Vampire Hunter D Volume 5: The Stuff of Dreams

Vampire Hunter D #5

by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Yoshitaka Amano (Illustrator)

In a world where even the smallest and most remote village is being terrorized by the monsters that stalk the night, there is a hamlet, prosperous and peaceful, where mortals and vampires have lived in harmony for years. It is there that seventeen-year-old Sheavil Schmidt has slept, neither waking nor aging, for thirty years since first receiving the vampire's immortal kiss. The mysterious Vampire Hunter D is lured to the tranquil oasis by recurrent dreams of the beautiful, undying girl bathed in an eerie blue light and dancing in a ghostly chateau.

The Stuff of Dreams is volume 5 in a seventeen volume series.

Vampire Hunter D is a co-publication of DH Press and Digital Manga Publishing.

FOR MATURE READERS

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Vampires, Manga, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Fiction

204 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 1986

Reviews

[F.D. Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vampire Hunter D. Is there anything more to say about it? Without a doubt, this story series, written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, continues to enthrall me and my vampire and vampire hunting obsession. As he commented in the postscript about vampire influences, our childhoods couldn’t be much more the same in that these types of stories have always fascinated our minds. Vampires and their immortal lives. Hunters who must track down these creatures of the night. They go hand in hand. And I applaud any author who writes in the parameters of these fantasies.

The Stuff of Dreams, volume 5, was quite a different take on perception in the novel series. I will admit I was intrigued from the beginning of the book and had a hard time reading anything else in the interim. I needed to know what this “dream within dream” idea was and came from. No spoilers here, but imagine an entire village that thrived on the reality of their existence, their perception, mind you. Kikuchi brings it to a whole new level in vampire slaying. D taking on his enemies within his sleep. A mysterious archer watches D from the shadows but is it's intention to murder the cautious D, or watch over his back. The stage is set in The Stuff of Dreams as D falls asleep one night in the forest and wakes to a world where vampires and humans coexist . Can such a reality be possible? The mystery builds throughout the story and some critical points lead down a path that will leave your head spinning. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not.

In The Stuff of Dreams, the reader will need to pay close attention to what is happening throughout the story, because if not, they will become utterly lost, having to read back in certain areas to understand what exactly happened. Being that this story is only 217 pages in the paperback english version, it felt a little crammed with material trying to break its way out onto the pages. There was a lot to show here, but not enough time in which to do it. As always, Kikuchi will leave you guessing at character agendas, and will surprise you at the end.

As for the countenanced carbuncle (D's left hand) not much more is elborated on it's origin or purpose, only that it IS there and like always, offering asinine advice that pisses D off. It does make for a stressful dynamic in character development. And similar to past novels, this comical symbiosis is short lived. I am curious as to when this union will be explained in depth.

4 out of 5 stars
F. D. Gross

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

D travels the apocalyptic frontier in search of those in need. He eventually stumbles upon a mysterious village unlike any he’s ever seen, a village where humans and vampires once lived in tranquility together. The entire village has been consumed by the dreams of a girl named Sybille, who's been sleeping for thirty years. All the inhabitants of the village are trapped in the never-ending peace of her dream world. Sybille wants D’s help to awaken from her false reality, but the other villagers wish to keep dreaming forever. D must decide the most humane course of action before he gets lost in the world of dreams for all eternity as well.

An interesting premise, but definitely the weakest book overall so far in my opinion. It tried to do something very different from the previous four books, but its execution in doing so was quite messy. It’s very trippy, phasing in and out of alternate realities created by multi-layered dreams that each hold a piece to a mystery that needs to be solved. It’s difficult to comprehend what’s real and what’s false. In some ways it felt reminiscent of one of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion novels, but the execution wasn’t quite as strong or logically thought out.

Since most of the story took place within a dream cycle, there wasn’t much room for new world building and intense monster slaying action which have been the strongest points of the series so far. There also wasn’t much room for character development or exploring the motives behind any of the characters since you never know what is real and what actually left any true impact or consequences on the world.

Not bad, but definitely the weakest volume and doesn’t stick the landing on a lot of the metaphysical concepts introduced here.

My rating: 3.3/5

[ElectricOutcast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vampire Hunter D: Link's Awakening

Review in reference to: https://www.graphicaudio.net/vampire-...

Granted that the original Game Boy came out in 1989, with The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening coming out in 1993, but this volume of Vampire Hunter D felt very influential in the creation of that Zelda game, when the original novel came out in 1986. The similar themes revolving around sleeping and dreams felt so staggering to me, and now that I'm thinking about it, the story almost felt similar to The Adventures of Link, because that plot dealt with a sleeping princess that needed help waking up.

But aside from finding similarities between this novel and The Legend of Zelda, the audio quality, like always is very top notch and it's nice to hear David Cui Cui and Terence Aselford starting to get into a groove on how their characters should act together and I'm looking forward to their continued acting work when I get to listening to Volume 6.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another good VHD novel, although this one was more surreal than most. I have to say the worldbuilding in this series is the best I've seen this side of Tokien or Robert E. Howard, something I've probably said before. Just a really great series.

This volume puts D in a dream world, but it's very similar to the dangerous world he usually inhabits so he handles things well, as he always does.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was some suprising read. I read it in one go, well in one morning. Thats highly unusual for me but I had to go to the medic and after five hours of it I finish the book. Living an hour away from the hospital sometimes got its perks.

After a year or something away from D I really wanted to get in the mood because I like the idea behind him but at some time I feel like some trepidation reading these novels.

Vampire Hunter D is a mighty god alike without flaws and that is my main problem with him. After reading the previous novels I felt that I really couldnt connect with him. But since I had enjoyed the scenarios Kikuchi portrays, the setting, the amazing vistas, the odd animals/beasts that roam the land that is a mix of post apocalyptic and western is great. Unfortunaly the characters has his flaws. I enjoy the "upgrade" we got on D and his Hand but at the same time they feel distant as previous books. It seem that after so many battles. no one can defeat him and he knows it. He is as I said a perfect dhampir god. This upsets me because I fail to "feel" the character battles because I already know the outcome.

In this novel D is summoned by a dream to a town where the nobility lives side by side with humankind or at least had and no harm befalls his inhabitants. The source of these dreams is a girl that has been asleep for 30years.

Interesting plot yet simple to understand and this novel reminds me of some noir/mystery from the 40's.

[Sparrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could not leave some things alone. I couldn't go through two pages without the narrator reminding me of how gorgeous D was, or how silent he was, or how he did nothing. Honestly, it read like a bad romance anime.

I cannot deny that the art for these books are amazing. But the writing itself is confusing and repetitive. Even though I've finished the book, I still don't really understand what happened. Too many bloody plot twists, and HOW many dreams were there? Every female character in these books is the same - defiant, but weak, and in love with a cold D.

Once I've finished reading the books I bought a few years ago, I will discontinue reading and buying this series. It was painful to get through.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

More fun pulp. Not a great deal more to say.

[Dnemes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my first – and probably last – foray into the literary world of VHD, and I was quietly disappointed in the end. And still is. I got introduced to the world by the 2000 anime, Bloodlust, and that one I've enjoyed immensely – but apparently the adaptation medium (anime) is much more appropriate for the material than the original.

I suspect, that it's not the translation's fault that the writing is terrible. Elaborating on that, I mean that characterisations (especially D's) are flat and repetitive, sentences often are a convoluted mess trying to read as poetically vague, and even action scenes are hard to get, and are often without flow. They read like cut-by-cut transcriptions of anime fight-scenes, which are often ridiculous in their original medium, and are outright hilariously bad in writing. Descriptions lack imagination, and are repetitive – for such a short novel, ridiculously so (from the unearthly beautiful Hunter's gleaming, spotless, silver sword I got PTSD-flashbacks to fanfiction-Harry Potter's killing-curse-emerald-green-orbs).

For being the continuation of the source material, it sure read as a bad, but seriously-taken fanfiction of the anime.

The world introduced is interesting and haunting, but fails to come alive, as characters don't fill it with life. No one has a personality, so attachment to and identification with them becomes impossible. There is no small-scale conflict, banter, or any kind of real interaction, only cold stills of D giving or getting the cold shoulder. His aimlessness makes all of the plot aimless, even thought it tries to be multi-layered, and noir-mystery-like.

So yeah. Falls flat. Such a pity.

[AoC · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're unfamiliar with Vampire Hunter D, or haven't checked out my reviews for the series so far, there are some constants that bear repeating for The Stuff of Dreams as well. The usual "take a shot whenever D is described as beautiful" is very much still in effect for example, although I discourage practicing it unless you fancy a visit to the hospital. How does D's fifth and ethereal tale fare in the grand scheme then?

