I just finished Rises the Night, the second novel in Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampires Chronciles and I’m kind of annoyed. I think this is the first time I’ve come across a novel, wanting and expecting one thing, seeing how wrong I was throughout the entire novel and then finding out I was possibly right at the end. And I still don’t know because what I want to happen hasn’t happened yet.
Before I continue, let me clue you in on what has been happening in Victoria Gardella’s life. Rises the Night takes place about a year later, after the death of her husband. She’s now out of mourning and she really wants to kill some vampires. Except there are not any around. Soon, Victoria finds out that there is a new power play going on, involving Lilith’s son, Nedas, and that none of the Venators have heard from Max in over 10 months. Max was last seen in Rome and Victoria heads to Italy to try and stop the new power play and find otu what has happened to Max.
I will say that Victoria ends up finding Max rather sooner than she thought she would, and rather easily, but not in the manner she suspected. This is the part that has thrown me. I’m not going to say why because it could potentially spoil the entire novel for you, but the whole situation with Max is mindboggling to me. I so want Max and Victoria to get together, but all of the events in Rises the Night tell me that it is never going to happen. I constantly get this feeling, this sensation, that Max has deep feelings for Victoria, and that Victoria has them for Max; yet, they are doing everything but getting together. There are still quite a few novels in this series, so anything is possible, but it’s frustrating to see what these characters are going through.
However, if you think about it, the fact that I am so enraged at what these two are doing should say how powerful this novel is. To illicit such a response from me…should any mediocre novel be able to do that? Shouldn’t only those great works of fiction be able to provoke strong emotions in its readers? If a novel can provoke these feelings, then shouldn’t we be in awe of it? I know I am, especially with this series. It’s been awhile that a novel, a series, has been able to get a rise out of me. Make me wonder what is going on and keeping me off balance with the plot and characters. Just as you start to expect one thing, Gleason throws in twist after twist until you’re no longer sure which way is up.
This story arc she has going on has kept me on my feet and glued to the pages. With the ending the way it is, I so want to fly through The Bleeding Dusk just to see what is going on with Max and Victoria. Is another year going to pass by between novels? Will I be happy with the results or will Gleason throw yet another twist that will have my pulling my hair out because what I want and what I’m getting are not the same thing. Yet, the novel is even more compelling because I’m not getting what I want.
Either way, Rises the Night has just made it mandatory for me to continue with this series and quite possibly go out and buy the rest of the series so I won’t have to wait for the library to get it. Seriously, I don’t know why I haven’t read this series before now and if you haven’t, then get off your butt and get to the library. This series is so totally worth reading, even if you’re not into the whole historical time period.
Read Order:
The Rest Falls Away – excerpt
Rises the Night – excerpt
The Bleeding Dusk – excerpt
When Twilight Burns – excerpt
As Shadows Fade (March 2009) – excerpt
Also reviewed by:
Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Melody’s Reading Corner
You are very passionate about the series. It is deserving of every bit of it. One of my favourites as well.