Any self-respecting fan of Halloween should give Dragonfly a chance

books:


	• Dragonfly Frederic S. Durbin Arkham House Publishers, 1999 - 298 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews
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highly recommended

A True Classic Waiting to be Discovered

This work has been mischaracterized by being labeled "children's fiction". (About children does not mean childish, simple or without deep resounding truths and emotions.) Rather like placing Mozart & his piano concertos in the jazz section, Mr. Durbin's tale has been horribly classified by his publishers.
Not to fear, dear writer & readers, this tome was first on my Christmas list to those with depth, imagination & an awareness of the soul. It is currently being brought into the lives of many outstanding, thinking students who will spread this book like wildfire.
This story is dark, powerful and haunting, much more than a view of Halloween, it is the perpetual night of the soul. My personal advise to the new reader-do not visit this book during the winter in the cold, lightless days. Mr. Durbin's voice(the printed words rapidly melt away)may not allow you to exit easily. His images evoke the lonely places we do not want to acknowledge; they are certainly not where we wish to linger and yet, they hold us without mercy until the end.
Mr. Durbin, if you write it, they will come.

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Any self-respecting fan of Halloween should give Dragonfly a chance

I met Fred Durbin at last year's World Fantasy Convention. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him for most of the con. He and I had never been to the convention before and didn't know anybody else. Fred's a great guy. I liked him so much that when he gave me a review copy of his book, I was terrified that I might not enjoy it.

I needn't have worried. Not only did I greatly enjoy Dragonfly, I'm in awe of Fred's writing ability. The novel is not merely an author coming up with a neat twist on an old idea. It's a literary piece of art, and it's clear that Fred is in love with the English language. He creates metaphors and weaves adjectives in such a beautiful fashion that it's almost distracting, as someone who respects the English language, to read Fred in action. He spins gold out every sentence...he's that good.

Dragonfly is about the encroachment of a Halloween town of nightmare-eaters on the real world. These beings, led by Sam Hain (look closely, you'll get it), include vampires, werewolves, witches and the walking dead. They're everything a child worries lurks under the bed or in the closet or behind a mirror. And truth be told, the bad guys really are that bad; child snatching, soul-stealing monsters who are unabashedly evil.

Our heroine, ten-year-old Dragonfly, visits her Uncle Henry's house only to discover that there's someone digging their way up from the basement. Henry summons an old ally named Mothkin and before long all three are embroiled in a struggle of live, love, death, and dreams.

Make no mistake: Fred's not pulling any punches. The bad guys do horrible things. People die. Our ten-year-old heroine suffers love and loss. Most refreshingly, Fred never portrays adults as complete morons who turn up their noses at superstitions. Every character has a life of his or her own and they fight to defend it, good and bad, with every breath.

It's a wonder that the book isn't more successful. Dragonfly is a novel waiting to be turned into a movie in this day and age of tween stories that are read by adults. My suspicion is there are two problems hindering the book: 1) The cover. The cover, while evocative, is busy. The owl in the top left seems more important than the two tiny figures in the middle, and the crazy plants to either side are a distraction. While this is technically an accurate depiction of the novel (the moon is especially important), it's simply not very enticing to a reader looking for spooky thrills. 2) I have no idea why this book is titled Dragonfly. When I think of dragonflies, I do not think of little girls battling the forces of nightmare. And truth be told, I never quite got why the main character is named Dragonfly. Perhaps it's just me and I missed why the protagonist is named Dragonfly...but nevertheless, the title of the book should never have been "Dragonfly." How about "Night of the Harvest Moon" with a scarier cover?

Don't let the title or the cover turn you off to this magnificent work. Fred's writing is on the level of Mervyn Peake's, only more approachable and less depressing. Any self-respecting fan of Halloween should give Dragonfly a chance.

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Durbin is one of the ...

Great Authors..
This book is a keeper.

