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The Goblin #2
Demoniac Dance
Over ten years have passed since the humans waged war with the goblins. The goblins have become invisible once more, yet the memory of their existence haunts many who remember.
A young girl, Namah, flees her home and an unwanted marriage. Desperation takes her to the riverside, the site where as a toddler she was patted kindly by the goblin who had befriended Count Anton. But another memory of that day unsettles her as she pushes the small boat into the current. A memory of bubbles in the river, and of blood. There’s something in the water still.
Driven by a premonition that she belongs with the people across the river, she soon meets the children of Magicians...and of goblins. Yet there are greater challenges to face.
In the midst of conflict between species, between generations, and between the ever combative northern and southern humans, a new enemy arises from over the sea. Foreign humans come to invade, expecting an easy conquest of the rich lands that Count Anton has so wisely kept productive of food supplies. The goblins see the danger of this invasion to their own uneasy peace with the familiar local humans, but they disagree among themselves as to whether they will best serve their kind by helping the surface dwellers, or by leaving all humans to kill each other once and for all.
A young girl, Namah, flees her home and an unwanted marriage. Desperation takes her to the riverside, the site where as a toddler she was patted kindly by the goblin who had befriended Count Anton. But another memory of that day unsettles her as she pushes the small boat into the current. A memory of bubbles in the river, and of blood. There’s something in the water still.
Driven by a premonition that she belongs with the people across the river, she soon meets the children of Magicians...and of goblins. Yet there are greater challenges to face.
In the midst of conflict between species, between generations, and between the ever combative northern and southern humans, a new enemy arises from over the sea. Foreign humans come to invade, expecting an easy conquest of the rich lands that Count Anton has so wisely kept productive of food supplies. The goblins see the danger of this invasion to their own uneasy peace with the familiar local humans, but they disagree among themselves as to whether they will best serve their kind by helping the surface dwellers, or by leaving all humans to kill each other once and for all.
- GenresFantasy
234 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2012
About the author
Jaq D. Hawkins
39 books68 followersJaq D Hawkins is a British author in the genres of Steampunk, Fantasy and the occult. Her first published book, Understanding Chaos Magic (Capall Bann, 1996), was the first book on chaos magic to bring a general understanding of the subject to a wide audience, and earned her a place among the best known writers on chaos magic.
Her Spirits of the Elements series spread her reputation across a wider spectrum of the magical community and led to speaking engagements in far flung corners of the earth, including the US and Japan as well as the UK. She retired from public speaking in 2006, but started making exceptions on occasion in 2008. She is no longer able to travel to the US however, as they do not accept her British passport due to complications over her actual place of birth.
Of her subsequent books, the most popular is Chaos Monkey, which takes a unique perspective on the subject of magic and how it affects the lives of those who choose to follow a magical path. It personifies magic as The Monkey, a Trickster archetype that sometimes teaches powerful lessons through uncomfortable methods. Those who learn to laugh with The Monkey become stronger as a result.
In 2005 her first Fantasy novel, Dance of the Goblins, was published followed by Demoniac Dance and soon to be joined in 2012 by Power of the Dance.
In Steampunk, Jaq has released The Wake of the Dragon: A Steampunk Adventure and has two more Steampunk titles in progress.
She currently lives in Norwich, UK.
Her Spirits of the Elements series spread her reputation across a wider spectrum of the magical community and led to speaking engagements in far flung corners of the earth, including the US and Japan as well as the UK. She retired from public speaking in 2006, but started making exceptions on occasion in 2008. She is no longer able to travel to the US however, as they do not accept her British passport due to complications over her actual place of birth.
Of her subsequent books, the most popular is Chaos Monkey, which takes a unique perspective on the subject of magic and how it affects the lives of those who choose to follow a magical path. It personifies magic as The Monkey, a Trickster archetype that sometimes teaches powerful lessons through uncomfortable methods. Those who learn to laugh with The Monkey become stronger as a result.
In 2005 her first Fantasy novel, Dance of the Goblins, was published followed by Demoniac Dance and soon to be joined in 2012 by Power of the Dance.
In Steampunk, Jaq has released The Wake of the Dragon: A Steampunk Adventure and has two more Steampunk titles in progress.
