I read over 40 books last year, but when Becca asked me to consider a top pick for 2010 I was stumped. You’d think picking a favorite would be a breeze. After all, doesn't everyone have an alert system in their mind that blinks the words “FAVORITE! FAVORITE!” when you've got a winner? Like the flashing neon signs in Vegas whenever someone hits the jackpot at the slot machines?

Well, the batteries in my alert system must've gone kaput. So much had happened that I was hard pressed to even remember what I'd read. Since my actual books are scattered willy-nilly around my home, I peeked at my Goodreads site and clicked on the read-in-2010 bookshelf. Perusing the book cover icons, it was easy to identify those that wrapped me with warm fuzzies. One in particular was cozier than the rest.

Marjorie Liu’s In the Dark of Dreams.

I had the privilege to review this for The Season and later published the post on my blog, it's KRISTAL kLEEr.

Here's some of what I had to say:

Young love.
One born of land. One born of the sea.
Two hearts when torn asunder, 
only a Kraken can mend.

Jenny Jameson was twelve when she met Perrin, the mer-boy with silver hair and ice blue eyes. She only knew him a few minutes before his father dragged him back to sea. Yet in those precious moments her heart had fastened onto Perrin and his heart held steadfast to her.


She searched for him daily, in that particular spot of beach. Though, she never saw him there again, she met him every night in her dreams. When the dreams abruptly stopped, Jenny looked for Perrin. But he wasn’t on the beach, or any other place in the world she searched. Still, she kept looking.


Perrin never expected to find the red-haired girl with whom he’d shared his childhood dreams. He held on to the memories, for they gave him hope. Hope he desperately needed after being stripped of his identity and exiled from the sea. He’d resigned himself to a meager existence on land, waiting for his time to die.


One day the dolphins at the aquarium where Perrin worked shared a vision. A vision of impending doom and his red-haired girl. In that moment, Perrin knew that he must do everything in his power to find her. To save her.

In the Dark of Dreams begins with a telling of Jenny and Perrin's first meeting. Written in faery tale fashion,the prologue reads likes a children's bedtime story. It’s mesmerizing in its simplicity and absolute magick. Through out the story, the author uses vivid details to describe life under the sea and above it. Her characters as beautiful as they are terrifying.

This story reminded me of the ancient epics like Beowulf, The Iliad, and The Odyssey. However, it's very much a contemporary fantasy overflowing with edge of your seat adventure which is why it's my choice for Best Read in 2010. I loved it. I hope you do too.

~kristal lee
www.kristalleeromances.com