Genre Fiction
![Christine Feehan - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001H6QA46.jpg)
Dark Song (Carpathian Novel, A)
Two Carpathians find hope in the bond that ties their souls in this passionate novel in Christine Feehan’s #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Stolen from her home at a young age and tormented for centuries, Elisabeta Trigovise is scared to show herself to anyone. Even though she has been rescued and is now safe within the Carpathian compound, she has lived in fear for so long she has no idea how to survive without it. She wants to answer the siren call of her lifemate—but the very thought terrifies her.
Before he found Elisabeta, Ferro Arany was an ancient warrior without emotion. Now that his senses have come alive, he knows it will take more than kind words and soft touches to convince the fractured woman that they are partners, not master and prisoner. For now, he will give her his strength until she finds hers, allowing the steady rhythm of his heart to soothe Elisabeta's fragile soul.
But even as she learns to stand on her own, the vampire who kept her captive is desperate to claim her again, threatening the song Elisabeta and Ferro are writing together.
Stolen from her home at a young age and tormented for centuries, Elisabeta Trigovise is scared to show herself to anyone. Even though she has been rescued and is now safe within the Carpathian compound, she has lived in fear for so long she has no idea how to survive without it. She wants to answer the siren call of her lifemate—but the very thought terrifies her.
Before he found Elisabeta, Ferro Arany was an ancient warrior without emotion. Now that his senses have come alive, he knows it will take more than kind words and soft touches to convince the fractured woman that they are partners, not master and prisoner. For now, he will give her his strength until she finds hers, allowing the steady rhythm of his heart to soothe Elisabeta's fragile soul.
But even as she learns to stand on her own, the vampire who kept her captive is desperate to claim her again, threatening the song Elisabeta and Ferro are writing together.
Editorial Reviews
"Dark Song is Christine Feehan's Carpathian world at its best!"--Fresh Fiction
"This latest installment (following Dark Illusion) in an ongoing, beloved paranormal series features all the trademarks of classic Feehan; suspense, passion, and exceptional worldbuilding. A must-read for the author's many fans."--Library Journal
"New readers, I dare you not to dive right into Feehan's backlist after finishing this one."--BookPage
"This latest installment (following Dark Illusion) in an ongoing, beloved paranormal series features all the trademarks of classic Feehan; suspense, passion, and exceptional worldbuilding. A must-read for the author's many fans."--Library Journal
"New readers, I dare you not to dive right into Feehan's backlist after finishing this one."--BookPage
Readers Top Reviews
Dstressd
Am so 'in' to the Carpathian stories, that I literally read whole books in single sittings, unable to delay reaching the resolution of the conflicts between both of the main characters and between the good Carpathians and the evil vampires. The story of Elizabeta was always going to be one I was unable to delay reading, and it was well worth the wait. BUT I am disappointed to see that the appendices are now taking up the last 20% of my total number of pages. If I went through and removed all the Carpathian words, chants, and appendices, I wonder how big the book would actually be.
Kindle
I enjoyed this latest instalment of the Dark Carpathian series much more than the last few where i, along with many other fans have been disheartened with the endless sex scenes, hardly any proper story and boring repetitive padding to just fill pages. There was still a lot of repetition but it didn't irritate me half as much as in previous instalments as the story telling was so much better thankfully. Ferro turned out to be a great character and perfect for his lifemate I am pleased to say and we were given hints at future storylines plus it was nice to catch up with a few familiar characters. A definite improvement on on the last few and I am hoping that this series is getting back in track and can become the wonderful stories we have all loved from the start, fingers firmly crossed ! Who will be next I wonder? The hints suggest Josef but who knows, I am tentatively looking forward to it which is a vast improvement from the last few ?
Jenna Lee
This series is my all time favorite series. I have read them more times than I can count. I have loved them all except for Dark Sentinel. Dark Song is one of the best in the series. I read this book in one day. Ferro and Elisabeta have such a romantic story. Elisabeta has been tortured and held prisoner for centuries by a sadistic vampire. She has no confidence and no knowledge of the simplest of tasks, like walking. Ferro is the ultimate ruthless warrior. Yet he is exactly what Elisabeta needs. Some see him as over protective and tyrannical. He projects that because it is what she needs. We learn of new secrets and go into battle with old foes. Old friends from other books show up. It was romantic, suspenseful, and passionate. A wonderful read. Going back to re-read it now!
