Dawn of Darkness (Daeva) by Daniel A. Kaine
I think the main reason of this novel was to prove how stupid the war is and how rigid the military structure can be, above all if they try to see the world in Black and White.
The main characters of this novel are a group of kids with special powers. I say kids, even if they are probably in their twenties, since I had the feelings all these guys were taken from their family when they were still teenagers and they didn’t have the chance to grow into real adult and above all soldier. When the story starts they are approaching graduation day from the Military Academy, and to me it was like reading of boys approaching the last day of high school.
The story is told in first point of view by Mik, a misfit among them; Mik is an orphan and so he has no bad experience in his past with his family; all these boys have supernatural powers but this is not a bonus in this futuristic society, on the contrary you are considered an abomination, and most of the time your own family disown you… I think there is a parallelism here between being gay and having supernatural powers, like in today society you are disowned for being gay, in that futuristic society it happens the same when approaching adulthood you find out you have special skills people fear.
At the beginning I didn’t feel the attraction between Mik and his roommate Ash, but thinking at it twice, I noticed how Mik was jealous of his best friend; in any case it’s not Mik who does the first move, but Ash, almost taking advantage of Mik’s almost breakdown after he has to kill for the first time. Ash brings to bed a drunken Mik, and he has his way with him, tighten the bond between them that will last for all the novel, with some bumps on the road.
Dawn of Darkness is the first book in a series, and that is the reason why there is no a wrapping up ending; moreover, after the blow the author decided to give to the reader at the last chapter, he also opted for giving hope and the very last word will help many readers who maybe wanted a different ending.
Amazon: Dawn of Darkness: Daeva: Book One
Amazon Kindle: Dawn of Darkness: Daeva: Book One
Paperback: 328 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (November 18, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1466423714
ISBN-13: 978-1466423718
Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle