nineteenth Legion in Bloodstone as the final plans fall into place. With shadow dragons behind him, and the eternal warriors of undeath waiting ahead, Malcor must choose his fate - to be part of the coming cascade of war, or to go his own way. The destiny of a king calls, but his heart sings for battle.
554 pages, Paperback
Published April 23, 2017
4 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Eric K. Barnum
10 books30 followersDar Tania, the 1st book in Forsaken Isles won 2018 ELIT Bronze! ForsakenIsles.com won ELIT 2018 Best Author website!
To learn more about Eric K. Barnum and the world of the Forsaken Isles, visit his blog at forsakenisles.com or erickbarnum.com
An avid fan of the fantasy genre, Eric K. Barnum finally released his first book, Dar Tania, in September 2016. Set in a novel fantasy world pulled between magical and divine powers, Eric presents the Forsaken Isles, a world not too unlike our own. As the druid Brook said in Dar Tania II: Set's Dream, 'forsaken' because the people of the isles fled from their devastated homes, never to go back.
Eric writes from Virginia when not otherwise engaged in his career as an analyst, hiking with his three daughters, or reading. With a deep love of fantasy works, and inspired by modern fantasy authors like Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, and Brent Weeks, Eric hopes to take the familiar and present new ideas about how and why, in a world with magic, gods still matter. The paladin is a particular favorite in all Eric's stories. Their relationship with priests, dragons, avatars, and necromancy in particular fill the pages of the Forsaken Isles.
To learn more about Eric K. Barnum and the world of the Forsaken Isles, visit his blog at forsakenisles.com or erickbarnum.com
An avid fan of the fantasy genre, Eric K. Barnum finally released his first book, Dar Tania, in September 2016. Set in a novel fantasy world pulled between magical and divine powers, Eric presents the Forsaken Isles, a world not too unlike our own. As the druid Brook said in Dar Tania II: Set's Dream, 'forsaken' because the people of the isles fled from their devastated homes, never to go back.
Eric writes from Virginia when not otherwise engaged in his career as an analyst, hiking with his three daughters, or reading. With a deep love of fantasy works, and inspired by modern fantasy authors like Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, and Brent Weeks, Eric hopes to take the familiar and present new ideas about how and why, in a world with magic, gods still matter. The paladin is a particular favorite in all Eric's stories. Their relationship with priests, dragons, avatars, and necromancy in particular fill the pages of the Forsaken Isles.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 31, 2017
This book packs a serious wallop in just about every way I can think of, from its physical heft (my paperback copy pushes the 600 page mark) to its world-building aspirations and narrative scope. Bomoki's Gate is the textual equivalent of one of the vehicles from Mad Max: Fury Road, 50 tons of rattling steel bearing down on the reader, bristling with weapons, all thunder and belching smoke. That this is only the second published novel by Eric K. Barnum, with the first, Malcor's Story, being a similar shelf-bender, speaks to the author's ambition: this is clearly a man with stories to tell.
In Eric Barnum's case, the stories in question are classic high fantasy - swords, sorcery, dragons, powerful wizards, scheming priests of inscrutable gods - with a wealth of unique twists and flourishes. While many of the creatures and concepts of Bomoki's Gate (and the other books in this cycle) will be instantly familiar to Dungeons & Dragons heads, most of those elements have been altered to such an extent that they are scarcely recognizable, and in almost every case that alteration is to their benefit. The world presented here is rich and detailed, and extends far beyond mere names on a map. Barnum has a deep, well thought-out system governing the various worlds and planes of existence, and the function of time, that seem largely unique. For the breed of fantasy fan that loves to dive headfirst and be immersed in a fresh, cleverly constructed reality, Barnum's concepts of "the River" and the interactions between the various planes of the multiverse will be worth the cover price all by themselves.
The plot of Bomoki's Gate is nearly as big as its setting: it is, after all, a 554 page book. Whether its grasp matches them or not, its reach certainly rivals that of such epic fantasy franchises as The Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire. Like those stories, Bomoki's Gate features a large cast of characters in several main subplots, which weave into and out of one another over the course of the book, until everything meets in a shattering, end-of-the-world climax. Where conflicting characters and factions collide, it's usually with a bang; this book is not short on action, whether it's two guys hacking it out with swords, or pitched battle between a gargantuan demon lord and the assembled armies of half the known world.
All credit must be given here to Barnum, who handles with aplomb the juggling of over a dozen major characters and two or three main plot threads. Notably, the balance and timing were generally very good; most of the time, the story cut back to Character X right when I was ready for it to do so, and just when I started to wonder what was going on with Character Y, the camera would pan in that direction. He also managed several times to fine-tune the level of tension in the narrative (and the reader) adroitly by inserting asides that seemed banal, yet ended up serving the overall plot. Those are impressive skills for such a relatively new author to display.
