By: Shana Abe
Published By: Bantam Books
Publication Date: August 2007
Page Count: 335
Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound
Source: Purchased by Reviewer
Audience: Adult - Historical Fantasy Romance
Intrigue, adventure and romance await when you open up Shana Abe's second installment in the Drakon series.
The Dream Thief picks up a few years after the events of The Smoke Thief. Rue and Kit went on to lead their tribe in Darkfrith and have a family of their own. This sequel surrounds Kit and Rue's youngest and seemingly unremarkable daughter, Amalia (or Lia for short), and Zane, Rue's "street urchin" whom she took in when she found him as a child dying on the streets of London.
Zane is now an adult and is asked by Rue and Kit to retrieve a gem special to their people... the Draumr diamond. Gems of the earth sing to the drakon... some more than others... and Draumr's melodies are becoming quite urgent, and more and more of their tribe are hearing its song... especially Lia who has been hearing it since she was a child but no one believed her. Due to their obligations as heads of their tribe, and neither willing to let the other go alone to find the diamond, they ask Zane to find it for them.
Zane is the only human fully aware of the drakon people and the only human whom they trust. He is also the only one who can handle the Draumr diamond without feeling the intoxicating and madness-inducing affects of touching the powerful stone. Zane will be paid VERY handsomely if he returns with it. They have no idea where it is or who has it... so it will be a bit of a wild-goose chase, but if anyone can find it, it would be Zane, being an accomplished thief in his own right, as he learned from the best... Rue. So, of course, he accepts the challenge, with the promise of HUGE riches in the end.
Lia has been away at a women's finishing school learning the fine art of languages and how to be lady. But she perhaps hears the diamond's song the strongest and learning of Zane's quest to find Draumr, she arranges a run-in with Zane at the beginning of his journey. Lia also has prophetic dreams and sees Zane integrated into every single one of them.
Lia is very similar to her mother, in that she has been in love with a man much older than herself since she was a young girl. Lia is fourteen years Zane's junior but has always adored him. Now, at 19, she is every bit as beautiful as any drakon female, if not more so. However, Lia has never been able to make the Turn nor does she seemingly possess any Gifts. However, she does hear the song of Draumr more so than anyone, but she keeps that and her prophetic dreams to herself.
Both Lia's and Zane's lives take dramatic turns upon their first meeting in years, after which, she talks Zane into allowing her to help him find the diamond because she has a greater sense of being able to locate it. He reluctantly lets her join him. He knows her parents will not be too happy with him for allowing this, but he has always had a fondness for her, as well... and he could certainly use the help.
Their journey to finding the diamond is not only a physical quest but also provides the backdrop to their growing relationship. He obviously notices her beauty and he admires her tenaciousness and her candor. She's smart and they seem to make a great team but Zane fights the urge to pursue a romantic relationship with her because her people will never accept him because he is not drakon. As well, Lia cannot trust Zane, being a thief first and foremost, to find the diamond first because if he did, he can not only control her but her people to do his bidding.
Zane is a worldly character, who has lived the tough and dangerous life of a thief, but it is truly a profession for him... it's a way of life and he's extremely good at it. It is hard to love a character that steals for a living but you just do. You know that underneath that tough exterior, is the heart of a true gentleman capable of giving his all to the one that unlocks his heart and I particularly enjoyed that process.
I also loved their little teasings with each other... endearing and delicious.
I've grown accustomed to Shana's unique prose in The Smoke Thief, of which was really quite beautiful writing and that beautiful writing continues in The Dream Thief. She can write romance and erotic scenes with such eloquence as not to make it dirty. Her character development was wonderfully established, and left me with a huge appreciation for both Lia and Zane, and the supporting characters.
However, upon closing this book, I still found I had several questions I needed clarification on. Thankfully, I was able to discuss some of them with two wonderful friends who have also read this series, and we were able to at least resolve some of my misunderstandings and musings.
The Dream Thief was every bit as intriguing as its predecessor despite my lingering questions but overall I did enjoy the story as a whole, and the ending was perfect. And I hope there is more to Lia and Zane's story in the remaining installments.
In the remote hills of northern England lives a powerful clan with a centuries-old secret. They are the drákon, shape-shifters who possess the ability to Turn—changing from human to smoke to dragon. And from the very stones of the earth, they hear hypnotic songs of beauty and wonder. But there is one stone they fear....
Buried deep within the bowels of the Carpathian Mountains lies the legendary dreaming diamond known as Draumr, the only gem with the power to enslave the drákon. Since childhood, Lady Amalia Langford, daughter of the clan’s Alpha, has heard its haunting ballad but kept it secret, along with another rare Gift....
Lia can hear the future, much in the way she hears the call of Draumr. And in that future, she realizes that the diamond—along with the fate of the drákon—rests in the hands of a human man, one who straddles two worlds.
Ruthlessly clever, Zane has risen through London’s criminal underworld to become its ruler. Once a street urchin saved by Lia’s mother, Zane is also privy to the secrets of the clan—and is the only human they trust to bring them Draumr. But he does nothing selflessly.
Zane’s hunt for the gem takes him to Hungary, where he is shocked to encounter a bold, beautiful young noblewoman: Lia. She has broken every rule of the drákon to join him, driven by the urgent song of Draumr—and her visions of Zane. In one future, he is her ally. In another, her overlord. In both, he is her lover. Now, to protect her tribe, Lia must tie her fate to Zane’s, to the one man capable of stealing her future—and destroying her heart...
