The Chronicles of the Raven

1. Dawnthief (1999)
   
2. Noonshade (2000)
   
3. Nightchild (2001)
   
   

   
   The Legends of the Raven
   

4. Elfsorrow (2002)
   
5. Shadowheart (2003)
   
6. Demonstorm (2004)
   
   

   
   Additional Raven-related titles
   

7. Light Stealer (2003)
   
   

   
   

8. The Cry of the Newborn: The Ascendants of Estorea Book 1 (Oct 20th 2005)
   
9. A Shout For The Dead: The Ascendants of Estorea Book 2 (Gollancz SF S.) (September 21, 2006)
   
   

   
   

10. Once Walked with Gods: First book of the Elves series
    
    
    

Book Synopsis

"The Raven" is a group of seven mercenaries, just starting to lose their fighting edge, who reluctantly get hired by a mage from a college of magic with a nasty reputation for blood sacrifice. Their mission: to save the world from major bad guys called the Wytch Lords. These, defeated long ago at great cost, have escaped their sorcerous confinement and will be unstoppable once they`ve grown new bodies. The only hope is Dawnthief, a lost super-spell which, if correctly cast, can zap even Wytch Lords ...

Review
This energetic first fantasy novel is familiar in outline, but told with unusual intensity. "The Raven" is a group of seven mercenaries, just starting to lose their fighting edge, who reluctantly get hired by a mage from a college of magic with a nasty reputation for blood sacrifice. Their mission: to save the world from major bad guys called the Wytch Lords. These, defeated long ago at great cost, have escaped their sorcerous confinement and will be unstoppable once they've grown new bodies; meanwhile their teeming minions are already going to war. The only hope is Dawnthief, a lost super-spell which, if correctly cast, can zap even Wytch Lords--but make one mistake and the sun will never come up again. A typical fantasy-quest shopping list emerges: you need the dragon-guarded amulet to open the ancient mage's workshop to find the portal leading to the demon watching over the parchment with the spell, which itself requires three "catalyst" talismans hidden in difficult places. What makes Dawnthief a ripping yarn is Barclay's ruthless pace and lack of sentimentality. No character is too nice, innocent or important to die or suffer hideous tortures. The death toll is horrific, as are the many exotic ways of dying in this dangerous world. This is a breathless, action-crammed fantasy thriller

Noonshade (Victor Gollancz, July 2001 / re-issue 2003)
ISBN 0575068957 (TPb) / 057507535X (Pb)




Book Synopsis

The sequel to Dawnthief takes the adventure into a new dimension. The Raven must fight to help the dragons of the Brood Kan defend the dimensional rip opened in the skies of Balaia by the casting of Dawnthief. And then they must somehow close the rip. And all the time the Wesmen are rampaging through Balaia, laying waste to its cities and besieging the mages of Julatsa in Dordova.

Review
In a market already overcrowded with heroic action fantasy, it is always refreshing to discover an author who does more than tread out the usual sword-and-sorcery tale in three huge doorstopper-sized volumes. James Barclay is just such an author as he more than adequately proved with his scorching debut Dawnthief. Now, his band of slightly ageing past-their-prime mercenaries, The Raven, are back and attempting to right the wrongs from the previous story. The Dawnthief spell has been cast but it has ripped apart a hole between dimensions that will allow an invasion of dragons into Balia and signal the land's destruction. The Raven are forced into an alliance with Sha-Kaan, a dragon whose brood are fighting a desperate war in the dragon dimension. With Balia having to defend itself against armies of Wesmen, The Raven are the only ones able to help the Kaan defeat their enemies and save Balia.

What follows is, quite simply, spectacular storytelling. Barclay reads like a seasoned fantasy veteran, not a writer on only his second novel, and his plotting, characterisation and dialogue are all perfectly honed. Where he excels most though is in the action scenes and Noonshade contains some of the best sword and magic battles ever written. You can feel the air burn with the crackle of spells, almost cry out in pain yourself as a sword cuts through flesh and mourn for a slaughtered character as you would a loved one.

The plot twists and turns with energy and pace but it is the characters that make this such a real treat, especially the Raven who deserve the same cult status as Gemmell's Waylander. Each member of the Raven is a fully realised character, with plausible motivations and plenty of emotional conflict. And it's good to see the female characters getting a bit more page-time too.

