“Prador Moon” – N. Asher

The Polity Collective stretches from Earth Central into the deepest reaches of the universe. But when humans finally encounter alien life in the form of massive, hostile, crablike carnivores known as the Prador, there can be only one outcome – total warfare. But for Jebel Krong and Moria Salem, trapped at the centre of the action, this war is far more than a mere clash of cultures. This war is personal.

This is a review of “Prador Moon”, the second book in Neal Asher’s Polity Universe series – although it was the first when I bought it. It is also aproximately the sixth book written, published in 2006.

The book that was first written and published in this universe, is “Gridlinked” (2001).

It was definitely an interesting universe, and more explanation about it would have been nice. Not necessarily an in-depth lecture, but defintiely needed more information to further flesh it out becauset he hints were interesting. And the fact that AIs were mostly in control but not trying to take over and enslave humanity, was a nice touch.

I liked the characters Jebel Krang, Moria Salem, the robot Uranus, and the AI calling itself George. They had potential that could have been developed a lot more even in such a short book. It would have all made a much bigger impression if they had.

Unfortunately that is all the good I could find.

The book struggled with info-dumps. Though one expects such in a sci-fi world that needs to explain things, there were just far too many of them, being used as tell-rather-than-show. It slowed the story horribly. It was also bogged down with numbers. It was an obvious way to emphasise the technology and sci-fi, and also a way to illustrate how much death the evil Prador caused. But it was mostly meaningless, and everything could have been shown in different and better ways.

The big evil aliens are essentially crabs. Crabs that are here to enslave and eat humans, and also are very much enslaving and eating each other too in order to keep the hierarchy among them. It was a bit too ridiculous, the sheer amount of time devoted to explaining them and their evil. And though it would have been nice to have something driving the Prador, it is still rather ‘human’ of them to just do it because they can.

It made me think that the rest of the series would be the fight against the Prador. But then I checked Goodreads, and apparently they only show up in the next two books. And a book published later but set before this one – “Weaponized” (2022) – apparently has other aliens than the Prador. I haven’t read the book, but if this is true, then it further ruins this book and the Prador themselves. Takes away their oomph and impact.

There was also a horribly sudden time-skip between two chapters, and it wasn’t clearly marked. And each chapter had more than one point of view, so it skipped from one character to the other to a third and maybe even a fourth. Couple it with the info-dumping, and soon you lost all interest in the story, got confused about what the timeline was, and stopped caring about even the characters you had started liking. It got so bad that I started skimming through the book well before page 100 out of 222 pages.

This is a book that seems written in a way that sets up the next two books – which is fine. But it also seems to rely on you actually having read those books first.

Confusing, stereotypical, and thoroughly killing its own potential, this book is not something I would recommend.

I will not be continuing with this series.

 

“Rogue Protocol” – M. Wells

This is a reivew of “Rogue Protocol“, the third book in the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.

You can find a review of book one here, and of book two here.

The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah’s SecUnit is. Murderbot would rather that those questions went away for good, so it decides to do something about it.

Like the previous two stories, the story takes place in a confined setting and with a small crew of characters. The setting for this book wasn’t really expanded upon, but it was fascinating nonetheless. A station floating within a large, incredibly active storm cloud covering a lot of the surface – if not all of it – neatly cuts off all communication with the surrounding world. No one ever got down to the planet surface or even saw it.

It has become obvious that this jaunt away from Dr. Mensah is exactly what Murderbot needs. Like any human whose situation suddenly changes from captivity of any sort to freedom, it needed to find itself. It needed to experience things for itself, learn, change and become more equal to Dr. Mensah than it was from the start.

And this time it has learned about friendships. It is no longer a theoretical concept for Murderbot, but a more visceral thing. Miki, though annoying, did nothing but help and even took the final step. Don Abene valued Miki enough to not only try to order it to safety, but also had Miki’s controls set to total free will. MIki wasn’t a pet like Murderbot had assumed at first. It was true friendship between human and robot.

