Dark Books - Page 8

Daughter of the Forest (The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Book 1)

Juliet Marillier

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 259 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Some twists and turns that keep you wondering 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was a little reluctant about this book, but it turned out to be pretty good. Some corny stuff in it, overall though not bad.
Follows the story of a young girl, with six brothers, and what happens to her life when her widowed father takes on a new mysterious wife. And what she must do in order to get her family back, and how she deals with falling in love with a guy from the wrong side of the tracks (or the ocean).

Editorial Review:

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.

When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all...

The Twilight Watch (Watch, Book 3)

Sergei Lukyanenko

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Night Watch and Day Watch, the first two books in this remarkable series, established Sergei Lukyanenko as a breathtakingly bold talent. Part fantasy, part vampire story, and part detective potboiler, this is the most successful science fiction series of all time in Russia and a true international sensation. In America, Fox Searchlight released the film adaptation of Night Watch to rapturous reviews, and adaptations of the next two books are in production.

The world of Lukyanenko is as elaborate and imaginative as Tolkien or the best Asimov: Living among us are the "Others," an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. A thousand-year treaty has maintained the balance of power, and the two sides coexist in an uneasy truce.

In Dusk Watch, the Others face their greatest threat yet. A renegade Other, his identity as yet unknown, has absconded with a fabled spell-book of untold power and appears bent on attacking the entire earth. Now forces of the Light and the Dark -- the Night Watch and the Day Watch -- must cooperate to stop him. Anton, the hero from Night Watch, is back, but when the culprit turns out to be none other than his partner, the race against time becomes more urgent than ever. In a world where reality and magic commingle, and where different degrees of existence are layered one atop the other, nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Cast in Shadow (The Chronicles of Elantra, Book 1)

Michelle Sagara

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great first book to this series! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book and once it arrived it sat on my shelf for several months. I couldn't get beyond the cover, which didn't give me a lot of confidence in the book.
However, when I finally pulled it off the shelf and started reading, I was sucked right in to the story.
Loved the characters, the variety of them, the depth, and their struggle with light and dark within themselves and each other.
Thought the relationship (if you can call it that) that Kaylin has with Lord Nightshade was awesome..the hint of sensuality..
Very impressed with the depth of the story and the journey it takes you on...never quite knowing what's around the corner (or who).
Left me wanting more.

Editorial Review:

Seven years ago Kaylin fled the crime-riddles streets of Nightshade, knowing that something was after her. Children were being murdered -- and all had the same odd markings that mysteriously appeared on her own skin . . .

Since then, she's learned to read, she's learned to fight and she's become one of the vaunted Hawks who patrol and police the City of Elantra. Alongside the winged Aerians and the immortal Barrani, she's made a place for herself, far from the mean streets of her birth.

But children are once again dying, and a dark and familiar pattern is emerging. Kaylin is ordered back into Nightshade with a partner she knows she can't trust, a Dragon lord for a companion and a device to contain her powers -- powers that no other human has. Her task is simple -- find the killer, stop the murders . . . and survive the attentions of those who claim to be her allies!

Stolen (Women of the Otherworld, Book 2)

Kelley Armstrong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 83 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

favorite in the "Elena" trilogy 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

"Stolen" was by far my favorite of the three novels by Kelley Armstrong featuring Elena the werewolf. In "Bitten" I didn't much care for Clay or her relationship with him, but in "Stolen" something clicked and I completely fell in love with the characters.
Kudos on the cover art as well.

Editorial Review:

It was in Bitten, Kelley Armstrong’s debut novel, that thirty-year-old Elena Michaels came to terms with her feral appetites and claimed the proud identity of a beautiful, successful woman—and the only living female werewolf.

In Stolen, on a mission for her own elite pack, she is lured into the net of ruthless Internet billionaire Tyrone Winsloe, who has funded a bogus scientific investigation of the “other races” and their supernatural powers. Kidnapped and studied in his underground lab deep in the Maine woods, these paranormals—witches, vampires, shamans, werewolves—are then released and hunted to the death in a real-world video game. But when Winsloe captures Elena, he finally meets his match.

