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Black Halo (Aeons' Gate #2)

3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 · rating details · 146 ratings · 19 reviews

The Tome of the Undergates has been recovered, and the gates of hell remain closed. Lenk and his five companions set sail to bring the accursed relic away from the demonic reach of Ulbecetonth, the Kraken Queen, but their ship crashes upon an island made of the bones left behind from a war long dead. And it appears that bloodthirsty alien warrior women, fanatical beasts fr...more

Paperback, 549 pages

Published March 22nd 2011 by Pyr

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Jul 07, 2012 Stacey O'Neale rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was reviewed by Michael Cummings, senior reviewer with the Fantasy Book Addict.

Book two of the Aeon's Gate trilogy picks up mere moments after the
end of Tome of the Undergates with the intrepid Lenk recording recent
events in his journal. The Tome of the Undergates has been recovered,
and yet the gates of hell remain closed. Lenk and his five companions
set sail to bring the accursed relic away from the demonic reach of
Ulbecetonth, the Kraken Queen. But after weeks at sea, tensions amidst...more

like 1 like · see review

Jun 07, 2011 Ranting Dragon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: marty

http://www.rantingdragon.com/black-ha...

Lenk and his merry albeit sociopathic band of adventurers are back in Black Halo, the second book in The Aeons’ Gate series. Having recovered the Tome of the Undergates and stopped a giant fish demon from escaping Hell, Lenk and his crew are now stranded at sea, waiting for rescue from the mainland. However, as you would expect, all does not go according to plan, and soon the group is separated and washed up on island reeking of death. What follows next? D...more http://www.rantingdragon.com/black-ha...

Lenk and his merry albeit sociopathic band of adventurers are back in Black Halo, the second book in The Aeons’ Gate series. Having recovered the Tome of the Undergates and stopped a giant fish demon from escaping Hell, Lenk and his crew are now stranded at sea, waiting for rescue from the mainland. However, as you would expect, all does not go according to plan, and soon the group is separated and washed up on island reeking of death. What follows next? Deadly Librarians, fiery urine, giant lizardmen and much more, as Sykes makes a grand return in his second book and does what he does best, crafting a compelling story with humor, pathos and just a little bit of insanity.

Spot-on writing
By this point, fans of Sykes should know that he can write, and he can write pretty damn well. Tome of the Undergates had plenty of humor, a tight plot, great characterization, and a surprising amount of pathos. Black Halo continues this trend and in better form. Sykes steps his game up in this book, and you really get the sense that he’s coming into his own. The dialogue is crisper, the scenes crackle with tension and description flares to life with beautiful prose. Black Halo does have its fair share of obscene humor and moments of questionable sanity, but they always serve the story and they are always well written.

The world is bigger than you know
Tome of the Undergates took place on a ship for the majority of the book. We heard names of cities, cultures, religions, and so on through the characters, but the reader never got the chance to experience them except through memories. This time, however, Sykes makes a wise move and begins to pull back the curtain, showing what the rest of the world is like and who occupies it. Several new characters are introduced; my favorite is Bralston the Librarian, but every reader will find their own. The world is growing under Sykes’ steady hand, and by the end of the book, you’ll have a better appreciation for the magic you see, the cultures you come to know and the demons that you come to fear.

Double edged sword
Ah, the plot, the double edged sword, so to say. On one hand, I’m really happy with the plot of the book, because not only is it well written, it continues the wonderful characterization of our main characters while showing us a living, breathing world. However, by the end of the book, I couldn’t help but feel that this book was just used to get certain players into place for the third book.

Don’t get me wrong; what Black Halo lacks in advancing the threat, it more than makes up for in its characters and their discoveries. We understand more about where everyone comes from, and their relationships together grow in strange and interesting ways (I’m looking at you, Lenk and Kataria!). In a way though, it seems that was the main purpose of Black Halo: to continue exploring the inner conflicts and desires of the Adventurers. Lenk’s sanity, Kataria’s identity crisis, Denaos’ guilt, Dreadaleon’s complex, Asper’s condition, and Gariath’s search for life are all written very well and are as compelling as they’ve ever been. My only problem was that I felt these explorations of character did not balance well with moving the plot of the demons forward; that only reappears towards the last third of the book.