No wonder that it left Murderbot confused and disturbed at the end. The fact that Murderbot also has to suddenly act like a normal SecUnit once again, makes it realise just how much it hates that.

Now, over to the bad. There isn’t much, but there are a couple of things.

One thing that is starting to become noticable is the lack of competent, good, strong male characters. So far all the characters who have truly done anything in the story or been more than just secondary characters, have been female. Which is completely fine, competent women are cool. But it does kinda get monotonous when every single competent, proactive person is a woman.

I did find a grammar mistake in both the previous books, but that could have been because of the style of writing from first person. This, however was a real spelling mistake that ought to have been caught and corrected.

Other than that, this is an excellent book and episode in Murderbot’s life, and I am eager to read the fourth book.

Read this book! Seriously, just read it!

 

“Exit Strategy” – M. Wells

This is a review of “Exit Strategy“, the fourth book in Martha Wells’s series The Murderbot Diaries.

You can find the reviews of the other books here as book one, book two, and book three.

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right? Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murberbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah submit eviidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit. But who is going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue? And what will become of it when it’s caught?

The story is coming back full circle with this book. Not only is the security company that owned Murderbot now in the firing line, they also have to protect the people that they were once trying to datamine. But Murderbot also returns to Dr. Mensah and they finish the fight against GrayCris. Murderbot’s actions in book two and three also come back as consequences in this book.

The fact that Murderbot isn’t the best fighter-bot out there was further explored in this book, introducing yet another combat bot. A bot that is far better than not only Murderbot, but also better than the combat bots that Murderbot encountered in the third book.

Ending the book with Murderbot still not certain about what it wants to do but that it now has all the options, is perfect. Freedom is a big thing and it isn’t easy to decide, and that came across very well. Murderbot is also more human than ever in this book. This is an ending, but also a new beginning completely free of any tie to the security company and the entire GrayCris dabacle.

For once I have nothing bad to say about a book, so I will end with this:

READ THE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES!

 

“Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie” – H. Akizakura

This is a review of the book “Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie” by Hiroro Akizakura. It is the first book in the series.

After being reincarnated as the villainess of her favorite dating sim, Cecilia Sylvie realises she’s slated for an untimely demise no matter how the game’s story unfolds. Convinced she can cheat death by assuming a new identity, she becomes Cecil Admina, the dashing son of a baron. Unfortunately, Cecilia adapts to the role a little too well – and ends up replacing her brother as one of the knights who protects the heroine! TO top it all off, the prince betrothed to Cecilia is now catching feelings for her alter ego…?! This villainess will do whatever it takes to achieve a carefree life, but if her guise ever slips, it’s Game Over!

The world isn’t very special, just the regular fantasy world with magic. Everything is happening in a school for the country’s noble children, a normal school by all accounts. The surroundings aren’t very well explored or described, but there is no need to bog the story down with details. It is a quick read, and the lack of descriptions helps to keep the pace going.

The characters are recognisable as the usual personalities one would find in a manga/anime, but they don’t rely solely on those definitions to give them personalities. They are familiar enough to easily understand their role in the story, but they are different enough that they are interesting to read, and you can’t quite predict them as much as you think you can.

Cecilia herself is the main character, obviously, and she is interesting to read about. She is determined to avoid her game-counterpart’s fate, and so takes steps to do that. It was good to read about a main character who not only cross-dresses but also learns to fight from a guard, and takes action against the enemies. It is only a shame that most of that is undermined by her becoming surprisingly useless when the events of the original game start happening.

The biggest point of the story is the way Cecilia keeps comparing things to how things were and progressed in the game compared to what actually happens in the book. Things spiral completely off track as soon as the canon event are supposed to start happening, leading to a whole host of amusing situations.

The ending was an unexpected twist but it certainly explained a lot. Excellently done by the author!

