Barbarian

Sons of the Dark #1

by Lynne Ewing

Obie hates Los Angeles and all the junk that goes with it-especially trying to fit in at Thomas Turney High School. But with bounty hunters trying to capture him, his Renegade roommates urge him to lay low with his band and forget about ever getting back hoome. it's hard to blend in at school, though, when you've just made enemies with the football team. Obie can't keep away from Allison, the most popular girl in school and the girlfriend of the star quarterback, Sledge. And when his true love, Inna, shows up and pleads for his help, Obie must return to the one place he fears most.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Supernatural, Mythology, Magic, Urban Fantasy

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Lynne Ewing is an American author and a screen writer.

She always had to move around a lot when she was growing up because her father was in the Marine Corps. She has two sisters. Lynne graduated from high school in Lima, Peru after attending seven other schools. While she was in Peru, she learned to speak Spanish. She attended the University of California at Santa Barbara. When she was 30 years old, she began writing for newspapers, documentaries, magazines, and did screen writing. She also counsels troubled teens. Her first books were Drive-By and Party Girl. Drive-By took six years to write, and Party Girl has been made into a movie called Living the Life. She has written the completed Daughters of the Moon and Sons of the Dark series. She lives in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.. Ms. Ewing has two children, Jonathan, a molecular biologist, and Amber, an international lawyer. She has also traveled to Japan, China, Russia, Europe, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. She has begun a new series called Sisters of Isis.

Reviews

[Drucilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a review for the entire series (4 books). This series definitely gets an "It's OK" label both as a standalone series and as a continuation of the Daughters of the Moon series. As a standalone series, the reader's not given much information concerning the big picture and it's frustrating, but you have to remember it was cancelled before we saw where the author had intended to go with it. As a "continuation" of the Daughters of the Moon series, the author kind of dropped the ball. This new series had a built in audience already and yet it went extremely slow. And while I understand the need not to confuse your new audience with references to the previous series, your old audience wanted answers for the cliffhangers in the last Daughters of the Moon book.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just meh. I don't know why the people in these books are trying to get involved with regular girls when any kind of physical affection will ultimately kill these girls. Also, Obie was an idiot, but that shouldn't surprise me. Kyle also was nothing like the way he was written in the last book, so I don't know what to make of that...

[Alaska · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep thinking about Star Wars whenever I see Obie's name.
The book itself, was okay. But I think I'd be more interested in it if I wasn't reading so many other books at the time, too. (Well, not simotaniously, more like 'Oh, today I'll read this, and maybe later that..')

[Katie567 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg i loved Obie he's my favorite out of boys. I was sad though cause the rest of the books aren't in his point of veiw. :(

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cool the hair style is just like perfection and rune magic awesome Obie

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has been on my 'To Be Read List' for an exceptionally long time; I was excited to finally get around to reading it after all these years! The story is about Obie, a high school student, who spots a Greek Mythology book on his teacher's desk; curiosity gets the better of him, so he takes it to see what they say about King Filimer since he is his son. After reading the little information about his father, he finds the information to be a joke. Letting his mind wander, he gets taken in by his memories of the final battle he and his father were in. Curiosity got the better of me and led me to do research of my own on King Filimer and the Haliurunas. Both topics had hardly any information available. I was not fact-checking the story and was hoping for more history to understand Obie better. The lack of historical information about either topic left room for the story to develop without being held back by facts. Obie and his roommates, who are also from the same time as him, have lost their beloveds and are incapable of 'physically' having another due to their enslavement contracts. Thus, they are destined to be alone. Obie's abilities are still a mystery to him by the end of the story and leave many unanswered questions about his true destiny. With all things considered, the book was a light read with mild entertainment. Obie's destiny has just begun, and I plan on following him and his friends through this discovery of who they can become.

