Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, 3) Paperback – July 7, 2015

Daughter of Smoke and Bone 5 starsDays of Blood and Starlight 4 starsDreams of Gods and Monsters 5 stars********NO SPOILERS******How many trilogies have you read lately with the last book leaving you disappointed and empty afterward? I've seemed to have an epidemic of them in the YA (Young Adult) genre. So many, that I've almost given up on the genre as a whole. But Laini Taylor has redeemed the entire genre for me. She wrote a wonderfully beautiful and epic conclusion to her series. It was full of wonder, intense emotion, humor, joy, sadness, love, hate, poetic prose that only Laini Taylor can accomplish and HOPE. I laughed, I cried, I worried for characters, I was outraged at times and full to the brim with happiness at other times. Dreams of Gods and Monsters is everything that a great story should be and rarely is.**Possible minor spoilers for Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight:**Akiva and Karou - For me this series has always been about these two starcrossed lovers that have come together between lifetimes and worlds. Everything about their lives is stacked against them but still they push through and Dream a world that has a place for the two of them together in it. It isn't an easy road, they must find a way for the Chimera and Angels to work together to fight Jael, but there is a road-- We are the beginning, he heard inside his head, and it felt like a prayer. We always have been. This time, let it be more than a beginning.The journey to bring two peoples together was not an easy one. It is full of obstacles and choices but it felt so true to the story. Enemies cannot become allies overnight and Laini didn't forget that in her story.Zuzana (a.k.a. the Rabid Fairy) and Mik - I think it is impossible to not love the cuteness that is Zuzana and Mik. If you don't love them don't tell me, because we can't be friends anymore. They get the best lines throughout the story and they are the characters from the book I would want to hang out with. Plus you know that their sotry arc has to be great in this book because Mik still has two fairytale tasks to complete in order to win the fair Zuzana. Zuze, is an amazing friend and in the heat of all of the madness of everything she shines."I'm starting to question our choice of life skills," she whispered to him."I know. Why aren't we samurai?""Let's be samurai," she said.I loved the arc of these two characters and the choices they made, the two humans thrust into a war on another world. I sincerely hope that there are future novella's for Zuzana and Mik.Ziri - Is everything a hero should be. He has given up his true form and natural life to help Karou hijack the rebellion and save it from Thiago. Ziri, was everything the White Wolf should have been but wasn't.Liraz - Is the character that grew the most. She has a haunted past as a killer and longs for a different future, but has no idea how to dream that dream. She is the character that surprised me the most. The choices she made we some of the most poignant and I grew to really love who she was in this book. Playing `nice' is new to her and it feels a little icky, plus she isn't very good at it, but at least she is trying.Everyone else and the Plot:There is the introduction of a few new characters and the addition of a backstory that hints at why there was a beginning to a war so long ago. The Stelians must find the Magus that created such a wash of magic in Days of Blood and Starlight, Akiva. He has a power that is beyond them. Eliza has had nightmares of a cataclysm and monsters all her life, when the angels arrive she knows that her dreams may soon come true. I will not say more so not to spoil the surprises that come of the new characters.The bad guys, well they are bad. There is almost nothing creepier than Razgut and still this holds true, the fallen is beyond crazy and while teamed up with Jael it is madness personified. I loved hating them in their twisted plots and evil ways. I never guessed the true story of Razgut's fall and learning how he became that twisted cruel being was fascinating.The good news - All our prior story arcs are completed by the end of this book. Some tied up more firmly than others, but questions are answered and loops closed.The better news - Laini Taylor seems to have laid down a foundation to have another storyline in this world. IMO she has set it up to come back to later. Part of the set up got a little clustery for me, but that could have been because I was bleary eyed trying to finish this at 2 a.m. because I couldn't go to bed until I was done.SummaryThis is one of the best thought out series I have encountered. So much happened in the book, so many times I thought I knew what was going to happen and it went a different way. Laini Taylor knows how to draw a reader in and really speak to their hearts. Everything that I loved from the other two books was still here in the third. She never lost her voice, the poetic prose is still some of the most beautiful I've ever read and I'm sure that this is a series I'll read time and time again.*Bows to the greatness of Laini Taylor's story telling prowess* again.

