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A review by bookdrgn
Dark Song by Christine Feehan
5.0
When one of these books features a song or poetry, you know it’s going to be a romantic one. And Dark Song doesn’t disappoint. I’ve been reading these books for 21 years and these characters have become almost real. This is the magic Christine Feehan weaves for her readers. This book harkens back to the early books where the focus was on the romance between the two main characters.
I was never convinced Elisabeta was dead when we first learned about her way back in her brother, Traian’s book. And when she was rescued in Dark Legacy, we knew she would need a special lifemate.
Ferro becomes that for her. Traditionally, Carpathian males are a bane for feminist readers. They are archaic, stubborn, and traditional in their expectations of a lifemate. Ferro is no different, or so he thinks. The key thing about lifemates in this vast and unique world Feehan has created is that a lifemate becomes whatever their mate needs. Ferro does this for Elisabeta and she for him, without him knowing what he needed. The sex isn’t as ubiquitous or lengthy as in previous books and this helps in aiding the romantic nature of the book and the care Ferro has for Elisabeta’s safety and security, as well as her confidence and trust.
He is endlessly patient with her after her centuries of captivity at the hands of an evil master vampire with an inferiority complex. He takes his time teaching her, understanding what she needs and when, speaking for her when she can’t speak for herself, and simply loving her.
Sure, there’s a mystery afoot, battles and attacks coming their way – there always is in the world of the Carpathians, vampires, and psychic humans, but the focus stays on the couple, how they navigate the threat, soft Elisabeta finding her place among these warrior men and women, a place of value and usefulness. Her immediate compassion when someone was hurting and a compelling need to aid them is so central to the female Carpathians and important for Elisabeta who had almost forgotten how to be Carpathian because of her captivity.
I enjoyed how the shifting nature of Carpathians is explained in greater detail. I’ve always thought they simply take the shape of the animal, but they essentially become it. They see with its eyes, sing their songs, hunt their prey. There’s a risk in hiding do deeply within the animal that a Carpathian could lose themselves, and this has been hinted at before but not really explained until now.
I love it when we get to revisit with old characters, and I expected Elisabeta’s brother and his lifemate Joie to travel from the Carpathian Mountains to the American compound. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Dark Troubadour’s again, and that Darius and Tempests’ daughter finally has a name. The other ancients from the monastery were also a welcome surprise despite only hearing them by name. I would have loved to see more interaction between them and the ancients at the compound, and Gabrielle and Gary meeting again after the events of Dark Promise. I wanted to see more of the women.
Onto Gary. Oh, my heart both breaks and melts for this character. Once human, mortally injured protecting children and converted because Gregori Daratrazanoff didn’t want to lose him (and if you know what type of character Gregori is, this puts Gary extremely high in his esteem). Once converted he was introduced to the deceased warriors in a ritual and fully accepted. He became a Daratrazanoff in every sense of the word. All the skills in hunting and healing flooded into him and he instantly lost his emotions and colors, essentially becoming an ancient, despite his new conversion. I love Daratrazanoff Gary, especially the true, ruthless, willing to do what is necessary no matter how distasteful the nature of a second-in-command Daratrazanoff. But I miss nerdy, brilliant human Gary sometimes. I don’t know if I can wait for 18 or so books for him to find his lifemate. Maybe we will have another jump in the timeline soon given some potential lifemates are young.
I was worried one of the peripheral but humorous characters would take a dark turn and found myself literally begging him not to.
Mikhail Dubrinsky was my first Carpathian, the Prince of the race, and a favorite character and I found myself gritting my teeth when his leadership wasn’t necessarily called into question, but not implicitly trusted by the ancients. I understand their reticence though and hope the meet him soon and see he is not like his father.
Now, Josef. Sweet, exacerbating, technical genius Josef. I am so happy the Carpathians in the US compound recognize his skill and potential. They don’t belittle him or brush him off (like his Uncle Byron tends to do) or torment him as his adopted brother does. They appreciate him and want to teach him; they listen to him and don’t scoff at him. It’s a joyous thing, having seen this character grow up in the books, to read him begin to come into his own with confidence and swagger. I always look forward to seeing more of him
There were some new elements of Carpathian life mentioned in this book and it will be interesting to see how they play out in future plots.