[Kristal J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diving into Lynne Ewing's "Barbarian" felt like a trip down memory lane with the DoTM series but with a dash of new excitement as we dive into the SoTD series! 🚀

Obie's perspective brought a breath of fresh air, and the friendship trio of Berto, Kyle, and Obie had me laughing along the way. 😄

Now, that scene at Allison's house? Total cringe! 🙈 Breaking and entering with flowers, only to find grandpa in a towel? Priceless! The budding romance? Hmm, still figuring that one out. 🤔💑

Obie's family history stole the show – his aunt's house, the mix of dark and light magic, and the Haliurunnae people, especially Inna and their prior romance with Obie along with the two family’s that clashed, had me craving more lore. 🏰✨

Rate: 3/5 ⭐️

Songs:
- Adventure of a Lifetime by Coldplay
- St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) by John Parr
- Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5, rounded up.

I have the ARC of this book so I don't know how the actual final proof was in comparison, but this book has a lot of ambition and not a ton of follow through.

Obie is in the early 2000s from a time long gone, is a Rune Master like his mother, and is stuck in a 15 year old body.

My main issues is the unneeded sexual overtones here. Yes, teens are definitely not nuns but it felt completely forced. The provocative clothing, the weird flirting, the excessive clubbing... Just eh. Maybe I'm old.

The problem is that Obie has no idea wtf he wants. He spends the entire book just ambling. In fact, all of the characters do. Does Allison like him or not? Who fucking knows?

Just not a lot of solidity here. Lots of wants but not enough needs, if that makes sense. It all comes off as aimless.

[Allyson Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Ewing's first series when I was a freshman in high school. This one I pick up many years later. Honestly it was cute when I was younger but, the author spend too much time on creating overly beautiful and cookie cutter "Hot girls" and "hot guys" their really isn't a story and the writing is pretty underdeveloped as well. Over all I get why when I was barely a teen I loved it, but now. Meh not worth the afternoon I spent reading it.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

As YA fantasy/paranormal books go, this one was decent. I was unfamiliar with any other book by this author. I just picked this up from a sale somewhere years ago. The protocols around the fantasy were a little hazy, and it had the feel of starting a movie series on the second instalment, but I mostly picked it up.

Another reviewer said it's not clear who the villain is. That was a good observation; I wasn't clear on that either until it got near the end, which is not enough time to build up the necessary suspense.

[Volkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really recommend this! Me and my friend kept talking about it, amazing plot twists and good characters! the storyline is amazing! every single book is another characters P.O.V! Thats what i really liked about it! No smut too! perfect for young readers:)

[Ellie Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay. I have no idea what this book was about.
I really love the Daughters of the Moon series, and have always considered this author to be a personal favorite, but the one good thing I might say about this novel is that it was an incredibly fast read. Probably because it was just half hearted descriptions about stuff you wanted to skim anyway. I now know a lot more about how unsettling it is to hide in dark shadows amidst glaring neon L.A. lights, then about any of the characters or story(?).
-The characters have no discernible goals, wants or needs
-There is no character development at all
-People are interchangeable because they have no descriptions, which is hilarious because of how well described things like their pet iguana and the moonlight in back alleys are...
-There were some villains. I think. They were defeated by magic. How, why, who the hell knows.

There was simply no logic or forethought that went into this story. I'm honestly shocked at the lack of anything going on in this volume. As I said before, the previous series, Daughter's of the Moon is quite good and I'm both disappointed and a little bothered that this made it to publication. I have already purchased the second volume on discount (thankfully) so I will read book 2 but only out of buyers remorse, to check something quick off my tbr, and to see if this was a fluke. I'm also mildly curious to see if this was just a cash ploy but I don't have any high hopes for the rest of this series. Two thumbs down. :(

