The Gathering Dark (Peter Octavian)

by Christopher Golden

Book Overview

The Gospel of Shadows enabled the Catholic Church to control all manner of supernatural beings for centuries. When the book was destroyed -- and the ruling body of the Church with it -- it enabled the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441010814
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Ace
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 1.1" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Gather this one up - now!

This latest installment is the very best of the four. Well, the 1st novel is mind blowing, but I think this one really took this series to new heights. Bloody awesome in so many ways.

Out Of The Shadows, Into The Sunlight

The Gathering DarkChris Golden came into his own writing Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, but his body of work is considerably larger than that. From teen thrillers like Body of Evidence to horror fiction as serious as the Shadow Saga, the trilogy on which The Gathering Dark is based. While not entirely consistent, he often manages to combine good writing with some ingenious twists on the typical horror story.In the alternate universe of The Gathering Dark, the world is recovering from a spiritual revolution that pitted the vampires against the increasing corruption of the Catholic Church. Given the powers to prevent the encroachment of evil, the church had abused those abilities to their own advantage. When vampires discovered that they had been brainwashed into believing that they would wilt in the sunshine and could not tolerate the holy they rose in opposition to the church and brought down the whole house of cards.Unfortunately, The Gospel of Shadow, the grimoire that contained the secrets of preventing demonic incursions, was lost during the struggle. Now the weakened church struggled to undo the damage, vampires are hunted by the United Nations and the world trembles on the edge of a long descent into darkness. Now Peter Octavian, no longer a vampire but a powerful mage is all that that is left that can prevent an evil power from drawing the earth into its realm.Octavian is aided by an unlikely crew. Nikki, a rock singer, Keomany, confectionary and earth witch, and Jack Devlin, a priest who cannot stand what his church has become are the humans. Kurumaku, an ancient samurai, and Allison, who hunts her own kind, are the vampires. This rag tag crew must come face to face with a creature that Octavian has named the Tatterdemalion. An evil from another dimension entirely that is sucking whole cities into a deadly world of its own contriving.Like The Shadow Saga before it, The Gathering Dark is Chris Golden at his best - writing a complex tale that is part horror story and part a journey of discovery for its characters. Golden, by completely changing the vampire model creates a framework that is interesting on its own, with the kind of implications that invite even more volumes in the series. The Gathering Dark stands well on its own, but just enough loose ends remain to continue the weave. With the reader to reap the benefits.

Powerful and compelling reading

Golden's brilliant series, the Shadow Saga, continues with nothing less than the loss of the entire world as a mega-demon begins to swallow cities into a hell dimension. When neither the military's elite forces, nor the fractured remnants of the Catholic Church can stop the portals from opening, it falls to Octavian and his motley team to come to the rescue. Readers of the original three books will recognize some returning characters.THE GATHERING DARK is a powerful tale that will enthrall readers, even if you're not familiar with the previous tales. The crisp, flavorful writing hooks you from page one. No stranger to great storytelling, this is one of the best I've read recently and will remain a favorite for a long time to come.-Maria Y. Lima

Must read

When the public learned that the Roman Catholic Church practiced sorcery with a group of dark magicians operating within the ranks, the church collapsed. The vampires, whose existence was made public, learned how the church deceived them and declared a jihad, destroying all those who practiced good magick which kept in check the forces of darkness. The Book of Shadows, the grimoire that contained the spells used to repel the forces of evil was lost leaving Earth open to malevolent beings from other dimensions.While the church is trying to reconstruct the book so that when evil strikes they will be prepared, Peter Octavian, former vampire and the world's most powerful sorcerer, tries to lead a normal human life. When cities around the world start disappearing, Peter once again marches into battle but the enemy he fights is new to him and he is uncertain that he and his allies are powerful enough to stop it.Fans of the "Shadow" saga will be happy to learn that there is another installment in this powerful urban fantasy series. Christopher Golden is a potent storyteller who places his fantasy creatures in modern times so credibly that the audience believes in their existence. That is the mark of a true storyteller and Mr. Golden is one of the best. The ending will leave readers satisfied yet holds out the hope there will be more books forthcoming in the series.Harriet Klausner