Dream Chaser

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1. 

   melindeeloo @ 7:58 pm

   With Dream Chaser, Kenyon is back to doing what she did so well in the earlier Dark Hunter books, Xypher is a dark and tormented character who stirs your sympathy and Simone is a heroine you truly believe can bring him redemption.

   Xypher half demon half god former Skotos has been damned to Tartarus and been left to suffer thousands of years of torture because he dared to love and chose the wrong woman. Now he has been given thirty days in the human world and a shot at full pardon if he can accomplish something good, but Xypher knows exactly what he wants to accomplish in his free month and good has nothing to do with it. He is filled with centuries of rage and plans to wreck vengeance on the one responsible for his suffering before returning to eternal torture. Aware of the danger Skatara, the object of Xypher’s wrath, sets out to destroy him permanently, sending an assassin with immortality nullifying magical cuffs. The assassin fails his first attempt but Xypher ends up magically linked to human Simone unable to be more than a few feet apart from each other with out the cuffs spell killing them both, and the cuff’s powers also ensure that if Simone is killed Xypher will die. Simone is psychic, she sees ghosts, and as medical examiner for New Orleans she is not totally unaware of the `bump in the night’ world of Xypher’s hunters. But Simone is much more than she seems and her experiences and life view make it possible to see past Xypher’s rage to something more vulnerable. So while Simone’s mortality is what makes it possible to kill the immortal Xypher, it just may be that Simone’s innate kindness, humor and humanity will be the key to his redemption.

   One of the things that makes Dream Chaser work for me where the other Dream Hunters haven’t is that Xypher’s initial rage shows his potential for a depth of feeling where the lack of emotions in the other Dream Hunters left them sterile and made it difficult to connect or care about them as characters. And once we get Xypher’s back story and begin to understand Xypher though Simone’s very insightful perceptions, we do actually care for him. There is a sense of a hidden yearning for love even when his attempts to gain it in the past have cost him so much. I also really liked the way that Simone’s relationship with Jesse, a ghost that has been Simone’s family and constant companion since her family’s death when she was a child, helps to build Xypher’s trust in Simone and show him that love can be something good and true. As always it is fun to see Kenyon take advantage of the world and characters she has built, and old favorite characters have cameos — Julian Alexander, Kat and Archeron appear – and new and interesting ones make appearances. Though I admit at this point I am having trouble keeping track of everyone in her vast and complicated pantheon.

   After my disappointment with the early Dream Hunters, I hadn’t planned on reading Dream Chaser. I disliked the shorts and the first novel, and avoided Upon a Midnight Clear because it sounded like more of the same from the reactions of other reviewers, but I’m on Kenyon’s mailing list and the excerpt from Dream Chaser intrigued me enough that I decided to give the Dream Hunters one more try. Boy, am I glad I did!
   

   
2. 

   Tammie Kelsoe @ 10:24 pm

   I had waited anxiously for Xypher’s story but was worried because the first two Dream-Hunter books were disappointing. But Sherrilyn Kenyon did a wonderful job with Dream Chaser. I just couldn’t put it down. Many of my favorite characters made an appearance in this book and several new ones were introduced. I enjoy the world that Sherrilyn Kenyon has created and how she has weaved all these characters into it. It may not always work perfectly but this time, it did. Got to admit, I can’t wait for Acheron’s book and there is a sneak peek at the end of Dream Chaser.

   
3. 

   Elaine C McTyer @ 11:55 pm

   If you have read DEVIL MAY CRY you have some idea who Xypher is, if not, he is a Phobatory Skotos, one of the Dream Gods, who brings nightmares and eats the dreams of humans for emotion. Zeus has condemned them to have no emotions. Xypher was sentenced to Tartarus for his misdeeds. In DEVIL MAY CRY he helped Sin defeat the dimme demons and for that he was promised a month on earth to redeem himself by doing a good deed.

   Xypher didn’t think Hades would abide by the bargain but now he finds himself on Earth. He is given only his clothes and strength and memories. He has been living on the streets, finding food where ever he can and sleepiing standing up. But the only thing he wants is to find a way into Kalosis so he can destroy the one who betrayed him and left him in hell.

   Simone Dubois is a medical examiner with Tulane, she is a contemporay of Tate who is the medical examiner for New Orleans. Tate is also a squire for the Dark Hunters, he has seen many things that others would not believe, only Simone knows about all the other supernaturals that populate our world. She has the ability to see and talk to ghosts. As a matter of fact a ghost lives with her. She helps Tate when he needs it.

   When a body gets up off the examining table and walks out, Tate calls Simone. She goes with Tate to look at the scene of the crime. The woman’s throat was torn out. While there they are attacked by daimons, Xypher is trying to force the daimons to open a portal to Kalosis, where Satara has gone to hide from him. He saves Simone but Satara has a plan, she will use Atlantian braclets to kill Xypher, by putting the bracelets on him and Simone if she dies he dies. His brother is a demon and he is the one sent to kill her after the spathi daimons chain them togather.

