The Dark Volume (Dream Eaters Book 2)

Or did you find yourself surprised by how one or several of them developed? Your experience as a playwright must have influenced how you created the action of your novels. Writing for the theatre is always about a specific room, or a specific sense of place all the more when often the details of that space—what it means—is often defined by spoken dialogue alone. Since I made a point of not knowing too much about what was going to happen as I wrote The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters , the solutions the characters came up with to deal with their predicaments had to arise from the physical facts of where they found themselves: Because of this, I think the action scenes have a certain organic flow to them, and that however incredible the circumstances what happens remains credible in human terms because we have a sense of a person at the heart of it making decisions.

The other way of course is a habit of telling a story through dialogue, and so The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters contains a fair amount of talking … How did you plot the locations for this novel? Did you map out the city? Draw diagrams of the Manor? All of these, especially the city itself, were made up entirely as I went along.

As the novel itself was written without any free-standing outline, the locations evolved as the action required—neighborhoods in the city being fleshed-out as the characters needed to pass through, the various wings and floors in Harschmort House filled in as the action expanded through them. The dirigible is based on later airships, giving the cabal the benefit of the doubt in allowing them to be a bit ahead of their time. I think the only real bit of research I did for the book was to find out when the mango made it to the New World 16th century in Brazil, as it happens , to see whether Miss Temple might have eaten them as a child in the Caribbean.

The concept of Glass Books is a seductive one: At what point in your creative process did you determine that the Glass Books needed to be in your title? A lot of the thinking behind the glass books themselves simply comes from thinking about computers, and specifically thinking about them as things that have profoundly changed how we see ourselves, how we communicate, our basic notions of society and social interaction, even how we think to begin with.

This happens in various degrees throughout history with new technology, of course, but in our time many of the crucial questions revolve around more explicitly around how the intimate experience of others is that much more available to us—and so quickly! Not that this is news, but in the same way how we write was changed by the arrival of word processors without people at that time being quite aware of what that meant , I think communication technology is changing so fast that our basic social assumptions are being constantly nudged without our realizing it.

In fact, I might have had that part of the title before I even knew what he was going to find in the room—certainly I had the notion of a glass book before at all knowing how they functioned, or what they even were. What specific books, or types of books, inspire you? If you like violence with your adventure, you'll get it here. No one stops to think before the murder or mayhem starts.

It just happens and happens quickly. Even our heroes don't hesitate, because they'd be dead if they did. Everyone in this book was upper crust, with the exception of a few chambermaids who helped Dr.

Svenson when he arrived at Harschmort house, and two butlers who tried to stop Celeste Temple and Eloise DuJong after they popped out of dumbwaiter on their way to escape. The dialogue was not only snappy, upper crust, but unique for each individual. The Contessa and the Comte each had a way of speaking that defined them. The same was true of Roger Bascombe, who had a tendency to whine.

Francis Xonck resorted to violence first and asked questions later, Celeste was definitely a talker, where Chang listened. Svenson thought a lot, so we heard those thoughts as he was speaking in his head. It was amazing how Dahlquist used speech as another defining part of characterization. The butlers and maids spoke lower class English, which of course was appropriate for their station. The dialogue in the book was simply another factor in an already amazing adventure that defined each character down to a T.

This book is like a runaway horse at full gallop. I started at the first word and BOOM! I was off - flying with the wind in my face, flying over the fields, never stopping, never slowing, just that rocking motion at high speed.

• Among Jagged Tears.
• The Botanical Magazine, Vol. 5 Or, Flower-Garden Displayed.
• Whiteout.

I did't stop until the very last word on the very last page, then the book was over. I put it down, clearly satisfied with the trip, and looking for the next volume, which is hopefully right next to me so that I can continue on my ride once again. After a cup of coffee and a snack maybe The transitions were smooth as a babies behind. No problem telling one narrator from another. No problem telling when I switched scenes. There is no sophomoric slump for Dahlquist at all.

This book was actually better than the first volume. I liked it more, and that is saying something. I thanked my lucky stars that this book did not end the way that volume 1 did - with a cliffhanger. This book had a satisfying ending. It wrapped up all the story lines and tied them up nicely, leaving our heroes, in a situation where there is a potential for all types of things to happen to them. I can't wait to read The Dark Volume, which is the next book in the series.

There was so much action at the end, you would think a zombie apocalypse is tame. It was definitely a Battle Royale. Dahlquist did it right this time - gave the reader a satisfying ending. I was so happy about that - no cliffhangers, no moment in time endings, just a satisfying resolution to the problems proposed by book two, and away we go with book three. I was happy about that, it made it so much easier to put the book down, and take a break for a few minutes from the series and do something else. I was satisfied that for the moment, that our three heroes were okay. I love this series, it is one of my favorites of all time, and I believe that it is one the top 10 best adventure series in Literature.

