DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
Members' Mausoleum => Calendar Events / Announcements Archive => Calendar Events / Announcements '24 I => Calendar Events / Announcements '05 II => Topic started by: PennyDreadful on December 19, 2005, 04:32:51 AM
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The cover image for Lara Parkers upcoming book "The Salem Branch" is up at www.collinwood.net.
Does anyone know if this book deals with the Miranda and Judah backstory? I'd be interested in reading LP's take on that.
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Oooo, I like the cover!
In answer to your question, I posed exactly that question to Lara Parker during a Q&A at the festival in NYC a few years ago, and she said that yes, she would be dealing with Judah Zachary and Miranda! I'm fascinating with that area of DS, so I can't wait to see what Ms. Parker does with it.
She had also talked about using the ergot fungus theory as a hallucinatory explanation behind the events at Salem/Danvers in 1692 (?). I'm hoping she changed her mind, though. Although that theory has received a fair amount of publicity, not a lot of scholars put much stock in it.
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Cool. I too am fascinated by the Judah/Miranda coven backstory. The show left a lot of questions there, and I'm curious to see what Lara does with those concepts. The fungus hallucinations I could do without though. :)
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I find the description of Julia in the book as "virtuous" pretty amusing. IMO, Julia and Angelique had rather a lot in common, obsessing over their mutual favorite vampire guy, and doing almost anything--- and NOT necessarily nice from Julia's end either--- to get him. That much having been said, I can't wait to read this new Parker opus. Her earlier book had its flaws and errors, but it was pretty interesting and compelling overall. Certainly a LOT better than---dare I say it?--- Hawkes Harbor!
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I haven't read the Lara Parker book yet. I did read Hawkes Harbor. I wish that this book had been better, and that it had been kept as a Dark Shadows book. The idea of showing the story from Willie's point of view was great. I wonder if the book was better before Hinton had to rewrite it.
Having books out there that are about our show is a good thing. Look at all of the Star Trek books. I wish there were more DS books being written.
I will have to find Lara's book and read it. How about a few reviews here from people who have read it?
Misa
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I know this wont happen, but I wish they would republish her last book Angelique's Descent in honor of her new book. A lot of fans, mostly the new ones, didn't have a chance to buy her last book. I'm definitely buying her new book before it goes out of print.
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That's a better cover than the cover for Angelique's Descent, IMO. I've only read AD once, though I do own it. I'll pick up Salem Branch when it comes out.
I guess I'm in the minority with Hawke's Harbor. I thought it was an entertaining read. Of course it would've been much better if it had been left as a DS book as I think it should have been.
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I liked Hawkes Harbour well enough, but it could have been much better. I wish I could read the version she wrote that would have been a Dark Shadows book. I wonder why the publishers rejected it.
Misa
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Hinton's book was originally slated to follow Dreams of the Dark, but then HarperCollins eliminated their entertainment division (HarperPrism) which ran the media tie-in books. Hinton reworked the details and was able to sell it as an original, stand-alone novel. It wasn't so much a matter of the publisher rejecting the book as a Dark Shadows novel as it was the whole line being cancelled.
Lara's next book is coming out from Tor, but unless something's changed that I'm not aware of, it's a single-book deal. They're not relaunching -- or continuing -- a full line of Dark Shadows novels.
As it turns out, some friends gave me Hawke's Harbor tonight, so I'm looking forward to reading it.
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Mark, I know you are very busy but could you give a brief critique of the novel. I value your opinion. Thanks in advance.
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It may be awhile before I get a chance to read the book, but I'll certainly post my opinion. The hard part of reading a book like this is getting past the tendency to say "I would have done it THIS way." ;)
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it was obvious that it was about willie loomis(at least to me) a friend of mine at work read it
and hated it when they introduced the vampire. she had never seen DS and
thought the whole book was stupid so i don't know maybe you have to be a Willie fan
jennifer
also Vlad i agree the salem witch hunts to me were about powerful men wanting to steal others land and using
young girls to do it with false claims
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I liked Hawkes Harbour well enough, but it could have been much better. I wish I could read the version she wrote that would have been a Dark Shadows book.
I picked up a copy of Hawkes Harbor over the holidays at a local used bookstore and finally finished reading it last night. What Misa wrote here pretty much sums up what was going through my mind as I read it.
I would love to know how close this is to what she initially envisioned and to what extent she "revised" events from the original series to suit her own purposes before any tinkering had to take place to avoid any legal issues. Some of the changes were rather interesting.
[spoiler]The connection between Jason and Liz is a departure from what DS used from Art Wallace's The House. Though it's not as dramatic, I thought it worked.[/spoiler]
The book starts off pretty well, and I like the background we're given on the relationship between Jason and Willie, but the final chapters put characters in environments that are a bit far from what one would expect from the original series.
[spoiler]Barnabas and Willie on a cruise ship?[/spoiler]
The book seems to fall apart and become far less interesting once Barnabas and Willie are on their way toward some sort of "normal" life, and
[spoiler]I really wish she hadn't chosen to end the book with Willie's death and a heavenly reunion with Jason. I thought it was a bit cheesy. Something more open-ended probably wouldn't have been nearly as corny.[/spoiler]
Despite its flaws, though, I'm glad I read it. It's an interesting exercise in "what if?".
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The prologue and first chapter of The Salem Branch (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765304570/criseydsdarkshad) are now posted on Lara Parker Online (http://www.laraparker.com/), her official web site.
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"Barnabas Collins, the vampire hero of the series, has recently become a human again through the efforts of his devoted descendent Dr. Julia Hoffman and is living in current day Collinsport, Maine trying to adjust to normal life."
[hdscrt] ::)