The Eyes of Light and Darkness (Daw Book Collectors) [Paperback]

Ivan Cat (Author), Darren Sarvari (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996 | Series: Daw Book Collectors (Book 1032)

Scarred by a cryogenic sleep journey gone wrong, mining pilot Walker discovers a derelict sleeping-ship whose team has been asleep for more than one hundred years, and he is ordered to confront a terrifying alien force. Original.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: DAW (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886777267
• ISBN-13: 978-0886777265
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,039,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strangely engrossing, April 18, 2002

By 

"spaceace_" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of Light and Darkness (Daw Book Collectors) (Paperback)

In a technical sense, this is not a great book. The plot is not really anything new, the book is full of cliches and the dialog is sometimes extremely stilted. The characters often say things that seem utterly contrived, sentences put there just to fill space and the descriptive passages are sometimes less than stellar. At one point, the hero beheads a bad guy and we are treated to this thrilling description: "Pop. Splish." The love story is transparent and predictable, the action is pretty standard Bruce Willis/Ah-nold/Dolf stuff and the book has a thousand little flaws that make it seem amateurish at times.

Now, ready for the weird part? I couldn't put this book down.

I read this book last night in one sitting. The first thirty pages or so are slow, but after that I was hooked. The pace of the book is just right, with the plot development, action and love aspects meshing pretty well. While the story is not all that original, it is told well and with an enjoyable tempo. For every bad thing I mentioned above, there is something about the book to balance it out and, on the whole, the good outweighs the bad.

One of the major checks in the plus column for this book is the introduction of an extremely likeable character (Nis) from an extremely likeable race of aliens. The Fuzzies are sort of an intergalactic everyman. Intelligent, kind, friendly and eager but stopped short of their full potential by forces outside their control. They do their best from day to day but there is always that invisible something holding them back. This is definitely a group of creatures that a lot of us can identify with. I found myself liking and caring about Nis more than I have any book character in quite some time.

The evil aliens in this book are also quite impressive. Powerful, driven and remorseless. An intelligent, technologically-advanced race with only one thing on their mind: conquest. They share (a few too many) characteristics with the Borg of Star Trek fame, but they stand up well on their own merits.

One thing I would like to have seen is a lot more exploration of both alien races. They are introduced and set up very well. We learn enough to really become interested in their motivations and personalities but then they are sort of left out to dry. It's almost as if the author said, "OK, I have created interesting, provocative characters that people will care about but I don't feel like spending any more time on them." After the initial introductions, they become mere plot pieces. The Fuzzies are, however, fleshed out better than the Regnant.

OK, this is a lot more wordy than I intended to be. Let's just say that if you are looking for high literature, this isn't it. If you are looking for a well-paced action/thriller with some good characters, go ahead and read The Eyes of Light and Darkness.

SpaceAce

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read with some nice twists, January 7, 2005

By 

steve "spmok62" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of Light and Darkness (Daw Book Collectors) (Paperback)

Overall, kind of an Alien/Borg hybrid villian species against a gallant but tortured human hero and his loyal alien sidekick. I don't mean to make it sound too simple since it is very entertaining. There are some nice subplots about the potential logistical difficulties and high human cost of interstellar travel as well as the integration of humans and an alien species.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good first outing, April 24, 2002

By 

CJ Palmer (Bluffton, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of Light and Darkness (Daw Book Collectors) (Paperback)

I read this book without ever having heard of the author, but when I finished, I began hoping that Ivan Cat would write more. Okay, so the storyline is basic, but some of the concepts, such as the predatory aliens who can possess and control their victims even after several HUNDRED years was pretty scary! I rather enjoyed this one. It makes a good light read.