***Review posted on The Uncahrted Word blog***Dreams of Gods & Monsters marks the third and final installment to the epic fantasy series by Laini Taylor, who proves once again that she is a remarkable author of striking prose and beautiful settings. Her characters are well-developed, especially Karou, and the relationships she builds among them are captivating and wonderfully powerful.Mik and Zuzana prove to be one of the cutest couples in YA as their love story remains present and memorable despite being a subplot to Karou and Akiva’s torrid romance. They as individuals are also fun and spunky and easy to love. They aren’t the only characters that shined in this book. Liraz makes strides in bettering herself and Ziri matures into a strong and capable leader while maintaining his goodness. Both Liraz and Ziri share engaging narratives as they learn to love themselves and to live with their mistakes.As the other characters are making leaps and bounds in character development, Akiva and Karou remain fundamentally the same. The only thing that changes is their relationship, which was fractured in the previous book. I enjoyed Karou and Akiva’s narratives but their continuous pining and angst was shockingly bothersome as their reunion was prolonged for far too long, especially since distance was no longer a factor separating them. While I still enjoyed reading from their point of view, I couldn’t help but be annoyed by how much their thoughts focused on each other rather than the deadly situation at hand.This book is not without its themes of discrimination and coexistence, and I’m very happy to see that those messages were not lost amongst the heightened angst that was rolling around in this installment. In truth, the very ending of this book was a little disappointing (and unexpected) as Karou and Akiva’s yearning for one another remains strong and frustratingly present until the very last page.I thought this was a very strong conclusion; however, I have to admit that this was not the ending I expected or envisioned. The previous book was rife with tension stemming from conflicting world views, clashing cultures, and battling factions. Two races were at war with one another and there was a great amount of bloodshed and loss. It was a heavy book filled with death and violence, competing ideologies, and complicated relationships.Dreams of Gods & Monsters didn’t maintain this suspense as well as its predecessor. The plot felt stagnant and less progressive. Not much occurred between its explosive beginning and anticlimactic ending. There were a few nail-biting battles, but not a war that was expected to happen among the seraphs, the chimera, as well as the humans. The seraphs posed such a terrifying threat at the end of the last book, and yet, their intimidating presence was reduced to background noise for most of this book. They became an army of immobile warriors put up in the Vatican, waiting for something to happen. In short, the foes were boring.Also, I wasn’t much a fan of the Eliza storyline. Her chapters took me out of the experience and so, I was surprised by how important she was to the plot as a whole. I wasn’t invested in her history or her role even when her true identity was revealed.I know it sounds like I didn’t like this book, but I can assure you that I did. I think I just went in with too high expectations. Dreams of Gods & Monsters is an engaging story with fantastic characters, vivid descriptions, and impressive world-building. Some subplots and characters seemed unnecessary or were wasted, but overall, this was a good conclusion to an epic romance and adventure.