My Mother passed this book to me a few years back, and I have to admit that I didn't read it for months.. There was something about the cover art that made me think this book couldn't be as good as she said it was. If I had only listened to the old saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" I would have been able to enjoy it a few months sooner than I did.

Durbin's writing calls to mind the style of Ray Bradbury and many of the Victorian authors. He weaves his words into a beautiful tapestry of vibrant images and characters- more authors should take note and strive to write as artistically as he does.

If you liked Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes", or "From The Dust Returned", or even have a soft spot for Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas", you'll absolutely love this book.

-That being said, this book's cover almost implies that it is a children's book, but just as I wouldn't put a copy of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" into a child's hands (for lack of their ability to understand it), I wouldn't give a child this book. The reading is not a fifth grade level as many readers (including adults) are accustomed to reading. The story delves into deeper emotions, psychology, and symbolism that a child would miss. The story can also be frightening and depressing, not to mention the fact that the plot itself is quite complex. You have to pay attention- you can't scan through this and expect to know where you are after 3 chapters. -I don't want you to think it's a hard read. It isn't. Once you get interested in it, you can breeze through, but you can't be lazy about it.

This book completely captures the Halloween feel. Durbin has built the halloween town, "Harvest Moon", out of ancient history, mythology, superstitions, and folktales from around the world- and the pieces fit together perfectly.

Every year when Halloween approaches, I begin reading through my collection of favorite Halloween Books. Hell House by Richard Matheson, Something Wicked This Way Comes & From The Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury, and I always save Dragonfly for the last so that I'm finishing the story on Halloween night. --and then 6 months later, I read it again as a present to myself on my birthday. That's how good this book is.

When I moved across the country, I lost my copy. I finally managed to get a copy (with a bit of trouble) [...] which I have held on to like I was a jealous lover.. When I saw paperback copies in the book store a few weeks back I was SO happy that Mr. Durbin has found another publisher who's willing to put it into paperback- partially for him (because hopefully, that means someone will pay him to continue the story), and partially for me, (because now I can give people paperback copies and preserve my 1st edition for myself).

Please, Mr. Durbin, if you ever read this, please please please write more. You have extremely loyal fans out there who're waiting and desperately hoping that you'll continue to give us these wonderful worlds to explore.

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fantasy meets phobia

Once I picked up a copy in my junior high's library, I saw that Frederic Durbin was actually from my home town which probably made me want to read it even more even though the strange colorful cover had already grabbed my attention.

Dragonfly's beginning was extrememly confusing for me since i wasn't used to the style of writing. It took me a few weeks to get to page ten. But once i got there, i soared through the book like it was a drug. The girl's fears wouldnt let me read the book at night, let alone be alone in a dark room for months.

i strongly suggest this book to a more mature reader.

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Epic, dreamlike fantasy

The Wizard of Oz meets HP Lovecraft in a very strange but compelling story.

One October, a young girl (nicknamed Dragonfly) hears strange goings-on in the basement of her uncle's funeral parlor, and from that point on things get increasingly weird. A mysterious friend shows up to investigate the noises, and we are plunged into a very dreamlike, dark world of vampires, werewolves, enslaved children, heroic Gypsies; an entire alternate reality (or surreality) called Harvest Moon.

As Dragonfly fights, flees, and drifts her way through the Harvest Moon underworld, she encounters characters that are good, evil, and both. Against great odds, she and her allies make a brave stand, as you'd expect--yet the resolution is quite gripping and (to me, at least) unexpected.

I couldn't help but be reminded of Lovecraft's "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath", which is much to Durbin's credit.

That being said, I'm kind of surprised this book was published at all, because it's hard to define the audience for it. It's too intense for small children, too lyrical for most teens, and perhaps too obscure for adults. Still, I'm glad the publishers took a chance, and even more glad that I found this book. Those who'll read it, especially in the autumn, will be enchanted, a rare enough experience these days.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

A young girl is drawn into the strange, spooky underworld in the basement of her uncle's funeral parlor.

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