There are very few bad things about this story. One of them being Cecilia turning rather useless during the important bits, becoming the stereotypical damsel in distress even if she plays a guy.

The other thing that is a bit of an annoyance is that Cecilia still keeps on thinking of the people around her as characters in a game. She has lived in that world for 17-ish years, she has already changed how her adopted brother was treated and so changed his personality, and events happen differently and people act differently. And still she keeps expecting everything to go exactly as in the game?

That just doesn’t seem logical.

But, on the other hand, her inability to see the canon characters as real people also makes it more amusing, so it’s not the biggest peeve.

This is a quick, fun romp of a start to Cecilia’s cross-dressing adventures. The story manags to avoid the usual pitfalls and doesn’t drag things out, so it’s a quick and simple read.

Definitely worth the short time it took to read.

 

“Half a King” – J. Abercrombie

This is a review of the book “Half a King” which is the first book in the Shattered Sea-series by Joe Abercrombie.

Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain his throne. First he must survive cruelty, chains and the bitter wastes of the Shattered Sea, and he must do it all with only one good hand. Born a weakling in the eyes of the world, Yarvi cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge. But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi’s path may end as it began – in twists, and traps, and the death of a king…

This story has excellent writing. Joe Abercrombie knows exactly how to spin a good tale, and it was a pleasant surprise. The world was alive, the places well described without waxing poetic, and there was little to no focus on romance. Considering the slavery and the situation the characters ended up in, this was a relief.

The characters themselves were very well written, and they were fascinating. That not all bad people are actually bad and not all good people are actually good, was excellently portrayed. The politics almost reminded me of the cutthroat kind found in A Song of Ice and Fire by George Martin!

That Yarvi has a mostly-useless hand was never forgotten, and he never became an epic warrior. His history with his family was harsh and believable, and his companions on the journey were never boring or carbon cutouts.

Sumael wasn’t just there to be the token female, she was an integral part in keeping them alive and on the right course. Rulf and Ankran and Jaud grew as characters throughout the story. And, of course, Nothing and his madness and story. That was a delightful surprise!

There are a few bad things about the book, though.

The biggest problem was that the middle of the book dragged. Though it was good writing and interesting enough, it still dragged enough to bog the book down.

Other than that there were a few instances of situations that didn’t quitee make me worry for the characters and how on earth they would survive them. You knew they would. Shadikshirram was a bit of a let-down, too. I had wanted more from her considering her potential.

In the end, the middle of the story made me feel like I would never want to read the second book. Too boring, and also the second book has a new main character. But the twist and surprise at the end has convinced me to keep an open mind.

I am not as disappointed as I feared that I would be.

So, all in all, a very good book and a good story. Worth the read in the end.

 

“Throne of Glass” – S. J. Maas

This is a review of “Throne of Glass“, the first book in Sarah J. Maas’s series of the same name.

In the horrible mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best there is, but she got caught. Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament. Winning means serving as the King’s Champion for the next four years. Losing means death. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny.

It is easy to understand why this book series is so very popular.

The world that the author has created is very interesting. It is developed enough, and the lore is good. It is obvious that Maas is very fond of fae (all her books so far have something to do with them), but at least she keeps it subtle enough for this series. It is also interesting that she chose India as inspiration for Nehemia’s land.

The King is an incredibly interesting character despite being there for only a few pages altogether. The fact that he and Perrington were collaborating was a pleasant surprise, and it was incentive enough to read further. Prince Dorian being unable to truly stand up to his father was realistic, and his character arc far more subtle. Another good character was Chaol Westfall. He was logical, he acted like the adult he was, and he didn’t let his feelings rule him. Princess Nehemia, as a strong, useful character, also needed more screentime.

As an assassin it is good to see Celaena keep imagining ways to kill the people she meets. Having only known that sort of lifestyle, it is something that should be ingrained in her by now. And it is wonderful that Celaena isn’t in perfect health after a year in a horrible prison. It takes her months to get back to herself, and even longer before her period returns very painfully. Adding small details like those s why this is a well written story.

