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The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters: A Novel

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The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters: A Novel Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

Seething with danger, terror and romance, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is a mammoth work of the imagination, a deliriously readable, heartstoppingly suspenseful, and darkly erotic masterpiece of storytelling.

Review:

"Debut novelist Dahlquist aims for a blockbuster with a mishmash of Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre and Eyes Wide Shut that never quite comes together. Three months after 25-year-old Celeste Temple travels from 'her island' (a Bermuda-like place) plantation home to Victorian London, fianc Roger Bascombe breaks their engagement. Driven more by curiosity than desire, she follows him from his job at the foreign ministry to Harschmort House, where, with little prodding, she quickly finds herself in silk undergarments at a ritual involving masked guests and two-way mirrors. Making her escape, Miss Temple (as she's called throughout) kills a henchman. Ceremony organizers pursue her as she pursues their secrets. Poetry-quoting assassin Cardinal Chang and diplomat Dr. Abelard Svenson come to her aid. Chang tries to save a half-Chinese prostitute; Abelard tries to save a governess named Elise; Miss Temple discovers she is not the woman she thought she was, nor Roger the man she hoped for. Meanwhile, through science and alchemy, evildoers capture erotic memories and personal will in blue crystals. Dahlquist introduces so many characters, props and plot twists, near-death experiences and narrow escapes that the novel has the feel of a frantic R-rated classic comic book — if comics were arch." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Oh, this guy is goooood! This is the most original thing I've read in years: deftly executed, relentlessly inventive, and with a trio of the most unusual and engaging heroes who ever took on a sinister cabal out to rule the world by means of sex and dreams." Diana Gabaldon, bestselling author of Outlander

Review:

"[A] plump English tea cake of a book: messy, studded with treats, too big and too rich to finish in just one sitting....[T]he voluptuous, unbridled excess, spilling from every page (all 760 of them), leaves you less satisfied than overstuffed. (Grade: B)" Entertainment Weekly

Review:

"Dahlquist...has written a tale that combines swashbuckling adventure, a big dose of science fiction and burgeoning romance. But beware of carpal tunnel syndrome because of the demands of so much page turning." USA Today

Review:

"A bloated, wildly fanciful Edgar Allan Poe-esque tale....The plot travels perilously tortuous paths....Way, way over the top." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"About 500 of its 760 pages should certainly have been thrown out....[O]ne of those supposedly imaginative works that don't reflect much more inspiration than a late-night session spent flicking through the movie channels." The Wall Street Journal

Review:

"Dahlquist is having a good time here, and that feeling is transposed to the reader....[A]n ambitious and challenging work that makes demands but more than amply rewards the persistent and patient reader." BookReporter.com

Review:

"[O]ne marvelous confection of a book....Dahlquist takes the reader beyond entertaining to intriguing, intelligent, and downright page-turning." Philadelphia Inquirer

Review:

"A wordy brick that's epic in length if not in scale. Ponderously ornate...it's a kinky, atmospheric look at Victorian England that all too often moves like a sullen coach through one of the author's many, many London fogs." Kevin Allman, The Washington Post Book World

Review:

"[A] throwback that should have been thrown back....[O]ne of those supposedly imaginative works that don't reflect much more inspiration than a late-night session spent flicking through the movie channels." Wall Street Journal

Review:

"Ultimately, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters has a clever conceit with a foundation of literature as fantasy, though it has its excesses and derivations." Kansas City Star

Synopsis:

With translation rights sold in twenty-five countries, Gordon Dahlquists spectacular and extraordinary debut novel was one of the most-talked-about acquisitions of 2005. Now this monumental Victorian thriller is destined to be the publishing sensation of 2006.

It began with a simple note: a letter of rejection from Miss Temples fiancé, written on crisp Ministry paper and delivered on her maids silver tray. But for Miss Temple, Roger Bascombes cruel rejection will ignite a harrowing quest for answers, plunging her into a mystery as dizzying as a hall of mirrorsand a remote estate where danger abounds and all inhibitions are stripped bare.…Thus begins Gordon Dahlquists debut novel of Victorian suspenseat once a dazzling feast for the senses and a beguiling, erotic literary adventure.

Nothing could have prepared Miss Temple for where her pursuit of Roger Bascombe would take heror for the shocking things she would find behind the closed doors of forbidding Harschmort Manor: men and women in provocative disguise, acts of licentiousness and violence, heroism and awakening. But she will also find two allies: Cardinal Chang, a brutal assassin with the heart of a poet, and a royal doctor named Svenson, at once fumbling and heroicboth of whom, like her, lost someone at Harschmort Manor. As the unlikely trio search for answershurtling them from elegant brothels to gaslit alleyways to shocking moments of self-discovery-- they are confronted by puzzles within puzzles. And the closer they get to the truth, the more their lives are in danger. For the conspiracy they facean astonishing alchemy of science, perverted religion, and lust for poweris so terrifying as to be beyond belief.

In a novel that shatters conventions and seethes with danger and eroticism, Gordon Dahlquist has made a spectacular literary debut. And in Miss Temple he has created an unforgettable guide through a disturbing, seductive, and all-too-real world. By turns brutal and tender, shocking and deliciously romantic, The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters is a novel for the ages, a bold and brilliant work of the imagination

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About the Author

Gordon Dahlquist is a native of the Pacific Northwest, where he worked for several years writing and directing plays. Since 1988 he has lived in New York. He has been a member of New Dramatists, is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect, and a founding member of the CiNE. His works include Messalina (Evidence Room, Los Angeles: SPF, New York), text for Babylon Is Everywhere: A Court Masque (CiNE, Schaeberle Theatre; Theatre Magazine), Delirium Palace (Evidence Room, Los Angeles; published in Breaking Ground), The Secret Machine (Twilight Theatre Company at Solo Rep), Vortex du Plaisir (Ice Factory '99 Festival at the Ohio Theatre, WKCR'S Manhattan Theatre of the Air), Island of Dogs (4th Street Theatre), Severity's Mistress (Soho Rep Theatre, New York University; winner of Primary stages' Bug & Bub award), Mission Byzantium! (American Globe Theatre, NYTW's Just Add Water Festival), and Reticence (Horace Mann Theatre).

He has written and directed several experimental films that have been selected for the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, and the Northwest Film and Video Film Festival. He is a graduate of Reed College and Columbia University's School of the Arts. He has received two Garland Playwriting Awards, for Messalina and Delirium Palace.

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is his first novel.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 5 comments:
Michael Cockerham, December 6, 2010 (view all comments by Michael Cockerham)
This book does go on and on, but it is worth it. Dahlquist has original ideas and writes in a very vivid style that keeps you interested. Large chapters dedicated to different protagonists keep you invested in each character's adventures. After I finished this novel I immediately picked up the next book in the series and continued with the adventure.
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John F., January 1, 2010 (view all comments by John F.)
Dahlquist's Glass Books of the Dream Eaters hit me with a sense of wonder that I hadn't found in popular fiction for many years. This artfully written book races along like a Republic Serial on steampunk steroids! Dahlquist is a terrific writer...creating vivid, believable characters, solid plotting, and colorful scenery. This is a novel you just can't put down. It made me think of the grand adventure novels I read as a kid...using a flashlight in bed after my parents told me "lights out". It's like Jules Verne with sex...having lots to say about the nature of Virtual Reality. Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is simply the best novel I've read in the last decade!
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audreyrockstar, January 20, 2007 (view all comments by audreyrockstar)
Clever, enthralling Prussian steampunk, woven together with amazing descriptions and death-defying plot leaps a la the infamous Penny Dreadfuls. I loved this book, and kept sneaking away from everything to go read more. Be warned: once you start the 700+ pages, you'll have a hard time stopping, so make sure you've got some free time.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780385340359
Publisher:
Bantam
Subject:
Social life and customs
Author:
Gordon Dahlquist
Author:
Gordon Dahlquist
Subject:
Action & Adventure
Subject:
Thrillers
Subject:
England
Subject:
Suspense
Subject:
Physicians
Subject:
Rejection (Psychology)
Subject:
Suspense fiction
Subject:
Adventure fiction
Subject:
General Fiction
Copyright:
2006
Publication Date:
August 1, 2006
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
768
Dimensions:
9.44x6.94x1.82 in. 2.40 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Adventure
Fiction and Poetry » Popular Fiction » Suspense

