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It began with Krentz...continued with Quick...and now it will end with Castle.
Book Three of the Dreamlight trilogy.
For many earthly centuries, a legendary curse has plagued the Winters family, stemming from the tumultuous founding of the Arcane Society. But now, on the futuristic world of Harmony, the curse's final mystery will be unraveled...
Head of the ghost hunters guild Adam Winters and dreamlight reader extraordinaire Marlowe Jones must break the curse, save Harmony's entire underworld-and fight a passion that could destroy them both.
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The new head of the Frequency Guild is Adam Winters appointed to clean up the corrupt organization. He is also the direct descendent of Nicholas Winters who found a way to enhance psychic skills. However, his concept was flawed with a curse to those who have the genetic marker. That person becomes a Cerberus, a person with three diverse psychic talents who will eventually go insane and must be killed; unless he can find the Burning Lamp and the female guide who can use dreamlight.
Adam believes he is cursed but when he meets the head of a private investigation agency Marlowe Jones who can manipulate dreamlight she fixes his brain section that was damaged. They team up to go into the underground because fractures in the walls in a certain part of the maze means the whole place blows up killing many unless Marlowe and Adam can fix it.. Before they have a chance to catch their breath, they meet the traitor in the Guild who wants to kill both of them, and probably will succeed.
Connecting the Krentz universe with the clever Dreamlight trilogy (see Fired Up by Jayne Anne Krentz and The Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick), Midnight Crystal is a terrific entry that fans of the author will relish. The story line is fast-paced and action-packed. In some ways similar in tone to the previous entries in this arc yet different as time and place widely varies (hence the three names the author uses to delineate historical, present and future). This is a winning stand alone, but the brilliance of the author comes across by reading and comparing the trilogy.
Harriet Klausner
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 10, 2010
A VERY rare misfire for one of my favorite writers, Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle. Really 2.5 stars, but I gave her three for being so inventive.
The grand finale of the dreamlight trilogy goes out with a less-than-modest bang. The story is set on a distant planet called Harmony that was colonized by earthlings generations ago. Midnight Crystal wraps up the story of a lamp created on earth that has some pretty amazing properties even for a fantasy.
The romantic element of Midnight Crystal is on a par with her other novels, but it's broken up by a constant barrage of technical details about how different psychic/paranormal talents work. It's CSI Harmony. I can't believe I'm saying this--for me, she too often glosses over the fine details--but I felt as though I were reading a technical manual! It's as though she thought out all of these very imaginative background details before the first novel, parceled out a few at a time in each book, and then dumped all the leftover elements into Midnight Crystal.
The actual Midnight Crystal is a tiny part of the plot that, like many other elements, is resolved a bit too quickly and neatly after all the buildup in the preceding novels. It all falls just a bit flat.
And there's way too much conversation in this novel!!! Adam and Marlowe blather on and on while you wait for something to happen. Usually Jayne plops you right into the action from the first page, but this one takes a long time to crank up. Of late, there's a pedestrian plotting style pervading romance novels: most of the action is told as a narrative in the past tense, and the action consists of characters simply reacting to what has already happened. This occurs to a lesser degree in Midnight Crystal than some others, but this is the first time I've felt cheated by one of Jayne's novels!!!
Also, Krentz usually picks a couple of phrases that she repeats incessantly throughout her books; in this case they're "crime boss" and "J&J agent." Maybe she uses this device to keep the characters' background firmly in the reader's mind, but the constant repetition is especially jarring in this case. I wanted to find out the resolution of the Dreamlight trilogy, but I was actually relieved when this book ended so I could move on to another.
This might have been better presented as two books. No matter what name she writes under, Krentz seems to write better when she has the space to develop her ideas. Don't get me wrong--a subpar Krentz novel is still better than many others. But after the other Harmony novels, which are a delight, this one is a clunker.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 2, 2010
This book has several aspects going for it.
The first are two strong main characters. I love a feisty female and in this case the pairing of Adam Winters with her struck just the right note.
Marlowe Jones is a compassionate and strong heroine. She tries to help where she can but is nobody's fool.
Adam Winters is the ultimate alpha male.
It had elements of danger and intrigue. I also enjoyed the secondary characters in the story.