I hate to say it, though, but there are actually a lot of bad things about this book. Things that kind of built up until the cup ran over and I, as a reader, tipped over into annoyance.

Celaena is a rather shallow character. She is snarky and sassy in the wrong moments without any regard for her position or life. She is bratty when her needling people doesn’t bear fruit, like a spoiled five-year-old. She demands people trust her and give her information, but doesn’t do so in return. She focuses so much on outer appearances, other people’s and her own. At one point she declares she won’t be shamed by her own dirty appearance, in the next minute she hates it because it covers her beauty. One of the men she has to fight during the competition is pock-marked, and she complains that she got the ugly one.

Like a proper Mary-Sue character Celaena is good at everything she does. She reads, she plays the pianoforte, she can act the lady well enough to not draw attention to herself, she can use every single type of weapon and she is the most famous assassin in the lands. When did she have the time to learn and do all this when she is barely 18 years old?

She is also the only woman in the entire competition. The big fight between Cain and Celaena was ridiculous. Not only was there a serious deus ex machina moment when Queen Elena came from the afterlife to help Celaena, but once the poison was magically out of her blood, Celaena beat Cain in three seconds flat. The entire thing with Queen Elena was given an explanation later, but by then the story was ruined.

The only thing Celaena isn’t good at is hand-eye coordination when shooting pool – which is just beyond ridiculous of a world class assassin. Even Prince Dorian – when he stepped up behind her to teach her how to do it – admitted to it being “the oldest and most shameless trick in the book.”

Everyone is so young compared to what they are supposed to have managed. A Captain of the Guard who is barely in his twenties, but has an excellent reputation. It is not quite as stupid as the fact that Chaol has never killed someone, nor seen anyone die. And another thing: why on earth did Chaol and Dorian come to Celaena to apologise to her and show her how horrified they were by the butchering of the 500 rebels when they were Nehemia’s people? If Celaena and Nehemia had been together when Chaol and Dorian appeared, sure, but this just doesn’t make sense.

The book could have easily dropped all the sections and chapters from Dorian’s and Chaol’s point of view. They were useless in the story except to show their feelings for Celaena. There are far too many potential romantic partners for Celaena, it almost felt like a bad otome game.

The romance could have been removed altogether. It felt forced and awkward and just dragged the story out far too much. It was painful to read and I started skipping those bits because I knew they were unimportant. No new information would come during them. The quality of the writing also dropped into tell rather thans how during these scenes and chapters, which just makes it worse.

Instead of the romance, the book needed more focus on the mystery and the action and the magic. One never really feels the horror or the terror or the danger because all of that takes a backseat. When the big revelations came they felt unimportant and minor because the focus of the story wasn’t on them. The monster murdering the competitors was far too easy to dispatch compared to the buildup.

The excellence of the first half of the book was ruined by the second half, and especially the last 100 pages.

All in all this is a quick read, and if one ignores all the silly romance attempts it is even a solid story. I already have book two ordered, but now I’m mostly reading it for the King, Duke Perrington, and Chaol.

It’s not a bad story, not really, and I don’t regret reading it. So read it if you think you can handle the YA-ness.

 

“The Carrow Haunt” – D. Coates

This is a reivew of “The Carrow Haunt” by Darcy Coates.

Remy is a tour guide for the notoriously haunted Carrow House. When she is asked to host seven people at the house for a week-long investigation into the supernatural phenomena, she eagerly takes the job. At first all goes well, but when a terrible storm rolls in and cuts off their contact with the outside world, things start to go scarily wrong. Doors opening and slamming shut, cameras being tampered with, floors giving away under them, and walls starting to blled. By the time one of them is found dead, it is far too late to escape and they will have to contend with the master of Carrow House himself.

