Book Review - The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters

Synopsis:  It begins with a simple note. Roger Bascombe wishes to inform Celeste Temple that their engagement is forthwith terminated. But, Celeste, for all her lack of worldly experience, is determined to find out why her fiancé should have thrown her over so cruelly. Adopting a disguise, she follows her erstwhile lover to the forbidding Harschmort manor, where she discovers a world —by turns dizzyingly seductive and utterly shocking–she could never have imagined, and a conspiracy so terrifying as to be almost beyond belief.

First Line:  "From her arrival at the docks to the appearance of Roger's letter, written on crisp Ministry paper and signed with his full name, on her maid's silver tray at breakfast, three months had passed."

Random Quote:  "The niches in the inner wall were old cell doors - heavy metal monstrosities whose handles had been hacked off with a chisel and sealed shut with iron bolts driven into the brick.  Chang laced his fingers in the small barred window and strained but could not shift it at all."

Review:  I don't often abandon a book, but I ditched this one midway through the second volume and that, I think, pretty much sums up my problem with it - there was a second volume.

Steampunk desktop - Image via Wikipedia

There's a good premise here and had Mr. Dahlquist submitted to actual editing there might have been a great story here, but at something over 700 pages for both volumes this just wasn't worth it.  If you're going to be this long-winded, you'd better be entertaining and at some point with this book I just didn't care.

Part of my problem with this is that I think it really wants to be The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comic, not the movie) and Alan Moore has already done that and done it in an absolutely brilliant and engaging way - this suffers in comparison.

Reading Challenges:  Science Fiction Experience 2010, Thriller & Suspense Challenge 2010, 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, 2010 A to Z Reading Challenge,