Dark Days (30 Days of Night, Book 2) by Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Dark Days (30 Days of Night, Book 2)
Book Review: The Word is Out...!
Summary: 4 Stars
DARK DAYS is the sequel to 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and focuses on Stella Olemaun in the aftermath of the horrific slaughter of the citizens of Barrow. Widowed, she has moved to Los Angeles and has now written a book about what happened in Barrow. The story starts with her doing publicity for her book which instigates the action that follows. Why? Because the book is damaging for vampires: It speaks of them and divulges their secrets, but is most damaging simply because it states that they exist. Naturally the vampires don't expect all of humanity to suddenly believe in their existence and promptly hunt them down, but they fear that it will renew interest in them and that some will believe. The vampires don't want this, as humanity's ignorance to their existence is the key to their prosperity and their survival. One expects that the vampires will aim to silence her, but so does Stella... and she's prepared...Although DARK DAYS doesn't have the focus, tension or horror of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, it doesn't mean it isn't as good - in fact, I actually think it's better. In 30 DAYS Steve Niles had a premise and ran with it. The story was gripping and well paced and other than it being sad and scary, there wasn't much else to the book. But that's what made it good: the simplicity and the focus of it. DARK DAYS is more in-depth, it's subtler and has more of a narrative in that it's a complex story that develops through each chapter. Even though it isn't horrific, it has a chilly feel to it because we are nevertheless dealing with vampires. There is also tension, as even though we don't have the claustrophobic setting of Barrow, there is a different threat to the setting of Los Angeles, as one never knows when or from where a vampire may appear.
30 DAYS OF NIGHT hints at the humanism behind the vampires - that they're not all merely sadistic creatures that have a thirst for blood. DARK DAYS elaborates on this and the joy of this book is having a closer look at the vampires; each vampire has different motives, agendas and loyalties, and they don't all get along.
The artwork is again excellent and Ben Templesmith's moody, expressive, artwork complements the feel of Niles' writing and smoothly drives the story, punctuating dramatic moments with exciting illustrations that arrest the audience. He works well with the summer hues and capitalises on its incongruity, making it add to the eeriness. The climate also adds a lot to the realism, which is much of what this book is about: taking it slow and trying to make us suspend our disbelief, and to this purpose Los Angeles is a perfect setting.
Thats what makes the book so good, the fresh and realistic angle on vampires, giving the feeling that its realistic and suggesting that there could just be vampires out there. In the end, we're all familiar with the idea of hissing vampires, running about in the dark - but seeing them standing and smiling in the lazy haze of the Los Angeles summer... somehow that makes them seem rather more realistic.
Book Review: seriously cool
Summary: 4 Stars
if you like your art messy, your action gory and you days dark, buy this. tho i'd recommend reading 30 days of night first.Book Review: An excellent sequel
Summary: 4 Stars
'DARK DAYS' by horror master Steve Niles begins where "30 Days of Night" finishes off. 16 months after the incident in Barrow, Alaska, survivor Stella Olemaun has written a book to tell the world about what happened in her small home town and also make everyone aware that vampires really do exist. She moves over to Los Angeles with a group of vampire killers, equipped and trained for any confrontations she may have with the blood-drinking predators. Trying to stop her on her way is Vincente's lover who is also the head of the vampires, along with the rest of the Los Angeles vampire population.
After such an excellent book that was "30 Days of Night" I thought it would be near impossible to better the brilliant vampire thriller. And although this isn't quite as good it does make a very good attempt, resulting in a hugely enjoyable and exciting sequel. The story has a lot more action in it than the first book and is just screaming to be made into a movie (which will no doubt happen soon enough). Stella's character is a lot different to the one in the original book as this time she is a lot tougher and ruthless. This is unfortunate as at points, she is a little cheesy, reminding me of Blade's comic and movie character or even Alice from the Resident Evil movies. There's also a stack of new characters (and one or two returning ones) that I hope will return in the following books.
If you've read the first book you will definitely enjoy this one as there are a lot of twists and shocks for anyone familiar to the original story. If you've not read the original it is also a great stand-alone book that can be enjoyed by complete newcomers to the series. The ending also has a massive cliffhanger so I can't wait to see what happens next in "Return to Barrow" and the new book "Eben and Stella".