I do hope we return to the Carpathian Mountains again soon; I miss the hunters and warrior women there.
And I am still wondering after what we find out in Dark Sentinel, is Aidan Savage OK?
I was never convinced Elisabeta was dead when we first learned about her way back in her brother, Traian’s book. And when she was rescued in Dark Legacy, we knew she would need a special lifemate.
Ferro becomes that for her. Traditionally, Carpathian males are a bane for feminist readers. They are archaic, stubborn, and traditional in their expectations of a lifemate. Ferro is no different, or so he thinks. The key thing about lifemates in this vast and unique world Feehan has created is that a lifemate becomes whatever their mate needs. Ferro does this for Elisabeta and she for him, without him knowing what he needed. The sex isn’t as ubiquitous or lengthy as in previous books and this helps in aiding the romantic nature of the book and the care Ferro has for Elisabeta’s safety and security, as well as her confidence and trust.
He is endlessly patient with her after her centuries of captivity at the hands of an evil master vampire with an inferiority complex. He takes his time teaching her, understanding what she needs and when, speaking for her when she can’t speak for herself, and simply loving her.
Sure, there’s a mystery afoot, battles and attacks coming their way – there always is in the world of the Carpathians, vampires, and psychic humans, but the focus stays on the couple, how they navigate the threat, soft Elisabeta finding her place among these warrior men and women, a place of value and usefulness. Her immediate compassion when someone was hurting and a compelling need to aid them is so central to the female Carpathians and important for Elisabeta who had almost forgotten how to be Carpathian because of her captivity.
I enjoyed how the shifting nature of Carpathians is explained in greater detail. I’ve always thought they simply take the shape of the animal, but they essentially become it. They see with its eyes, sing their songs, hunt their prey. There’s a risk in hiding do deeply within the animal that a Carpathian could lose themselves, and this has been hinted at before but not really explained until now.
I love it when we get to revisit with old characters, and I expected Elisabeta’s brother and his lifemate Joie to travel from the Carpathian Mountains to the American compound. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Dark Troubadour’s again, and that Darius and Tempests’ daughter finally has a name. The other ancients from the monastery were also a welcome surprise despite only hearing them by name. I would have loved to see more interaction between them and the ancients at the compound, and Gabrielle and Gary meeting again after the events of Dark Promise. I wanted to see more of the women.
Onto Gary. Oh, my heart both breaks and melts for this character. Once human, mortally injured protecting children and converted because Gregori Daratrazanoff didn’t want to lose him (and if you know what type of character Gregori is, this puts Gary extremely high in his esteem). Once converted he was introduced to the deceased warriors in a ritual and fully accepted. He became a Daratrazanoff in every sense of the word. All the skills in hunting and healing flooded into him and he instantly lost his emotions and colors, essentially becoming an ancient, despite his new conversion. I love Daratrazanoff Gary, especially the true, ruthless, willing to do what is necessary no matter how distasteful the nature of a second-in-command Daratrazanoff. But I miss nerdy, brilliant human Gary sometimes. I don’t know if I can wait for 18 or so books for him to find his lifemate. Maybe we will have another jump in the timeline soon given some potential lifemates are young.
I was worried one of the peripheral but humorous characters would take a dark turn and found myself literally begging him not to.
Mikhail Dubrinsky was my first Carpathian, the Prince of the race, and a favorite character and I found myself gritting my teeth when his leadership wasn’t necessarily called into question, but not implicitly trusted by the ancients. I understand their reticence though and hope the meet him soon and see he is not like his father.
Now, Josef. Sweet, exacerbating, technical genius Josef. I am so happy the Carpathians in the US compound recognize his skill and potential. They don’t belittle him or brush him off (like his Uncle Byron tends to do) or torment him as his adopted brother does. They appreciate him and want to teach him; they listen to him and don’t scoff at him. It’s a joyous thing, having seen this character grow up in the books, to read him begin to come into his own with confidence and swagger. I always look forward to seeing more of him
There were some new elements of Carpathian life mentioned in this book and it will be interesting to see how they play out in future plots.
I do hope we return to the Carpathian Mountains again soon; I miss the hunters and warrior women there.
And I am still wondering after what we find out in Dark Sentinel, is Aidan Savage OK?