Dahlquist is a genius when it comes to action, adventure, plotting, wordsmithing, imagery, and characterization. If you like action and adventure novels, if you like steampunk, if you like Victorian historical fiction, if you like world domination conspiracy novels, if you like fantasy novels, if you like murder mystery novels, you will love this series. Get all three of them today. This novel scores 58 out of Almost a perfect a score. So, come along with me into a world where Blue Glass can become people, books, or anything else - can wipe your mind of thoughts, turn you into a Minion, or make you a Master of the World.

Please hurry, we won't wait for you long. We are taking over the World, after all Apr 29, Morgan rated it it was amazing. The same review for Vol. Dahlquist insists on action, relentlessly dealing it out like a meth addled blackjack croupier. This novel reeks of all the "mistakes" that a first book suffers from: I'm thankful for this naivete. Refined authors tend to cut, and smaller stories end up quieter, whereas this i The same review for Vol. Refined authors tend to cut, and smaller stories end up quieter, whereas this is a pipe bomb. This is big and unapologetic. It seems these days that most adventure stories are tucked away in Children's Lit, or buried deep in Fantasy schlock.

This hearkens back to everything that folks like Haggard, Burroughs, or Howard were shooting for. He undoubtedly leans heavily on genre tropes, as the story mystery wraps up neatly as a parlor room drama, down to your standard "Before I kill you, Mr. Bond" confessionals and the "Ah-ha, now I have the upper hand" reversal moments.

But it is all in good fun. In the book there is only one male character that is defined by his sexuality, so it stands out as evenly one-sided. Temple, while a great character is constantly put into awkward sexual situation to define her the way that the Doctor is constantly confronted with his fear of heights, ha. It would have been more just to spread the sexual encounters through all of the main characters for the sake of the read rather than fulfilling Dahlquist's little wet dream for his character.

Still though, this has been a tremendously fun read. The 5 stars rating is for how much I enjoyed it rather than how "good" it is. Apr 16, Ori Fienberg rated it did not like it Shelves: The title was so good that Dahlquist decided not to bother coming up with another one for Volume 2. Unfortunately, the title was once again the best part of this book. After Volume 1 made a late break for excitement and entertainment and built up anticipation about the glass books and the dream eaters I had high hopes that Volume 2 would continue that excitment and provide answers.

And it did provide some answers, ponderously, and then over and over again. Certainly there are moments of good writ The title was so good that Dahlquist decided not to bother coming up with another one for Volume 2. Certainly there are moments of good writing, but even moreso than the first I felt like Dahlquist could have left a large percentage on drafting table.

Because I'd finished the first book and wanted closure I slogged through this over-written, over-wrought mass of plot conveniences and predictable cliffhangers. But the worst didn't come till the final pages: At what point do you decide that you have better things to read, or do, or that the writing is just too awful? I hear there's possibility of 4th book, and I think that might be the breaking point. One more I could read fast, but I don't want to be hooked into a never-ending series that I don't enjoy. Feb 16, Kristina rated it really liked it Shelves: Occasionally as I was reading, I almost felt a little guilty for enjoying this book so much.

There was definitely some pretty kinky and bizarre stuff going on here be warned , but I found the whole thing completely entertaining. The first volume was a little tedious, with lots of setup, and many, many characters being introduced. I'm tempted to go back and read the first half again and make a chart, because the various relationships and loyalties of these characters does become very important Occasionally as I was reading, I almost felt a little guilty for enjoying this book so much.

I'm tempted to go back and read the first half again and make a chart, because the various relationships and loyalties of these characters does become very important at the end. But this second volume was just a great, pulpy adventure, and I really had a lot of fun tearing through it. Plenty of creepiness, major violence which I don't normally go for, but found myself cheering here , general mayhem, etc.

Certain lines really cracked me up e. Most importantly, I felt very invested in our tenacious heroes, particularly Miss Temple, who was just totally badass. Having the three finally get together again was a relief, as they are a good team. The overall story is probably too long and meandering, and as another reviewer pointed out, the characters do seem to "scoff" an awful lot. But that didn't really bother me too much.

It's not perfect, and I definitely would not recommend it to everyone, but I was really pleased with it. The first half was slow-going, but I felt rewarded by the fun of the second half.

See a Problem?

I see there is a sequel, which I will be eagerly picking up as soon as it's available. Jul 06, Woodge rated it really liked it Recommends it for: This book is the second half of the story begun in Volume One. Not sure why it was split into two volumes, together they are about odd pages of a story, on the large side, surely, but I devoured it fairly quickly. Like Volume One, Volume Two has many hair's-breadth escapes, confrontations, and other suspenseful stuff.

Sometimes they get a bit too descriptive, but this story holds your interest throughout. The characters both good and bad are wonderful creations. And our three protagonists pr This book is the second half of the story begun in Volume One. And our three protagonists prove themselves worthy adversaries for the numerous bad guys in the sinister cabal.

