The glass books of the dream eaters : Miss temple, cardinal chang, and dr. svenson series, book 1

Across an unnamed city, an heiress, a killer, and a spy forge an unlikely alliance against a vicious conspiracy in a scrupulously realized Victorian world. Seething with danger, terror, eroticism and romance, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is an exuberant return to the classic -- and classically lurid -- Penny Dreadfuls of the 19th century, where murders, seductions, airships, secret societies, alchemical science, and insidious rituals all play a part in this epic adventure. Miss Celeste Temple has sailed from her plantation home in the West Indies to find a husband, but when her fiancee of three months breaks their engagement without explanation, she is determined to discover why. Cardinal Chang, a mercenary for hire, is engaged to murder a military officer newly posted to the Palace, only to find someone else has done the job before him, leaving Chang to take the blame. Captain-Surgeon Abelard Svenson, specially attached to the diplomatic party of the irresponsible Crown Prince of Macklenburg to guard against scandal, finds his charge first implicated in sinister debaucheries and then vanished altogether. Together the three join forces against a ruthless cabal wielding mind-control, blackmail, temptation, and a mysterious blue glass that holds the power to entrap memory itself, however luscious or terrible. With translation rights sold in twenty-five countries, Gordon Dahlquist's spectacular and extraordinary debut novel was one of the most-talked-about acquisitions of 2005. Now this monumental Victorian thriller is destined to be the publishing sensation of 2006.It began with a simple note: a letter of rejection from Miss Temple's fiance, written on crisp Ministry paper and delivered on her maid's silver tray. But for Miss Temple, Roger Bascombe's cruel rejection will ignite a harrowing quest for answers, plunging her into a mystery as dizzying as a hall of mirrors--and a remote estate where danger abounds and all inhibitions are stripped bare....Thus begins Gordon Dahlquist's debut novel of Victorian suspense--at once a dazzling feast for the senses and a beguiling, erotic literary adventure.Nothing could have prepared Miss Temple for where her pursuit of Roger Bascombe would take her--or for the shocking things she would find behind the closed doors of forbidding Harschmort Manor: men and women in provocative disguise, acts of licentiousness and violence, heroism and awakening. But she will also find two allies: Cardinal Chang, a brutal assassin with the heart of a poet, and a royal doctor named Svenson, at once fumbling and heroic--both of whom, like her, lost someone at Harschmort Manor. As the unlikely trio search for answers--hurtling them from elegant brothels to gaslit alleyways to shocking moments of self-discovery-- they are confronted by puzzles within puzzles. And the closer they get to the truth, the more their lives are in danger. For the conspiracy they face--an astonishing alchemy of science, perverted religion, and lust for power--is so terrifying as to be beyond belief.In a novel that shatters conventions and seethes with danger and eroticism, Gordon Dahlquist has made a spectacular literary debut. And in Miss Temple he has created an unforgettable guide through a disturbing, seductive, and all-too-real world. By turns brutal and tender, shocking and deliciously romantic, The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters is a novel for the ages, a bold and brilliant work of the imaginationFrom the Hardcover edition. Blending science fiction and dark fantasy, this monumental Victorian thriller is a dazzling feast for the senses: an action-packed roller-coaster ride of suspense, betrayal, and richly fevered dreams. #160; It starts with a simple note. Roger Bascombe regretfully wishes to inform Celeste Temple that their engagement is forthwith terminated. Determined to find out why, Miss Temple takes the first step in a journey that will propel her into a dizzyingly seductive, utterly shocking world beyond her imagining. #160; Nothing could have prepared Miss Temple for the things she would find behind the closed doors of forbidding Harschmort Manor: men and women in provocative disguise, acts of licentiousness and violence, heroism and awakening. But she will also find two allies: Cardinal Chang, a brutal assassin with the heart of a poet, and a royal doctor named Svenson, at once fumbling and heroicboth of whom, like her, lost someone at Harschmort Manor. #160; As the unlikely trio search for answers, hurtling them from elegant brothels to gaslit alleyways to shocking moments of self-discovery, they are confronted by puzzles within puzzles. And the closer they get to the truth, the more their lives are in danger. For the conspiracy they facean astonishing alchemy of science, perverted religion, and lust for poweris so terrifying as to be beyond belief. #160; Praise for The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters #160; The most original thing Ive read in years: deftly executed, relentlessly inventive, and with a trio of the most unusual and engaging heroes who ever took on a sinister cabal out to rule the world by means of sex and dreams. Diana Gabaldon #160; A tale that combines swashbuckling adventure, a big dose of science fiction and burgeoning romance. USA Today #160; Rich . . . studded with treats . . . beautifully written. Entertainment Weekly #160; Sweeping, highly original and absorbing . . . defies categorization. The Dallas Morning News It begins with a simple note: Roger Bascombe wishes to inform Celeste Temple that their engagement is forthwith terminated. But Celeste, for all her lack of worldly experience, is determined to find out why her fiancé should have thrown her over so cruelly. Adopting a disguise, she follows her erstwhile lover to the forbidding Harschmort manor, where she discovers a world--by turns seductive and shocking--she could never have imagined, and a conspiracy so terrifying as to be almost beyond belief.--From publisher description