Appropriately enough The Stuff of Dreams opens with our dhampir protagonist having a dream in which a young woman invites him to a remote village so he can rather nebulously "help her". When D gets there, and is consistently surprised by how peaceful and well-off the village is compared to the rest of the Frontier, he discovers the girl in white dancing in a blue mansion is actually Sybille Schmitz. You see, she's only seventeen but has apparently been asleep for the last 30 years having been bitten by a vampire. That's not even the weirdest part, though - entire village has dreamed of D. From the rugged sheriff Krutz who has history with Sybille to another teenage girl called Nan and her infatuation with our unlikely hero. What's the connection and why can't D leave this village surrounded by mist?

Mystery at hand, although I think you'll figure out the twist well before the story starts with dreams-with-dreams revelations, is central to the story. Which makes it underwhelming the entire thing is rather plain with unnecessary repetition of certain scenes like D returning to the dream mansion now and then. There's a good fifth that could've been excised from this already short 200-ish page story. You also get rogue elements like village vigilante committee who, to credit their ignorance, decide egos need some stroking and think their power armor means they can take on D before they learn just how bad at math they are. Introduced much later are also the Bio brothers who exemplify another pet peeve of mine with the series - bandits, fellow Hunters and other forms of strongmen all seem to know who D is by reputation, know how incredibly competent he is... and yet have absolutely no qualms over throwing their lives away to take him out. There's professionalism and there's good old insanity.

What I found lacking in engaging story or characters, novel makes up for with sheer atmosphere. It's the contrast between the nameless village and other locales we've seen so far that makes it stand out. It's also one of the earliest giveaways something's not right. Action bits in Vampire Hunter D overall have this tendency to come across as arbitrary and exist merely to upset the pacing. Given the nature of dreams where anything goes we get some really decent fights, though. D is even slightly, only slightly mind you, in danger of having to go beyond his usual stoic badass. Aforementioned conditions under which these encounters unfold also make the stakes unclear most of the time and our protagonist is saved more than once by pure happenstance.

At the of the day the question is would I recommend The Stuff of Dreams? It's a more complicated answer than I expected. I find myself wishing it wasn't so self-contained and entirely skippable by nature alone, but this perhaps also makes it a decent way to peek into the series with no strings attached? If you're already reading Vampire Hunter D this one is just kinda… there. Unless you have a fixation on dreams and what could be done with them in a setting like this one where supernatural and technology meet.

[Carl Bacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Femte Vampire Hunter D bog i år, og jeg må sige jeg har nydt dem meget! Selv om det måske ikke er kunst på en højre plan er det bare bedre end alt det andet! Steinbeck, sure han er et geni og skriver bøger der siger noget dybere om mennesker og vores samfund. MEN har hans bøger om en overdimensioneret halv-vampyr vampyr-jæger med en hånd der taler til ham og spiser vinden? Nej tænkte jeg nok! Og er Steinbecks hovedkarakterer verdens smukkeste menneske/skabning som alle piger luster over (og sådan mænd gør det også) især de 17-18 årige der i hver bog efter et halvt minut er klar på at dedikere hele deres liv til ham? Checkmate Steinbeck, få dig lidt stil! (No hate på Steinbeck btw)

[branewurms · Rating 4 out of 5]

eta: It just occurred to me that this book was basically VHD: Inception, a;lskdjf;lkj l-lol.

Uh, okay, I like, totally unironically enjoyed the shit out of this one. And it features D battling giant fluffy monster chicks. GO FIGURE. Cheep cheep.

(...How embarrassing.)

(...Well, not really, I just feel like I should make a show of being embarassed to preserve my dignity.)

It was even trippier than the usual VHD fare... which probably accounts somewhat for how much I enjoyed it. Also, there seems to be a steady improvement in the treatment and character development of the lady characters. No rape tropes! And the ladies actually got to be important and interesting in this one! Even some ladies who were not young and beautiful and of the heaving bosoms! ...Which also probably accounts somewhat for how much I enjoyed it!

The prose remains painfully awkward and terrible, and I often find myself having to re-read a passage several times in order to figure out exactly what it was trying to say, but it is improving, I think. And apparently, if you throw enough of the kind of crap that makes my brain light up and go squee at me, I stop caring that your writing is shit.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

What if you were unable to wake from that dream etc etc.

