Talk us through it
After events in the previous novels Shine, a sort of ghost called a Shade, finds himself remarkably in Egypt. On the bright side of the scarab he quickly finds help from a local Shade, on the downside there are secret societies out to finish off creatures of darkness and the dark realm of Tenebran is stirring. Unwilling to shadow-hop due to dangers lurking in the dark, Shine is forced to risk the dangers of Larvae and other Tenebran creatures that are waging a guerrilla war through the streets of Cairo. When a blackness starts rising in the sky Shine has to face his destiny else risk the imminent rising of something very dark and vicious. Nathan and Cassandra arrive in the knick of time to get Shine to where he has to be, but the last of the Templars aren't finished with their fiendish plans. Can Shine stop the rise of hell on earth, and if so what will it cost him?
Review"What coincidence are you talking about?" - Shine The fourth book in the Shades series sees Robert Hood delivering the best instalment to date, clearly there are meant to be further novels but as of writing that's our lot for the current time. Dang not happy Jan, Black Sun Rising finishes with some questions left unanswered and I for one am hanging out for a fifth book to round things out. Once you immerse yourself in the Shades Universe, if you haven't already, then you'll know what I mean. But hey spare a thought for Rob Hood, are we ever going to be happy without a new book in the series being sent our way? Hope the word processor is rocking there big Fella. Like the previous three books in the series Black Sun Rising is written in the first person narrative style from the viewpoint of a different character. One of the strengths of the series is that things are kept fresh due to each book being an account by a completely different Shade. It's sort of like the fantasy version of the new testament though we aren't covering the same ground here, and time moves along between and during each novel. Guess I just lost any fundamental Christians who may have stumbled onto the site. Once again Robert Hood is writing for a demographic that he doesn't talk down to. There's an inherent feeling with Black Sun Rising that Author Hood is rounding out a story cycle and bringing to a head events flowing from the previous three novels. Arguably you don't need to read each book in sequence, but a full understand of the present action in book four is dependant on you having spent some time in Country with at least the previous release. There's references and assumed knowledge going down, with Rob Hood not wasting any valuable space rehashing previous information. Sorry you don't get a "Previously in Shades" thing happening, maybe when some bright spark works out they should make a mini series of the books. Hello ABC looking at you, actually TVNZ is probably a better bet currently, though I can't imagine Mr Hood wanting to translate from his native Aussie to Kiwinese, not even ow! Anywise it seems a long time ago that Nathan Maples woke up to his brand new reality as a Shade, if having problems getting the references in Black Sun Rising then hunt out the previous books. As is the norm with the Shades series Robert Hood has approached his younger readership without looking down on them. Black Sun Rising romps along like a Voorhees family member at a Counsellor reunion bash, with the language is use being geared toward the young adult demographics the novel is aimed at rather than an older, presumably more widely read, target Audience. Teens will get onboard Rob Hood's groove train here without having to stumble over great hulking passages of description or highly metaphysical ramblings from the main character. There are a number of highlights through the course of the novel that should keep young people entertained while they read on to find out "how it all turned out". That's quite the achievement really when you considered Rob Hood can also strut his stuff for an older Audience without breaking into a sweat. I've had a couple of people write in to ask whether the Shades series is more suitable for boys or girls. I honestly thought I had covered this in an earlier review, but to save you some time the series is a great read for either gender. There's enough romance and sly looks going down between characters to appease the young ladies, while boys will groove to some devastation going down, (nothing over the top or likely to cause them nightmares mind). To be brutally honest here you are far better off exposing developing minds to a professional writer like Robert Hood than allowing them to consume the equivalent of a happy meal that Stephenie Meyers routinely spouts out in the mistaken believe she's writing prose. Hey someone has to draw a literary line in the sand and I'm raising my hand on that one, Twilight is pretty much barbarians at the gate time folks. Having covered bases with the younger folk I should also point out that Black Sun Rising is well worth reading by those of us past the full freshness of youth. If you dig series like Wizard of Earthsea or Robert Jordan's prolonged attempt at filling bookstore shelves, then you'll be right at home with Shades. While there's no overt adult content, and no I'm not talking sex and stuff here, there's a feeling Rob Hood had his analogy hat on throughout the Shades series with the whole Tenebran thing not being that far removed from another realm containing fallen Angels. Overall there's a real feeling to Black Sun Rising that Rob Hood knows his craft with the Author at no time stinting in the writing process. There's the notionof getting value for money here and the satisfaction of having read a well constructed book. Considering Shades has been laid to rest for the time being, Black Sun Rising does present a fitting final novel in the series with a touch of pathos in the tail to shake things up a bit. It's been one hell of a journey from Albion Bay to Cairo, the trip was more than appreciated however. You will be pretty lucky to run across a copy of Black Sun Rising down your local bookstore, would take away valuable space needed for Supernatural Romance, but you should be able to unearth a copy if you hunt around online. If all else fails write into either us or send a rocket up Hodder and demand a new edition.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... One of the greatest of all Young Adult series to have been written in Australia, rivalling anything from the
rest of the world.
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