Ace Books (Trade Paperback), ISBN 0-441-00730-9
How can I classify Dark Sleeper? Mystery -- sort of. Science Fiction -- maybe. Fantasy -- not really. Romance -- no. It fits none of the regular genre categories. Boundaries exist to be breached, but when a book fails to establish itself strongly anywhere, even outside the norm, something went wrong. This tale comes across as a strange combination of a lobotomized Sherlock Holmes puttering around in a world designed by Jules Verne and populated by Charles Dickens. This could be an interesting combination…if the author bothered to fully explore any of the components.

Barlough creates a "what if" world. What if the Ice Age came late? What if mastodons and saber-toothed cats roamed a planet still covered in ice? Interesting premise, but Barlough fails to delve into this world to any real extent. The reader wonders what happened, when it happened, where it happened, who remains, and how did humanity survive. Barlough only shows us the mastodons and saber-toothed tigers and some islands with a decidedly British population.

We meet a whole slew of characters -- 59 of them. Frankly, Barlough could drop about fifty, and the story would chug along very nicely. Because of the sheer numbers of characters, Barlough never develops any of them past totally flat. None of them grow with the story line. In fact, they never even change clothes or dialogue. Barlough defines each character with a little catch phrase, which they spout at every occasion.

Barlough goes out of his way to make sure we know what everyone wears. And by dang, those clothes NEVER change -- the same purple suit, the same cherry vest, the same checked hat. Weeks go by and no one ever seems to change clothes. I believe that for Barlough clothing represents an integral part of the characterization process. While certainly a valid way to build a character, Barlough never gets past the threadbare outline.

The mystery part comes in when strange things start happening. Dead sailors walk the streets, a sunken ship sails into the harbor, a winged beast terrorizes people. But we don't learn the details of the mystery behind these bizarre events through detection or subtle disclosure. I'd say more but it would give away what passes for the denouement. But since the author does that anyway, I feel safe in asking: Why even try to set up a mystery only to give away the answer?

The trade paperback format (i.e., hardback-sized paperback) also gave me a real problem. It means the book carries a $14.95 price tag. Youch! Way too much to pay for a total flop.

Heather Firth

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