While I read Stuff of Dreams, I kept thinking about the old Game Boy game Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (or 夢を見る島, “The Dreaming Isle”). They’re very similar, to the point that I wonder if the game was inspired at all by the book. In both, the hero is drawn to a remote location which contains an idyllic village full of happy but strange people unconcerned with the outside world. In both, the hero disrupts that isolation, and gradually learns that there is more to this isolated existence than meets the eye. In both, everything ends in tragedy as the price of the idyllic happiness can no longer be paid.

That's the case in Stuff of Dreams. D arrives in an isolated Frontier village where the inhabitants are doing pretty well. There are few monsters to worry about, the harvests are bountiful, the people are healthy, and they even apparently had a good relationship with the Nobility and don't remember them with complete loathing the way people do elsewhere. And why not? The Nobility taught them how to make apple pie, a secret lost in the wars that destroyed ancient human civilization. What a wonderful village. If only everywhere else on the Frontier could be like it, maybe the world wouldn't be so bad. If only.

Link’s Awakening was better than Stuff of Dreams, though, because the characters were likeable. A recurring problem in the Vampire Hunter D books I've read so far is that D is a cypher who is omnicompetent in battle but has no social skills and basically no personality, there's one female character who can see past D's existence as a dhampir and treat him the way she would treat anyone else, and everyone else is a bunch of malcontents and nogoodniks. The only other character who's remotely interesting is Sheriff Krutz, because he's not sure about what to do and his connection to the sleeping Sybille is explored in detail.

I think the biggest problem is that the real conflict isn't part of the text for most of the book: Sybille sleeps and dreams of the village, but the village she dreams of also has a Sybille in it, who is also sleeping and her dreams have power. So the Sybille in the real world wants to die so she can stop dreaming and finally rest, but the Sybille in the dream world is afraid of death and wants her existence to continue. D is pulled into the dream by the Sybille from the waking world but the Sybille from the dream world spends most of the book trying to stop him. And the side effects of that conflict render all other conflict meaningless. Characters die and then come back to life. Everything is undone. All changes have no meaning until the very last one at the end. At least in Link’s Awakening, it was possible to make changes that stuck.

Like a dream, it was fun fluff that's not going to stick with me.

Previous Review: Tale of the Dead Town.
Next Review: Pilgrimage of the Sacred and the Profane.

[J.S. Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume Five of the infamous Vampire Hunter D series. Good, but not his best. I like the way it's written, like all of them(so far), but it had a few low points.
First of all it suffers from the same problem most all 'dream' stories suffer from, that by the end you find out it's 'just a dream' and nothing within the story really happened. At least for me, that always takes a lot of the impact of the story. On the other hand, the author takes the opposite approach from how this plot device is generally used, and tells you going in that it's a dream world. Fortunately, it's written well enough that you want to keep reading anyway, to see how it all comes out.
Another somewhat nagging point is how the reader is constantly reminded of how beautiful D is, every woman he passes just swoons, and even men are affected by his otherworldly charms. But D just ignores it all. Once or twice at the beginning of the story would probably suffice for this, but it comes up quite a few times. The more I thought about this, the more I started to wonder if maybe this wasn't some kind of cultural misunderstanding. This author is Japanese, after all, and he's writing for a Japanese audience first. Maybe this is how they want to read this character. You can't argue with success, as the saying goes, and this series is one of the most popular literary series ever in Japan. In all, it's a minor complaint at best, easily overlooked, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
The plot is good, involved, there's enough mystery about what's going on keep you turning pages. Another good D book, look forward to reading the next one.

[Taylor Lowery · Rating 3 out of 5]

While what I've said below definitely applies to this book, this one just isn't a winner for me. It might just be that something is lost in translation, but the behavior and dialogue of most of the characters just make no sense. I feel like it's weirdly grandiose filler.

---

As I've read several books in this series, I'll probably copy and paste the following review to all of them: these books are fun and cheesy in the exact flavor that we all enjoyed in Conan the Barbarian or John Carter. The concept is pretty great (neo-medieval gothic horror in the distant future), and one interesting thing about it is that the protagonist is definitely a Japanese hypermasculine fantasy rather than a western one: he's perpetually stoic and unflappable, and so androgynously pretty that even the occasional robotic laser cannon is taken aback (this really happens in book 3). That being said, while the world they put him in is fun, there's definitely a formula to each one: spunky dark-haired, beautiful 17-year-old girl (every book) is in danger from a supernatural threat/embroiled in a supernatural mystery, vampire hunter appears to combat said threat, some secrets of his past are revealed, all the other male characters turn out to be evil/pretty rapey, and eventually D kills the baddies and rides off into the sunset.