[Melanie Fincher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved some of the ways it was written but it had that over the top fantasy writing style that is beautiful in some sentences but when used for everything the character does even the most mundane of things it gets a bit over the top. I liked Obie as a character i thought he was quite interesting but world of this book was so hard to wrap my head around it especially when the character is outside of the world of which he speaks it makes the book disjointed because then when it comes back to for example where he was walking down the street it makes the present disconnected with these huge flashbacks that aren't really flashbacks but thoughts and without that picture being painted in my mind of his world and why he was on earth in the first place i found myself not caring for it and when i didn't care for it i realised there wasn't much of a pull for this book, it was set up as high school angst with the jock his girlfriend and the likes and without a strong plot and a fantastical fantasy flare that made it pop made it something different it fell a bit flat for me. But again that's just my opinion and what i got out of it only got up to page 50 but hey couldn't find it in myself to continue reading and for me if a book hasn't sucked me in even by a shoestring by then then there must be something wrong.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is Sons of the Dark: Barbarian written by Lynne Ewing. The setting of this story is Los Angeles, California and Nefandus. The main action of the story takes place in Nefandus. It takes place around present time.

The main characters are Obie, Berto, and Kyle. They are believable characters in some ways, because they are given careers that we would normally see in the everyday life. A rock star, an actor, a painter. But they are not normal because they can turn into mist. Though I don't really like the whole part of if they kiss anyone they are basically sucking their soul from their body or their life essence out. In the story is that when Obie was a little baby, his mother saved his life by committing him to the Four of Legend. I think this book should be read by people who like supernatural powers within the story. I thought the book was pretty good, and I look forward to reading the other books.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE READ THE BOOK!!!

I am a little disappointed that the whole time I was reading the book I had no idea what the Legend of the Four was. Or that yeah all three boys where from Nefandus, but how did the escape?

I did think that Obie sounded hot hehe. I imagined that the music his band plays is a mix of black metal and rock.

I just want to know what else happens in the series. I did love that there was a magical element in this like the Goddess of the Night, which it would since this is a sort of companion series.

[Shirley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would have given this one zero stars had it been an option. It's a quick read for a younger audience. There is some profanity and alcohol use by teens. At times, it is like reading a cheap romance novel. The parallel universe is much more appealing than the L.A. scene. If you want a good fantasy, try Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr by Paolini.

[Bubbleface91 · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are pretty good books but I'm sure the guys would love these books more than girls. If you like fantasy and teen books and you're a girl, then I would definitely recommend Daughters of the Moon.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

ughh. this was soo boring. its by lynne ewing!! i thought it'd be as good as DOTM!! but... it wasn't. i never finished this book, it just got too boring. but i did read 2&3. they were pretty boring too, but better than the 1st.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though this was the first in a series, I was confused at times about the history of the characters and where they were from. I would have liked to have known certain things earlier in the book. But, overall, a fast read with some good bits of dialogue.

[Ratforce]

So far there are 13 volumes in the Daughters of the Moon series. There is also a companion series featuring male characters which is called Sons of the Dark. The first book in that series is titled Barbarian.

[Cristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fast paced and I enjoyed it. I had read this book like four years ago, but I hadn't continued on with the rest of the series. I own all four books. Like I said this book was really fast paced and it made it really to get into. I would recommend this for fantasy lovers.

[A'raya Glasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just started reading this book 2 days ago and I'm nearly done. This book is a book that fits me because I'm very very picky when it comes to books. So it's hard to find one for me, so I hope the rest are as good as the first one

[Hailey/Jimena · Rating 4 out of 5]

similar to daughters of the moon. It's exhilirating and mystical involving some old fashioned legends but mixing in present day problems and settings.

[Laine · Rating 5 out of 5]

great series

[Kayla c]

this book i just finished las night and it was most defiantly one of the best books i have ever read

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sons of the Dark #1: Barbarian by Lynne Ewing (2004)

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

another quick read. my daughter read all of Ewing's books several times. pretty good story.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT!!! it really gave me a different point of view compaired to the daughters of the moon povs

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F EWI sod bk. 1

Fantasy

[Katelyn]

Have read some other books by this author and this book is no dissapointment.