The third volume of this trilogy, Nightchild, is out in 2001 and Barclay leaves us hanging wickedly on a thread with just enough questions and unresolved conflicts to be tied up in book three. The Chronicles of the Raven is one the most exciting and exhilarating series in a long time and on this showing James Barclay is a writer with a fantastic future ahead of him. Stunning stuff

Nightchild (Victor Gollancz, 2001 / re-issue 2003)
ISBN 0575072156 (TPb) / 0575073004 (Pb)





Book Synopsis

The third volume of James Barclay`s series sees Raven set against Raven as Balaia faces up to the threat of the One magic unified in one person: the 5-year-old daughter of Erienne and Denser of The Raven.

Review
With Nightchild James Barclay brings his remarkable debut trilogy to a stunning and startling conclusion. The book picks up from the previous entry as the Raven are faced with a terrible moral dilemma: Lyanna, the daughter of Raven warrior Denser and mage Erienne, has been blessed (or cursed) with the power of The One. This power is threatening the very land of Balaia and the four magic colleagues who are desperate to control the power or stop it--even if that means killing a five year old girl. Erienne, fearful for the life of her daughter, goes into hiding and the Raven have little time to find her. When they do, they face a terrible choice that none of them want to make. Nightchild is a cracking finale to what has been a real treat for fans of action-based fantasy. Barclay's prose and characterisation has improved massively with each book and this last in the trilogy is the most satisfying yet. The characters are all like good friends and their relationships have never before been this complicated or tested so much to the limit. Barclay doesn't hold back as usual in the battle scenes which are as exciting and adrenline-pumping as always, but neither has he ever been one to take the easy route with characters and many readers will be surprised by the denouement which, while effectively tying up many loose ends, also opens up possible avenues for future books. The Raven stories have been some of the best new fantasy novels in many a year and will deservedly be cherished for future generations by many fans. They may lack the minute detail of Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time series or the sweeping historical feel of George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, but James Barclay has shown lovers of action fantasy everywhere just exactly how it should be done

Elfsorrow (Victor Gollancz, August 2002)
ISBNs 0575073284 (Hb) / 0575073985 (Pb)



Book Synopsis

This book is the first in a new trilogy starring the cult heroes made famous in Chronicles of the Raven. The Raven travel to a new continent in search of mages to help the ruined college of Julatsa rebuild ... and find themselves in the midst of an ancient curse -- a curse that has unleashed a plague that threatens to wipe out the elven race.

Review
The latest of James Barclay's series about the Raven mercenary company, Elfsorrow handily picks up on various loose ends. The war between the Colleges of Magic has ever more terrible consequences--the mages of Xetesk steal magic from a remote temple triggering a curse that will exterminate all elves. The Raven mage Erienne is racked with guilt over her failure to save her daughter and her possession of the vast magical power that burned her daughter out. The witch-hunters of the Black Wing are busy exploiting the situation and recruiting dispossessed farmers for a massive pogrom of magic workers. Barclay's work is always at its best when conveying a sense of urgency and of people caught up between bad choices; he is also not frightened of killing his characters off, which means that the sense of jeopardy here is real. We know, by now, that the Raven is more than individual vulnerable warriors--it is a way of life and a commitment to muddling through to righteousness. Barclay has many of the faults of pulp fantasy--his dialogue is unmemorable and his characterisation perfunctory--but his well-paced tales have both emotional force and a sense of being about things that matter

Shadowheart (Victor Gollancz, July 2003)
ISBNs 0575073306 (Hb) / 0575075449 (Pb)





Book Synopsis

The Raven are tested to the point of destruction as a savage war is unleashed across their world as the magical colleges of Balaia tear the land apart in their struggle for supremacy. Everything they have known is threatened. Can The Raven even survive, let alone triumph?

Demonstorm (Victor Gollancz, August 2004)
ISBNs 0575073322 (Hb) / 0575073330 (TPb)




Book Synopsis
Is this the end? The dragons have gone home, the elves are safe. The Raven have kept their promises. But fate has not finished with them. As the war between the colleges rages on, an old enemy senses that his chance to revenge a bitter defeat has come. Tessaya, Lord of the Paleon Tribes has waited patiently for his moment and now -- with Balaia in flames -- he makes his move and unleashes the Wesmen hordes.

Review
Demonstorm is the sixth world-saving exploit of James Barclay's heroic-fantasy "Mission Impossible" team, The Raven-—first seen in his 1999 debut novel Dawnthief.

Again the war-ravaged continent Balaia is in big trouble. Bigger than ever. Attacked for excellent reasons by the barbarian Wesmen, the magical college of Xetesk desperately misuses its doomsday weapon of "dimensional magic", and tears a hole between realms. Endless hordes of demons come swarming through, eager to make Balaia their new home. No ordinary weapon will kill them, but they can drain human souls with just a touch. The odds are, as always, impossible.

