The Dream Thief

Put it simply, this is a great book that really captures my imagination. Normally for any other fantasy story, I have to seriously suspend and stretch my disbelieve in order to get into the book. But Shana Abe makes it so easy because she tells the story like a fairy tale with her vivid imagination and beautifully chosen words. Zane and Lia are believable characters with great chemistry. During their journey through eastern Europe and finally through Carpathian mountains, I felt like I was there along with them. I can't wait for her next book.

I bought the Dream Thief even before I finished reading the Smoke Thief. Typically, I have found sequels come up short to the original...not so in this case. Ms. Abe has continued her Dragon tales with her wonderful imagination and spectacular writing. In the Dream Thief, we meet Zane, all grown up, handsome, fearless, and still very much on the wrong side of the law. The reader is introduced to Amalia, rumored un-Gifted daughter of Rue and Christoff. Amalia fancies herself in love with Zane from the time she is a child. Her premonition type dreams of the future guide her along the path that undoubetdly link the two of them together. Amalia grows into her Drakon beauty, as all of her kind do, and Zane meets up with her unexpectedly and is immediately drawn to her mystical essence. This is another incredible adventurous tale, with the retrieval of yet another diamond as its goal. We are taken on a grand journey into the Carpathian mountains where we learn of more Drakon beings and we discover the mystery of the *Draumr*, a diamond so powerful, it can control the very will of the Drakon. The charcters are well developed and the plot line is quite engaging. The romance aspect is charming, but the adventure and the story itself take center stage. Well worth the read and makes me yearn for the last of this trilogy that is at least a year away.

I love the way Shana Abe uses her imagination and how well she captures it on paper. She takes romance and fantasy and seamlessly blends the two. This book stands alone on it's own, but as a sequel it's fantastic. We start The Dream Thief years after the first book, The Smoke Thief and meet Kit and Rue's children, particularly Amalia, the youngest and the plainest of their offspring. She is the odd one out this time, wishing to be free and having none of the gifts of her parents or siblings. Or so everyone, including her, thinks. But fast forward five years and things definitely have changed. Zane, the former street urchin, has grown up into the King of Thieves and since he has the protection of the Smoke Thief herself, Rue, the Drakon suffer him to live and use him when they need him. His latest assignment, however, is the granddaddy of all heists and little does anyone know that Amalia will follow him and that she has the most unique gift of all. I loved Zane and Amalia. He was definitely a hero that could have gone either way, to the dark or the light. It was fun to see the twists and turns that led to the revelation that he needed Lia and what he would or wouldn't do to get her. They are exciting together and I love getting inside both of their heads to see what makes them tick and how they feel about the other. The love scenes, while passionate and heartfelt, were mostly brief, but that did not detract from the book at all. It was actually refreshing not to have the obligatory five page sex fest. That's not what this book is about. I would have liked to see the reaction of the Drakon to what happened at the end of the book, but perhaps we'll see some of that in the next. There surely has to be a next. I await it with much pleasure.

Zane, the young thief, from SMOKE THIEF has grown into a formidable man. He is the head of a very unique and prosperous gang of thieves. The draken of Darkfirth have used his abilities and underlings many times. Zane is the only human to know the truth about the draken, he is the only human they trust. Now is the time to recover the lost Draumr, a diamond that can control the draken. None of the draken are able to stand it's presence and none have been able to find it. It is more of a legend than a truth. But now it's song is heard by most of the draken and someone must be sent to find the diamond. Zane is promised 60,000 gold pieces to retrieve the diamond and return it to the draken. Unfortunately, he will find something he desires more than money. And Draumr may be the only way to gain it. Zane is not told of the powers of the diamond, nor is he told of the danger it holds for the draken. Amalia, one of the daughters of Rue and Kristin, the rulers of the draken, has a special connection to the diamond. She also has the gift of foretelling. She has not revealed any of these powers to her family. As a matter of fact her family thinks her powerless because she can't turn to smoke nor dragon. When she is 14 she sees in a vision that Zane will be her lover and husband, but she also sees that he will be touched by the power of Draumr. Her dreams show the destruction of her family and the draken by Zane. Now at the age of 19 the song of the diamond calls to her strongly and somehow she must try to change destiny and hope she can save the man she loves and her family. Yet unknown to her, there are other players in the game, her dreams have never shown her these things. With a full heart and a knowledge that things must be changed she leaves her school to follow Zane and force him to take her with him. This is a wonderful story full of romance and adventure. From the ballrooms of London to the ballrooms of the last Castle in the Carpathian Mountains we are carried along on the wings of legend and love. Shanna Abe is a wonderful storyteller, her unique take on dragons and magic make this one of those wonderful new fairytales for adults. I couldn't put it down. If you have read SMOKE THIEF you might enjoy it even more, but it is not necessary. I can't wait for the next book. I surely hope there will be one.

In Darkfirth, England Lady Amalia "Lia" Langford can "hear" the future in her dreams. In 1768 she began dreaming of the human Zane bringing the dreaded Draumr gem to her clan. Draumr is the only known item that can enslave Lia's people who are the shapeshifting Drakon, who live in the most remote mountainside of Northern England. The clan knows Zane, as Lia's mother, married to the Alpha leader, saved his life; he likewise knows their secrets too. In 1773 The Drakon enlist Zane to bring to them the Draumr as they plan to insure it can never be used against them. Zane agrees to travel to and find the gem in the Carpathian Mountains. However, he has plans to use the gem's power to further his affluence and clout. What he never expected was to meet a Drakon in Hungary, but Lia waits for him there as she has heard her future and he is intimately the core of it. The sequel to the delightful THE SMOKE THIEF, THE DREAM THIEF is a superb late eighteenth century romantic fantasy that grips readers from Lia's first dream until the final confrontation five years later. Lia is a fascinating character as she has broken clan rules and risks her heart to insure that her beloved Zane does not harm her people. Zane steals the show as a "bad boy" who must choose between thieving diamonds and love; readers and the heroine will not be sure which he will select. Harriet Klausner