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J’adore ce livre

I am left speechless after reading this masterpiece

Es ist vorbei. Es ist wahrlich vorbei. Möchte ich zum Zustand des Nie-Beendens der Reihe zurückkehren? Ja. Nein? Nein. Selten habe ich ein Finale so sehr genossen. And the angels all went quietly home and no one died. The end. Fat chance of that. Seite 163 (Kindle E-Book)Was unter allen Umständen hätte vermieden werden sollen, war der Kontakt zwischen der Armee Jaels und der Welt der Menschen. Ein Krieg mit Waffen, die dem bekannten Wort der Zerstörung eine gänzlich neue Bedeutung gegeben hätte. Nun sind die Engel zu den Menschen getreten, während sich die Kämpfer unter Akiva und jener Thiagos zusammentun müssen, um Jael aufzuhalten – etwas, das es bisher noch nie gegeben hat und nur einen schlechten Weg einschlagen kann. Dennoch ist es die letzte Hoffnung. »There is the past, and there is the future. The present is never more than a single second divising one from another. We live poised on that second as it’s hurtling forward – toward what? All our lives, it’s been the Empire propelling us – toward the annihilation of the beasts – and that has come and gone. It belongs to the past, but we’re still alive, less than three hundred of us, and we’re still hurtling forward, toward something, but it’s not up to the Empire anymore. […]« Seite 72 (Kindle E-Book)In Kontrast zu den beiden anderen Reihen beginnt das Finale mit der Einführung eines neuen Charakters, welcher scheinbar willkürlich wirkt, trotz der Verbindung zum Titel und der anfangs zufälligen Beziehung zu den Geschehnissen. Genau genommen war ich dadurch äußerst irritiert, als ich mit dem Lesen begann, da ich zwar offenbar den gleichen, einzigartigen Schreibstil vor Augen hatte, mich aber wunderte, ob ich tatsächlich das richtige Buch in der Hand hielt. Aber Taylors Art des Schreibens ist wieder einmal unverwechselbar, sodass man sich sicher sein kann, ein Buch aus ihrer Feder zu lesen, bis die bekannten Figuren auftreten. Das Verhältnis zwischen der gegenwärtigen Handlung und Beschreibungen der Umgebung als auch Gedanken ist so überaus harmonisch gehalten und verbunden, dass sich die Texte tatsächlich wie natürliche Gedankengänge anfühlen und Details dementsprechend nicht erzwungen wirken. All die Gefühle und teils charakteristischen Eigenschaften der Erzählweise je nach Person, so beispielsweise Zuzanas unverkennbare Art, machen es umso leichter der Geschichte zu folgen. Es sind unter anderem die kleinen Details, die mich diese Reihe lieben lassen, wie die hingebungsvolle Beschreibung des Hebens einer Augenbraue und der Gefühle dahinter. Es sind all die herausstechenden Aussagen, die mich plötzlich Zitate herausschreiben oder markieren lassen, wofür ich normalerweise kein Verlangen habe. Es sind all die schönen Sätze, all die geäußerten Wahrheiten des Lebens, der Welt, der Gefühle, all die Metaphern und selbstverständlich der herrliche Humor. Simple Worte lassen einen innerlich spüren, wie die Ereignisse an den Figuren zehren und wie tief ihre Trauer reicht, schlichtweg mittels minimaler Änderung im Umgangston. Man weiß, dass nicht alles schön sein kann, woraufhin man sich aus Angst und mit unvermeidbarem Herzrasen fürchtet, die nächste Seite aufzuschlagen und dennoch erlangt man die Gewissheit, dass es den Hauptfiguren schlussendlich gut ergehen wird, trotz des bisher Geschehenem und der verstorben Figuren. Und es hat mich nicht gestört, denn ist es wie die Grundessenz dieser Geschichte. Es ist dieser Funken Hoffnung, der Karou von Beginn an begleitet hat, ungeachtet des einhergehenden Schmerzes und Leidens. Man wünscht sich den Charakteren ein angenehmes Ende, weil sie nur ein Leben voll Leid erfahren haben, weil man tatsächlich an jedem der sich voneinander differenzierenden und ebenso neuen, faszinierenden Personen hängt, die unterschiedlichste Ansichten und Kulturen mit sich bringen.Diese Reihe zeigt eine herzzerreißende Liebe, wie ich sie bisher nicht anders gelesen habe und welche meine Vorstellung diebezüglich wohl mein Leben lang prägen wird. Dabei ist sie nicht eindimensional oder immer gleich. Sie wird wie beispielsweise von Karou hinterfragt, als sie realisiert, dass sie Akiva eigentlich nicht kennt, und ist Teil der Erwähnung der Vergangenheit, welche nicht vergessen und ebenso wenig unnötig hervorgedrängt wird, sondern als prägende Erinnerungen in den passenden Situationen auftaucht. Karou had drawn two monstrous men facing each other across a table, and in front of each other was an enormous bowl of … people. […] »I kept thinking about that drawing in the war council, and our part in all of this. We cheat the bowl. We keep filling it back up, and the monsters keep stabbing their giant forks in, and because of us, there’s always more for them to eat. We never lose but we never win, either. We just keep dying. Is that what we do?