Tatiana
This is one of the best Carpathian books I've read in a long while. Honestly, the new arc in America has barely held my attention at all. However, Elisabeta's trauma and pain spoke to me. The way her experience softened Farro and helped him grow as a person was beautiful. Their relationship and the healing it brought to poor Elisabeta was an excellent example in the power of love. Modern ideals try to tell us that we don't need others to be happy, but the fact is, we are social animals. Our survival as a species has always depended on us working together and supporting each other through problems and strife. We need to be loved and to have deep, heart-felt connections with each other to be happy and healthy. That's probably why we all love the idea of soulmates so much. The theme of the Carpathian series has always seemed to me to be that every relationship is different, and every person's version of healthy is different. Just as if you are calcium-deficient, you need more calcium in your diet, your emotional and mental make-up change what you need from a relationship. That's what makes each relationship special. Elisabeta and Farro's relationship wouldn't work for me but for them, it's a beautiful, healthy thing. This was an excellent story of growth and love!
B. Edde
Dark Song Ferro and Elisabeta’s story is another example of Ms. Feehan’s strength in telling an elegantly emotional story. Her telling of how lifemates learn to find ways to make each other complete is told with two of her more challenging hero and heroines. Elisabeta, a prisoner for centuries, unable to do the simplest things without the permission of her truly evil captor, Sergei, has been rescued. Now in the safety of the Carpathian compound she struggles to cope with her new life. Add to that her lifemate, Ferro, is a true ancient, hard and unused to the emotions that having a lifemate brings. She works to understand this man who sings to her each rising all the while demanding she step out on her own and has you cheering for each hard won step forward. Ferro, the one who has always commanded immediate obedience and truly believed that his lifemate would be obedient to his every command deals with the humorous (to me) dilemma of ‘be careful what you ask for’, aware that such demands would further harm Elisabeta, his struggles to find a way to bring his lady’s innate strength back, to convince her that what she has endured for centuries has only made her the perfect woman to stand by his side had me laughing and crying so many times during their story. Dark Song is one of Ms. Feehan’s best, winding the trauma of PTSD, the patience to deal with such horrific emotional scars and the strength of love, friendship and family into a deeply satisfying story. Of course there is the action, the humor and the extra treat of the gathering of past Carpathians we always crave to make this a 5 star addition to her Dark Series!
Short Excerpt Teaser
1
Through the howling of the wind, a whisper can be heard;
A soft serenade, pie sarnanak, feel my words.
Sound woke her. Elisabeta Trigovise didn't want to be awake. She wanted to sleep forever, but those weeping notes refused to allow her to succumb to her need to hide from the world. Like the drops of rain drumming softly into the earth, feeding the soil, those notes slipped into her mind with a song of rising. More and more that gentle melody awakened her on each rising, became more insistent that she comply more fully. That she more than just wake to feed and go straight back to slumber.
Whereas before, the song was in her mind, now it sank into her body, her blood and bones, her heart and soul, calling to her persistently, and she knew it was the call of her lifemate-one she couldn't ignore. She didn't dare ignore. It didn't matter how terrified she was of him. She had to answer.
There was safety beneath the ground. Solace. No one could get to her. She was alone and no demands could be put on her, but she had known all along it wasn't going to last. Every rising, each time the sun set, the danger began. She tried to sleep, but they came to feed her. At first many had come. Different ones. That had been frightening, but the blood had revived her, made her stronger, and no one had asked anything of her. She was allowed to go back to sleep in the healing soil to repair her body and fractured mind. Now, only he gave her blood.
Elisabeta tried not to waken, but it was too late, the song had played through her mind, those beautiful weeping notes of rain. The sun had set, and the moment it did, her body had tuned to it. She was Carpathian, that ancient race paralyzed during daylight hours and needing blood to sustain their lives. There were few of them left in the world, and the fight to keep from dying out was made worse by the vampires trying to kill them.
A little shudder went through her body. Elisabeta had been tricked by a friend when she'd been young and na•ve, and she'd been kidnapped, taken from her home and family and hidden away by one such vampire for centuries. She no longer remembered that young girl, or her family. She'd been reduced to this woman, who hid herself away in the ground, too terrified of everything and everyone to show herself. Sergey Malinov-the master vampire-would come for her and he would use her to destroy everyone who had shown her any kindness because that was what he did. He would never let her escape him. Never.
The moment she surfaced, he would use her, and they had no idea how powerful he was. They had rescued her, and he was angry, whispering to her, trying to get past the barriers and shields they had erected to protect her, but he was there, crouched and waiting to strike. She knew him, knew he was wholly evil. There were children in this compound, this place her rescuers thought safe. No one was safe from Sergey, least of all children.
The world had passed her by while she lived in a cage, with only her sadistic captor for company. One moment he could be falsely sweet; the next, savagely ugly, torturing her, starving her, hurting others in front of her. Leaving her alone for long periods of time so that she thought she would slowly starve to death and even welcomed that end. He was her only company. She couldn't speak unless he gave her permission. She made no decisions for herself and so, after centuries, no longer knew how to make them.
