The Edge of Dawn

Darkstar Mercenaries, Book 8

By: Anna Carven

Narrated by: Rich Miller

Since the accident, Jade's world has become so loud.

Something's wrong. The voices of hundreds of souls echo loudly inside her head. The doctors, the administrators, and even those closest to her are convinced she has a condition. They say she needs to be under the care of the authorities.

Nobody listens to her. Nobody believes her. She has no choice but to run.

Her once-predictable life is in tatters. All she knows is chaos and fear. They'll catch her soon. She has nowhere to go. Until she encounters a stranger in her dreams.

Not just any stranger, but an alien. A Kordolian. Silver-and-dark. Honed like a weapon. So obviously dangerous. One of the very beings that threatens the future of the entire human species. Or so she's been told.

But what if salvation comes in the most unexpected form?

Contains mature themes.

©2024 Anna Carven (P)2025 Tantor Media

Anchored

I love the Kardolians! This romance between Jade and her silent warrior was funny and sweet. His fascination with her and her snark were just absolutely adorable. I love how she gave him purpose and unconditional love.

Not bad

This was better than last few Kordolian books have been, so that's a plus. The H (Dragek) in this story is a Silent One already deprogrammed and working with the 1st division. Ignore reviews that insist this story is Ash and Noa all over again. Dragek is not like Ashriel. He feels younger, more inquisitive, and far less intense. He is a dreamwalker (because of his profound grasp of the ka’qui) which is where he first meets our human h (Jade). She doesn't realize that her own considerable psychic power is drawing him into her sleep state, or that she isn't insane (as so many earth institutions/her family would have her believe).

My only issue with this book (and I'm well aware it's a me problem) is that I hate dreamscapes in fiction. Even worse when characters meet and communicate in them. Worse still (like here) when they have their first intimate experiences in a dream. I hate also depictions mental illness with extreme delusion for the same reason. Anything overly surreal really. This book is full of surreal moments 🤮. But to be fair, there's some action here as well. And there's a classic 1st division life and death mission. Although I notice Carven isn't updating us on the OG Kordolians and their mates, some of the originals like: Abbey, Jia, Arin, Riana, even movie star Layla and professor Persephone would be nice to see, Where are earth's difficult politics? Or progress on the Oceania settlement??? IMHO we need more contrast and friction with humanity, to keep the interest of human readers. But it seems Carven isn't trying to broaden the world anymore, the characters are now just dwelling in her previous creations,

Wow

This book was excellent. It was complicated, but good. I was glad that I got to read all the series. I recommend the whole series!

A lot of yada

The sound was not consistent. It went low then high like a frequency wave... very annoying.

No no no

I’ve listened to all of her books, this cannot be her writing. And why did we switch narrators? This book seems disjointed quickly written and not at all smooth like the rest of her books. If I could get my money back, I definitely would, but Audible stopped refunding big disappointment.