I found it to be a satisfying conclusion to the Dream light series.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 8, 2012
I liked the first two in this trilogy better, but still a great read.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 7, 2011
same old - same old
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 2, 2012
I love all her books.Her books are good for people that live alone.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 14, 2012
I am Orangestar, leader of HiddenClan. Hidden first result
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 12, 2012
Fallowed silently
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 11, 2012
We will not. Our name is treeclan nd as u pointed out urs is crytalclan so there is no reason to change our name so kindly stay off our territory. We r much obliged
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 2, 2012
I also heard that a cat was bribing Angelclaw to kill Dovestar! May starclan light your path.(as long as you respect starclan)
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 29, 2012
Come closer emberkit slashes the kits head off.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 28, 2012
Name: Lightbreeze. Gender: She-cat. Mate: Want one. Crush: none tell me if u love me. Apprentices: Leafpaw Birdpaw Playpaw Dogpaw Flowerpaw (thunderclan dead) please let me join sorry if i missed something
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 9, 2011
In the distant future on the planet of Harmony, Adam Winters finds himself in need of a dream light reader to help break a family curse more than six centuries in the making. Complicating matters is his promotion to head of the Ghost Hunter Guild, a quasi-governmental bureau that is ripe with corruption. Dreamlight reader, Marlowe Jones seems to be the answer to his needs, unfortunately she heads up the Guild's rival, the Arcane Society.
Midnight Crystal is the last book of the Dreamlight Trilogy. While I enjoyed the biplay between Adam and Marlowe, I was disappointed in the world-building. Humans had colonized an alien planet but their technology seemed exactly the same as modern day Earth. Worse, the author referred to major events that had happened but didn't explain them fully. I finished Midnight Crystal in love with the Dustbunnies and happy with Adam and Marlowe's romance but with too many unanswered questions about events in the book that I should have known about but were never quite resolved in my head.
Anonymous
Posted September 27, 2011
Of course - I am a fan of Archane AND Harmony but even for a reader new to this author the book would lure you in. I want a dust bunny!!!!!
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Posted January 15, 2011
This is another hit in the Arcane series.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 4, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I just finished Midnight Crystal and I loved it. Falls right in line with the great ghost hunter series. It is a bit confusing though figuring out what books go in what order in what series, as they're listed under one of the 3 names she writes under and are not clearly labeled. It took some detective work to figure out where this novel fit.
I loved the characters, layered and fascinating as always. Adam the tough guild boss with a good heart, brave and determined. Marlowe, kind, strong and full of compassion. And of course her loveable dust bunny Gibson. There was twists, action, romance, humor and new discoveries and powers. I didn't want to put it down. It was fast paced and sucked me in till the last page. And who can't love a book where the dust bunny throws parties and goes on raids? Haha. The pairing of apparently star crossed lovers who turn out to be a match made literally for each other. If you're a fan of the series, I highly recommend adding it to your collection. And it's also a good stand alone, though you might want to pick up the earlier books later to get a well rounded view of Harmony.
The Place, Harmony. The time, sometime far into the future. The problem, Nicholas Winter's curse has manifested itself again.
Adam Winters is afraid he's doomed, doomed to be the latest victim of the curse of his however great- grandfather Nicholas Winters and he's looking for the Burning Lamp and the dreamlight weaver who can help him operate the lamp, now if they can just find it.
Marlowe Jones comes from a long line of Jones' who's conspiracy theorist talent has lead them to the head of J&J, Marlowe however doesn't have that talent, no she's a dreamlight talent. But she's just the ticket to help Adam, now if they can just keep it professional it'll be better all around, but the attraction they feel is almost as big as the danger they're in.
Welcome to the ultra-alien world created by the fantastic imagination of Jayne Ann Krentz, who's rare talent have brought us a multitude of wonderful novels past, present and in the future written as herself and her alter egos Jayne Castle for futuristic and Amada Quick for historical romance. The plot is as unique as they come complete with psi, rez and, of course the all important dust bunny. Your psi-senses will be tingling big time with this action filled adventure thriller. Her characters are a little bit out there, being from outer-space and yet they resemble their earth ancestors to a tee with a few minor differences which only add to the readers interest in the story. Her hero and heroine are full of life yet yearn for something they can't name until they meet each other. As always on Harmony one of them has a dust bunny pal who has as much personality in his little dust bunny toe than a lot of the minor characters. Her romance is quaint even though it's millennia away from us, but powerful and, make it very clear that the word love and forever are never far from the minds of the lovers. Her love scenes are heady and earthy, yet touching and tender.
So settle in for the long haul, because once you open these pages you won't be getting up until you read "the end". It's not necessary to read the first two in the trilogy, as it stands very strong on it's own, but then why pick up the third in a trilogy if you don't want to read all three and get the back story and all the little things you'd never find out otherwise. So be sure to read Fired Up and Burning Lamp of the trilogy.
Anonymous
Posted October 12, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted September 23, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted September 29, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
It began with Krentz...continued with Quick...and now it will end with Castle.
Book Three of the Dreamlight trilogy.
For many earthly centuries, a legendary curse has plagued the Winters family, stemming from the tumultuous founding of the Arcane Society. But now, on the futuristic world of Harmony, the curse's final mystery will be unraveled...
Head of the ghost hunters guild Adam Winters and dreamlight ...