Dominion

A Coldfire Novella

By: C. S. Friedman

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Four hundred years after mankind's arrival on Erna, the undead sorcerer Gerald Tarrant travels north in search of a legend. For it is rumored there is a forest where the fae has become so powerful that it devours all who enter it, and he means to test its power.

This novella prequel to C.S. Friedman's best-selling Coldfire Trilogy (Black Sun Rising, When True Night Falls, Crown of Shadows) offers fans of the series a tale of Tarrant's secret history, while new readers will enjoy a chilling introduction to one of High Fantasy's most fascinating—and deadly—worlds.

©2012 C.S. Friedman (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Weirdly short and unsatisfying

Any additional comments?

I really like Friedman's work. That being said, this novella doesn't add much to the dark sun trilogy. It's just a bit of exposition about Gerald Tarrant's origins and original motivations.

So I met C. S. Friedman online

This novella fills in a couple details in Gerald Tarrant's history. Well written, like the Coldfire Trilogy. You should read them all.

Too short to matter.

The Coldfire trilogy was great. This little add-on was just too short and unnecessary. It was well done but it really did not add much to the whole story.

Great story, dull performance.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I wish it was longer.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dominion?

The confrontation between Gerald and Faith.

Would you be willing to try another one of R. C. Bray’s performances?

No. He spoke in a fairly sinister monotone. Sinister is about right for the tone of the book, but the monotone was awful. I stopped listening and read it off the Kindle.

Do you think Dominion needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, please! Because the Coldfire trilogy was brilliant and it's always exciting for the author to come at it from different angles.

Any additional comments?

The story is great. The performance was not, but if you're the sort with no time or inclination to read, then I'd go ahead and buy the audiobook.

Good, but short.

Good story for this line, but less than 1/2 the size of the others in this storyline.

It is what it is

While normally I would suggest people read this before the rest of the Coldfire series, I can't say that here. While this book was fine it did not really do a good job of really getting me interested in the world or the characters.

Years ago I read the Coldfire books and really loved the first one. Listening to this one brought back a lot of memories but if I was going to suggest it, I would do so only to people who enjoyed the first book.

A coldfire prequel

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature

Ever since I read a few novels by C.S. Friedman last year (In Conquest Born, The Wilding, The Madness Season and This Alien Shore) I’ve been practically desperate to begin her more famous COLDFIRE SAGA. Friedman’s stories are smart and creative and I can’t wait to see what else she has to offer. The only thing that’s so far kept me from picking up Black Sun Rising, the first COLDFIRE novel, is that I already have a huge stack (I mean hundreds) of audiobooks purchased and ready to read at Audible and on my bookshelves at home. Mostly I collect these when they’re on sale or when publishers send me review copies, so I hoard my precious Audible credits and spend them like a miser.

But I just don’t know how much longer I can hold out on COLDFIRE. I actually have Black Sun Rising in my Audible library (purchased, no doubt, in some awesome sale) but I don’t have books two and three (When True Night Falls and Crown of Shadows) yet. I picked up Dominion, a prequel to the COLDFIRE saga recently when it was cheap at Audible. And that’s what this review is actually about, so I guess I should get to it.

Dominion introduces Friedman’s well-known anti-hero Gerald Tarrant, a powerful undead magician. In this story he enters a legendary sentient forest full of seductive fae spirits because he wants to test his own power against it. But there are other beings in the forest. One is a pack of wolves, one of whom is more than he appears to be. Another is a young female knight who — along with some companions that have since been slain — has been sent to find and kill evil beings (such as Tarrant) who live in the land. Thus there are four powerful forces in the forest — the wolf pack with its great strength and prowess, Gerald with his dark magic, the young knight with her faith and courage, and the sentient forest which encloses all the others. Each of these forces will be changed by their encounters with each other and the result sets the scene for what’s to come in the rest of the COLDFIRE saga.

Dominion is a short novel, but it’s packed with drama, sharp insights, and dark chills. I didn’t know how to feel about Gerald Tarrant. He seems evil, but I can’t help but admire his curious mind and the scientific way he approaches life. I wanted to know more about him and his “transformation” from human (I assume) to vampire (I assume). There are some provocative hints about his past life in Dominion and I want to know what happened (“If I had not loved God so much, there would have been no power in betraying him”). I also want to know about the world he’s on and the forest that he respects (it reminds me of Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood). Tarrant says he is eager to take up residence in the forest and use its powers to create and evolve new species. I want to see that!

I listened to the audiobook version narrated by R.C. Bray. His voice and cadence were perfect for this sinister story. After finishing Dominion, I was eager to move on to the rest of the COLDFIRE saga. I may just have to give in and spend a couple of my precious credits… After all, that’s what they’re for.

A++ so great!

what a great intro into the saga I am about to dive into! see you there, this was enjoyable all the way through.

It's good, but....

The performance was excellent of him, and the story wasn't bad, but the use of foul language a few times, when actually it did nothing to add to the story, nor serve the authors otherwise excellent grasp of the English language and storytelling, was a breath of stupid, uselessness! If this is how "the one god", in her story, accepts his worshippers, then he isn't much of one!! I'll pass on the rest of the series for certain.

Prequel to Coldfire Trilogy

A fitting start to a great Trilogy. Well worth a listen. what would you do with the Fae