Robert Newcomb
British Pbk Original - Bantam (2004) |
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The Scrolls of the Ancients
The spellbinding fantasy that began with The Fifth Sorceress and The Gates of Dawn continues ...
Tristan and his twin sister, Shailiha, are the Chosen Ones, long prophesied to unite the opposing magics of the dark Vagaries and the benevolent Vigors. With the destruction of the Gates of Dawn, it would appear that the ravaged kingdom of Eutracia has been given the chance to heal itself - and the Chosen Ones have been granted the opportunity to fulfil their destiny under the tutelage of wizards Wigg and Faegan.
But Fate would have it otherwise. For there is another who unknowingly possesses magic in his blood - magic that, in the wrong hands, could unleash unspeakable evil. To find this unsuspecting soul and understand the threat that now faces them, the Chosen Ones and their allies begin a quest that takes them deep into the mysterious Chambers of Penitence, and across the Sea of Whispers to the sacred Isle of Sanctuary.
They are not alone in searching. Krassus, devoted servant of the Vagaries, has dispatched ships of demonic slavers to scour the coast of Eutracia, take people captive and bring them to the island fortress of the Citadel, where evil dreams become living nightmares.
Aided by Tyranny, a pirate as fierce as she is beautiful, Tristan and Shailiha must destroy the slavers’ fleet and rescue the ill-fated pawn of magic, now imprisoned in the Citadel. For Krassus seeks to awaken the magic in his blood and imbue him with dark enchantments from the mysterious Scrolls of the Ancients - transforming him into an instrument of evil the likes of which the world has never known ...
Praise for The Chronicles of Blood and Stone
`He puts his heroes through hell... Newcomb has a talent for exploring the darker, more brutal aspects of human suffering’ SFX
`Robert Newcomb is a writer who has precisely what it takes to deliver a complex and sweepingly conceived adventure that painstakingly avoids all the wearisome clichés of the genre . . . Newcomb’s impressive narrative skill is such that the pages turn very quickly indeed . . . The world created here is fastidiously realised, with much astonishing detail, and Newcomb is a name to watch’ Good Book Guide
`An undoubtedly impressive debut ... it has a dark magnificence in many of its set pieces of slaughter and magic . . . Newcomb has a real gift for describing violent action and intense emotional states; he puts his hero through a series of ordeals as upsetting as they are thrilling. Tristan wins, as we always expect him to, and then Newcomb gives us a slingshot ending that implies fascinating sequels of ever escalating wonder and terror’ Roz Kaveney, amazon.co.uk
`What a fantastic read. Fantasy novels can be hit and miss but this one is a definite hit. Robert Newcomb writes with a boldness and originality rarely seen in first novels. Reminiscent of authors such as Goodkind and Jordan, Newcomb introduces us to a world where magic and wonder coexist with darkness, treachery and sex. He isn’t afraid to make his characters suffer, and believe me they do, as he fearlessly pushes the boundaries of imagination . . . What I loved most about this novel was the uncertainty, you are never really sure how it will all end, and, when you think you do know, you are proved completely wrong’ Outland
`These personifications of light and dark are beautifully and vividly drawn . . . impressive . . . sweeps you through a noble landscape full of detail’ SFX
`In the school of Terry Goodkind, this is American fantasy in all its glory . . . driven along at breakneck speed’ Guardian
`Well written, captivating . . . Robert Newcomb is likely to be fantasy’s next big author’ Enigma
‘In the tradition of Terry Goodkind and Robin Hobb, a thrilling d6but fantasy novel and the first book in a sweeping, epic trilogy full of magic, adventure and wonder’ Publishing News
`An intelligent debut . . . headed for bestsellerdom’ Kirkus Reviews
‘Newcomb may be a newcomer to fantasy writing but it doesn’t show in this surprisingly original doorstopper .. . leaves you wanting more’ Publishers Weekly
`Well-written and compelling’ Library Journal
`Newcomb’s The Fifth Sorceress - boldly touted by its publishers as ‘The Epic Fantasy of the Year’ - may be just that. Strictly for adults, it is an impressive, extremely brutal and engrossing high-fantasy tome in which no character -no matter how seemingly critical to the story line - is invincible. It has all the ingredients of both a stand-alone blockbuster and the solid foundation for an important new fantasy series’ www.barnesandnoble.com
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First British Edition Bantam (2003) |
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Paperback - Bantam (2004) |
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The Gates of Dawn
Volume Two of The Chronicles of Blood and Stone
`The wind howled, and the lightning cascaded across the sky in unimaginable streaks, a portent of what was to come ... The firstborn son of the Chosen One lives, and now he is ours.’
