When battles of man kind move from war fields to the wide spanning Elysian fields dreams are made of, no one is safe in their homes, their beds and definitely not in their own heads. Following the previous three installments of this astral saga which are Night Warriors (1986), Death Dream (1988) and Night Plague (1991) this can safely be read on it's own but I would suggest following up with the previous books, if one is content with Night Wars. Masterton is only limited by his own imagination in the electric world of mechanical costumes, warriors wearing helmets made of prismic lenses, wearing specific uniforms made for their tasks wielding the most spectacular weapons from the Sung Gun, to the Opera Pistol, Deathwatch Torpedo Pistols or even a gun that hits a target and rearranged it's DNA to the point where the body stops believing in it's own existence and crumbles. Always graceful and prominent like a hawk, Graham creates warriors dormant in some every day people who have no idea that in case of an attack they need to be told of their special birth right and to put their own life in order to save man kind.
Night Wars if truly a fantasy book with a big swirl of horror. The Night Warriors are some of the most normal people in Ohio who drive cabs, work in food shops, write newspaper articles or work in medicine. Upon a terrible tragedy, when new born babies born in that area cannot stop crying and slowly start dying one by one, a mysterious man by the name of Springer starts assembling his army. He visits each one of the main five characters and shows them their hidden potentials. They transform into Night Warriors, each with a specific task; they are good at map making, creating any creature at whim from their imagination, moving time to a walking artillery departments. They enter the world of dreams of people who have been chosen by two evil characters; Winterwent and the High Horse. One frozen solid riding on a tall throne of ice lead by hoards of ice wolves and the other a creature evil and blood thirsty riding three horses, one on top of the other wearing a cape made of screaming animals. All the battles they fight take place in people's dreams, and I was mesmerized and totally engrossed in the incredible weaponry, sinister characters who were part animals, part human like half ninjas-half gray wolves, armadillo rats, black crabs or entities wielding swords that upon one cut inflicted a plague of worms to eat away the victim. Graham impressed me greatly with his knowledge of the most fantastic creations, his dialog that read like a caramel drenched apples and the world of dreams that was a true portal to the secrets of the universe.
The Night Warriors have to learn to fight and figure out solutions while running short on time, and the whole mystery is why Winterwent and High Horse wanted those babies, what they needed their dreams for, as it would hold the answer for everyone walking on Earth. What happens in the dreams of ordinary people will have a disastrous effects on them upon wake, as well as the rest of the population who are meant to suffer with them.If they die in the dream, each warrior can never wake up in real life, he or she will slip into a comma, trapped in that dream forever. They must risk their lives at night and go to work at day, but half the fun is waiting for twilight, because there's nothing juicier than reading the limitless sources of entertainment this story provides.
Once again Graham Masterton proves why he's my favorite writer, I cannot imagine anyone else making this story come to life as well as him.
- Kasia S.