« Seite 163 (Kindle E-Book)Hinzu kommt, dass die Handlung noch eine weitere aufzeigt, die eine größere Bedeutung innehat und im Endeffekt in kleinsten Hinweisen seit Anfang der Geschichte in Erwähnung tritt, wobei ich liebend gern mehr bezüglich des Magiesystems der Stelions erfahren würde, welches mit einer Anhäufung an Informationen genauer eingeführt wird. Doch wird die Vorgeschichte in ausreichendem Maße in dieser Reihe angesprochen, um Teil, aber nicht überwältigend einnehmend zu sein. Eher würde sie in eine eigene Erzählung passen, getrennt von der Geschichte Karous.FazitFür mich ist dies als solches ein wunderbares Ende einer mir sehr geliebten Reihe. Es weckt viele Gefühle in mir und mag es möglicherweise einen schönen Schleier vor meine Augen legen, der mich vergessen lässt, dass zufälligerweise die richtigen Personen beisammen stehen, hinter welchen mehr verborgen ist und geliebte Figuren mit ziemlicher Gewissheit nicht in Gefahr sind, was sie nicht davor schützt, zu leiden. Im Vergleich mit dem zweiten Band habe ich die Beschreibungen von Eretz besser wahrnehmen und mir eine sofortige, klare Vorstellung imaginieren können. Die Veränderung Karous und ihrer Mitstreiter ist greifbar, ebenso sind es die Emotionen, wenn zum Beispiel zwei verfeindete Lager aufeinandertreffen und die Absurdität von Verständnis der Normalität Zweifel hervorbringt. Es ist schön das Ende der Handlung kennengelernt zu haben, sofern man keinen Groll gegen diese hegt und unter Umständen dieses lange Werk in mehreren, zeitlich länger voneinander getrennten Sitzungen liest, und mochte ich wohl stets, tief in meinem Unterbewusstsein die Art einer dramatischen Liebesgeschichte, wie sie hier überbracht wird.

You might think that a man my age doesn’t read Laini Taylor, and you’re partially right, a man my age doesn’t normally read Laini Taylor. If it hadn’t been for one particular thing catching my eye, I might not have read Laini Taylor. And I firmly believe that any man who hasn’t read Laini Taylor is missing out on something very special.A couple of years ago, I was going through the Goodreads giveaways and a certain phrase caught my eye, “Once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.” Bingo! I entered the contest, no real expectations, I didn’t even notice that I had entered the contest for the second book in the series. That’s how I won my first Goodreads giveaway. So, I bought book one, I figured I got it for half price (my own financial logic); and I was swept away on an adventure I could never have imagined.Laini Taylor is not just a great writer, she is magical. There is something about what she does and how she does it that doesn’t just take you away – you are magically transported into a completely new/alternate reality. Yes, she is long-winded. Yes, she can be melancholy and verbose. The best way I can describe her writing is to call it Dawson’s Creek-esque. The characters are over the top, they are overly dramatic and I love them all.Sometimes it’s not the main characters that pull you into the story but the supporting cast. For me, it was Zuzana and Lirazel. They were two polar opposites who were so much alike. Laini Taylor made these characters make the story so much more. She crafted both of them down to the minutest detail, the story would have been lacking without them. They made me laugh, they made me…you know the rest, don’t make me say it.“Chocolate. Never attempt an alliance without chocolate.” – Zuzana“Feelings are stupid…” – LirazelWell, there you have it, three YA books read by the old man. My suggestion? Break free from your favorite genres, you never know what you’ll find.