Book #10: A Dream of Ice by Gillian Anderson & Jeff Rovin
Number of pages: 279
This is the second book in the "Earthend Saga", continuing on from the previous book, A Vision of Fire and includes similar themes to the original book, including moments where characters suffer bizarre seizures and also the central character Caitlin's son Jacob speaking in tongues.
After an introductory chapter that features a hard-to-explain tragedy involving an airship, we learn that Caitlin has developed psychic powers; she also encounters a mysterious (and creepy) woman who appears out of nowhere on a subway train, and later on in Caitlin's living room; inevitably, we do find out exactly who she is later on.
The next bit is behind a spoiler cut for the benefit of anyone who has not read the first book and doesn't want that one spoiled.
[Spoilers for A Vision of Fire]
At the end of the first book, Caitlin learned of the existence of the Galderkhaan, an ancient race that once inhabited the earth. This book involves them heavily as another character, Mikel Jesser, searches for evidence of their previous inhabitation. I found Mikel's story more exciting and engaging, as it involved the appearance of tiles that somehow allowed him to see into the past and the Galderkhaan's attempts to perform an "ascension" ritual to prevent themselves from perishing in a natural disaster, and later on involves him communicating with the spirits of the Galderkhaan and their attempts to involve him and Caitlin in their efforts to survive, although this will evidently alter the future. This also apparently involves telepathic communication with Caitlin and also speaking to her through Jacob.
At times, I felt like this book was a bit too difficult, although it was actually quite a simple plotline, and a few times I had to go back and re-read things to make sure I had grasped what was happening with all the talk of psychic connections involving magic rocks and tiles. It occurred to me after I'd finished that there had been plot elements that reminded me of Stephen King's The Shining and its sequel, Doctor Sleep, mostly because it involved time slippages and telepathic confrontations. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first book, and was a bit concerned that the ending was going to be a bit of a cop-out that did not progress the plot much further. Luckily, I didn't need to worry as the final paragraph provided an unexpected twist ending that made me look forward to reading the third installment, which will probably take the series in a completely new direction.
Next book: Dull Men of Great Britain (Leland Carlson)