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters: A Novel
0 stars - 0 reviews
$ In Stock
Product details 768 pages Bantam Books - English 9780385340359 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Debut novelist Dahlquist aims for a blockbuster with a mishmash of Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre and Eyes Wide Shut that never quite comes together. Three months after 25-year-old Celeste Temple travels from 'her island' (a Bermuda-like place) plantation home to Victorian London, fianc Roger Bascombe breaks their engagement. Driven more by curiosity than desire, she follows him from his job at the foreign ministry to Harschmort House, where, with little prodding, she quickly finds herself in silk undergarments at a ritual involving masked guests and two-way mirrors. Making her escape, Miss Temple (as she's called throughout) kills a henchman. Ceremony organizers pursue her as she pursues their secrets. Poetry-quoting assassin Cardinal Chang and diplomat Dr. Abelard Svenson come to her aid. Chang tries to save a half-Chinese prostitute; Abelard tries to save a governess named Elise; Miss Temple discovers she is not the woman she thought she was, nor Roger the man she hoped for. Meanwhile, through science and alchemy, evildoers capture erotic memories and personal will in blue crystals. Dahlquist introduces so many characters, props and plot twists, near-death experiences and narrow escapes that the novel has the feel of a frantic R-rated classic comic book — if comics were arch." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review" by , "Oh, this guy is goooood! This is the most original thing I've read in years: deftly executed, relentlessly inventive, and with a trio of the most unusual and engaging heroes who ever took on a sinister cabal out to rule the world by means of sex and dreams."
"Review" by , "[A] plump English tea cake of a book: messy, studded with treats, too big and too rich to finish in just one sitting....[T]he voluptuous, unbridled excess, spilling from every page (all 760 of them), leaves you less satisfied than overstuffed. (Grade: B)"
"Review" by , "Dahlquist...has written a tale that combines swashbuckling adventure, a big dose of science fiction and burgeoning romance. But beware of carpal tunnel syndrome because of the demands of so much page turning."
"Review" by , "A bloated, wildly fanciful Edgar Allan Poe-esque tale....The plot travels perilously tortuous paths....Way, way over the top."
"Review" by , "About 500 of its 760 pages should certainly have been thrown out....[O]ne of those supposedly imaginative works that don't reflect much more inspiration than a late-night session spent flicking through the movie channels."
"Review" by , "Dahlquist is having a good time here, and that feeling is transposed to the reader....[A]n ambitious and challenging work that makes demands but more than amply rewards the persistent and patient reader."
"Review" by , "[O]ne marvelous confection of a book....Dahlquist takes the reader beyond entertaining to intriguing, intelligent, and downright page-turning."
"Review" by , "A wordy brick that's epic in length if not in scale. Ponderously ornate...it's a kinky, atmospheric look at Victorian England that all too often moves like a sullen coach through one of the author's many, many London fogs."
"Review" by , "[A] throwback that should have been thrown back....[O]ne of those supposedly imaginative works that don't reflect much more inspiration than a late-night session spent flicking through the movie channels."
"Review" by , "Ultimately, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters has a clever conceit with a foundation of literature as fantasy, though it has its excesses and derivations."
"Synopsis" by , With translation rights sold in twenty-five countries, Gordon Dahlquists spectacular and extraordinary debut novel was one of the most-talked-about acquisitions of 2005. Now this monumental Victorian thriller is destined to be the publishing sensation of 2006.

It began with a simple note: a letter of rejection from Miss Temples fiancé, written on crisp Ministry paper and delivered on her maids silver tray. But for Miss Temple, Roger Bascombes cruel rejection will ignite a harrowing quest for answers, plunging her into a mystery as dizzying as a hall of mirrorsand a remote estate where danger abounds and all inhibitions are stripped bare.…Thus begins Gordon Dahlquists debut novel of Victorian suspenseat once a dazzling feast for the senses and a beguiling, erotic literary adventure.

Nothing could have prepared Miss Temple for where her pursuit of Roger Bascombe would take heror for the shocking things she would find behind the closed doors of forbidding Harschmort Manor: men and women in provocative disguise, acts of licentiousness and violence, heroism and awakening. But she will also find two allies: Cardinal Chang, a brutal assassin with the heart of a poet, and a royal doctor named Svenson, at once fumbling and heroicboth of whom, like her, lost someone at Harschmort Manor. As the unlikely trio search for answershurtling them from elegant brothels to gaslit alleyways to shocking moments of self-discovery-- they are confronted by puzzles within puzzles. And the closer they get to the truth, the more their lives are in danger. For the conspiracy they facean astonishing alchemy of science, perverted religion, and lust for poweris so terrifying as to be beyond belief.

In a novel that shatters conventions and seethes with danger and eroticism, Gordon Dahlquist has made a spectacular literary debut. And in Miss Temple he has created an unforgettable guide through a disturbing, seductive, and all-too-real world. By turns brutal and tender, shocking and deliciously romantic, The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters is a novel for the ages, a bold and brilliant work of the imagination
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