Good stuff.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Regarding Stuff of Dreams (Book 5), I liked it more than most fans it seems. The premise is interesting, and the ending has a touch of melancholy and tragedy that wraps up the story nicely. However, the characters don’t feel as strong compared to other novels in the series. That’s usually where a lot of the drama comes from since D, being a more stoic character, doesn’t drive the emotional core of the story. I don’t mind D’s personality though—Left Hand offers a unique way to deliver exposition, and I’ve always felt these stories are more about the people D encounters: whether they’re townsfolk, Hunters, scientists, mercenaries, or Nobles.

Where Stuff of Dreams falls short is in its handling of the dream-versus-reality concept. The lines blur, but not in a way that adds to the narrative; instead, it becomes hard to track where things are going, especially with the purple prose. Michael Moorcock’s Fortress of the Pearl does a much better job exploring the dream world concept. This book feels more like a straightforward noir mystery but doesn’t go bold enough with its premise. It sticks to the formula of D arriving in a new town, but with a twist, and maybe it’s trying to subvert expectations. Unfortunately, it doesn’t play with the idea enough for it to really stand out.

What are your thoughts?

[Eric Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally, I actively despise the "it was all a dream" trope, because it makes, literally, the entire story completely meaningless. HOWEVER, there are a few times where it's used well. The Matrix, for example. (The good one) This is one of the few times where it's used well. The mystery centers around a girl who has been sleeping since bitten by a vampire thirty years prior. Through some undead, magic fuckery, her dreams have become their own pocket dimension world with actual, sentient people living in it. D is pulled inside by the dreamer to end the dream and free her of the vampire's curse so she can finally die. It makes very good use of the dream setting, it doesn't stray into cliche territory, and the things that do happen in the dream are real even if D and the dreamer are the only real people inside, and the only people who can actually be hurt or die in there. There are still stakes, and the author does some very interesting things with the dream world as the mystery unfolds. I actually think this one is my favorite of the 5 books in the series I've read so far. Previously, it was Raiser of Gales.

[Yvonne Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a HUGE Vampire Hunter D fan, and I love the whole series. However… I feel this one lacked the energy I’m accustomed to. Ugh, it sucked to type that. :( Sorry Mr. Kikuchi! *bows*
In this novel, D was still as sexy and mysterious as ever. The main heroine, Nan, was of course smitten by him. What re-blooded woman wouldn’t be smitten by the devilish dhampir? The pace was a bit long-winded, which is not a big problem since it flows nicely with Mr. Kikuchi’s writing style.
Because this story is wrapped around a dream within a dream, certain parts were difficult to follow, but once I caught on, I was engaged.
After she was attacked by a noble, a young girl finds herself suspended in an eternal sleep and trapped within a dream. As a result, she lures others into the dream and the only one who can rescue her is Vampire Hunter D. Only problem is, once she pulls him into the fantasy created in her mind, he can’t escape until he does the one thing she desires.
I enjoyed the premise, even though it dragged along a bit.
I’m excited to read the next installment in the series.

[Cheryl Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised is how I would describe my feelings towards this book.

I am a huge fan of the anime movies and decided to check out the novels when they were translated. Just to be forewarned, I hated the first one. HATED HATED HATED IT. I tried - then took a stab at the second which seemed to be more of the same. Out of curiosity I decided to attempt the 3rd, mainly because the second movie was based on it. To my surprise the writing improved, D became a bit more developed and the Frontier became real. I remember the 4th as being okay and decided to make these my "trashy vacation quick read books".

During my last vacation, I finally got around to reading The Stuff of Dreams and I really really liked it! Although there's still the issue of having one of the main characters be a precocious sexually curious teen (seriously Kikuchi, stop with that), the dream element was great fun, the story wasn't boring, the characters seemed more alive and it was a fast fun read.

I look forward to reading the sixth book when I travel next.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Stars
I was pretty harsh on this in my initial review, and I still stand by much of it. I figured out the very thinly veiled mystery early on my first read, and that makes it pretty hard to care about the rest since, like most early D books, it leans heavily on mystery and action. This story could have worked if more was put into making the characters and town interesting and likable, but this town was less developed than Dead Town with the focus largely on weird stuff happening and love triangles. This could have been good, but it's like a Shyamalan movie: once you know the twist, it doesn't really work.

