Product Description

With old loyalties tested by new and unlikely alliances, Miss Temple, Doctor Svenson, and Cardinal Chang must call on every reserve of courage to face a new and desperate struggle – after all, the integrity of their very minds is at risk. From palace intrigue and a city in turmoil to wolf-haunted mountains, underground tunnels and a suspicious hidden factory, they must overcome war and heartache to battle old enemies and a host of new villains, all hoping to seize for themselves the power of the blue glass books. Now one glass book in particular drives them all, its deadly contents the key to controlling the secrets of the blue glass, or destroying it forever. Praise for The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters: ‘A page-turner, a rollicking ride. As stupendous as it is stupefying’ Giles Foden, Guardian 'Fantastic . . . I was in seventh heaven . . . Somewhere between Dickens, Sherlock Holmes and Rider Haggard' Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9406 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
Characters return for a second outing of faux Victoriana, rip-roaring adventures and gorgeous-looking design. The stories are undeniably moreish . . . curl up with this under a rug (The London Paper )

About the Author
When G. W. Dahlquist fell asleep during a snowstorm, his first book The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters came to him in a dream. This is his second novel.

Customer Reviews

So what about the old queen, Mr Dahlquist?
I definitely remember that when reading 'The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters' the last 300 pages or so taxed my patience to its very limits; and thus it is very odd that when I saw its sequel, 'The Dark Volume', stacked up in a local booskhop, I at once grabbed a copy: obviously the dark, oppressive atmosphere poisoning an imaginary 19th century kingdom had to some extent captivated my imagination.

`The Dark Volume' takes up the thread where its predecessoer left it, and, all in all, it is 500 pages more of the same: endlessly convoluted cabals revolving around a kind of blue glass with evil propensities. And though the characters constantly chase, flee, hunt, pursue, waylay, entrap each other etc. etc., quite early on a sort of stasis sets in, as those people might keep milling around in their small doomed universe virtually forever, forever on the move, forever scheming, at least nominally with some place of destination, but ultimately going nowhere at all. To be sure, there is some sort of linear plot development and we are treated to climactical showdown reuniting the protagonists, but these perfunctorily handled structural devices did not shape my reading experience very much.

As the book breaks off quite abruptly and the very last sentence announces that someone is planning revenge, several hundred pages more rife with intricate plotting seem to be in the offing; and as I keep wondering if the 'old queen' that has been fleetingly mentioned several times will ever step centre stage, I might well succumb to the lures of the next instalment of this haphazardly sprawling saga.

Darkly disappointing
The first (Glass Books of the Dream Eaters) was splendid, involving, inventive and most of all original (in concept at least), and this overcame it's many deficiencies.

This volume was just annoying.

It is just more of the same, without the originality!

The three heroes immediately get split up (as in the first book) and then we get overly long sections about each in turn, meaning that you have forgotten what last happened to them by the time you get back to them.

Half the villains that we thought dead or dealt with from the first book reappear as if by magic.

The heroine, inexplicably, spends half of the book carrying around a glass book which is so dangerous that it must never be used. Why not just smash it - but that would, of course, be the end of the book.

Then in the dénouement, like a bad action film, all the protagonists stand about waiting to take turns to attack each other rather than just getting on with it - in my head I was shouting, "what are you waiting for!".

I struggled to finish the book at all and was at least looking forward to a conclusion but was horrified to find just a huge cliff hanger - ready for the next book (which I will not be buying). It should be noted that there is no reference to this being a trilogy (or more).

Another reviewer said "only buy this book if you LOVED the `Glass Eaters'".

I'd say, if you LOVED the 'Glass Eaters' then don't sour the experience by reading this.

Great characters
As the title suggests, this book contains the fascinating and deep characters from the first volume. The other best part of the `Glass Eaters' was intricate plotting which was complex rather than confusing. Sadly, this trait descends into plot anarchy in the `Dark Volume'. After waiting patiently for my copy of the book, I was unable to properly finish it due to an almost comical number of twists and turns the story took. I admire the author and his clear talent, but feel that he needed an editor to sit him down and force a little (or a lot) of pruning.

To those who are considering a purchase, only buy this book if you LOVED the `Glass Eaters' and are determined to find out what happened to the intrepid trio. Otherwise, leave it well alone.