Meanwhile, after dealing severely with impostors who took their name in vain, the weary, scarred survivors of The Raven have given up war and retired to the sunny southern continent. You can't run away from the end of the world, though, and more than one world faces extinction. The demon beachhead threatens the realms of the dragons and even the dead:


"You know how I said The Raven would never ride again? Seems I was lying."
Barclay pushes his characters to the ragged edge and beyond, as they fend off inexhaustible demon armies, suffer heavy losses in nightmare treks across occupied territory, and weaken day by day while the enemy grows ever stronger. One mad possibility remains, a commando raid into the demon dimension where their strength is greatest…

The tension is unremitting, the action unsparing. There's less room for Barclay's usual glints of humour in the long slog of fighting for what any sane mercenary should recognize as a lost cause. Still, The Raven has always managed to win through, though at great cost. Demonstorm battles its way to an appropriate finish, and delivers the goods--though this must surely be The Raven's last adventure. Edge-of-the-seat stuff

Light Stealer (PS Publishing, March 2003)
ISBNs 1902880625 (Hb) / 1902880617 (Pb)



Book Synopsis

Lightstealer is a stand alone novel that tells the story of Septern, a mage born on the Balaian dimension (the same as The Raven), but it is set 300 years prior to anything that happens in The Raven trilogies

Review
Light stealer is a fantastic book and most of the stuff you read in other reviews does it perfect justice, but just to clear up the fact that Light Stealer was NOT released in the UK under the name Dawnthief. Dawnthief is a totally separate book making up part of the raven series. Lightstealer is a stand alon novel which tells the stroy of Septern, a mage born on the balaian dimension (the same as the raven) but it is set 300 years prior to anything that happens in the raven trilogies

The Cry of the Newborn: The Ascendants of Estorea Book 1 (Gollancz SF S.)
ISBN: 0575076178




Click to Buy a signed 1st edition direct from me

Click to go to Publishers and buy the paperback
Click here to go to the publishers and buy the Hardback

Synopsis
The Emperor of Estorea is young and idealistic. The Empire he has inherited has never been more powerful, never been so large. He believes he can bring in a golden age. But his armies are stretched thin, the border provinces are reluctant to pay homage and, even in his own court, dissent and betrayal is in the air. And into this troubled world four children are born. They are the result of centuries of careful study and selective breeding. They are completely at one with the world, they can sense the elements, they can use them. They have magic at their fingertips. A world that has not known magic is about to discover its wonder and its terror. And an Empire is about to fall. No epic fantasy has dealt with the arrival of magic into a previously non-magical world. James Barclay, with his perticular gift for characterisation and vivid description of both magic and action is the ideal author to tell this story for the first time. This is a breakthrough fantasy from one of the UK's most exciting talents.

Review (does NOT contain any spoilers)

Currently i am 190 pages into the paperback version of this which totals 819 pages. And i have to say....WOW!! when i started the book i thought it was a little slow, but after a pause to make a drink remembered that this book is huge and just the start of a new series. So far i can see, there are areas that James has drawn on EG: Rome and how the empire expanded and also for some of the government...i don't know if this is intentional (but it may be) i will ask him!!

I think also there are some similarities to the way the Germans tried to push 1 step to far and take on one enemy to many!.
As for the story, if i was given the raven books and this and asked if they were the same author, i would struggle to say yes, BUT!.... don't let that put you off all authors need to progress their work, and this is leaps and bounds on from the raven writing, which is great and funny etc.. this is a mature epic from some one who is going to hit the top of the Fantasy world with this series.

The use of Magic in the form or Earth, Air , Fire & Water is very interesting and James is at the forefront of the writing community with this, i know of only one other author using it as a premise at the moment (Mark Lamb) he is a children's author.

More to follow!!!

Well here you go a bit more.....300 pages in and the book just gets better and better. If you love your books with battle scenes you will enjoy this, James in my opinion is a master of the battle scene, he builds the tension whilst giving you a vivid picture of everything going on, Giving the impression of the "fog of war" whilst still informing you of all that is happening.

The comparisons to the Roman empire continue...don't let this put you off if your not a history buff as this is only apparent if you know your roman army and the names used for its different sections.

As for Empire of Estoria ...yep it does seem that with the roman type army it could be that James used the roman empire for inspiration.. there are similarities...but lets face it if you are depicting a society fighting with swords and armour etc... the organisation, government , corruption and armies you are going to end up aping the great Roman Empire.