Intrigue, adventure and romance await when you open up Shana Abe's second installment in the Drakon series.
The Dream Thief picks up a few years after the events of The Smoke Thief. Rue and Kit went on to lead their tribe in Darkfrith and have a family of their own. This sequel surrounds Kit and Rue's youngest and seemingly unremarkable daughter, Amalia (or Lia for short), and Zane, Rue's "street urchin" whom she took in when she found him as a child dying on the streets of London.
Zane is now an adult and is asked by Rue and Kit to retrieve a gem special to their people... the Draumr diamond. Gems of the earth sing to the drakon... some more than others... and Draumr's melodies are becoming quite urgent, and more and more of their tribe are hearing its song... especially Lia who has been hearing it since she was a child but no one believed her. Due to their obligations as heads of their tribe, and neither willing to let the other go alone to find the diamond, they ask Zane to find it for them.
Zane is the only human fully aware of the drakon people and the only human whom they trust. He is also the only one who can handle the Draumr diamond without feeling the intoxicating and madness-inducing affects of touching the powerful stone. Zane will be paid VERY handsomely if he returns with it. They have no idea where it is or who has it... so it will be a bit of a wild-goose chase, but if anyone can find it, it would be Zane, being an accomplished thief in his own right, as he learned from the best... Rue. So, of course, he accepts the challenge, with the promise of HUGE riches in the end.
Lia has been away at a women's finishing school learning the fine art of languages and how to be lady. But she perhaps hears the diamond's song the strongest and learning of Zane's quest to find Draumr, she arranges a run-in with Zane at the beginning of his journey. Lia also has prophetic dreams and sees Zane integrated into every single one of them.
Lia is very similar to her mother, in that she has been in love with a man much older than herself since she was a young girl. Lia is fourteen years Zane's junior but has always adored him. Now, at 19, she is every bit as beautiful as any drakon female, if not more so. However, Lia has never been able to make the Turn nor does she seemingly possess any Gifts. However, she does hear the song of Draumr more so than anyone, but she keeps that and her prophetic dreams to herself.
Both Lia's and Zane's lives take dramatic turns upon their first meeting in years, after which, she talks Zane into allowing her to help him find the diamond because she has a greater sense of being able to locate it. He reluctantly lets her join him. He knows her parents will not be too happy with him for allowing this, but he has always had a fondness for her, as well... and he could certainly use the help.
Their journey to finding the diamond is not only a physical quest but also provides the backdrop to their growing relationship. He obviously notices her beauty and he admires her tenaciousness and her candor. She's smart and they seem to make a great team but Zane fights the urge to pursue a romantic relationship with her because her people will never accept him because he is not drakon. As well, Lia cannot trust Zane, being a thief first and foremost, to find the diamond first because if he did, he can not only control her but her people to do his bidding.
Zane is a worldly character, who has lived the tough and dangerous life of a thief, but it is truly a profession for him... it's a way of life and he's extremely good at it. It is hard to love a character that steals for a living but you just do. You know that underneath that tough exterior, is the heart of a true gentleman capable of giving his all to the one that unlocks his heart and I particularly enjoyed that process.
I also loved their little teasings with each other... endearing and delicious.
I've grown accustomed to Shana's unique prose in The Smoke Thief, of which was really quite beautiful writing and that beautiful writing continues in The Dream Thief. She can write romance and erotic scenes with such eloquence as not to make it dirty. Her character development was wonderfully established, and left me with a huge appreciation for both Lia and Zane, and the supporting characters.
However, upon closing this book, I still found I had several questions I needed clarification on. Thankfully, I was able to discuss some of them with two wonderful friends who have also read this series, and we were able to at least resolve some of my misunderstandings and musings.
The Dream Thief was every bit as intriguing as its predecessor despite my lingering questions but overall I did enjoy the story as a whole, and the ending was perfect. And I hope there is more to Lia and Zane's story in the remaining installments.
Summary:
In the remote hills of northern England lives a powerful clan with a centuries-old secret. They are the drákon, shape-shifters who possess the ability to Turn—changing from human to smoke to dragon. And from the very stones of the earth, they hear hypnotic songs of beauty and wonder. But there is one stone they fear....
Buried deep within the bowels of the Carpathian Mountains lies the legendary dreaming diamond known as Draumr, the only gem with the power to enslave the drákon. Since childhood, Lady Amalia Langford, daughter of the clan’s Alpha, has heard its haunting ballad but kept it secret, along with another rare Gift....
Lia can hear the future, much in the way she hears the call of Draumr. And in that future, she realizes that the diamond—along with the fate of the drákon—rests in the hands of a human man, one who straddles two worlds.
Ruthlessly clever, Zane has risen through London’s criminal underworld to become its ruler. Once a street urchin saved by Lia’s mother, Zane is also privy to the secrets of the clan—and is the only human they trust to bring them Draumr. But he does nothing selflessly.
Zane’s hunt for the gem takes him to Hungary, where he is shocked to encounter a bold, beautiful young noblewoman: Lia. She has broken every rule of the drákon to join him, driven by the urgent song of Draumr—and her visions of Zane. In one future, he is her ally. In another, her overlord. In both, he is her lover. Now, to protect her tribe, Lia must tie her fate to Zane’s, to the one man capable of stealing her future—and destroying her heart...
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