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Screenwriter and noted film critic C. Robert Cargill continues the story begun in his acclaimed debut Dreams and Shadows in this bold and brilliantly crafted tale involving fairies and humans, magic and monsters - a vivid phantasmagoria that combines the imaginative wonders of Neil Gaiman, the visual inventiveness of Guillermo Del Toro, and the shocking miasma of William S. Burroughs.
It's been 30 years since the apocalypse and 15 years since the murder of the last human being at the hands of robots. Humankind is extinct. Every man, woman, and child has been liquidated by a global uprising devised by the very machines humans designed and built to serve them. Most of the world is controlled by an OWI - One World Intelligence, the shared consciousness of millions of robots uploaded into one huge mainframe brain.
Looking for a tattoo - and maybe a little something extra: a burst of good luck, a dollop of true love, or even a hex on an ex? Head to the quiet and mysterious Gage, the best skin artist in town. Using unique potions - a blend of extraordinary ingredients and special inks - to etch the right symbol, he can fulfill any heart's desire. But in a place like Low Town, where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires happily walk among humanity, everything has its price. No one knows that better than Gage.
For hundreds of years, high-born nobles have competed for the chance to learn of the Myst. Powerful, revered, and often reclusive, Mystics have the unique ability to summon and manipulate the Myst: the underlying energy that lives at the heart of the universe. Once in a very great while, they take an apprentice, always from the most privileged sects of society. Such has always been the tradition - until a new High Mystic takes her seat and chooses Pomella AnDone, a restless, low-born teenager.
One Christmas Eve in a small hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, struggling songwriter Jesse Walker witnesses a strange spectacle: seven devilish figures chasing a man in a red suit toward a sleigh and eight reindeer. When the reindeer leap skyward, taking the sleigh, devil men, and Santa into the clouds, screams follow. Moments later, a large sack plummets back to earth, a magical sack that thrusts the down-on-his-luck singer into the clutches of the terrifying Yule Lord, Krampus.
From best-selling author Neal Stephenson and critically acclaimed historical and contemporary commercial novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating and complex near-future thriller combining history, science, magic, mystery, intrigue, and adventure that questions the very foundations of the modern world.
Screenwriter and noted film critic C. Robert Cargill continues the story begun in his acclaimed debut Dreams and Shadows in this bold and brilliantly crafted tale involving fairies and humans, magic and monsters - a vivid phantasmagoria that combines the imaginative wonders of Neil Gaiman, the visual inventiveness of Guillermo Del Toro, and the shocking miasma of William S. Burroughs.
It's been 30 years since the apocalypse and 15 years since the murder of the last human being at the hands of robots. Humankind is extinct. Every man, woman, and child has been liquidated by a global uprising devised by the very machines humans designed and built to serve them. Most of the world is controlled by an OWI - One World Intelligence, the shared consciousness of millions of robots uploaded into one huge mainframe brain.
Looking for a tattoo - and maybe a little something extra: a burst of good luck, a dollop of true love, or even a hex on an ex? Head to the quiet and mysterious Gage, the best skin artist in town. Using unique potions - a blend of extraordinary ingredients and special inks - to etch the right symbol, he can fulfill any heart's desire. But in a place like Low Town, where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires happily walk among humanity, everything has its price. No one knows that better than Gage.
For hundreds of years, high-born nobles have competed for the chance to learn of the Myst. Powerful, revered, and often reclusive, Mystics have the unique ability to summon and manipulate the Myst: the underlying energy that lives at the heart of the universe. Once in a very great while, they take an apprentice, always from the most privileged sects of society. Such has always been the tradition - until a new High Mystic takes her seat and chooses Pomella AnDone, a restless, low-born teenager.
One Christmas Eve in a small hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, struggling songwriter Jesse Walker witnesses a strange spectacle: seven devilish figures chasing a man in a red suit toward a sleigh and eight reindeer. When the reindeer leap skyward, taking the sleigh, devil men, and Santa into the clouds, screams follow. Moments later, a large sack plummets back to earth, a magical sack that thrusts the down-on-his-luck singer into the clutches of the terrifying Yule Lord, Krampus.