For three hundred years, Eutracia was a kingdom at peace. Then a horror from the past, long thought vanquished, returned to wreak dreadful revenge. The war against the Sorceresses of the Coven was won, but victory came at a terrible cost: the king and queen dead, the wizards’ council decimated, and the land - ravaged by fear, scarred by, battle - lawless. And Prince Tristan, forced by the Coven to turn his hand against his own and kill his father, is now a wanted man with a price on his head.
In underground labyrinths that once bustled with life, the fugitive prince, together with his twin sister and her infant daughter, the wizard Wigg, sole surviving council member, and the crippled wizard Faegan, returned from exile in the forests of Shadowood, take refuge. To them falls the daunting task of rebuilding Eutracia, but it soon becomes apparent that evil has not yet had its fill of this ravaged land.
An army of apprentice wizards, dispatched to hunt down the last remaining servants of the Coven, has fallen victim to foul beings that can only have been created out of hate. And, inexplicably, the sacred source of all magic begins to fail. Without its sustaining force the wizards will perish, and with them magic itself. With time and their powers fast dwindling, Wigg and Faegan must discover who - or what - has succeeded the Sorceresses, and now seeks to destroy Eutracia. As the awful truth is revealed, it falls to Tristan to confront this new enemy, an evil that has defied death itself, and fight the ultimate battle - for his land, his life, his destiny...
Continuing the monumental adventure that began with The Fifth Sorceress, here is confirmation that, in Robert Newcomb, epic fantasy has found an exhilarating new voice.
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First British Edition Bantam (2002) |
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The Fifth Sorceress
Volume One of The Chronicles of Blood and Stone
`Only the four Mistresses remained from the hundreds she had loved, lost and left behind. Soon, my dear Sisters, she thought. So many shall pay. Pay for the sins of their ancestors…’
It is three centuries since the devastating war that all but destroyed the kingdom of Eutracia. Those who masterminded the bloodshed - four powerful, conquest-hungry sorceresses - were banished and sent into exile beyond the feared Sea of Whispers, with return all but impossible, death all but inevitable. Since those dark days, Eutracia has flourished, protected and guided by its council of wizards. Now a land of peace and plenty, it is about to crown a new king and the spirit of celebration fills every heart. Except one.
Prince Tristan is a reluctant monarch-to-be. Though born with the endowed blood that will enable him to master magic, and destined to succeed his father as ruler of this land and its people, he is a rebel soul.
But more than tradition compels Tristan to ascend the throne. The very survival of Eutracia depends upon it. For after these long years of peace, dreadful omens have begun to appear, heralding something too unspeakable to ponder. It seems an ancient evil, nurtured over centuries of darkness, has returned and is thirsting for blood, for domination and, above all, for revenge. Tristan’s fate is to fulfill a role chosen for him by an ages-old prophecy - to face an adversary whose hatred knows no bounds and whose greatest weapon is the person he loves most . . .
Not since Terry Goodkind unsheathed the Sword of Truth has such a tale of heroism and magic so captured the imagination. Brimming with excitement and wonder, dark intrigue and dread enchantments, The Fifth Sorceress marks the beginning of a magnificent fantasy adventure by a remarkable new storyteller.
About The Author
In His Own Words…
While growing up in a rural, upstate New York town of only seven hundred, becoming a novelist was the last thing on Robert Newcomb’s mind. Graduating from a small high school class of thirty students, he then did a brief stint at Southampton University, England, under the guidance of The American Institute for Foreign Study. After earning a degree in economics from Colgate University, it was off to work in the family concern of more than seventy-five years - a pair of third-generation Ford automobile dealerships which he eventually came to successfully own and run.
Tiring of the auto business, he sold the concerns in 1997 and moved to Florida to get away from it all, trading in his suits for T-shirts. Still unsure of a new career path, it was at this point his wife dared him to write the book that he had always threatened to. Armed with his laptop and what he thought might be a new idea idea, he finally finished his first work. The end result was an epic fantasy named The Fifth Sorceress, which started a bidding war between major New York houses, claiming what is often referred to as the largest total first-time fantasy deal, (a trilogy), ever offered in the U. S.
No one was more stunned than he was.
Mr. Newcomb continues to live in sunny Florida, and is hard at work on the third of the novels. When he is not writing, his hobbies include good scotch, better cigars, the martial arts, and going to Florida beaches to sit and do absolutely nothing. Well, not quite nothing - (see the aforementioned scotch and cigars.) His wife, Dr. Joyce E. Newcomb, PhD., is a practicing neuropsychologist, and novelist in her own right.
Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.
The Scrolls of the Ancients
(Bantam Pbk,
2004)
Pbk Jul 04
The Gates of Dawn
(Bantam,
2003)
Bantam Pbk Jul 04
The Fifth Sorceress
(Bantam,
2002)
Bantam Pbk Jul 03
The Scrolls of the Ancients
by Robert Newcomb