She currently lives in Norwich, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 23, 2015
This was a new genre for me. I don't think I've ready any dark fantasy sword and sorcery books since Harry Potter, but I think maybe I should check out more because I thoroughly enjoyed Demoniac Dance. What impressed me the most was the wonderfully descriptive writing. The author paints a very vivid picture, which at times is absolutely lovely--especially at the beginning when we see everything new through Namah's eyes--and at times it's absolutely terrifying--as the story unfolds, there's a lot of conflict going on, and a lot of edge-of-your-seat moments full of detail that will really put you in the scene. Some of the non-human creatures featured in the book (particularly those who lived in the river) made Voldemort seem downright cuddly by comparison. Sorry about the Harry Potter mention (again) but like I said I'm new to the genre.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about Demoniac Dance was towards the end when we found out where exactly this post-apocalyptic community is located. I happen to have spent four years living there, so it was really cool to imagine it as described in this book.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about Demoniac Dance was towards the end when we found out where exactly this post-apocalyptic community is located. I happen to have spent four years living there, so it was really cool to imagine it as described in this book.
June 17, 2019
- An engrossing follow-up to Book 1 -
As with Book 1, I bought Book 2 as part of ‘The Goblin Trilogy’.
Ten years after the events of Book 1, we again meet Count Anton and many familiar Goblins and humans, friends and foes.
We also meet new friends and foes, both goblin and human, plus ... OTHERS...
See my review also at:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Demoniac-Dan...
As with Book 1, I bought Book 2 as part of ‘The Goblin Trilogy’.
Ten years after the events of Book 1, we again meet Count Anton and many familiar Goblins and humans, friends and foes.
We also meet new friends and foes, both goblin and human, plus ... OTHERS...
See my review also at:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Demoniac-Dan...
April 2, 2021
I enjoyed reading this story, but it left a lot of things unexplained. The setting is in Britain in the future, when all technology has been lost. An event called the 'Turning' is responsible, but that isn't explained. An uneasy peace exists between human and goblin kind, but they become brief allies when threatened by an invading group of humans. As this is the second in the series it may well be better to start with book one for a better understanding of the background.
November 8, 2018
Although this is technically the second book in a series, it stands alone and could easily be read as the first book for those who like more action in their Fantasy instead of the exposition and world building that characterized the first book.
It starts out with a young girl running away from an arranged wedding to join the magicians on the other side of the river in a post-apocalyptic London. The old city is in ruins, but a more primitive society has developed over time from the descendants of survivors of a cataclysm.
I liked the young characters in this. I think it would appeal to YA readers as much as to adults. The young Prince Alaric is a cheeky 10-year-old who can be very childish one moment, then very mature when circumstances require it. Namah, the girl who has run away, leads the story and it is through her eyes that we learn about the magicians and later, the goblins.
Instead of repeating the conflict between humans and goblins from the first book, an outside threat drives Count Anton to seek help from the goblins, but such assistance is far from guaranteed and there are some scary moments when he confronts a faction of goblins that would be happy to see all humans dead.
As with the first book, the world of the goblins is very primitive and tribal, but we get to see some different aspects of it than we saw in the first book and without wanting to give spoilers, dragons feature.
The book has a tidy ending, but leaves something open enough to make me want to read the third story. There are some unexpected surprises and I found the whole thing very emotional, though there were some very funny moments too. One of the things I liked best were the variety of interesting creatures related to the goblins and the different factions of goblins themselves, plus the ending was a heart wrencher. The writing is very accessible too. I read more than half of the book last night without realizing I had gone that far until it was nearly the end.
It starts out with a young girl running away from an arranged wedding to join the magicians on the other side of the river in a post-apocalyptic London. The old city is in ruins, but a more primitive society has developed over time from the descendants of survivors of a cataclysm.
I liked the young characters in this. I think it would appeal to YA readers as much as to adults. The young Prince Alaric is a cheeky 10-year-old who can be very childish one moment, then very mature when circumstances require it. Namah, the girl who has run away, leads the story and it is through her eyes that we learn about the magicians and later, the goblins.
Instead of repeating the conflict between humans and goblins from the first book, an outside threat drives Count Anton to seek help from the goblins, but such assistance is far from guaranteed and there are some scary moments when he confronts a faction of goblins that would be happy to see all humans dead.
As with the first book, the world of the goblins is very primitive and tribal, but we get to see some different aspects of it than we saw in the first book and without wanting to give spoilers, dragons feature.