The setting was perfect for a story about a haunted house. A mansion out on a small peninsula, the only road to it going over a bridge without railing. The winter season setting in along with winter storms that last far too long, that are far too powerful. The waves crashing all the way up to the windows of the mansion, and washing across the bridge, making it impossible to cross.

The characters are well defined, and easy to differentiate. The female characters especially are strong. Even Lucille is a strong character despite her moaning and bitching. April was spoiled and a bit silly, but not annoying. Remy was the defacto leader because of her knowlege, which was logical. Marjorie has a very strong personality that is fitting of a woman her age and experience.

Out of the men, Bernard was the most interesting because he didn’t say as much. His actions spoke more, and that was well written. Mike had a good reason for why he set the entire thing up, but his reason for asking Remy to lead the group was a bit weak. Piers was a bright ball of sunshine that was needed in this setting. Taj was perhaps the least interesting of them all for a very long time, but he got his moment of glory when he saved them all.

The house’s story and the story of Edgar Porter was well thought out and obviously carefully planned. Porter was a properly frightening ghost to have as an enemy, and his victims were the cause of quite a few jump scares.

Unfortunately, while not obvious at first look, there are some bad parts to this book.

Remy was a bit confusing. She knew all the details about the supernatural, but apparently had little to no power herself. It is one thing to read about things, but another to be quite this knowledgeable. Marjorie’s personality had big changes occasionally, too willing to verbally attack other people. It didn’t quite fit.

There wasn’t actually a lot of scary things in the book. There were a few creepy jump scares when the ghosts appeared, but generally speaking the ghosts didn’t do much. They came, they saw, they maybe moved a door, then they disappeared again. The ghosts were almost benign.

The ending of the book in general seemed more like the average action movie rather than the horrifying end to a horror story. Mixing in a possible living/mortal enemy and an ancient cult trying to take advantage of spiritual energy almost made it a caricature. Every time a supernatural horror story has to bring in even a hint of a mortal killer, it proves that the story isn’t strong enough.

Then came the revelation that the people who had died so far weren’t, in fact, dead but merely frozen into a coma. Edgar Porter had his moment to monologue like a true Hollywood villain. It was all finished with the idea how to defeat the ghost of Edgar Porter and Carrow House being a simple fire fanned on by the ghosts of the victims. Something that was obviously the solution early on in the story.

I also found a couple of spelling mistakes and name mixups. That coupled with everything, just eradicated any and all supernatural creepiness that had remained by this point.

All in all, it was an okay book, but in the end I was left with a feeling of nothing.

Read it if you like horror stories, but it won’t leave any lasting impression.

 

“Artificial Condition” – M. Wells

This is a review of “Artificial Condition“, the second book in Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries series.

The review of the first book can be found here.

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself Murderbot. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a research transport named ART, Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

The universe of this world is further expanded. Not only with new places that are fascinatingly depicted despite the minimal attention paid to it. But there is also more information on things from the first book, and even Murderbot realising that the company it worked for wasn’t the be-all, end-all.

Our heroic Murderbot is learning what it means to be human, and all the choices, faults, and consequences that come with it. It is frightening and it would be so much easier to slip back into the antipathy of Murderbot’s previous existence. Murderbot learning to be human might not be deeply detailed, but it gives enough detail to make the journey amazing. This is obviously more important than the mystery of its past.

The humans that Murderbot ends up meeting during this story, were there too short to really make any real impact. But they did give a deeper look into the incredibly varied ways humans have evolved in the future where the story takes place. And they, once again, help Murderbot learn more about being human.

ART the research vessel used for cargo hauling, was a wonderful addition to the story. Snarky and smart, it is like the bot version of a genius professor. It was also a good choice to make it sentient as it was – even if it was verey convenient for Murderbot to end up with the one ship who could help it as much as it did. And although it didn’t do much or feature much in the story, the same could be said for the ComfortUnit/sexbot.

It makes Murderbot more realistic when it isn’t the only bot in existance capable of controlling itself without going rogue.