So why should you read this?
If you enjoyed the insanity that was Tome of the Undergates, then you are going to love Black Halo. Not only does Sykes continue his streak of intense characterization, larger than life monsters and hilarious moments, he does it all better than before. Even though the plot sometimes takes a backseat to the exploration of character, it is not something that holds the book back from being a wild ride from start to finish. I have a feeling book three, The Skybound Sea, will deliver.(less)

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Apr 13, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, fantasy, review-copy

The adventurers led by Lenk have managed to retrieve the Tome and are attempting to return it to their current boss, Miron - but life is never simple. An attack by a gigantic sea serpent - an Akaneed - leaves the adventurers split up and stranded on the island Teji. Lenk, Kataria, Dreadaleon, Denaos, Asper and Gariath first have to decide whether they even WANT to meet up again! What follows is a rollercoaster ride of fighting, sneaking, magic and a few hallucinations involving talking monkeys -...more The adventurers led by Lenk have managed to retrieve the Tome and are attempting to return it to their current boss, Miron - but life is never simple. An attack by a gigantic sea serpent - an Akaneed - leaves the adventurers split up and stranded on the island Teji. Lenk, Kataria, Dreadaleon, Denaos, Asper and Gariath first have to decide whether they even WANT to meet up again! What follows is a rollercoaster ride of fighting, sneaking, magic and a few hallucinations involving talking monkeys - there might even be a little romance as well... - as the band of not-so-merry adventurers try to win the tome back, learn a little about the netherlings and Ulbecetonth, and learn a lot about themselves.

I have been waiting to get my hands on Black Halo for AGES, having thoroughly enjoyed Tome of the Undergates. I'd had a few quibbles about that book, but Tome was the debut novel of Sykes, and I figured those problems would be ironed out as Sykes grew into his trade as a novellist. Is Black Halo better than Tome? Yes, in a lot of ways - in fact, in most of the ways that Sykes was criticised about in reviews following the release of Tome! In some ways, it is still a little shaky - but again, never enough to spoil my overall enjoyment.

First of all, I really appreciated the splitting up of the gang for a portion of Black Halo. That really worked for me. For one thing, it kept me turning those pages because I wanted to a) get back to finding out what was going on with each of them since Sykes employed some rather pesky and effective cliffhangers and b) see the adventurers as a glorious dysfunctional team again. In addition, since they weren't snarling at each other, there was a lot of revealing of inner thoughts as they pondered the nature of life, the universe and everything which helped to continue the character development that Sykes hinted at in the last third of Tome.

Secondly, Sykes is possibly the most breathlessly imaginative author working right now. Seriously. I say this because I literally never know upon turning the page what I will encounter - from various lizardmen, to purple women, to giant sea serpents, to fiery pee, to roaches that expel defensively from their anus.... Yep... And I guess therein lies the main problem. Sykes is genuinely not afraid to follow the thought 'Wouldn't it be cool if...?' to its unnatural conclusion, but sometimes the ideas are wacky for the sake of it. I use as an example the heralds we encountered in Tome. In that novel they were rather freaky, fluffy seabirds that totally freaked me out - one of the best parts of Tome. In Black Halo they have morphed into truly odd birds with mouths where their foreheads should be. Which felt unnecessary!

In Black Halo Sykes shows us some more of the world he is building than just sea and islands, and his worldbuilding is rewarding if still a little sparse. He doesn't hold his reader's hands in info-dumping the nature of the world we're reading about - there are hints that the netherlings come from off-world, that there have been various titanic battles in the past, mentions of cult-like Jackals, and much more about the nature and rules of magic. This adds a richness and a depth that was absent at times in Tome of the Undergates.

As I mentioned in my review of Tome, Sykes demonstrates a skill with prose that is rather stunning at times. Oddly poetic, even in the midst of all the killing. That is very much present in Black Halo.