The book has a tidy ending, but leaves something open enough to make me want to read the third story. There are some unexpected surprises and I found the whole thing very emotional, though there were some very funny moments too. One of the things I liked best were the variety of interesting creatures related to the goblins and the different factions of goblins themselves, plus the ending was a heart wrencher. The writing is very accessible too. I read more than half of the book last night without realizing I had gone that far until it was nearly the end.
March 29, 2021
Namah, has grown up with certain stereotypes of the others that live on the Northern side of the river. As, she will soon find out that different is not bad. She herself is a little odd....What I loved most about this story is that it expands the mind of the readers as well as it gives suspense and adventure. I for one was all about the Dance....why not allow yourself some fun and freedom? Freedom seems to be the key throughout this story. And, the author totally delivers in that area. Freedom to choose, free to be yourself, and a non judgement zone. The characters in the story are written in such a way that they could be your neighbor or best friend. That is what makes this story so relatable. I highly recommend this story to anyone who loves adventure and cultural differences. Thank you Voracious Readers Only and author.
June 18, 2020
I read this book because - for some reason - I had this one, but not the first in this series. It is about a future Earth in which technology and other advances turned backwards after something called "The Turning". This premise gives the story plausibility problems - because no attempt is really ever made to explain how such an unbelievable thing occurred. There are humans and "goblins" as the major humanoid-like races in this story. The goblins (again for some unexplained reason) seem to be a much more diverse bunch than the humans. This story seems to take shots at major organized religion and to blame a lot of stuff on it. I don't have a problem with this in and of itself. However, the author also seems to be attempting to appropriate deep southern American culture. I can't be absolutely certain that this is the case - but if it is, she was off the mark (this I can say with confidence as a resident of Alabama). The goblins, whom seem to be superior to humans in almost every conceivable way, nonetheless, seem to have an affinity for miscegenation with humans. Again, there is no plausible or believable explanation given as to why the goblins like to dilute their bloodline by copulating with humans. One character in the story says that "breeding is a part of nature", or something to that effect at some point in the story. While this is true - is miscegenation a part of nature? Or is it anti-nature?
This is not a bad book. It has interesting characters and a lot of fun moments. However, I just see too many flaws in areas like logic and plausibility to make this story be great. I will give it 3 stars, say it was worth reading, and I'll leave it at that.
This is not a bad book. It has interesting characters and a lot of fun moments. However, I just see too many flaws in areas like logic and plausibility to make this story be great. I will give it 3 stars, say it was worth reading, and I'll leave it at that.
February 25, 2022
I chose this book from Voracious Readers Only
Set in the future where the polar icecaps have melted and much of the UK is underwater.
Namah is a young girl about to be married off to a man twice her age who escapes across the river to the be met with open arms. The family and people she left behind appear to be very prejudice against various types of goblin who also live on the North shore and river.
I did give the book a good go and found it ok to start off with by after reading several chapters I got bored. I love fantasy fiction and don’t know what it was, but the characters couldn’t hold my attention any longer and I moved on to another book. Did go back to it a couple more times but eventually gave up. Sorry
Set in the future where the polar icecaps have melted and much of the UK is underwater.
Namah is a young girl about to be married off to a man twice her age who escapes across the river to the be met with open arms. The family and people she left behind appear to be very prejudice against various types of goblin who also live on the North shore and river.
I did give the book a good go and found it ok to start off with by after reading several chapters I got bored. I love fantasy fiction and don’t know what it was, but the characters couldn’t hold my attention any longer and I moved on to another book. Did go back to it a couple more times but eventually gave up. Sorry
March 13, 2022
Demoniac Dance contains some form of magic spell within its pages, so much so that I was present within the story itself. The drumming vibrated within me, the dancing had me swaying, the physical coldness that overcame me when traveling underground, the raw emotions, love, fear, hate, admiration, all crept up within. How I had become a participant within the story, I do not know. But I enjoyed every minute of it.
I received an ARC from VRO and am leaving an honest review.
I received an ARC from VRO and am leaving an honest review.
September 9, 2021
An amazingly engaging story. Character and world building skills that pull you right into the thick of it. From start to end I could barley put this book down. Are goblins monsters or does their society hold value just as humans? Find yourself cheering for the "monsters" of lore. Open your heart and mind to a whole new world. I desperately hope for a sequel.
