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Shadow Saga #5
Waking Nightmares
View our feature on Christopher Golden's Waking Nightmares.
Peter Octavian, once a vampire, now a powerful mage, has been living a quiet life in San Francisco. But when the barrier that used to prevent demons and monsters from entering the world have fallen, Octavian is compelled to do what he can to hold back the darkness.
Peter Octavian, once a vampire, now a powerful mage, has been living a quiet life in San Francisco. But when the barrier that used to prevent demons and monsters from entering the world have fallen, Octavian is compelled to do what he can to hold back the darkness.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 29, 2011
8 people are currently reading
410 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Golden
801 books2,986 followersCHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 22, 2018
Much has been said about the epic scope and scale of these previous Shadow books, all of which start out very much close UF with very fun characters and all of which end with epic scale battles with armies of magic users and/or vampires and Vatican sorcerers keeping the barriers between magic and hellish dimensions closed.
Yeah, well, this one doesn't take us to sliced away towns sent to hells like the last book, and while it's not a full mobilization of Earth versus Hell, the difference here is striking ... and it's fun as hell. :)
Fornication and violence in a small town, with ghosts, wraiths, and chaotic baddies sneaking in from alternate dimensions. Maybe a goddess of chaos. And an epic fight. Peter comes in blasting sorcery and even the Earth goddess gets in a few licks, but as with all the other books... friends die. There are a LOT of Red Shirts in these.
Here's the final summation: in some ways, this is a more standard novel that keeps things close to the chest and the action is localized, if intense. No huge spaces to cover as in the other novels. In that respect, it's more like a standard UF with seriously overpowered players on both sides, including gods, demons, and magic learned over a thousand years in hell. :) IF you like the huge (omg how many cities just got taken out) feel of the previous novels, you won't quite feel that here. But that same lop-sidedness was also a weakness. This one has fewer weaknesses but also less OMG TWSFC, too. :)
So the big question is... WHY ARE THESE NOVELS SO UNKNOWN? Christopher Golden was flying high with his popular first few novels and it's not like he went away at all. And these ARE of the same quality as the first few! So why has that fan base gone away? It's a real shame because few writers have the brass knuckles (or other dangly bits) to fly with ambitious projects like this. I personally LOVE this kind of courage in a writer. :)
Yeah, well, this one doesn't take us to sliced away towns sent to hells like the last book, and while it's not a full mobilization of Earth versus Hell, the difference here is striking ... and it's fun as hell. :)
Fornication and violence in a small town, with ghosts, wraiths, and chaotic baddies sneaking in from alternate dimensions. Maybe a goddess of chaos. And an epic fight. Peter comes in blasting sorcery and even the Earth goddess gets in a few licks, but as with all the other books... friends die. There are a LOT of Red Shirts in these.
Here's the final summation: in some ways, this is a more standard novel that keeps things close to the chest and the action is localized, if intense. No huge spaces to cover as in the other novels. In that respect, it's more like a standard UF with seriously overpowered players on both sides, including gods, demons, and magic learned over a thousand years in hell. :) IF you like the huge (omg how many cities just got taken out) feel of the previous novels, you won't quite feel that here. But that same lop-sidedness was also a weakness. This one has fewer weaknesses but also less OMG TWSFC, too. :)
So the big question is... WHY ARE THESE NOVELS SO UNKNOWN? Christopher Golden was flying high with his popular first few novels and it's not like he went away at all. And these ARE of the same quality as the first few! So why has that fan base gone away? It's a real shame because few writers have the brass knuckles (or other dangly bits) to fly with ambitious projects like this. I personally LOVE this kind of courage in a writer. :)
April 14, 2025
3.75/5
This was a solid tale filled with magic and horror. This was not like the previous books in the series; in fact, this felt more like something from Graham Masterton than what I expected from Christopher Golden.
This was a solid tale filled with magic and horror. This was not like the previous books in the series; in fact, this felt more like something from Graham Masterton than what I expected from Christopher Golden.
December 27, 2020
This one was so bad. I pushed through it but compared to the world building and character development of previous books it was terrible. It felt like the author just wanted an excuse to write a book filled with violence and people screwing each other. Such a filler book which was 398 pages of total rubbish. Only bright spot was the introduction of a new character.
March 7, 2017
A city is threatened by a dark ancient evil. Only peter and his friends can save the day. Peter takes a lickin and keeps on ticking. Not so some close friends. I have just described every Shadow saga book. Yet I keep reading them. And like them!
