Dalliance: Deliberate Act of Delaying
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The third novel in the Lucifer series begins with Mazikeen. I'm very pleased to see that a strong female character continues to play a large part in this series. She gains an important role leading her people. This decision will define her loyalties and morals in later novels. The story continues with Elaine testing and growing into her newly discovered powers. Her journey ties in with the second story 'A Dalliance with the Damned' which I will go over in the next paragraph. Finally, the Morningstar finds himself occupied running his own Garden of Eden simulation. The character development for Mazikeen and Elaine are both refreshing and move the story along in their own ways. The point behind the Eden thing with Lucifer (aside from the obvious parallel to God) eludes me. Perhaps it was meant to show that Lucifer intends to try and do things differently than his creator? Whatever was meant, the story lacks a lasting impression and that event is never again mentioned for the rest of the series.
The second story is the one this novel is named after. It takes up about half of the novel and takes place entirely in Hell. Mostly, it just seems like a news update of how some demons are getting along after the Lightbringer left. It does do the job of introducing a new character but the story itself drags its feet. I found the tale rather dull and was relieved when Lucifer brought in some action. In retrospect, this story is important but the reader has to wait until the latter novels to realize it.
The final story has two plots, one involving the Morningstar and the other involving two young friends. The part of the tale involving the young friends I found to be entirely pointless and it feels like filler. In a story where your main character is the devil himself, you really shouldn't interrupt the flow with filler. However, the story does end on a foreshadowing note that reminds the reader there are more interesting things to come.
The cover for this novel is my personal favourite in the series. Gross, Ormston and Kelly continue to provide the art for the comic itself. I've already expressed my like for Gross' work and only tentative like of Ormston's more stylized look. Once again some spectacular cover art is included in smaller form at the rear of the book.
Overall, this novel has more filler and less screen time for its titular character than previous installations and that's not necessarily a good thing.
3.5/5 stars
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The cosmos expands
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An amazing tapestry of stories, some small, some large, but all full of deep insights. Chances are, you won't notice all of them in the first reading, because the stories are so gripping. But read everything a second time, and you may find a lot of points, that you overlooked. The longest story 'A Dalliance with the Damned' is among other things a fine hellish version of 'Dangerous liaisons' (pleasure and pain and all that jazz ...) but how Carey pulls off the final twist in this setting is truly amazing.
Nevertheless my favorites are the free-standing stories 'The ancestral deed' (how would Adam and Eve behave if the creator had a different set of rules?) and 'The Thunder Sermon' where the dark side of the Lightbringer is shown in truly terrifying grandeur. Rebelling against God may be hard, but doing a better job, now that's a completely different story ...
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Presents supernatural creatures as all too human
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Based on characters created and/or reinterpreted by Neil Gaiman's acclaimed "Sandman" comic book series, Lucifer: A Dalliance With The Damned is the third volume and is comprised of issues 14-20 of the Eisner Award nominated "Lucifer" comic book series, offering a graphic and full color tail of demon rivalry and motives at cross purpose. The monstrous children of Lilith, forever denied the Garden of Paradise despite their lack of relation to original sinners Adam and Eve, mount a war of rebellion and conquest in this dramatic and occasionally risque tale, suggested for mature readers. A fascinating page turner that presents supernatural creatures as all too human, sharing few virtues many vices with their mortal counterparts, Lucifer: A Dalliance With The Damned is a superbly produced and highly recommended graphic novel.
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it's a dalliance with the damned on my copy ....
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a good continuation of the lucifer series; not quite Sandman level but its getting there.
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