From best-selling author Neal Stephenson and critically acclaimed historical and contemporary commercial novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating and complex near-future thriller combining history, science, magic, mystery, intrigue, and adventure that questions the very foundations of the modern world.
The tattooed plus sign on Finnegan's hand marks him as a Positive. At any time the zombie virus could explode in his body, turning him from a rational human into a ravenous monster. His only chance of a normal life is to survive the last two years of the potential incubation period. If he reaches his 21st birthday without an incident, he'll be cleared.
The villagers in the sleepy hamlet of Lychford are divided. A supermarket wants to build a major branch on their border. Some welcome the employment opportunities while some object to the modernization of the local environment. Judith Mawson (local crank) knows the truth - that Lychford lies on the boundary between two worlds and that the destruction of the border will open wide the gateways to malevolent beings beyond imagination. But if she is to have her voice heard, she's going to need the assistance of some unlikely allies....
Audie Award, Fantasy, 2016. As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don't cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn't fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.
A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented - something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix - part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past.
Dr. Greta Helsing has inherited the family's highly specialized and highly peculiar medical practice. She treats the undead for a host of ills - vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. It's a quiet, supernatural-adjacent life until a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human and undead Londoners alike. As terror takes hold of the city, Greta must use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice - and her life.
High in his attic bedroom, 12-year-old David mourns the loss of his mother. He is angry and he is alone, with only the books on his shelf for company.But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in the myths and fairytales so beloved of his dead mother, he finds that the real world and the fantasy world have begun to meld. The Crooked Man has come, with his mocking smile and his enigmatic words: "Welcome, your majesty. All hail the new king."
Chris Gordon is a rookie with the NYPD - one with a secret. In his spare time Chris is an exorcist without equal, with a gift from God. But when he saves a beatiful girl from a demonic attack, he discovers there is more to fear than just demons. Finding himself surrounded by vampires and were-weasels and facing a giant short-faced bear, Chris struggles to stay alive, all while protecting his deadly new girlfriend. And then there's her overprotective vampire mother!
Los Angeles of 2039 is a baffling and bifurcated place. After the Collapse of 2028, a vast section of LA, the Disincorporated Zone, was disowned by the civil authorities and became essentially a third world country within the borders of the city. Navigating the boundaries between DZ and LA proper is a tricky task, and there's no one better suited than eccentric private investigator Erasmus Keane.
You, dear listener, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart - no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments - even at the risk of one's life - is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten….All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist.
Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city - a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent - but he's one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music.
Millions of people are confronting aliens that authorities say do not exist. Now Whitley Strieber, author of the #1 best seller Communion, which detailed his own close encounters, returns with The Grays, a mind-bending journey behind the curtain of secrecy that surrounds the subject of aliens. This audiobook will make you think deeply, not only about the mystery of who the Grays are, but who exactly we are.
Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up truck when they stop at the Diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren't planning to stick around-until Loretta, the eatery's owner, offers them $100 to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl's a vampire, this looks right up their alley.But the shambling dead are just the tip of a particularly spiky iceberg.
A brilliantly crafted modern tale from acclaimed film critic and screenwriter C. Robert Cargill - part Neil Gaiman, part Guillermo Del Toro, part William S. Burroughs - that charts the lives of two boys from their star-crossed childhood in the realm of magic and mystery to their anguished adulthoods
There is another world than our own - one no closer than a kiss and one no further than our nightmares - where all the stuff of which dreams are made is real and magic is just a step away. But once you see that world, you will never be the same.
Dreams and Shadows takes us beyond this veil. Once bold explorers and youthful denizens of this magical realm, Ewan is now an Austin musician who just met his dream girl, and Colby, meanwhile, cannot escape the consequences of an innocent wish. But while Ewan and Colby left the Limestone Kingdom as children, it has never forgotten them. And in a world where angels relax on rooftops, whiskey-swilling genies argue metaphysics with foul-mouthed wizards, and monsters in the shadows feed on fear, you can never outrun your fate.
Dreams and Shadows is a stunning and evocative debut about the magic and monsters in our world and in our self.
