Customer Reviews

Day by Night

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One is bathed in eternal sunlight, the other side in perpetual darkness. On the sun-baked side, we learn of princess Vel Thaidis, who is victimized by the conniving prince Ceerdres. On the planet's dark side, snobbish, melodramatic princess Vitra seemingly creates the story of Vel Thaidis via "fabulism", a television-like technology used to appease the lower classes. She is in love with the kind and charitable prince Casrus. The early chapters of this book play like a SF-obsessed romance novel and are rather weak, and the "parallel worlds" setup seems a bit gimmicky to start with. Stick with it, though, as when we learn the fates of Vel Thaidis and Casrus, the book improves immesurably. The latter half of the book is highly engrossing, and while the twist ending seems a little contrived, it is still a worthwhile read. Probably not recommended for a first taste of Tanith Lee, but if you have already read and enjoy her work, try this one.

I've read a whole lot of Tanith Lee, good and bad, and this one probably falls somewhere in the middle.

A planet divided into two worlds, light and dark. A series of characters typical of Lee's novels: the beautiful naive heroine fallen from grace, the sincere young man on a hero's journey, the mesmerizing black-hearted rogue, the conniving beauty taking advantage of others' misfortune, and, ultimately, those behind the scenes of this lovelorn drama.

Playing out within this setting are Lee's usual themes of sexual tension/erotica, sharp patrician dialogue, and vivid fantastical scenery which she writes so well. As is often the case with her novels, the plot sometimes takes a back seat to the world that Lee creates. However, in the end, this novel doesn't seem to hold up to its early promise. Wrapped up in a neat package, the last few chapter don't push as far as they might have and seem underdeveloped.

I'd recommend Day By Night only to the seasoned reader of Tanith Lee's work.

My experience with Tanith Lee's novels is rather hit and miss, and I'm afraid this one falls into the latter category. Only my love of some of her other works kept me reading until the end - to be ultimately disappointed.

This is actually two stories; in one the vapid Vitra is a Fabulast who lives on the dark side of the planet, and she is writing a story about the spoiled Vel Thaidis who lives on the light side of the planet. Or is it a story? After a crime is committed in each world, the stories strangely take on a life of their own - which is explained in the last chapter.

Definitely not Lee's best work, but you can see shadows of concepts explored more fully in other books, like the spoiled teens from Don't Bite the Sun (Starmont Hardcover Collection, No 1) and the evil (almost incestuous) twins of The Silver Metal Lover. She hints at the eroticism that is an integral part of her other works, but never delivers.

First off let me say I love love LOVE Tanith Lee's writing. She really gets beneath the character's skin and into their minds, and her descriptions are very real and often quite detailed. This book is no different and I really enjoyed it.

It is set on a planet which does not rotate, one side which is eternal day the other eternal night. The villainous Vitra Klovez is a Fabulast, royal story teller for the poor workers of the Subterior (basically a ghetto) whom she considers to be "worms". She tells a tale of the sun side of the planet, and for her own amusement uses people in her world as characters for her to toy within her imaginary one. Once character is Ceedres Thar who derives from prince Casrus Klarn in her world, she is in love with Casrus but he does not share the same feelings for her, for he sees past her beauty for what she really is: a pretty piece of tin. Therefore she makes Ceedres evil in her story, and her own replica of herself Vel Thaidis the heroine, but as you will find out it is really the other way around. Soon both the Fabulism and Vitra's world seem to be intersecting, and as is hinted you'll see that Vitra is not the one controlling the tale.

My favorite character in this story is Casrus Klarn, who's guilt for the pain and the suffering of the people of the Subterior, no matter how cruel they become, leads him to help them. To tell you the truth I'm unsure of how I feel about the ending, if I thought it was a cop out or not. However, this story kept me hooked through until the last page. A keeper for me.

Talk about playing with polarity! This was quite an inventive soap opera. Like the other reviewer who kindly furnished the synopsis for us, I was just a tad disappointed with the ending; it seemed just a little too conceptually lazy. But it was certainly fun!