Tangled Webs (Black Jewels, Book 6)

Anne Bishop

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Enjoyed, not sure why the negative reviews 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I am a very vocal (wanted to say rabid) fan of Bishop's "The Dark Jewel Trilogy". In fact, it has been one of my favorite SF fantasy series and I highly recommend it to anyone who I think would not object to the strong subject matter. Dark Jewels was a well drawn and character driven story with substance and subjects that made you think. I would agree that Tangled Webs is not on the same level as the Dark Jewel Trilogy, BUT I still enjoyed it. Did it have the depth of character, the pace or substance of the original series? NO. Did it delve into more detail of the world of Kahleer? NO. I've even read complaints that Janelle and Daemon only made brief appearances...no duh! This book's main characters were Surreal, Ranier, Lucivar, the wacko and Janelle and Daemon as minor supporting characters, but they were scattered throughout the book, almost from the beginning. I do think Surreal didn't seem quite as kick-a$$ as in the trilogy book and for that I was slightly disappointed, but to even have some of my favorite characters back on the pages put a smile on my face and made me long for even more of these characters. My only regret on reading this book, is that I didn't re-read the Dark Jewel trilogy to reacquaint myself with the events. On second thought, maybe that was a good thing because then my expectations and disappointment may have matched some of the readers.

I would definitely recommend this book with the caveat that it does not have the depth and character of the original Dark Jewel Trilogy. I would also recommend reading the Trilogy before reading this book. I appeciate Ms. Bishop for bringing back, however briefly, some of my favorite characters. This was an entertaining read.

Editorial Review:

The invitation is signed "Jaenelle Angelline," and it summons her family to an entertainment she had specially prepared. Surreal SaDiablo, former courtesan and assassin, arrives first. But when she enters the house, Surreal finds herself trapped in a living nightmare created by the tangled webs of Black Widow witches...and if she uses Craft to defend herself, she risks being sealed in the house forever.

But Jaenelle did not send the invitation. And now Jaenelle and her family must rescue Surreal and the others inside without becoming trapped themselves-and then discover who has created such a place, and why...

The Talisman

Stephen King, Peter Straub

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 350 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

When you're just a young boy, carrying the burden of saving your mother both in this world, and another...you are the only hope 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Simply a brilliant book.. I've re-read this book over five times..and love it each and every time..always in tears at the end..
The story follows a young boy all alone, through two worlds, across the country in order to save his dying mother...all while his 'uncle' tries to stop him from reaching his destination by killing him..
You get sucked into the boy's journey, and feel for him...for his loneliness for his despair..when it looks like there's no hope left..he always picks himself up and takes another step down his path..because if he doesn't, his mother will die, and there will be no one else to save her.
It's currently being developed into a mini-series by Spielberg, supposedly to air on TNT in 2009. I hope they do the story justice.

Editorial Review:

On a brisk autumn day, a thirteen-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America–and into another realm.

One of the most influential and heralded works of fantasy ever written, The Talisman is an extraordinary novel of loyalty, awakening, terror, and mystery. Jack Sawyer, on a desperate quest to save his mother’s life, must search for a prize across an epic landscape of innocents and monsters, of incredible dangers and even more incredible truths. The prize is essential, but the journey means even more. Let the quest
begin. . . .

The Conquering Sword of Conan (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 3)

Robert E. Howard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“FOR HEADLONG, NONSTOP ADVENTURE AND FOR VIVID, EVEN FLORID, SCENERY, NO ONE EVEN COMES CLOSE TO HOWARD.”
–Harry Turtledove

In a meteoric career that covered only a dozen years, Robert E. Howard defined the sword-and-sorcery genre. In doing so, he brought to life the archetypal adventurer known to millions around the world as Conan the barbarian.

Witness, then, Howard at his finest, and Conan at his most savage, in the latest volume featuring the collected works of Robert E. Howard, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Greg Manchess. Prepared directly from the earliest known versions–often Howard’s own manuscripts–are such sword-and-sorcery classics as “The Servants of Bit-Yakin” (formerly published as “Jewels of Gwahlur”), “Beyond the Black River,” “The Black Stranger,” “Man-Eaters of Zamboula” (formerly published as “Shadows in Zamboula”), and, perhaps his most famous adventure of all, “Red Nails.”

The Conquering Sword of Conan includes never-before-published outlines, notes, and story drafts, plus a new introduction, personal correspondence, and the revealing essay “Hyborian Genesis”–which chronicles the history of the creation of the Conan series. Truly, this is heroic fantasy at its finest.