There is only one thing that is slightly negative about this book, and it might just be a pet peeve rather than anything serious.

The mystery of what happened during the Murderbot’s past, the bit that had been deleted from their memory, was a bit of a disappointment. It was refreshing that there was no great evil plot from anyone, just a simple attempt at sabotage that went wrong. But with how much buildup there was in the previous book and this one, it was a bit of a disappointment. It didn’t quite deliver on the promise of the book’s summary.

I definitely recommend this book and the previous one, and I am already looking forward to reading the third one.

 

“Tower Lord” – A. Ryan

This is a reivew of “Tower Lord”, the second book in Anthony Ryan’s Raven’s Shadow trilogy.

Vaelin Al Sorna, the greatest warrior of his day, and witness to the greatest defeat of his nation: King Janus’s vision drowned in the blood of brave men fighting for a cause Vaelin alone knows was a lie. Now, after years in a foreign prison, he comes home, determined to kill no more. Named Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches by King Janus’s heir, he hopes to find peace in a colder land far from the intrigues of a troubled Realm. But those gifted with the blood-song are never destined to live a quiet life.

The Faith has been sundered; the new King is weak, but his sister is strong. The blood-song is powerful, rich in warning and guidance, but is only a fraction of the power available to others who understand more of its mysteries. Something moves against the Realm, something ancient and powerful, something that commands mighty forces. Vaelin will find that even the most reluctant hand must eventually draw a sword again.

The world is explored further in this story, giving more information on all the things that might have just been briefly mentioned in the first book. The world grows even more vast, with old places revisited and new continents added. Peoples old and new make an appearance, and it makes for a rich world.

It is wonderful how the author brings back characters previously mentioned or met in the first book. The author is excellent at describing humanity, and how humans react to each other. The people you expect to have grudges, do carry them but don’t let it interfere with their survival. The people you expect to step up in a crisis, do not. And the one’s you don’t expect to, do. It is truly impressive how Ryan writes humanity.

Vaelin’s actions make a lot of sense in this story, and he is more tempered and calmer than he was in the first book. Wiser and older, he is willing to listen to advice, and has an open mind to other beliefs and ways of doing things. The way he develops a relationship with his sister is sweet, and his slow fall for and developing relationship with Dahrena is believable and not overwhelming to the story. It isn’t the focus, not like his previous dalliance with Sherin in the first book.

Frentis’s story arc was almost painful to read at the start. He was under the complete control of an enemy agent, forced to do literally everything she demanded – from killing to fucking her. Although her apparent love for him was a bit odd, it was excellently written, and the way Frentis finally got away from her control wasn’t rushed at all.

Reva’s character arc is incredibly well-written. She starts as a naïve if trigger-happy girl, her world purely black and white, good and bad. And throughout the story she goes from that, to a grown young woman who understands the shades of gray of reality. Her learning to come to grips with her attraction to women despite her religion, is excellently depicted. In the end, Reva turns out to be a strong, powerful female leader of men, and it is obvious how she actually got there.

The little further hint we had of the Seventh Order was tantalising. Finding that their Aspect was actually one of the men we know very well from the first book, was a touch of genius. Nordah’s return is perfect, and the developing and changing view of the Lohrak and those with supernatural powers is excellently written.

But there are a few drawbacks.

Suddenly following four characters instead of just the one. I had a big problem with this because after the first book this wasn’t expected at all. It certainly made the story more rich and showed more detail to the world, but it was a bit of a shock.

It was a bit odd that Vaelin didn’t know how to read and write. Yes, he was young when he was given to the Brotherhood as a child, but he was the child of some sort of noble so one would think that he had at least started his education. And if not that, then it seems remiss of the Brotherhood to not teach their Brothers to read and write in case letters and messages need to be sent.

