The Coldfire Trilogy

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I'm currently reading a series of books, "The Coldfire Trilogy", by C. S. Friedman. I also forgot about another book I had read, "Be Mine Forever", which is part of a vampire series by Rosemary Laurey. If you're into vampire books, it might be worth a look, but otherwise it's not very noteworthy.

Getting back to the "Coldfire Trilogy", these books deserve a detailed review, and they have provided a lot of personal inspiration in different areas.

The books are Fantasy, and the use of magic is very well defined. Rather than magic coming from a personal 'Mana pool', the source of power is a part of the planet itself. Different areas, and events can increase, and decrease the ease of "spells", or "workings", as they are referred to in the books. The source of power is called "Fae", and it flows like water throughout the land.

Most of my writing is Fantasy based, and these books have given me a lot of inspiration, and have made me think about the way magic is used. I would never 'mimic' the nature of magic found in her books, but many of the books I read take the source of power for granted.

I also enjoy the fact that her books tend to be 'darker' than other books in the same genre. The lines between "Good and Evil" come in an assortment of grays, starting with a prophet who defined religion only to be cast out of it, labelled as "Evil". One of the main characters, a priest, has to continually evaluate his beliefs. The old standby is present, "What is justified, when it comes to the greater good". I find the varied use of religion in the books to be well executed, and it's part of what makes the story stand apart from the crowd.

If you're interested in finding out more about the author, and the books, take a look at her site: http://www.csfriedman.com/

I have also read "Feast of Souls", the first book in her "Magister Trilogy", and was quite impressed with that book as well. Too bad she hasn't finished that series yet.

You can also find "The Coldfire Trilogy" on Amazon. The books are 1. "Black Sun Rising", 2. "True Night Falls", and 3. "Crown of Shadows"

C. S. Friedman book list

And that's it for today. If you haven't read the books yet, give them a try. Libraries are great resources, and if you really like the series, I'm sure you will want to add it to your collection.

In my next post, I'll give a brief overview of what I'm working on, what I've recently finished, and some of the 18 other ideas flying around my head, begging to be released into the world.