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The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters


Michelle

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The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters

GW Dahlquist

Delivered in ten installments.

http://www.glassbooks.co.uk

 

Yep, I have it early.. and all ten issues! I'm planning on leaving a gap between chapters, to get a feel of reading it in installments. So this will be an ongoing thread for a while.

 

First impressions?

Each installment is a 234mm x 150mm bound issue.. each one gets thicker, and darker in colour. It certainly looks unusal, attractive, and exciting, and something a little different for the book shelf.

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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.

 

Thus starts the first chapter of this unusual publication. The chapter revolves around Miss Temple, as she attempts to follow Roger. She makes a strange discovery, and ends up.. well, I won't spoil that for you!

 

This isn't a book to speed read or skim.. you need to get involved in the style, and follow the story. I confess to still being a little confused, but I'm hoping things will become clearer as we go on.

 

It's too early to make a decision as to whether I like or dislike this.. but I am at least intrigued to go on.

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  • 2 weeks later...

He was called Cardinal from his habit of wearing a red leather topcoat that he'd stolen from the costume rack of a travelling theatre.

 

Ok, I'll be honest.. during the first part of this chapter, I was almost ready to give up. You're switched to a brand new character, and for some time, it's hard to link him back to the previous chapter. There are lots of names cropping up, and without knowing who's a hero, and who's a villain, it's difficult to keep track.

 

Then suddenly everything starts to get really interesting again.. the strange experience that was witnessed in the first chapter now seems even more sinister (we certainly seem to be stepping into the world of SF now!), and the links between the characters are starting to become more apparent.

 

Maybe I'm finding this a little difficult because it's different to my usual reading.. it will be interesting to see what others think. Thankfully though, by the end of the chapter, the writer has done enough to keep me reading.

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Sounds interesting. I admire you for sticking through it as you have. It's true that we've "lost something" with much of todays writing -- but it comes along with our fast-paced, suped up special effects, disposable world. If it's not RIGHT HERE,RIGHT NOW and bigger than life, well, it's just not gonna hold some people's attention. I'm not saying I agree with that, but it certainly is in all of the guidelines I, as a writer, read from publishing houses/agents/editors out there buying.

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Doctor Abelard Svenson stood at an open window overlooking the small courtyard at the macklenburg diplomatic compound, gazing at the thickening fog and the few sickly gaseous lights of the city bright enough to penetrate its fell curtain.

 

Ah! The title of this 'book' is finally starting to make some sense! There's a feeling of fantasy in the writing, as the places aren't recognisable, and some of the names are unusual.. and a feeling of SF, as we find out more about strange experiments. All in all, it just seems a strange mixture.

 

To be honest, I'm not sure this is a good choice of book to be split into weekly supplements.. it feels like a book you need to immerse yourself in, rather than reading it in small chunks. (However, I have so many other books begging to be read, I keep finding myself side-tracked to them!)

 

We've now met the three main 'heroes' of this tale, so maybe it will all start to come together better now...?

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Now I am a bit confused... I went to the site that was posted, and I was just not even sure at that point if it had anything to do with the novel The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters or if it was completely different and on it's own... Though they're both my the same author, same description, and almost the same title..

hmm...

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My understanding is that it's alrady been released in the US as a book. Penguin got hold of it for the UK, and decided to release it in this way. (A book will follow in the new year here aswell.)

 

Personally, it seems to be a publicity idea. I'm sticking with mine for now, because it was sent to me to review.. but at this point I couldn't say whether it's worth 700 pages.. it really depends if it's 'your type of thing'.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Boniface: Naturally enough, Miss Temple's first reaction was one of annoyance.

Ministry: By the time Chang reached the end of the lane, the coach was out of sight and he could not tell in which direction it had vanished.

 

I stick by my earlier comment.. I don't think this book lends itself well to serialisation. Having gaps in between reading means that I'm forgetting details, and have to keep popping back to check information in earlier chapters.

 

Saying that, it has now caught my attention enough to keep reading. There is something about the style that I find different to my usual read. I would really love to hear how others are finding it.

 

I've been reading some reactions on blogs, and it's not very favourable. I'm torn.. I love the idea, and they do look really good.. but I feel that the wrong book has been chosen. I remember buying King's The Green Mile in a serialised form, and that worked much better.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sigh.. I know I promised to review these, but I just can't drag myself any further. The style is making it a difficult read for me, and the storyline, which was intriguing, is starting to lose me. It's jumping between the main characters, something that I often dislike.. by the time one becomes interesting, they disappear for a few chapters, and the interest is lost.

 

I'm still waiting to find out if anyone else agrees, or if I'm missing something?

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I'm avoiding Amazon's full book reviews like the plague in case of spoilers. I'm only on second chapter and although it took me a while, I'm quite enjoying the writing style.

 

But you're right about character swap. I did feel a bit flummoxed when I began the second chapter and had to get to grips with new characters all over again. I'm hoping it will all join to form an amazing finale, so will keep going wth it. Heard on another forum that it's offered on podcast as well, so maybe that's a better option?

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  • 1 year later...

This is such a shame. I have this giant tome sitting by my bed waiting for me to start it, but I've not really heard any good things about it. I bought it because it looked arcane and interesting. Perhaps this is a good example of why books shouldn't be judged by their covers (though it worked for "The Book of Lost Things.")

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