May 15, 2021
After receiving a complimentary copy of this book via Voracious Readers I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are wonderful, the story is told from a few different characters point of view, and I just couldn't put it down as I read it in one afternoon. I would recommend reading it.
April 22, 2021
I received a free copy from voracious readers. Enjoyed the book, was a little bit slow the first few pages, but picked up nicely
April 8, 2022
Loved it from start to finish
Well written
Great characters
Looking forward to more
Highly recommend
Well written
Great characters
Looking forward to more
Highly recommend
May 2, 2012
I read a review copy of this that I'd been sent by the author. Let's be honest, on looking at the blurb, I was wondering if saying I'd review had been a good idea. It wasn't long though before I realized that there is much more to this story than meets the eye.
The first clue is that the writing is good. It never drops below polished and competent, but it has passages where it really shines. The initial description of Namah's flight from her village early in the morning when she runs away from the marriage that has been arranged for her is captivating and pushed me to read on.
I found out that this world is a post-apocalyptic one (this may be a spoiler, though I don't think so – I've come to this as the second book in a series and don't know what was revealed in the first). There are goblins in this tale, but they are descended from humans. They have powers which seem magical, but they aren't the Harry Potter style of magic that I find hard to accept.
The goblins are very easy to believe as another species, related to humans, but culturally as well as physically different. Their lifestyle and customs are well imagined and give evidence of a lot of very serious world building.
I found myself warming to this as I read on. There are battle sequences that read like warfare should – in my opinion anyway. There are people who have conflicting desires and motivations for their behavior. That's good – all the real ones that I've met usually have those.
There is good politics between the different factions and believable behavior from the magical beasts.
The only thing that I found lacking is perhaps a feature of me coming into a series late, or maybe a thing that the author didn't want to reveal yet because the series is not finished. There is quite a lot in the story that shows its world to be linked to ours. I found myself really wanting to know more about the links, to know how this world came about.
I can understand that that isn't a project of any of the people in the story, but I found I wanted it to be. I want them to want to know how their world came into being. I want to know how magic came into this world and the only way I felt I'd find out was if they decided that they wanted that too. Perhaps this will happen in the next part of the story.
At the end of this part, I wasn't sure about that and that is the reason why this got four stars from me rather than five. That might be a bit mean, but I'd been enthralled by the concept and wanted to know how it worked out. When I got to the end of the story and found that there wasn't a clear sign that I'd ever know, I felt a bit let down. With luck, the answer comes in the next part of the tale. For certain I'd read the next book to find out if it answers my questions and probably the first to see what it adds to my understanding of this world.
Definitely it’s a book to read. The imagination is captivating and a lot of strands of story-telling are woven together skillfully. I'm sure if I go back to it, I'll find things that I overlooked the first time. I hope that if I go on with it, it will lead me to a world of magic that I can understand and accept.
The first clue is that the writing is good. It never drops below polished and competent, but it has passages where it really shines. The initial description of Namah's flight from her village early in the morning when she runs away from the marriage that has been arranged for her is captivating and pushed me to read on.
I found out that this world is a post-apocalyptic one (this may be a spoiler, though I don't think so – I've come to this as the second book in a series and don't know what was revealed in the first). There are goblins in this tale, but they are descended from humans. They have powers which seem magical, but they aren't the Harry Potter style of magic that I find hard to accept.
The goblins are very easy to believe as another species, related to humans, but culturally as well as physically different. Their lifestyle and customs are well imagined and give evidence of a lot of very serious world building.
I found myself warming to this as I read on. There are battle sequences that read like warfare should – in my opinion anyway. There are people who have conflicting desires and motivations for their behavior. That's good – all the real ones that I've met usually have those.
There is good politics between the different factions and believable behavior from the magical beasts.
The only thing that I found lacking is perhaps a feature of me coming into a series late, or maybe a thing that the author didn't want to reveal yet because the series is not finished. There is quite a lot in the story that shows its world to be linked to ours. I found myself really wanting to know more about the links, to know how this world came about.
I can understand that that isn't a project of any of the people in the story, but I found I wanted it to be. I want them to want to know how their world came into being. I want to know how magic came into this world and the only way I felt I'd find out was if they decided that they wanted that too. Perhaps this will happen in the next part of the story.