[Ren the Unclean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this book is still pretty good, it is not quite as good as the rest of the books in the series. The subject matter (dreams) sort of lends itself to improbable and strange things happening, and the book is sort of hard to follow because of this, and sort of suffers for it.

The tale is still interesting, and it is as close as D comes to actually being in danger in any of the books, which is cool, but the ending sort of seems like a cop out and, as mentioned earlier, the thread of the story can be hard to follow at times.

It is worth reading if you are reading the rest of the series, but doesn't quite live up to the rest of the books.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

D has found a world where humans and the Nobility live together in harmony. Some folks don’t want him around, stirring up trouble. More than just a straightforward adventure, mysticism is involved as D becomes the subject and object of mysterious dreams. Each adventure of D displays the growing talents of the writer. In previous novels, D was a kind of lone gunman, coming into town and destroying the bad guys. Now he assumes the role of hunter, detective and mystic as he attempts to sort out reality from dreams and struggles with a moral dilemma. In a world where Paradise is a lovely dream come true, does he have the right to destroy it?

[Ricardo Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird book... while it can be read as a straightforward mystery/action novel, there's a constant challenging of what's real and what's a dream... does it matter? I loved the afterword, where the author explains why he wrote it this way.
The reason why I dropped 1 star was the unnecessary and forced way a couple of henchmen are introduced in the end... they are just plain uninteresting and I kind of understand the point they are there to make, but it could have been done in a neater way that didn't feel like the author was stretching the novel. It would have been perfect if written as a short story rather than a novel imho.

[Epiphanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book but would also have to say it was the weakest in the series thus far. When I say weakest I don't mean that as a grossly derogatory statement because the bar is set pretty high in my opinion of the series thus far. The story is very clever and unique and the overall setup is pretty ingenious. I love Hideyuki's style and I find his writing is maturing as I get further into the series. I was highly partial to the book Demon Deathchase due to the consistent pacing of the action. That is where I would say this story lacks, but with that said this story is not Deamon Deatchchase and carries an entirely different type of narrative.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my honest opinion, this was the most difficult book to get through. The main plot is exactly what the title says, the stuff of dreams. After reading the postscript from the author about the effect of vampires at a young age with his cultural background I understand the meaning and intent behind the book but that doesn't make it any more pleasurable to read. The entire book seemed highly romanticized even with certain action portions intermixed with the dreaming. Basically, I felt like this would have been better received by a female reader. It really didn't hit any good spots with me.

[Redletalis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some improvements compared to the earlier books - no raped women for one, and no one suddenly changing personalities for another! - but also needed more explanations on a lot of the main things: Nan being Sybille, D figuring out the mystery, a good chunk of people suddenly knowing what was going on.

All in all, it had some good, fascinating concepts to keep me reading, but needed more elaborations on a lot of things.

Full review on my blog:

https://redletalis.wordpress.com/2020...

[Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The story is just like the title says.... the stuff of Dreams. it was really interesting reading a book that talks about dreams and then to be minutes away from drifting off into my own dream as I fell asleep for the night. I thought it was interesting, it brings up some interesting discussion questions about the value of life.... while I felt that the answers where quite obvious, I found myself revisiting and thinking about that question.

[Kimmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. The writing style in this one is so much better that I thought it must have been a new translator. If you like the stories but the writing was bothering you in the previous ones, don't stop before you get here. It's a vast improvement.

I love the actual plot of this one too. Good stuff. I'm going to keep reading these for sure now!

[Emerch · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is just something fascinating about D and these's novels. A simple dream turns into a odd reality.
Sometimes when character is as overpowered as D is, you get bored very soon, but that's not the case with this Hunter.

This silent, blackdressed, swordwielding descendant of Dracula(?) with his sadness and beauty has wrapped his ageless vines tight around my soul.

[O · Rating 4 out of 5]

These later books are much better writing wise (translation wise?)

D is forced to come to terms with his foes through the dreams of an ageless sleeping girl who has been bitten 3 decades ago.

By the way: THE ORIGINAL INCEPTION STORY OF A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM IS IN HERE.

HIPSTER MOMENT.

Really awesome book ^^

[Leonora · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun fluffy reading like the other vampire hunter d novels.