In Review

09 January 2009 12:22 BST

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist

Published by Penguin, out January 25th 2007 (out in September via online subscription), hardback, 768 pages, price to be confirmed.

In a nutshell…

Fantastically dark and gothic fiction

What's it all about?

Set in a fictitious Victorian city not unlike London, it all begins with a letter to one of the heroes in our book, Celeste Temple who is turned down by her fiancé Roger Bascombe. He very harshly ends their engagement and asks her to never ever contact him again. Celeste simply cannot understand why this has happened and sets upon a quest to find out the truth. During her journey she discovers a secret much bigger than what she might have ever imagined and meets Cardinal Chang, who in modern day language might be described as pay as you go killer and Dr. Svenson, whose sole existence seems to be based around acting as a most responsible guardian to a most unfortunate weakling of a prince. Together they search to discover the truth and carry a fantastically dark plot getting closer to the figures pulling the strings.

Who is it by?

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is Gordon Dahlquist’s first novel. Apparently the idea came to him during a dream, when he was trapped during a snow storm.

As a native of the Pacific Northwest, Dahlquist moved to New York in 1988 and has since worked mainly on writing and directing plays, such as Messalina and Delirium Palace for which he also received two Garland Playwriting Awards. He has also written and directed several experimental films, which have been selected for the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Northwest Film and Video Festival.

As an example…

“You know me, Madame, . . . as you know my Prince.”
“Perhaps I do.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“I know where he might be.”
“Will you tell me?”
“Perhaps. Do you care for him?”
“Such is my duty.”
She smiled. “Doctor, I’m afraid I require you to be honest.”
Svenson swallowed. Aspiche had his eyes shut, breathing heavily. Miss
Poole had two of her fingers in Lorenz’s mouth.
“He’s an embarrassment,” he said rapidly. “I would pay money to
thrash him raw.”
Madame Lacquer-Sforza beamed. “Much better.”

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

As a novel The Glass Books of the Dreameaters has elements that would translate very well into the motion world, and Dahlquist has tried his hand at several experimental films. The book in it’s full gothic, dark as well as erotic allegories is reminiscent of a Harry Potter for grown ups, tingling, fascinating, exciting and impossible to put down.

Enough stuff for Matrix style on screen fights including dark street city chases, beautiful females wearing not much, weird instrumentation and Frankenstein like workshops - likelihood in the days of the Da Vinci Code: likely.

What the others say

"Debut novelist Dahlquist aims for a blockbuster with a mishmash of Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre and Eyes Wide Shut that never quite comes together." - Publishers Weekly


"The first 64 pages of Gordon Dahlquist's first novel are the first 64 pages of a big book. The remaining 696 pages of The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters are the remaining 696 pages of a very long one…Sadly, in the end, Glass Books turns out to be exactly what we only slowly began to fear it might turn out to be: a vast Perils of Pauline." – Sci Fi Weekly

So is it any good?

Yes, it is. Initially, it is difficult getting past the image of a little naïve girl being turned down by a bad guy via the Victorian equivalent to what would nowadays be a text message. But once past the Sherlock Holmes-style purchase of a dark overcoat and after overlooking the girl being a desperate cliché it gets interesting.

Wonderful dark and fascinating pictures are described, interesting and detailed characters are formed and often the tension build-up becomes totally unbearable.

The way the book was released via ten online instalments and the intelligently placed web PR with a beautiful yet simple website including character related online games, only makes it is easier to get hooked on.

7/10

Anna Kainberger