   From here the story justs gets better and better. We meet up with Julian and others from other books. This is the best of the Dream Hunter books so far. I loved it and there are so many surprises. I liked Xypher in DEVIL MAY CRY and I am thrilled to get his story. Do not miss it. Good Reading.

   
4. 

   Corrine @ 11:57 pm

   I was so relieved to see some positive reviews of this book as the last couple (Dream Hunter, Upon a Midnight Clear, Devil May Cry) were not-so-stellar, that I immediately ran out and bought this book. I was not disappointed.

   Though I have to disagree with some reviewers that say Sherri is back to her old form, I can say that she is definitely moving in the right direction. Let me begin by saying: If you have not read at least Devil May Cry before picking up this book, don’t even try to follow along. Dream Chaser features Xypher, the tortured Skoti brought in during Devil May Cry. Xypher is the son of a gallu demon and Phebos, the Greek god of nightmares, and he has spent centuries in Tartarus, tortured for taking the blame behind a woman’s crimes. For his good deeds, he is given one month to live as a human – with limited powers. If he can regain his humanity in that time, he will be freed from Hades’ clutches. Instead of seeking this out, however, Xypher is firm that if he’s going back to hell, so is the woman who damned him. That woman, being of course, Satara, Artemis’s handmaiden and sister of Stryker, the Daimon leader. Satara appeals to her brother for help and he produces gold bands, which are actually an Atlantean weapon against the gods. They link two beings together, usually one god and one weak human, and then the two united beings cannot separate at risk of being killed. Oh, and if one is killed, the other dies, too.

   Enter Simone Dubois, ME professor at Tulane and attractant for all manner of weird things, ie a teenage ghost stuck in the ’80s. As she and Xypher are linked, she struggles to see past his rage and bitterness to the hurt man beneath, and begins to restore a part of Xypher that he’d thought long dead: his heart.

   I thought this story was well-paced, engaging and a huge step up from the last few books, but there still was a little something missing for me. The dialogue between Simone and her ghost companion Jesse was humorous, but I would have liked to have seen more of that calibre of banter between the two main protagonists, like SK has done in past installments of this series. At times the romance took a back seat to all the action, which is fine, because it moves the story along swimmingly, but I would have liked more emotional build-up in the romance part. The ending is very emotional, and one of the best tear-jerkers of this series since Seize the Night, and you want to cheer when Xypher and Simone get their well-deserved HEA. Dream Chaser takess a big weight off my shoulders as ACHERON gets closer and closer, and now I can’t wait.

   
5. 

   Nic E @ 12:28 am

   Many others have told you about this story so I’ll give you my review simply of the story. The book jumped leaps and bounds from the previous two Dream-Hunter novels. With Xypher’s story we pick up more information about this infamous bad guy of the series and find out who he really is and how and why they had to kill him and send him to the Netherworld for torture by Hades for years. In a way a bit of it doesn’t make since but I still went for the ride because in Ravyn’s book Dark Side of the Moon that is when we are first introduced to him via his Dream Hunter name. In this story though we are told he has spent hundreds or thousands of years in Hell basically being tortured that little bit of the story didn’t make sense since Satara used him in the book I mentioned with Ravyn although his appearance was brief she did make a point of saying something like 200?? So this book wouldn’t technically be years away. One of my major issues with the current crop of Sherrilyn Kenyon books way back several volumes now is that the heroine has lost that bit of quirky goodness that I adored. She still has her patented sarchasm which is pretty smart but to have a heroine that is always basically perfect except for a few minor imperfections that most of us women yawn about and most now seem to know the martial arts which would be fine if the books weren’t more about the men’s story. When it’s a Dark-Huntress/Dream-Huntress, etc it makes sense for her to be able to kick butt at along with her man.
   
   I miss the old days of Bride who was a full figured woman, Sunshine who was basically the most forgetful and Grace who was so straighlaced. As I said, I did like this book I won’t take away that from it. Simone was pretty good she had a bit of her own history and had a great job to work from as a forensic scientist, but she was still kind of cookie cutter with the big secret that seemed a little contrived and easy answer for the situation.

   Xypher however was so worth my staying up all night to finish this book. His story was tragic and although a bit rushed was well worth any yawning I might have done which wasn’t much after the last two books. And it was all made up for with the introduction of some new characters along with some information to further the series.

   I hope that Sherrilyn Kenyon continues her uphill climb with this book and continues to bring us rich stories that compell us beyond reason to read them. This book does give me hope and I like so many others look forward to Acheron’s story only hoping she doesn’t easy out it with Artemis as his heroine or another perfect female lead.