Criticisms, you ask? Well, maybe one. I should note that Barnum's prose can be a bumpy road in places, and maddeningly inconsistent. It's certainly never unreadable, and by the standards of independently published fiction it may not even be below average, but there were definitely instances in Bomoki's Gate where the language did little more than convey the action from Point A to Point B, wheezing a little as it crossed the finish line. It was frustrating, especially in those places where the situation and story wanted to soar into the heavens, only to be kept firmly earthbound by repetitive or vague language.
However, if you're a fantasy fan, please don't let that quibble dissuade you from picking up Bomoki's Gate - preferably after reading Malcor's Story, which precedes it chronologically in the author's catalog as well as in the world of the narrative. These are bold, sweeping, ambitious stories. For Eric Barnum to lead off with two such unabashedly old-school epics is both a well-timed spit in the eye of the "less is more," "don't challenge the public's attention span" school of e-publishing, and a serious boon for those of us who like our fantasy stories as big, bloody, and sizzling as a rare porterhouse.
3.5 stars, and I can't wait to see what the author does next.
(Full disclosure: I'm personally acquainted with the author and served as a draft reader and informal editor for this book. However, I received no remuneration or consideration for my review other than a complimentary hard copy.)
In Eric Barnum's case, the stories in question are classic high fantasy - swords, sorcery, dragons, powerful wizards, scheming priests of inscrutable gods - with a wealth of unique twists and flourishes. While many of the creatures and concepts of Bomoki's Gate (and the other books in this cycle) will be instantly familiar to Dungeons & Dragons heads, most of those elements have been altered to such an extent that they are scarcely recognizable, and in almost every case that alteration is to their benefit. The world presented here is rich and detailed, and extends far beyond mere names on a map. Barnum has a deep, well thought-out system governing the various worlds and planes of existence, and the function of time, that seem largely unique. For the breed of fantasy fan that loves to dive headfirst and be immersed in a fresh, cleverly constructed reality, Barnum's concepts of "the River" and the interactions between the various planes of the multiverse will be worth the cover price all by themselves.
The plot of Bomoki's Gate is nearly as big as its setting: it is, after all, a 554 page book. Whether its grasp matches them or not, its reach certainly rivals that of such epic fantasy franchises as The Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire. Like those stories, Bomoki's Gate features a large cast of characters in several main subplots, which weave into and out of one another over the course of the book, until everything meets in a shattering, end-of-the-world climax. Where conflicting characters and factions collide, it's usually with a bang; this book is not short on action, whether it's two guys hacking it out with swords, or pitched battle between a gargantuan demon lord and the assembled armies of half the known world.
All credit must be given here to Barnum, who handles with aplomb the juggling of over a dozen major characters and two or three main plot threads. Notably, the balance and timing were generally very good; most of the time, the story cut back to Character X right when I was ready for it to do so, and just when I started to wonder what was going on with Character Y, the camera would pan in that direction. He also managed several times to fine-tune the level of tension in the narrative (and the reader) adroitly by inserting asides that seemed banal, yet ended up serving the overall plot. Those are impressive skills for such a relatively new author to display.
Criticisms, you ask? Well, maybe one. I should note that Barnum's prose can be a bumpy road in places, and maddeningly inconsistent. It's certainly never unreadable, and by the standards of independently published fiction it may not even be below average, but there were definitely instances in Bomoki's Gate where the language did little more than convey the action from Point A to Point B, wheezing a little as it crossed the finish line. It was frustrating, especially in those places where the situation and story wanted to soar into the heavens, only to be kept firmly earthbound by repetitive or vague language.
However, if you're a fantasy fan, please don't let that quibble dissuade you from picking up Bomoki's Gate - preferably after reading Malcor's Story, which precedes it chronologically in the author's catalog as well as in the world of the narrative. These are bold, sweeping, ambitious stories. For Eric Barnum to lead off with two such unabashedly old-school epics is both a well-timed spit in the eye of the "less is more," "don't challenge the public's attention span" school of e-publishing, and a serious boon for those of us who like our fantasy stories as big, bloody, and sizzling as a rare porterhouse.
3.5 stars, and I can't wait to see what the author does next.
(Full disclosure: I'm personally acquainted with the author and served as a draft reader and informal editor for this book. However, I received no remuneration or consideration for my review other than a complimentary hard copy.)
December 28, 2017
Very good 4.5 stars. Quite dark. My only complaint is the length, felt it was a little long in parts but overall enjoyed this one.
Some amazing battles were in this story and really enjoyed the use of darker magic and the strategy of the dragons for standing up to the challenge.
Some amazing battles were in this story and really enjoyed the use of darker magic and the strategy of the dragons for standing up to the challenge.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews