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Damien (Nightwalkers) (Nightwalkers) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jacquelyn Frank
Publisher: Zebra Books
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £1.06
You Save: £5.93 (85%)
New (23) Used (11) from £0.96
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 10037
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0821780689
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780821780688
ASIN: 0821780689
Publication Date: June 1, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New Book direct from the publisher. Takes 7 business days to ship from New York. Usually delivered in 2 weeks.
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| Customer Reviews:
4th in the series, 3rd best so far... October 7, 2008
Jessica Simpson (Berks, UK)
'Damien' is the 4th instalment of the 'Nightwalkers' series and it takes place almost immediately after the end of 'Elijah'. It tells the story of Syreena, a princess in the Lycanthrope court and Damien, the Prince of the Vampires. These are both characters that have been introduced in previous books and while I think you will enjoy this story on it's own, it will make a hell of a lot more sense if you start at the beginning of the series. The reading order is - 'Jacob', 'Gideon', 'Elijah' then 'Damien'. But if I was ranking them into how much I enjoyed them it would be - 'Gideon', 'Elijah', 'Damien', 'Jacob'.
Syreena is set the task of supervising the excavation and exploration of the newly discovered Nightwalker library by her sister Siena. She deserts her post after a minor confrontation with Damien and while storming off is kidnapped by the Demon traitor Ruth. Damien, who is following to apologise, is the first to catch her trail and sets off to rescue her.
What I liked:-
This book is faced paced, has a very fluid style and kept me gripped.
I love the premise that the separate nightwalker races have lost their past and we travel along with them, rediscovering lost histories and knowledge. Each book brings more information and exposes various truths where the nightwalker species are in fact complimentary to each other and aid in each species' development.
I enjoyed the secondary characters, and the parts they play in the story. It's nice not to have everything revolve around just two primary characters.
Having focused on the Demons and Lycanthropes in the past it is nice to be introduced to Vampires, Mistrals & Shadowdwellers. I believe they will have a lot to add in the coming books in the series.
What I disliked:-
In places Syreena was made to seem weak instead of vulnerable, making it hard to like her all the time.
Damien comes of as a little dictatorial towards Syreena in places. He does not always afford Syreena respect of her opinions, which seems odd as you are reading because he does respect the opinions of Jasmine, his right hand woman. It's almost like he doesn't trust Syreena but I'm sure it's not supposed to read like that.
I didn't like Jasmine as a character. She is exceptionally selfish but I think this is deliberate as it is a very prominent Vampire trait. The focus on her in parts would imply we will be seeing her as a more central character in a future Nightwalker book. I'm hoping someone will bitch-slap the attitude out of her.
There is a surprising lack of decent fights, but when there are fights they are far too short. Ruth is very much relegated to bit part player in this book.
Having said all of the above, this book feels like it is building up to exciting things to come in the future instead of solely being Damien and Syreena's story. What's more I don't think this is a bad thing. We learned so much about Syreena in 'Elijah' that I don't think we had enough to discover about her to carry the entire book on just her and Damien alone.
With 'Noah' being the next in the series I am really looking forward to it and expecting big things. It's already in my shopping basket...
Overall, although this is not the best in the series, I would definitely recommend it. It is a good read, but if you are new to Jacquelyn Frank search for 'Jacob' and start there.
More of the same May 29, 2008
Helen Hancox (Essex, England)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
The Nightwalkers series by Jacquelyn Frank is interesting in its variety of 'things that go bump in the night', the nightwalkers. These include Demons (not evil demons but creatures that have affinity with wind, fire or mind), lycanthropes, shadowdwellers and vampires. 'Damien', the fourth in the series, features the Prince of the Vampires, someone who has walked rather by himself over the last 900-odd years but who finds himself working with the other Nightwalkers against the ex-demon Ruth who has appeared in the previous books.
When Damien rescues Syreena from Ruth he finds himself instantly drawn to her and they begin to explore if they have any future together. Vampire Lore believes that relationships with other nightwalkers is utterly taboo, Damien has his position as Prince of the Vampires to consider, along with the feelings of his lieutenant, Jasmine. However when some writings in the Library of Nightwalker books are studied it seems like there might be something significant to learn about relationships between Vampires and Lycanthropes. Can Damien and Syreena truly find happiness together? What changes might happen to each of them as they spend time together? How can Ruth's growing powers be countered?
This book felt rather like a repeat of all the others. Although initially Damien was portrayed as a rather traditional Vampire - cool, world-weary, etc - he soon morphed into the traditional male character that has appeared in all the previous books. Syreena, too, wasn't entirely convincing as a character. Even the plot elements were rehashed from previous books, including a rescue scene where two beings end up breaking a long-held taboo because of their feelings. The concept of the taboo between Vampires and Lycanthropes was pretty much the same as in the previous book, Elijah, when Siena (Syreena's sister) and Elijah (a demon) had to face this, and in this book it didn't particularly feel resolved. The fight against Ruth was also disappointing as it didn't move on particularly and was a minor part of the story anyway. The focus on Jasmine for significant chunks of plot was slightly puzzling, unless she's to get a book of her own in future, and the jumping about of point of view between Syreena and Damien in some chapter sections was confusing at times.
Those who enjoy this series will like this book as it is so similar to the others. Jacquelyn Frank's writing style is good and, despite the fact that little actually goes on, the book doesn't ever really drag. However the similarity with previous books and the lack of underlying plot and consistent characterisation mean that this story, for this reader at least, was rather disappointing.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book Helen Hancox 2008
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