Lucinda, Darkly: The Demon Princess Chronicles

Sunny

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

a classic quest novel, with a twist and spiced up 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Lucinda has spent centuries doing nothing more than feed off of the Monére and play escort returning demons to the underworld. She's grown tired of her life until everything changes in one moment. When she meets Stefan, a rogue Monere warrior who is acting as guardian to a young mixed breed Jonnie, something grabs her long dead heart and she can't leave them behind.

Lucinda's cadre of companions grows when she returns, then claims, another rogue Monére, Nico, and in so doing finds young Talon, a Floradëur (Flower of darkness) who was stolen from the underworld as a child. As Lucinda and her companions vow to return Talon to his home and find the demon responsible for stealing him, she finds herself bound to her men in such a way that separation would mean their death.

Lucinda, Darkly is strongly tied to the Monére, Children of the Moon series yet still stands apart as a unique story in its own right. Reading the Monére series may help a reader become more invested in this story, but new visitors to the worlds Sunny has created will also enjoy this novel.

Meeting Lucinda in previous novellas in the Monére, Children of the Moon series made me want to learn more about her. So I was curious enough to pick up Lucinda, Darkly and read her story. While I think the Monére series is a bit more original and better written, I did enjoy this book. Lucinda is a study in contrasts, a demon with a heart and longing for a new life that even being the daughter of the High Lord of Hell can't give her.

Lucinda, Darkly is a classic quest novel, with a twist and spiced up with lots of hot sex. And is it ever hot! The passion between the characters made me blush on more than one occasion. Lucinda is a demon who actually has some human qualities, as evidenced in her attachments to the men and boys under her protection. I thought Lucinda spent a little too much time bemoaning her fate and trying to convince herself she must remain alone, but I found her to be a very likeable protagonist. I could not help but become emotionally involved in her story.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.

Editorial Review:

For centuries, Lucinda has endured her agonizing reality. As daughter of the High Lord of Hell,she rules over nothing, retrieving the occasional wayward demon and feeding off of the savage Monre-of whom she was a member before she died.

Then she encounters the Monre warrior Stefan, who offers himself to her. She is moved beyond measure by her desire for him-and soon finds herself drawn back into the heady eroticism of the Monre. There, she must carve out a home between the jealousy of the dead and the violence of the living, if she is to keep her newfound love-and life...

Kushiel's Justice (Kushiel's Legacy)

Jacqueline Carey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 51 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, while his adoptive parents, Phèdre and Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in beauty, art, and desire.

After a year abroad to study at university, Imriel returns from his adventures a little older and somewhat wiser. But perhaps not wise enough. What was once a mere spark of interest between himself and his cousin Sidonie now ignites into a white-hot blaze. But from commoner to peer, the whole realm would recoil from any alliance between Sidonie, heir to the throne, and Imriel, who bears the stigma of his mother's misdeeds and betrayals. Praying that their passion will peak and fade, Imriel and Sidonie embark on an intense, secret affair.

Blessed Elua founded Terre d'Ange and bestowed one simple precept to guide his people, love as thou wilt. When duty calls, Imriel honors his role as a member of the royal family by leaving to marry a lovely, if merely sweet, Alban princess. By choosing duty over love, Imriel and Sidonie may have unwittingly trespassed against Elua's law. But when dark powers in Alba, who fear an invasion by Terre d'Ange, seek to use the lovers' passion to bind Imriel, the gods themselves take notice.

Before the end, Kushiel's justice will be felt in heaven and on earth.

The Day Watch (Watch, Book 2)

Sergei Lukyanenko

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The second book in the internationally bestselling fantasy series, Day Watch begins where Night Watch left off, set in a modern-day Moscow where the 1,000-year-old treaty between Light and Dark maintains its uneasy balance through careful vigilance from the Others. The forces of darkness keep an eye during the day, the Day Watch, while the agents of Light monitor the nighttime. Very senior Others called the Inquisitors are the impartial judges insisting on the essential compact. When a very potent artifact is stolen from them, the consequences are dire and drastic for all sides. Day Watch introduces the perspective of the Dark Ones, as it is told in part by a young witch who bolsters her evil power by leeching fear from children’s nightmares as a counselor at a girls’ summer camp. When she falls in love with a handsome young Light One, the balance is threatened and a death must be avenged.

Day Watch is replete with the thrilling action and intricate plotting of the first tale, fuelled by cunning, cruelty, violence, and magic. It is a fast paced, darkly humorous, haunting world that will take root in the shadows of your mind and live there forever.