(for those that enjoy this type of historical action, and battle scenes go to the review section for Simon Scarrow, a master of the roman world and its battles, he is another great fiction writer)

More to follow as I read it!!...

Im over 2/3 's through now and all i have to say as my review is WOW!!
The characters get more and more vivid as the book progresses, the whole society has a roman basis but with the barclay spin, by the time i finsh this book im going to be missing some friends for the next year while i await the next book. Book 2 of the ascendants will be my No1 most anticipated book for 2006...so chop chop James!!

Finished....

I Have to say this is by far the best work James has produced, while he retains his usual core abilities of humour, engaging characters and fast flowing battles, this book goes so far beyond the Raven.
Cry of the new born is the first book in a epic duo logy (2 books) its a master piece that holds the reader from start to finish. as usual no character is safe as James has shown in the past he will kill anyone if the story requires (some thing alot of other authors seem scared to do, in case they want to cash in on them later) You can see James writes from the heart a true fan of the genre as well as a writer.
You must buy this book it is an absolute must for any fan of Fantasy, or historical fiction. (follow the links higher up to buy this book direct from the publishers web site)

Review by Lizzy "Chill" Hill

If you have read Barclay's fantastic Raven books be pleased to know
this is not a Raven rewrite. This is an epic story set in a Romanesque Empire
which is stretching itself too far and falling apart. It takes a bit of getting into as there is a lot of information to take in about the structure of the Conquord and its people, but you are soon drawn in to the world created and the characters become very real. Add to this the birth of magic in a secluded town by a secret sect resulting in four petulant teenagers with burgeoning power on the run in a world not ready for them. The battles are well described on the grand scale but also on a personal level, with the harsh realities of war on the populace and the armies being brought to the fore.The insular decadent life of those in power is contrasted well with those on the front line. On a female note it was refreshing to see women in high ranks and fighting as equals in the army. I liked the way the magic evolved and the teenagers are believable. This book absorbed me completely. Barclay brings it all to life with wit and passion. It may be just over 800 pages long but once you get into it you will be happy to carry it everywhere to read at every opportunity.



A Shout For The Dead
The Ascendants of Estorea Book 2
The sequel to the acclaimed CRY OF THE NEWBORN - a massive tale of an empire in peril and world learning to live with magic.
Publication: November 2006

Synopsis

In THE CRY OF THE NEWBORN we were introduced to four teenagers, each of whom had nature at their command. They became the pawns in the struggle of the Estorean empire to survive. Through them their world discovered magic and we were drawn into a superb new epic fantasy that, for the first time, told the story of what happens when magic arrives in a previously non-magical world.

Now ten years have passed and Estorea is consumed by war and the four ascendents have chosen different sides in the conflict. As the armies muster and the final conflict draws close the ascendents are only now coming to their full power and soon summoned armies of the dead will march against the living.

This is epic fantasy full of fallible characters, political machinations, betrayal and bloody battles. It combines vivid storytelling with an original theme in a popular sub-genre and shows Barclay to be a writer who is getting better with every book and who is truly comfortable with epic scale.

Once Walked With Gods
(The first book in the Elves series)






The elves have fled to Calius, seeking to escape the overwhelming power of the demonic Garonin. A desperate last stand in their own dimension saved the race but only at the cost of 100,000 elves lost to the Garonin. The elf who led that fight, Takaar, is blamed for the loss and has gone into hiding. Now the weakened elf race is tearing itself apart in civil war, human mercenaries have arrived in Calius and are ripping the continent apart. Only one elf can unite the race. And only one elf believes in him. A young warrior named Auum sets out to bring back the shamed hero and save the elven race. James Barclay's ELVES trilogy will tell the whole story of his immortal elven race, it will appeal to all fans of Tolkien and fantasy - this is a uniquely entertaining take on a fantasy staple for readers new to Barclay. And old readers of Barclay will welcome a return for one of their favourite creations and will also love seeing once of their favourite characters back - the Tai Gethan warriror Auum destined to be one of the Raven.

Review
Another excelent book from James, well written with the usual well rounded characters. I will admit to a wish that the advance copy had Maps and details about some of the elvish and also a gloassary of who was who because i did get a little lost at time in the first third of the book, but that was due to the blistering pace and the depth of immersion into the world as much as the elvish detail.
James does go from strength to strength in this genre and if anyone can pick up the Hat once worn by the great Gemmell in this Genre then James might just be the man.

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