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| Mass market paperback, 301 pages Published 2002 Acquired 2002(?) Reread December 2014 |
by Elaine Cunningham
Year Three of the Invasion (Month 2)
I think Dark Journey would be disappointing at any point, but it's especially disappointing after the really strong run from Recovery to Star by Star. Everyone in this book seems a little... overdramatic, somehow. Like, Jaina makes small decisions, and everyone reacts really bigly to them, and things seem off-- like Jaina would ever marry into the Hapan royal family, yet it's treated like a real possibility. In terms of showing how the fallout of Star by Star has affected Jaina, this book doesn't really succeed, unfortunately.
It's probably worth noting that my experience of reading this book was somewhat diffuse, as I read it interspersed with other books in chronological order; this is a period where the novels all overlap with one another. The order I followed was:
- Dark Journey, chapters 1-11
- Traitor: "Embrace of Pain"
- Dark Journey, chapters 12-21
- "The Apprentice"
- Dark Journey, chapters 22-25
- Traitor: "Cocoon"
- Rebel Dream, chapters 1-8
- Dark Journey, chapters 26-28
- Traitor: "Nursery"
- Rebel Dream, chapters 9-17
- Traitor: "Garden"
- Rebel Stand
- Traitor (to end)
>> But reviewing them that way would be nuts
ReplyDeleteKnow the feeling. On occasion when crossovers are collected with the issues in their individual series trades, I'll go back and forth between the trades to read them, but then review the trades individually (usually because the trades have their own additional issues collected, too). Requires some good note-taking and general examination of "is this a good issue of the crossover, is this a good issue of the series" type of thing. Done that with a Green Lantern crossover and a Superman crossover, at least. Sometimes you've got to read them in the way that feels best to you.