Oh, and there were a couple of scenes in Halo that I had been waiting for through the WHOLE of Tome - involving Lenk and Kataria! *cheeky hinting*

Okay, in conclusion - after my rather rambly discussion of Black Halo - this was a very fun book to read, with some surprising depth. The humour prevents it being at all po-faced - which other author would include scenes involving a monkey discussing philosophical ideas or trees with latent desires for peace? Or a conversation about the nature of hallucinations by three men wearing just loincloths? For those slightly disappointed in Tome of the Undergates, I think you'll find what you're looking for in Black Halo. For those who loved the first - hold on to your pants, you're in for a wild ride! (less)

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Apr 04, 2013 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, read-2013

4 Stars

Black Halo, book two in the Aeons Gate series by Sam Sykes is almost as fun to read as the first book. This epic quest styled sword and sorcery series is on the dark and dirty side. It is filled with potty humor, violence, and action galore. The cast is a unique bunch of sort of good guys, but mostly bad, people and more. As I said with book one, Sam Sykes throws everything into these fun novels. You will find lots of magic, demons, swords, and bows, and dragonmen and monster too.

The goo...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Michael Cummings rated it 4 of 5 stars

Book two of the Aeon's Gate trilogy picks up mere moments after the end of Tome of the Undergates with the intrepid Lenk recording recent events in his journal. The Tome of the Undergates has been recovered, and yet the gates of hell remain closed. Lenk and his five companions set sail to bring the accursed relic away from the demonic reach of Ulbecetonth, the Kraken Queen. But after weeks at sea, tensions amidst the adventurers are rising. Their troubles are only beginning when their ship crash...more Book two of the Aeon's Gate trilogy picks up mere moments after the end of Tome of the Undergates with the intrepid Lenk recording recent events in his journal. The Tome of the Undergates has been recovered, and yet the gates of hell remain closed. Lenk and his five companions set sail to bring the accursed relic away from the demonic reach of Ulbecetonth, the Kraken Queen. But after weeks at sea, tensions amidst the adventurers are rising. Their troubles are only beginning when their ship crashes upon an island made of the bones left behind from a war long dead.

And it appears that bloodthirsty alien warrior women, fanatical beasts from the deep, and heretic-hunting wizards are the least of their concerns. Haunted by their pasts, plagued by their gods, tormented by their own people, and gripped by madness personal and peculiar, their greatest foes may yet be themselves.

Critics of the first book lamented that the characters were too thinly sketched, the bulk of the book being taken up by some longer than usual action scenes. In this second volume, Sykes flips that expectation on us. We delve deeper into each of the characters, getting more tantalizing glints of their depth and background as they recover on the island of the dead. To be sure, while the first book was a book of struggling, this second volume gives us a better understanding on why each of our characters - and I don't just mean our protagonists - are struggling and what it is they are trying to achieve. Which in the case of our (un)lucky band of adventurers is largely what they are struggling to run away from.

The problem, of course, is that we spend most of the book introspecting the characters, their flaws, backgrounds, motives, and favorite past times that we never quite make any headway in the story. In fact, the only real progress in the books is delivered by two new characters that are external to the adventurer party, one a librarian (don't snicker, librarians can kick your butt) on a mission to step any who use magic without paying the price (Oh Netherlings...), and the other who is commonly known as the Moth, a vassal of the Deep Shriek sent out to release the Father. The story advances under the stewardship of these two characters, but they have scenes too far and few between to give the rest of the novel momentum.

And this is why the second volume of a series usually drags. The first volume hit us with such force and speed, the second volume had a bar set higher than it could reasonably achieve.

And yet I will still recommend this book to you. It was a well written and fine addition to the series, with all the Shict loving you can handle. Hopefully in volume three, now that we understand what compels most of the POV characters in such detail already, we will return to the tour de force that was book one, but with a better understanding and appreciation of what is driving Lenk and his merry band. (less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Kai Mundwiler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, that took way too long to read.

