Darker and more desperate, but. . .?? - Rated 
This is the sequel to The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - a book destined to divide literary loyalties - and I am sure it was as 'eagerly anticipated' around the world as it was by me. I should say that I was just as apprehensive about this book as I was excited. I enjoyed volume one enormously, despite some pretty serious flaws, but how often does the follow-up disappoint? Far too frequently, in my experience, and as such I approached this title with excitement, tinged with some concern.
The cover isn't as pretty. It's pretty and enticing but not as startlingly beautiful as the original hardback edition was. For some reason, despite the old adage of not judging a book by its cover, this did disappoint me; it spoke of economising and corner-cutting which worried me a little.
It's considerably shorter than the original - not a spurious point at all - the apparent brevity is probably due to an editing process Glass Books could have benefited from. Indeed this book benefits from a much tighter plot with just enough extraneous detail to delight and develop character rather than distract as too often happened in Glass Books. Aside from a few (utterly necessary) sections designed to remind the reader of crucial events from book one the story is even faster-paced, darker and more desperate than the original - if that is possible!
The book manages to be even more epic in feel than Glass Books, too, partly because the heroes (as they often are in book two of trilogies) have gone their separate ways and are converging on their desperate denouement (I'll say no more).
The book takes place in an expanded world which adds to the sense of the epic. Unfortunately, it means that the city, which was one of the major 'characters' in book one, is virtually missing from the plot entirely. This means a lot of what made Glass Books feel a bit Dickensian is also missing. It's a shame but not a disaster. The environs still play a significant part in the plot and Dahlquist uses the environment in a way a little reminiscent of Hardy - although I felt a map would have helped keep track of where the characters were in relation to each other.
The episodical nature of Glass Books is not so apparent here - further distancing this book from that Dickensian feel - but that again is not a problem as each chapter leaves you wanting more - just as Glass Books did. Because The Dark Volume is tighter than Glass Books in terms of plot there isn't that sense of story unravelling in front of you. While it isn't AS gripping and there is a sense that the characters are moving towards something just a little contrived, it does seem a much more considered package.
Once again, there is plenty of Conan Doyle here, mixed with more than a little Neil Gaiman, as well as any one of the mock-period adventure stories that are so popular at the moment. But Dahlquist's secret is that, while he focuses on the fantastic, he makes excellent use of sporadic references to reality (various places around Europe are named for example). Somehow this makes the darkness even more disturbing.
There is a large cast in this book and I struggled a little to keep track of who was who and what they were working towards. It was difficult enough to keep track of the characters from book one (only the darker characters for some reason), and in particular their complex relationships, but the addition of a plethora of additional 'bad guys' with particularly complex loyalties threatened to detract from my enjoyment but ultimately didn't. Phew.
I am relieved to say that this book managed not to disappoint - despite my high expectations. Dahlquist and his publishers seem to have worked on a lot of the issues Glass Books 'suffered' from, mainly at the planning and editing stage. This makes the book appear safer; it takes fewer risks something which both adds and detracts from the book. It has resulted in a book which, while a thoroughly enjoyable and gripping read, just lacked that bit of magic Glass Books had in abundance; the magic that made Glass Books special. Oh well, it's still brilliant. Can't wait for book three.
|
