Title: Dark Lycan
Author: Christine Feehan
Page Count: 326 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: paranormal romance
Copy for review was purchased by me
Back Cover Summary:
Tatijana of the Dragonseekers spent centuries encased in ice with her sister, trapped in limbo between life and death, never speaking to a soul other than those who tormented her. Now, she has been freed from her frozen prison by an unknown descendent. Awakened in human form, Tatijana yearns to explore the modern world in which she now lives—a world with more mysteries than she is prepared for.
Fenris Dalka has returned to the Carpathian Mountains after a long absence to be with his brother. He is scarred by centuries of battle, and every hard-won victory. But the real reason for his return home could prove deadly if discovered by the wrong man—or woman. Upon his arrival, he is compelled by a beautiful and enigmatic stranger who carries the scent of fresh earth, of forest, of the night itself.
In time Tatijana and Fenris will discover all that unites them—their secrets and pasts, their predators, and the hot flush of passion that stirs their souls. Yet just as surely, seduced into the silvery darkness of a full-moon night, they’ll also discover everything ancient and evil that exists to destroy them.
*****
This is not a mistake- I am indeed reviewing another novel from the Carpathian series because I did indeed read the next one, even though I made all kinds of statements saying I was waiting for Skyler and Dmitri’s book and that’s that. I know, I know.
Admittedly the first reason I succumbed and bought this one was the fact that Skyler and Dmitri’s book is next. Wouldn’t it suck if I did all that waiting and all that griping and skipped this story only to find out it was important to the one that I was waiting for?
Well, not to be spoilery, but I’m glad I didn’t skip. I’m glad I dug out this series’ number, so to speak, and agreed to a talk over coffee about our relationship.
This installment did a good job of getting us ready for the big shebang (Dark Wolf, due out January 7th.) Not only did we get to meet a thoroughly likable leading man in Fenris, Dmitri’s older brother, but we also got to know a pretty important character from previous books- Tatijana, one of the aunts who was trapped in dragon form in the evil mage’s cave.
I admit, at first, I had my standard reaction to a new Carpathian book, which is WHY ON EARTH DO WE NEED MORE CHARACTERS AT THIS POINT. The cast is huge at this point, with people all over the world, fighting fights that are resolved and then never spoken of again; why do we need to add more to the fray? In this case, I’m happy to report that getting to know Fenris meant we got to know Dmitri, and in a way, I think that will make Dmitri’s book better, since we only got very brief looks at him in previous books that took place years ago, within the timeline of the story. A lot has happened since then, and I’m kind of stoked that we’ll be able to skip to the good stuff and see Skyler get the good things she totally deserves at this point without having to go through all the angsty drama that is pretty characteristic of this series at this point.
It’s hard to spend too much time describing the plot here without getting spoilery but one thing I enjoyed about it was that elements from previous books were drawn on to weave the story, not just random things that had never been mentioned before (cough cough the weird sex flowers in the last book cough cough.) It’s a huge accomplishment to have a series that’s 24 stories strong at this point but I feel like one of the challenges is to keep things fresh and cohesive at the same time. It hasn’t always been a perfect situation but I’m sufficiently pumped for the next book. Maybe you’d noticed.
Overall Grade: A