She had been rescued, put in the healing grounds to recover from the wounds to body and mind, but there was no recovery from centuries of captivity. She had no idea how to fend for herself. She was terrified of having to talk to strangers. They had told her she had a brother and that he had searched for her for centuries. She had thought of that often, ashamed that when she tried to remember him, her mind seemed to explode with pain, rejecting the idea of her past. She knew they would expect her to remember him, but she didn't.
She didn't remember herself as a young Carpathian woman, nor did she remember her parents. Her mind had been fractured, and no amount of healing in the earth was going to change that. She wasn't that same girl who had been taken from her home. She was-nothing. No one. She wanted to remain where she was, hidden away from everyone, but she knew her time was fast running out. Her lifemate had found her. Just thinking of him made her heart pound out of control. She knew better. She knew to control herself. That simple sound would alert him, and of course it did.
Elisabeta.
His voice filled her mind. Calm. Soothing....
Through the howling of the wind, a whisper can be heard;
A soft serenade, pie sarnanak, feel my words.
Sound woke her. Elisabeta Trigovise didn't want to be awake. She wanted to sleep forever, but those weeping notes refused to allow her to succumb to her need to hide from the world. Like the drops of rain drumming softly into the earth, feeding the soil, those notes slipped into her mind with a song of rising. More and more that gentle melody awakened her on each rising, became more insistent that she comply more fully. That she more than just wake to feed and go straight back to slumber.
Whereas before, the song was in her mind, now it sank into her body, her blood and bones, her heart and soul, calling to her persistently, and she knew it was the call of her lifemate-one she couldn't ignore. She didn't dare ignore. It didn't matter how terrified she was of him. She had to answer.
There was safety beneath the ground. Solace. No one could get to her. She was alone and no demands could be put on her, but she had known all along it wasn't going to last. Every rising, each time the sun set, the danger began. She tried to sleep, but they came to feed her. At first many had come. Different ones. That had been frightening, but the blood had revived her, made her stronger, and no one had asked anything of her. She was allowed to go back to sleep in the healing soil to repair her body and fractured mind. Now, only he gave her blood.
Elisabeta tried not to waken, but it was too late, the song had played through her mind, those beautiful weeping notes of rain. The sun had set, and the moment it did, her body had tuned to it. She was Carpathian, that ancient race paralyzed during daylight hours and needing blood to sustain their lives. There were few of them left in the world, and the fight to keep from dying out was made worse by the vampires trying to kill them.
A little shudder went through her body. Elisabeta had been tricked by a friend when she'd been young and na•ve, and she'd been kidnapped, taken from her home and family and hidden away by one such vampire for centuries. She no longer remembered that young girl, or her family. She'd been reduced to this woman, who hid herself away in the ground, too terrified of everything and everyone to show herself. Sergey Malinov-the master vampire-would come for her and he would use her to destroy everyone who had shown her any kindness because that was what he did. He would never let her escape him. Never.
The moment she surfaced, he would use her, and they had no idea how powerful he was. They had rescued her, and he was angry, whispering to her, trying to get past the barriers and shields they had erected to protect her, but he was there, crouched and waiting to strike. She knew him, knew he was wholly evil. There were children in this compound, this place her rescuers thought safe. No one was safe from Sergey, least of all children.
The world had passed her by while she lived in a cage, with only her sadistic captor for company. One moment he could be falsely sweet; the next, savagely ugly, torturing her, starving her, hurting others in front of her. Leaving her alone for long periods of time so that she thought she would slowly starve to death and even welcomed that end. He was her only company. She couldn't speak unless he gave her permission. She made no decisions for herself and so, after centuries, no longer knew how to make them.
She had been rescued, put in the healing grounds to recover from the wounds to body and mind, but there was no recovery from centuries of captivity. She had no idea how to fend for herself. She was terrified of having to talk to strangers. They had told her she had a brother and that he had searched for her for centuries. She had thought of that often, ashamed that when she tried to remember him, her mind seemed to explode with pain, rejecting the idea of her past. She knew they would expect her to remember him, but she didn't.
She didn't remember herself as a young Carpathian woman, nor did she remember her parents. Her mind had been fractured, and no amount of healing in the earth was going to change that. She wasn't that same girl who had been taken from her home. She was-nothing. No one. She wanted to remain where she was, hidden away from everyone, but she knew her time was fast running out. Her lifemate had found her. Just thinking of him made her heart pound out of control. She knew better. She knew to control herself. That simple sound would alert him, and of course it did.
Elisabeta.
His voice filled her mind. Calm. Soothing....