Series: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters

If the body count in Volume One is impressive, it's nothing compared to Volume Two. Our heroes and heroine are deadly! Guns, knives, sabres, glass shards -- and that's just a partial list of the weapons they employ. And the final denouement is an extremely cinematic and bloody smorgasbord of good versus evil. And there is one small hanging thread that leaves room for a sequel. I understand that the recently published book, The Dark Volume continues the adventures. This was a fantastic story in every sense. Oct 06, colleen the convivial curmudgeon rated it liked it Shelves: My thought on the second half are much the same as the first, though the second volume was a bit more intriguing.

The climax had moments of excitement, but also of silliness. I mean, what does it take to kill some people.

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume Two by Gordon Dahlquist

And then it just ends and it's like "that's it? Pages and pages of stuff, often too much stuff and the annoying perspective shifts setting us back in time - again - not to mention everyone stopping to philosophize in the midst of running for their lives, or trying to escape and My thought on the second half are much the same as the first, though the second volume was a bit more intriguing.

But I can't hate the book. The characters grew on me, even when they were annoyingly stupid, and there really is a good and unique kind of story hidden in there. Pity it's not several hundred pages shorter and tighter, though. Jan 20, Linda Isakson rated it liked it Shelves: More like a 3.

Volume two was marginally more interesting and engaging than volume one, but the story never actually ends with a discernable conclusion. The writing style is great, but the plot gets weighed down by excessive details in some scenes and not enough details in others. One of the most redeeming qualities of the story are the flawed protagonists and their misguided reasons for pursuing the destruction of the society.

Miss Temple, Cardinal Chang and Dr.

Svenson continue t More like a 3. Svenson continue their journey into uncovering the sadistic activities of a secret society that turns women into mindless robots and men into political pawns. People subjected to this conversion process have their memories drained into glass cards and eventually into a large glass book. After Miss Temple's abduction at the end of the first volume, Chang and Svenson split up to find her. They evenutally meet up at the Victorian masion where this story first begins and are able to, once again, elude their captors.

This time, another character, Eloise, joins the fray. Dec 19, Amanda rated it really liked it Shelves: I liked this volume a little less than the first because it took far too long to get through some portions of the action from the point of view of all three characters and was a trifle too maudlin by the end.

However, the reveals were still exciting and piecing together the mystery was good as well, even if some things were discovered a bit too easily though luckily nowhere as quickly as one might in a Dan Brown book. The style remained delightfully Victorianesque and engaging, and I really en I liked this volume a little less than the first because it took far too long to get through some portions of the action from the point of view of all three characters and was a trifle too maudlin by the end.

The style remained delightfully Victorianesque and engaging, and I really enjoyed the book as a whole. Jul 03, Kim rated it it was amazing Shelves: I LOVE this book. I cannot express how deep my love for it goes. It took over my mind for months. Alternate Victorian, steampunky, high adventure, sexy. May 29, Denise rated it really liked it.

This is a review of both Volume One and Two, since they are meant to be read together as a single novel, the first, in the trilogy. I, however, read them four years apart. I read Volume One in , and just finished Volume Two. I do not recommend this. There is also no summary online, or at least that I could find. Combined, this two part novel is more than twice the length I usually take on.

This is the first steampunk novel I have ever read. I am eager to read more of this genre. It is quite entertaining. Though before I continue with this series, I think I want to read something in this genre by a female author. Dahlquist writes beautifully complicated characters, including women, but I felt a bit put off by the fact that all the women are seen as, and, to a certain extent, behave seductively. Female characters are definitely objectified quite literally in the excessively long final chapter , whereas no male character is, although many are used.

This might not have been a detail I noticed in , but I certainly did in It could be an element of the Victorian time period, but it does go a bit too far at times, and becomes uncomfortable. Perhaps that's the intent? This novel, though wordy at times, was intriguing and engaging. Be warned, however, it is graphic in nature, both in terms of physical violence as well as sexual content. I am not a prude, but I probably blushed a few times. Most of the sexual content is either rape or molestation, and just as violent and graphically described as the combat and dismemberment content.

Like many concepts in the book world, "series" is a somewhat fluid and contested notion. A good rule of thumb is that series have a conventional name and are intentional creations , on the part of the author or publisher. For now, avoid forcing the issue with mere "lists" of works possessing an arbitrary shared characteristic, such as relating to a particular place.

Avoid series that cross authors, unless the authors were or became aware of the series identification eg. Also avoid publisher series, unless the publisher has a true monopoly over the "works" in question. So, the Dummies guides are a series of works. But the Loeb Classical Library is a series of editions, not of works. Home Groups Talk Zeitgeist. The 12 Days of LT scavenger hunt is going on. Can you solve the clues? I Agree This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and if not signed in for advertising.