At the end of this part, I wasn't sure about that and that is the reason why this got four stars from me rather than five. That might be a bit mean, but I'd been enthralled by the concept and wanted to know how it worked out. When I got to the end of the story and found that there wasn't a clear sign that I'd ever know, I felt a bit let down. With luck, the answer comes in the next part of the tale. For certain I'd read the next book to find out if it answers my questions and probably the first to see what it adds to my understanding of this world.
Definitely it’s a book to read. The imagination is captivating and a lot of strands of story-telling are woven together skillfully. I'm sure if I go back to it, I'll find things that I overlooked the first time. I hope that if I go on with it, it will lead me to a world of magic that I can understand and accept.
August 4, 2013
Namah, a young woman from the far side of the river, escapes an arranged marriage on her wedding day. After a harrowing pre-dawn ride in a tipsy boat, she meets wonderful magician friends--one of them Namah's older sister who was also a runaway bride. But trouble threatens Namah's magic-filled life on this side of the river.
Count Anton receives a visit from a bureaucrat bearing the unwelcome news of a neighboring king claiming Anton's lands. An invasion force will soon swarm up the river. Anton's people are farmers and craftsmen, not soldiers. And the reclusive underground goblins refuse to help. After years of hateful actions from Anton's people, the goblins have good reasons for leaving the surface dwellers to their fate.
Without goblin fighters, even Namah and her young women friends must help however they can. These king's soldiers terrify Anton's inexperienced fighters, but when the would-be conquerors draw blood from Anton's long-time goblin friend Haghuf, the escalated war is more than Namah, Count Anton, and their unwelcome visitors could ever imagine.
Coming of age stories are a timeless delight, and Demoniac Dance delivers. Namah is a clever untrained magician, but she struggles with pubescent naïveté. Count Anton is also a complex figure of a practical ruler who, ten years after marrying his Countess Ariane and producing a son, has fooled himself for the duration by saying he does not regret marrying the wrong woman. By the end of Demoniac Dance, we see his actions, thoughts, and heart align.
Count Anton receives a visit from a bureaucrat bearing the unwelcome news of a neighboring king claiming Anton's lands. An invasion force will soon swarm up the river. Anton's people are farmers and craftsmen, not soldiers. And the reclusive underground goblins refuse to help. After years of hateful actions from Anton's people, the goblins have good reasons for leaving the surface dwellers to their fate.
Without goblin fighters, even Namah and her young women friends must help however they can. These king's soldiers terrify Anton's inexperienced fighters, but when the would-be conquerors draw blood from Anton's long-time goblin friend Haghuf, the escalated war is more than Namah, Count Anton, and their unwelcome visitors could ever imagine.
Coming of age stories are a timeless delight, and Demoniac Dance delivers. Namah is a clever untrained magician, but she struggles with pubescent naïveté. Count Anton is also a complex figure of a practical ruler who, ten years after marrying his Countess Ariane and producing a son, has fooled himself for the duration by saying he does not regret marrying the wrong woman. By the end of Demoniac Dance, we see his actions, thoughts, and heart align.
March 11, 2015
This story begins with Namah, a young run away bride and a trip across a river. It quickly evolves into a wide world filled with mysteries and mythical creatures. There were several things in the novel that pleasantly surprised me (no spoilers) the first is that although I came to the series in the second book, I never felt lost about what was going on, but I did get a deep sense of the character's history with one another. The second was the depth of the goblin culture. If I had to pick one thing, this would be what I loved the most. Hawkins teases with bits of knowledge and secrets of this fascinating people, but never enough that we feel satisfied that we fully understand them, leaving the air of mystery intact right until the end. Lastly I was definitely intrigued at the setting, there are hints through the book (and I assume the first book as well) that the novel is set in post apocalyptic times, somehow this made the story even better for me. If you are looking for a fun and magical adventure then I would recommend giving this book a read.
December 17, 2012
This is an awesome read and doesnt dissapoint. The world Hawkins has created is full of wonderful strong characters. Strong imagery and plot hooks helped me read this book in two days. The characters such as Count Anton and Namah are 3 dimensional with deep emotions. oN THE WHO;LE i AM VERY PLEased with this book.
February 20, 2015
Review to come
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews