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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The secret of the blue glass, January 19, 2009
This review is from: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume One (Paperback)
A title like "Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" sounds a long-lost Flaming Lips song. At the best, a wonderfully weird title for a mediocre book.
But fortunately, it actually has something to do with Gordon Dahlquist's bizarre, intricate debut novel -- a steampunky Victorian fantasy that slowly takes its three protagonists into the heart of a deadly conspiracy. "The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume One" gets through the first half of the story -- but have the second half on hand before reading.
After being dumped by her fiancee Roger via letter, Miss Celestial Temple follows him through town to a masked party at a country estate. But the creepy party turns deadly when she witnesses drugged sexual demonstrations and a dying man with burns around his eyes. She barely manages to escape this bizarre cabal, unsure of what to do next.
Then she encounters two strange men -- "Cardinal Chang," an assassin hired to kill her until he discovered that the cabal was experimenting on the prostitute he loves, and Dr. Svenson, a nervous ducal doctor whose Prince has become ensnared in their brainwashing. They compare notes over the cabal, the Process that seems to transform them, Roger's sudden lordhood, snatches of conversation, ghastly machines and a series of shocking paintings.
Most importantly, Svenson reveals cards made out of blue glass -- which somehow have memories imprinted in them. The search for the cabal's goals and the secret of the blue glass leads all three onto parallel, intertwined paths. Chang sets out on a search for the red-clad woman and a scarred ex-prostitute, while Svenson's journey takes him into the heart of a religious cult centering on the books made of blue glass...
"The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" is one of those rare debut novels that rarely misses a beat. Its main flaw is that Dahlquist -- in sticking to the dignified, intricately detailed Victorian style -- gets a bit long-winded in some parts. But he does have a special knack for spinning up a believable sense of dread, without revealing too much of the haunting, bizarre mysteries.
And from the very first chapter (admittedly there are only a handful, and they're huge) Dahlquist wraps the whole book in steampunky technology, odd fantastical twists, and some guns'n'knives action from Chang. The story starts off slowly and sedately (much like Miss Temple's life) but begins twisting in on its own mysteries as soon as she gets into the masked party.
And while the extra-detailed descriptions slow the book down at times, he also has a knack for the horrific (people who die with glass in their veins) and with conjuring vivid images ("... half smothered in ivy whose leaves looked to Svenson, under the insidious moonlight, like the scales of a reptile's skin").
And while the three characters are totally dissimilar (an heiress, a doctor and an assassin), Dahlquist takes the time to flesh them out and show how their intertwined battles against the Cabal change them. The strong-willed, clever Miss Temple has to leave respectability behind with her compromised safety, the nervy Svenson has to deal with some nasty intrigues, and Chang (who is not actually Chinese) is more a steady, cool-headed guy-who-kills than an assassinating maniac.
It's worth noting that "Volume One" is merely the first half of the full-length novel, not the whole novel itself. It stops after the "Quarry" chapter on a major cliffhanger for poor Svenson, with virtually all of the questions unanswered and Miss Temple MIA for two vast chapters.
"The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters Volume One" draws you into a hazy, murky world of bizarre technology, malignant cults and unanswered mysteries, with more strange things yet to come.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Meets my criteria for a great read, May 25, 2009
This review is from: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume One (Paperback)
The only reason why this book doesn't get 5 stars is because it really is part one - as in cliffhanger - and you have to read the other book so this is not a stand-alone novel. Also, I don't know that this book is *epic* in scope as to need two books to tell the story. But, it met most of criteria for a really good book:
Transcends the genre - can't be easily categorized
Has character development *and* action
Has some struggle of good versus evil or protagonist who is on a heroic quest
Has outsider characters - not popular or in the mainstream
Sci-fi or supernatural element and the rationale just *works* in the context of the story
Totally engrossing/absorbing
Creates a world that I want to visit
A strong woman or women characters
(That said, I'm not going to say anything else as I wouldn't want to spoil the fun.)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Plot, Dialogue, and Characterization....Oh My!, October 21, 2009
This review is from: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Volume One (Paperback)
Gordon Dahlquist's first novel is a huge concoction of relentless plot, colloquial and intelligent dialog, and deep characterization that is at times superb in its ability to seem familiar and foreign on many levels. The story is about 3 very different characters: Miss Celeste Temple, Cardinal Chang, and Doctor Abelard Svenson who fatefully come together and form an alliance to foil a plot to enslave the masses by a huge conspiracy of powerful members of society.
The story explores and borrows themes and characterizations from many sources, inlcluding Sherlock Holmes stories, H.G. Wells books, A Brave New World, and the Wizard of Oz (thus the Title of this review:-). At times, the book almost reminds you of listening to an old time adventure story on the radio, where dialog and sound effects made the "visuals" of the story. If this seems like a motley stew for book influences, the story works because you care about the characters, and you care what happens to them. Set in a make believe land and time, that is meant to be reminiscent of Victorian England and a British Empire going sour, the dialog crackles with wit, insight, and descriptions. The descriptions outside of the dialog are detailed to the extreme, but add to the overall atmosphere of time and place that is familiar, yet alien in very creepy ways. In the 3 main characters, you simply cannot read this book without playing the game of deciding who would be the perfect actor or actress, as Dahlquist paints exquisite pictures of what they feel, and how they act and react to the mounting pressure to confront an evil conspiracy.
Miss Temple is drawn into the adventure as a woman scorned, her hurt feelings leading her to follow her fiance and his trail into the evil cabal. She is an innocent, a wealthy, imperious unmarried lady that combines steely nerves with a razor wit and a touching naivete. With Cardinal Chang and Doctor Svenson, you have 2 reluctant heroes that form a bond with Miss Temple and watch her grow to be every bit their equal and a leader in their quest. Doctor Svenson is an honorable man, at once decisive and paralyzed with doubt, and Cardinal Chang lives by a warrior code that hides sophistication and true human feelings driven deep by experiencing the worst of human nature.In Miss Celeste Temple and the leader of the Cabal, the Contessa Rosamond Lacquer-Sforza, you have two awesome female characters, full of intelligence, determination, and feminine charms and wiles used for good and evil. Indeed the story is laced with sex, dream explicit and innuendo. During their very first encounter in which the Contessa has snared Miss Temple and brought her to a room for an interrogation, the Contessa hisses..."Sit down or I will find something else for you to sit on.....repeatedly" The sexual tension works perfectly in this and numerous other scenes as a way to fully realize the characters and to understand the visceral and evocative loss of control from addiction, sexual or otherwise, and the dark powers of persuasion and subservience at the heart of the conspiracy centered around "the Glass Books".
I loved this book as a page turner that defied description and made me want to stay up all night and read what happens next. There are many incredibly well written sections, with bright use of language to evoke action and emotion. It is safe to say that you have not read a book like it. This is Book 1, so be prepared to want to get Book 2 right away. At 750+ pages, these 2 books and the one story is very long and a commitment to, at times, get through detailed slow passages. But you will be rewarded with an experience of immersing yourself in a book that evokes classic literature and movies with a contemporary story of how evil happens when we totally succumb to our own desires, and good men do nothing.
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