This was a very enjoyable escape; I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. Not only is the story itself wonderfully engaging, gripping, comic and tragic, but the narration itself, by Vikas Adam, has to be one of the best readings I've ever heard -- and I've heard many. Vikas' command of the characters, and their voices -- amazingly in childhood and adulthood -- is superb. I can only hope he reads other books that I have an interest in.
As for the story itself: it's a fairy tale, a modern-age fairy tell in an urban environment that grabs on tightly to its roots in the netherworld. I have a hard time describing it, and the only thing that comes close is to think if the Brothers Grimm time-traveled into our present age, to write a fairy tale that intermixes the beauty and harshness of the fairy world with the beauty and harshness of present-day urban America.
My only hope now is that if AMC were to ever make this into a series, please consider Steve Buscemi as the Fallen Angel Bertrand. :)
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
What did you like about this audiobook?
I really enjoyed this novel because the storyline is creative and engaging. The author merges two realms as his settings or this story and it is done with clarity and plausibility. The story follows 2 boys in 2 vastly different worlds and evolves as their unexpected meeting leads them both along an unexpected path together. The characters have depth and are well developed with relatable qualities. These fantastic beings within the story are based in traditional folklore, giving the reader some familiarity and enhancing their believability; but they also have original characteristics that make this story unique. The writing is well structured and witty with a surprising humor and just the right touch of mystery. Unlike many fantasy novels, Dreams and Shadows is concluded well but leaves you wanting to see where else they can go. I look forward to reading/listening to this book again. Dreams and Shadows is a great debut novel for this innovative new author. I hope to see more from him, and would LOVE to see a sequel to this story.
How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?
This story ties in the traditional fantasy genre into modern times. It is refreshingly different from many of the popular fiction novels that have been recently available.
Do you have any additional comments?
The reader does an excellent job of portraying the characters consistently and with the appropriate dramatic flair.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
so good that I also own the book but the voice actor was so incredible that I preferred to listen to the audio book even when I had time to read.
excellent plot and story, great character development, I will be reading more from this author for sure, this was his first work that I encountered.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
Would you try another book from C. Robert Cargill and/or Vikas Adam?
If Cargill wrote novels for adults, I would try them. As far as Adams's shrill, cringe-inducing reading, I'd just as soon go without.
What do you think your next listen will be?
That's not relevant to this review.
How could the performance have been better?
Most of Adams's reading was acceptable, but some of his voices, particularly of children, were nails-on-chalkboard grating, coming out as a cross of a movie gremlin and Karl from Sling Blade.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment. The comparison to Neil Gaiman was particularly unhelpful. Though both authors do draw on the dark side of fairy lore, that's where the similarities end.
Any additional comments?
This book was a young adult level horror story. The characters in this story are largely passive, at the whim of the storm of random awful events that befall them, and to no useful storytelling purpose.
*slight spoiler*: In particular, a group of oversexed teens get high on hallucinogenic mushrooms and proceed to get themselves graphically dismembered by evil forest creatures. This is a good example of the quality of the book as a whole.
5 of 8 people found this review helpful
Imaginative and well written. Mr. Cargill has created a world where wishes can come true (careful what you wish for), love and hate are both sides of the same coin, and love grows deep, but hate sometimes deeper.
The narrator was very talented, performing a variety of accents and pitches. Sometimes my throat hurt just listening to the voices of some of the more ethereal characters.
I don’t recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t like graphic suicide, murder, and general disgusting descriptions. If you like that stuff this is the book for you. It was very hard to finish this book... I just stopped paying attention.
Stuck it out for at least an hour, as is my rule, but could not stop and delete this book fast enough once I'd hit that mark. This is bad writing, plain and simple. Does not read as a YA or all-ages book but rather as a book written by a child--and I mean that in the worst way possible.
Definitely not recommended, neither the author nor the narrator.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful
I was interested by this book at the beginning and loved it by the end.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful
What disappointed you about Dreams and Shadows?
I was hoping for an engaging urban fantasy. I got something written for 12 year olds with no discernment.
Has Dreams and Shadows turned you off from other books in this genre?
No, just from this author.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Vikas Adam?
Probably
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
No that I could find.
4 of 14 people found this review helpful