I recently reread this book, the first in the Coldfire series, and a long-standing favorite of mine. Now clocking in at about 35 years old, it’s always interesting to see how something ages both in reality and in our minds.
Gerald Tarrant, my favorite single “bad guy” in fantasy—or at least it seems that way to me—still shines off the page. Damien Vryce, his counterpoint in the book and the series' beacon of right, remains undefeatable in his moral stance on what is right. They are the answer to what happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force.
The book belongs to the science fantasy genre, something that was far less common 35 years ago, though it is its own sub-genre now. It lands firmly on the dark fantasy side of that spectrum.
The planet Erna resembles Earth at first glance but obeys starkly different laws of nature that fuel magic. Let’s just say, be careful what you believe in—or fear. There’s no substantial technology in this book beyond what you would find in the generalities of medieval times. The atmosphere is dark and brooding, and the world is broken and filled with the hopeless. While it isn't technically horror, there are moments steeped in grisly, stomach-churning ichor. The malevolent creatures of this world are closely tied to the psyche of its human inhabitants, such that fear itself will result in even more horrors.
The relationship between the two protagonists, Vryce and Tarrant, has a kind of argumentative repetition. They will debate but make little headway, as they stand on opposite sides of nearly every issue. However, the circumstances of the world make for strange bedfellows. Some people find these circular, repeated arguments boring, but for me, they keep the tension between the characters alive. They make you want to read every one of the books in the series to see if Vryce can win Tarrant over to the side of true good.
And that is the real question. More than the journey, more than the saving of a world, the question this book poses is: can someone save another man’s soul? The answer that Friedman provides is what brings me back to the series after years away. I’ve read it three times; I am sure I will read it again.
If you are looking for a book that helped launch a genre and establishes itself as more than just another grimdark, Black Sun Rising is for you.
All these years later, for me, it stays 4.8/5.0.
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