Smith tries to keep her Night World books interesting, despite the presence of the soulmate principle as a major plot point in each one. In Black Dawn things get shaky (for me).
Maggie, an ordinary-type teen who adores her older brother, knows something’s wrong when her brother goes missing with only his girlfriend’s word detailing what happened. Maggie is convinced something’s wrong, particularly with Sylvia, her brother’s girlfriend. When she goes to confront her, though, Maggie ends up in a world of trouble–literally.
Sylvia, it turns out is not just a witch, she’s a member of a group of Night Worlders smuggling human slaves (and human food) into a secret Night World kingdom hidden in the hills for thousands of years. Worst of all, the lord is a heartless vampire and one of the Wild Powers.
While it’s great that Smith brings complication to the quest for the Wild Powers (since not all of them are going to be human/good guy friendly) it’s tired that in the end falling in love with a human changes Delos, the cold, cruel vampire into a good guy.
Well, except it’s not as easy as that. Smith, being a good writer, does layer more than just the soulmate principle into Delos’ change. The problem then, perhaps, is the short form of the book. Smith’s books, written back when YA didn’t often get over 250 pages or so. My cousin used to jokingly say I read “disposable” books because of their length. Usually it was part of the draw, a tight, complete story in a smaller package (probably also why I keep writing novellas). But here I have to say that Black Dawn would have been better at a longer length which would have allowed Smith to explore, well everything, more.
From the romance, to Delos’ transformation to the politics and liberation of the human slaves, pretty much every aspect of Black Dawn feels glanced over rather than properly played with. Sadly, it reads more like the outline of a great story, than a great story itself.