Dark Dreamers
by Christine Feehan, Marjorie M. Liu
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Book Summary Information
Author: Christine Feehan, Marjorie M. LiuEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09
ISBN: 0843956879
Number of pages: 342
Publisher: Leisure Books
Book Reviews of Dark Dreamers
Book Review: Great second half
Summary: 3 Stars
Some years ago, horr and dark suspense started making a real resurgence lately, and it started popping up in the strangest places, thankfully giving us guys an excuse, uhhh, I mean a reason to widen our reading habits. While literary critics have been having orgasms over the way academics have been stretching the boundaries of dullness by revolutionary new ways to use punctuation and mix unreadable literary genres, pop fiction has been determinedly breaking down genre walls by mixing sf, horror, romance, mystery, thriller, etc. in it's course to entertain. There's very little "straight" this or that genre fiction being published anymore. Yeah!!!
This double volume of two stars of the paranormal romance field gave me the chance to try their fictions in the short form. Feehan is a queen of vampire romances and this reprint of her "Dark Dream" novella makes me wonder why. The prose is a throwback to the worst of the Harlequins of the late sixties. It's overblown, overwrought, and overwritten. The heroine is perky, smart, and subservient to the man; who is tall, dark, handsome, silent, brooding, immortal, invulnerable, super-strong, drinks blood, has fangs, can't go out in daylight, hasn't had a date in two thousand years (!!!), but who is not a vampire! Huh?!? And they both blather endlessly, while saying nothing, about their lust/love for each other.
By page seventy "Dark Dream"'s wretched, determinedly unreadable prose finally succeeded, and the rest of "Dark Dream" went unread, and will keep me from reading anything by Feehan in the foreseeable future.
Liu was a joy however. She's one of the new young turks that seem to be breaking out of the romance genre, and she has already been part of two major franchises, the Crimson City and the X-Men series of novels. Where "Dark Dream" represents the worst of modern neo-gothic romances, Liu's, original to this volume, "A Dream Of Stone And Shadow" represents the very best. In the first few pages there is a murder, a child raped and abused, and a car chase that ends in the child pornographers being caught, a child rescued, and a shoot-out. The romance is unorthodox; dealing with an astral projecting gargoyle and an obsessed, driven, female operative who can see multiple possible futures. The story is fast-paced, tough and edged; the child raping isn't dwelled on, but neither is it glossed over, the eroticism and sex is well done without falling into the pornographic or overwritten type that seems to clutter up the paranormal romance field. One twist we find out is that the gargoyle has to be physically killed to astral project. "A Dream Of Stone And Shadow" is part of a series, but like the rest of the Dirk & Steele series, seems to have revolving characters so it can be read independently. Liu's books of Dirk & Steele are developing a real supernatural mythology to build themselves on, and this fast-paced novel is an important part in that mythology. People who know me, know that I almost never say this, but "A Dream Of Stone And Shadow" is too short, as it's ending falls prey too quickly to romance conventions; ending too quickly, too neatly, and too happily, and way too, too soon.
"A Dream Of Stone And Shadow" reads like a condensed hard-boiled mainstream crime thriller with romantic, supernatural and horror elements; dealing with child porn, bloody murder, cannibalism, shapeshifting, and sex, all without being too sensationalistic about any of it, and having at its center a tuff, take charge type of woman who has to deal with a troubled past. I find myself agreeing with C. D. Chandler, "A Dream Of Stone And Shadow" is a great story, and is, in and of itself, well worth the price of the book. I have been picking up more of Liu's work to read in the future.
I case you're curious "Dark Dream" gets a one star, and " A Dream Of Stone And Shadow" gets four stars, therefore, a three star rating.
Summary of Dark Dreamers
DARK DREAMChristine Feehan
She?s known him since she was fifteen. Every night, he is with her: his face, his voice. Tonight, Sara Marten will meet the man who is both angel and demon, salvation and temptation: Falcon?the Carpathian, the banished hero. Tonight, Sara will meet the dark-eyed destroyer destined to be her mate.
A DREAM OF STONE & SHADOW
Marjorie M. Liu
There are those who do terrible things in this world, and those who simply watch. Charlie would do neither. Imprisoned, his only release is through his own destruction?or through Aggie Durand. Sweet as a kiss or a rescued child, she is the one dream he does not dare desire. As an agent of Dirk & Steele, she could be his salvation. Today, Charlie?s dream is waking.
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