A portion of that is my fault with having an extremely busy month, but Syke's material, while written with a superb voice and tone is full of fluff that just didn't do anything for the story. There's something to be said for surprising the reader but leading the reader along through a darkened room while throwing darts at him or her w/out provocation isn't the best way to get me through a book.

It was good to get to know the adventurers on a deeper level, espe...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Adrian Faulkner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really loved the first book. I think Sykes can write some fantastic prose that is both beautifully verbose and crude. The problem was that it can sometimes weigh the novel down. As a result it can feel a bit of a slog in places. Whereas the last novel had a lot of action, this one had a lot of thinking. Thinking and soul-searching are great but it sometimes felt like very little was happening. Still there's some great characters and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

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Jul 25, 2012 Liza rated it 3 of 5 stars

I only gave this book 3 stars because it is the second book in a series. Which I feel means it is the book the author has to use to develop the characters. The author did a wonderful job doing this, but had to sacrifice violence for internal debate. There is a lot of internal debate in this book. However it was all necessary and the end of the book makes up for all of the "why me's" you have to endure. I would highly recommend this book and look forward to the next installment!

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Aug 26, 2012 Brandon Zarzyczny rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but overall I was left a little disappointed after the first book. By the end of Black Halo, the story is essentially right where it started off, in fact they actually went backwards a bit. Some of the characters relationships have changed, but none of them really evolved. However, the author has created a wonderful world with this series, and I look forward to the next installment.

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Sep 06, 2012 Ruth rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: spec-fic

c2011. Awwwww. I was looking forward to the second in The Aeons Gate series. But, sadly, this book was just too obfuscatory for me. Damn! I struggled through to the end - but honestly, I can not even remember - a mere few hours later - what actually happened. So long, Aeons Gate.

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May 04, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lenk, Kataria and the rest of their companions are in a fine mess. Although I get a bit confused by all the extra voices speaking, I'm enjoying this story arc. Looking forward to Book 3.

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May 30, 2011 Travis added it

Yet again another great installation in the Aeons' Gate Trilogy by Sam Sykes. Please view my entire review here then pick up this series as soon as you can.

Review of Black Halo by Sam Sykes

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Sep 20, 2012 Nate Stewart rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another great book. This kid is pumping out pure gold.

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Feb 01, 2013 Kathryngriffin98 rated it 4 of 5 stars

enjoyed.

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Jul 06, 2011 April rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this one. But honestly there was just way too much betrayal, death, murder and emo head-wrestling and it just became a slog. Sure there were moments of humor and underneath all that other stuff a pretty cool story which is why I stuck through it until the end. But, I feel actually kind of relieved now that I've finished. I have no idea whether I will continue with the series yet. I suppose I'll see.

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Apr 29, 2011 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantastika

Good stuff! My review will be up soon at Functional Nerds.

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Sep 21, 2012 Phoebe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic-fantasy

I liked the first one better, but this one was still pretty good. I'll read the third book once it comes out.

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Jul 04, 2011 David Biondi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: epic-fantasy, fantasy, multi-book-series

This book was just as good as the first. He tells a great story and the dialogue between the dysfunctional characters is even better! I can't wait for the next book in the series.

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Jan 01, 2012 Karen Desmond rated it 1 of 5 stars

Not sure if it's because I left it so long to read this one and couldn't remember the original book too well but I struggled to get into this.

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May 15, 2013 Allison rated it 2 of 5 stars

May 15, 2013 Jonathan marked it as to-read

May 15, 2013 Leticia Urciel rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 14, 2013 Brennan is currently reading it

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May 02, 2013 Justin is currently reading it

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About Sam Sykes

Sam Sykes is the author of Tome Of The Undergates, a vast and sprawling story of adventure, demons, madness and carnage. Suspected by many to be at least tangentially related to most causes of human suffering, Sam Sykes is also a force to be reckoned with beyond literature.

At 25, Sykes is one of the younger authors to have arrived on the stage of literary fantasy. Tome Of The Undergates is his fir...more

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