Apart from being burned, Lyrna doesn’t really experience anything special. Not the way other women do. She just suffers a bit of exhaustion and hunger, but isn’t raped or truly hurt. Certainly, not every female can get raped or beaten or run through with a sword or whatever, but as it stands, Lyrna doesn’t actually have a good character arc in this story. She is more likable than in the first book, but other than learning how to throw a knife she doesn’t actually do much. The Shield of the Meldenean Isles also agrees to come out of his hermitage for her far too easily. Perhaps this and all her plotting will bear fruit in the third book.

It is also a bit of a let-down that this book only sets up the third book, and it is obvious. It is an incredibly long book, and though there are battles aplenty and action and adventure, there is only one big truly decisive battle at the very end. This books is mostly to get three of the four characters to one place, while the fourth ends up in a perfect position somewhere else.

If it hadn’t been for the utterly excellent writing, then this story would have been far too long.

I definitely recommend this book!

 

“Vampire Hunter D: The Stuff of Dreams” – H. Kikuchi

This is a review of “The Stuff of Dreams” which is the fifth book in the Vampire Hunter D series by Hideyuki Kikuchi.

Here you can find a review of book one, book two, book three and book four.

In a world where even the smallest, the most remote of villages cannot avoid being terrorized by monsters, there is a hamlet. Prosperous and peaceful, humanity and Nobles have coexisted here for years. This is also where a young woman called Sybille has slept, neither waking nor aging, for thirty years since she first received the vampire’s kiss. D is lured to this tranquil place by recurring dreams of the undying girl. But not everyonoe welcomes D’s presence, fearing he will disturb the delicate balance of the town, and they will stop at nothing to protect that balance. What, exactly, is Sybille’s dream?

There is a lot of improvement in this story!

For once there are no women harmed or raped during the entire length of the story, and it was a wonderful change compared to the past four books. There was no sudden changes in people’s personalities, and though there were stereotypical characters galore, the stereotypes were a bit more muted than in the other books so far.

Humanity in general was very nicely shown in this story. They were always longing for something – the Sheriff for his lost love, Ai-Ling for the Sheriff, Sybille for her life, and it goes on. This is an improvement on the author’s part, so hopefully he will keep it up in the future books.

Some of my favourite characters so far in the series, show up in this book. Sheriff Krutz and Maggie the Almighty were excellent. And even the details of what sort of beasts are for food and just how dangerous they can be, added to the depth of the world. I had been wondering about it for a while now, so it was nice to know.

The fact that it was a dream within a dream within a dream, was really cool to read about. Especially that the dream-world had become sentient and wanted to protect itself. And though the mystery was a bit slow in building, it turned out to be better than expected when it finally reached the end.

Unfortunately there are some bad things.

D figuring out the mystery of the village and how it was connected to Sybill, was weak. Even weaker than normal. True, the story was a bit shorter than the others, and so had less time to use for build-up. But it still could have used a few more hints for us readers, because as it is it just seemed a bit too abrupt.

Which is a bit of a theme in this particular story. More hints could have been really useful about Sybille’s skeleton in the real world at the end, something that could have obviously identified her. Like a necklace she always wore in both dream world and real world. Just a tiny little detail that would have made the story a lot better.

It would also have been nice to get to know a bit more information about the truth of Nan being Sybille. One little scene where apparently they are dressed alike is not enough. Nan in general was also a very annoying and useless character. She was an overly emotional teenage girl, and extremely stereotypical for girly-girl mangas, crying and tearing up all over the place. She could have been a bit more useful.

The same with Sheriff Krutz actually being under the dream world’s control and the archer in black. Definitely needed more information about that, too. And what was this thing about Ai-Ling and old Mrs. Sheldon suddenly knowing the truth of the world? Dr. Allen being able to figure it out I can understand, and maybe even Mrs. Sheldon since she is so old. But how did Ai-Ling learn it all? And how can people from inside the dream contact people in the real world? That is something we never understand.

Despite some glaring things that should have been answered or a bit more elaborated upon, this is a surprisingly good story in the end.

It was a totally okay read, short and quick.

Read if you want.