Review: Twilight's Dawn


Twilight's Dawn
Twilight's Dawn by Anne Bishop

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Why did I wait so very long to read this book? It is because I didn't want the dream to end. When Dream is made Flesh, the world is a fabulous and miraculous place. When the dream ends, what is there left? What is left except desolation and yearning for a something that is never going to come back? There are some series which go on forever and need to end. Then there are some series, one wishes never ends. This is one of the few series which I wished never ended and I've loved every book (except one) and have read all of them so very many times. Does this mean Ms. Bishop is my favourite author? I believe based on quantitative measurements, it is so.

Why do I love this series? It's hard to explain. I love the characters, every single one of them. They are all unique and yet they are bound by a common thread. It's not Jaenelle. It's a sense of honour and loyalty which can not be shaken. This is the end of era in someways and I wasn't ready to let it or these characters go. I know this book is about moving on and tying up the loose ends. For most readers, they must have a happily ever after. Authors end right at that happily ever after to guarantee that experience. I'm not a person that requires a happily ever after. However, in this case, it's not the lack of happily ever that drives me to my knees. It's that Ms. Bishop intrinsically understands death and how it applies to the living. She understands the natural progression of life requires death and she delivers it in a loving manner no matter how devastating the blow. I believe I've cried through this entire book. Each story moved me and breaks my heart just a little as there is loss. Loss of loved ones, loss of innocence, loss of love and loss of family. There is also healing and growth from this loss which makes it bearable. For readers who loved this series, there will be two reactions. Either they are angry at the way Ms. Bishop brings to life what happens after "happily ever after" or they will go through the same pains and sufferings with the characters. I am of the latter which I'm grateful for because I was really fearing being in the former. Which is one of the reason why it took me so long to get to this last book.

Before I read this book, I reread through the original Dark Jewels trilogy. I fell in love again with Daemon, Lucivar and Saetan. These three men are so similar one would think they are interchangeable and yet they are different enough that the three of them together is overwhelming. To be the focus of these three would take a stronger person than me. And that is what I love about Jaenelle as we see her one last time in this collection.

The four stories in this book are fabulous. Secondary characters are featured more and yet the main ones still are just as strongly in the stories. The stories are a window into their life which Ms. Bishop gracious shares. I loved every single story. Each one moved me. What I liked most is the last one despite many who are horrified by the High Lord's daughter. To me, it looks like a possible opening for Ms. Bishop to write another series. This one, perhaps focused on the High Lord's daughter and what is to come. Because the wild kindred are back. As Surreal ponders, what is it they know that the rest of us do not? I wonder too and only hope that a story or two may come of it.

After waiting so long to read this final book and re-reading the first three, I noticed certain parallels between the kindred here and the Others in Ms. Bishop's latest series. This opened my eyes into why her new young adult series resonates so well for me. Because whilst her new series is a completely different symphony, the style and love in it is still the same. This is a lovely final chapter in the lives of characters I've loved for a long time. Perhaps they will return again one day. Highly recommended to fantasy lovers who enjoy great characters told in a lovely and humours manner.



View all my reviews

Comments

Popular Posts