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Stephen Leigh
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Assassins' Dawn (Daw Book Collectors) Kindle Edition

by Stephen Leigh (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
See all formats and editions
Neweden is a world whose gods are death and fate, and it’s here that the Hoorka have arisen: a guild of assassins, whose single law is that the victim must always retain a tiny but finite chance of escape. If the victim can survive until dawn, they may go free. But the rich and powerful don’t care to have their will thwarted, and so the Hoorka must deal with the consequences of their own ethics. Gyll, the leader of the Hoorka, also has dreams of taking the guild offworld into the growing society of the Alliance, which is trying to reconstruct a shattered, worlds-spanning empire. Is that dream a genuine possibility, or will exposure to other cultures doom the Hoorka entirely? Gyll must confront internal struggles within his own people, the dangerous politics of Neweden, and the twinned threat and promise of the Alliance. The Hag of Death dances around them, mockingly. Can the Hoorka survive to see the dawn of their own success, an Assassins’ Dawn?
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  1. Print length
    735 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    DAW
  5. Publication date
    May 7, 2013
  6. Reading age
    18 years and up
  7. File size
    2169 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Assassins' Dawn:

"Intriguing, deeply layered stories of assassins in love, war, life, and death. Highly recommended." —Garth Nix, New York Times-bestselling author of the Old Kingdom series

"Action, adventure, character, humor and a strong philosophical base: Stephen Leigh does it all!"
—Janet Morris, author of The Sacred Band

"A strong story about basic issues, about making choices..."—Tanya Huff, author of An Ancient Peace

"The setting of a senescent world gripped by antiquated politics and religious beliefs, with technology serving as an uneasy accessory to relations with a distant, unsympathetic Federation, readily calls to mind the novels of Jack Vance. This is not a bad thing. Leigh writes with an ornate, but very readable, style...in this regard [Slow Fall to Dawn] offers a better read than many contemporary SF novels twice its length."—The PorPor Books Blog

About the Author

Stephen Leigh is a Cincinnati-based, award-winning author with nineteen science fiction novels and over forty short stories published. He has been a frequent contributor to the Hugo-nominated shared world series Wild Cards, edited by George R. R. Martin. He teaches creative writing at Northern Kentucky University. Stephen Leigh has written Immortal Muse, The Crow of Connemara, and the fantasy trilogy Assassin's Dawn. He can be found at farrelworlds.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009D3GA22
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ DAW (May 7, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 7, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2169 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 735 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

About the author

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Stephen Leigh

Stephen Leigh

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Biography

I write fantasy as S.L. Farrell and science fiction as Stephen Leigh. I also wrote one science fiction novel as "Matthew Farrell."

If you're really interested in learning a bit about me, then I'd suggest going to my website: http://www.farrellworlds.com -- that's where you'll find more than you ever really wanted to know, including some of my favorite books, my music, and all the rest including my online journal, where I talk about, well, nearly anything...

I'll see you there!

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
7 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dutch
4.0 out of 5 stars Well done - complex
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this set of stories very much, although I thought it was slow moving at times. Some very interesting and complex (I thought) twists to the story, like weaving in the trading families well after developing the diplo/alliance relationship.
2 people found this helpful
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W. Lancaster
1.0 out of 5 stars Perfect book for an airline flight, put me right to sleep.
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015
This book is a compilation of three books into one. Working my way through the first book I said something that no reader or writer wants to hear, "I just don't care about any of these people." Made my way into the beginning of book two and then put it down and never bothered to pick it up again.

There is no stakes in the this story. All the characters are thoroughly detestable. These are all wealthy, powerful people, working to maintain their wealth and power through killing each other. There was not even a facade of morality and as a result, I had no reason to care about what happened. If the target lived or died, it didn't matter to me. If one faction won or another, it didn't matter nothing would change.

The protagonist, the leader of the assassins guild was just annoying. He spends most of his time moping about honor and the main conflict between himself and his top assassin left me unmoved. Essentially it's if the target deserves a chance or not, a point of distinction that was a little lost on me as they were paid killers. It boiled down to, do we have a slightly higher success rate but no honor, or keep our honor and let a few more people live. It wasn't enough to hook me and I saw no reason to particularly care if the assassins guild prospered or withered. There was not a single assassin I found intriguing, engaging, or interesting.

This could have been saved as a procedural. Assassins coming up with clever plans and things like that. Unfortunately, no. The standard assassination method seems to be walk slowly after the target with a knife until the target falls down in exhaustion and then stab them.

In the end, you have a slow book filled with dull and unlikable characters. Find something else.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

syram
3.0 out of 5 stars ok, but adolescent
Reviewed in Germany on May 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
elaborate/long ebook, so the price is ok imo. like i stated in the title, the writing seems adolescent, some interessting ideas/concepts, the author tries to give the main character(s) some depth, but to me the story feels to shallow in many parts. in the long run the book is a mediocre read for now + then, an amusing diversion.
One person found this helpful
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