March 23, 2016
I started reading this series years back (more than I care to discuss) and was not really excited by the third and fourth in the series. This one, however returned my faith in Christopher Golden and regained my excitement in this universe.
Peter Octavian returns in this outing. After the events of the previous novels, the magic protecting earth from other dimensions is weakening and things beyond human imagination are beginning to come through. This obviously puts humanity at risk.
Octavian is luckily a sorcerer of amazing power due to his past of being trapped in a Hell-like dimension where time moved much slower than that of our own dimension. He is joined by a few allies, including a vampire and an earth witch in a battle to stop a forgotten chaos goddess and her minions from taking over a small town and eventually the world.
This book was a smooth read. I am hoping he returns to this series for a sixth novel at least because I now realize I missed this universe. I hate to say it, but I would love to see more vampires in the next volume. Until then.....
Peter Octavian returns in this outing. After the events of the previous novels, the magic protecting earth from other dimensions is weakening and things beyond human imagination are beginning to come through. This obviously puts humanity at risk.
Octavian is luckily a sorcerer of amazing power due to his past of being trapped in a Hell-like dimension where time moved much slower than that of our own dimension. He is joined by a few allies, including a vampire and an earth witch in a battle to stop a forgotten chaos goddess and her minions from taking over a small town and eventually the world.
This book was a smooth read. I am hoping he returns to this series for a sixth novel at least because I now realize I missed this universe. I hate to say it, but I would love to see more vampires in the next volume. Until then.....
October 19, 2012
When chaos erupts in the small coastal town of Hawthorne, Massachusetts, former vampire-turned-mage Peter Octavian and earthwitch Keomany Shaw arrive to investigate.
Years ago, Octavian helped expose the secret existence of vampires to the world, dismantling the Vatican's sorcery corps in order to save his fellow shadows from destruction. But without the Vatican sorcerers, the magical barriers they spent centuries constructing to keep the forces of darkness out of our world are beginning to fail, and things are slipping through.
Now an ancient god of chaos is awakening in Hawthorne, its influence spreading...and it's Octavian's fault. If he can't stop it, the blood of all human kind will be on his hands.
i havent read any other Octavian books, and after this one i'm not sure i can be bothered. there's nothing _wrong_ with this book, it just didnt do anything for me - perhaps because it read, partially, like a horror movie and i'm not interested in those.
Years ago, Octavian helped expose the secret existence of vampires to the world, dismantling the Vatican's sorcery corps in order to save his fellow shadows from destruction. But without the Vatican sorcerers, the magical barriers they spent centuries constructing to keep the forces of darkness out of our world are beginning to fail, and things are slipping through.
Now an ancient god of chaos is awakening in Hawthorne, its influence spreading...and it's Octavian's fault. If he can't stop it, the blood of all human kind will be on his hands.
i havent read any other Octavian books, and after this one i'm not sure i can be bothered. there's nothing _wrong_ with this book, it just didnt do anything for me - perhaps because it read, partially, like a horror movie and i'm not interested in those.
June 23, 2011
This was a nice surprise, in that I didn't know Golden was writing a new Octavian number. As much as I enjoyed it, the previous book in the series was a tough act to follow. Golden does a nice job of reminding the reader of the key events in the earlier entries. The other thing that I did like was how he managed to address what seemed to be plot holes that occur in the course of the story. I do look forward to seeing where he goes with the next volume. Now if he'd just put out another volume in either the Ghosts of Avalon or Menagerie series.
June 16, 2012
Octavian is fighting for the survival of mankind - this time from a demon god who brings chaos...
and reapers and wraiths...
Characters that we grow to like and hope for disappear and characters are changed yet not lost....
Octavian loses a friend but gains more new ones who may feature in coming books.
and reapers and wraiths...
Characters that we grow to like and hope for disappear and characters are changed yet not lost....
Octavian loses a friend but gains more new ones who may feature in coming books.
April 18, 2011
A mix of urban fantasy and horror, this book was non-stop action. I love the world building. I am going to look for the other books in this series.
May 30, 2011
Another excellent book by the author. Loved the mix of myth and magic he weaves together to create a fast-paced action novel! Can't wait for the next book.
May 24, 2012
started reading it last night, finished it about 5 minutes ago.....so good, could not put it down. Hopefully book six is well underway, because I need to know what happens next!!!!!
October 4, 2012
Superb!! I love how diverse each of Christopher Golden's series is. Each has a different texture. I need to get the first in this series now.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews