Waking the Moon

Leaving her protective parents to go away to college, Sweeney Cassidy goes wild. She skips classes, stays out all night, and basically spends her first semester constantly drunk. Into this haze come the ethereal Oliver and the seductive Angelica, who become her best friends, and with both of whom Sweeney falls in love. The only trouble is, the school is controlled by an Illuminati-esque secret society; Angelica is a chosen... Read Full Review

All things considered, this was one of the best books I have ever read. Sure, the writing was awkward at points, and the narrative could be confusing, but the plot, the imagery, the characters and the obviously extensive research more than made up for any shortcomings. Waking the Moon tells of Sweeney Cassidy, a college student caught up in a battle between a patriarchal order of scholar/magicians and a reawakened Indo-European... Read Full Review

I found this novel to be everything a novel should be-- entertaining. OK, so it's not exactly the highest standard, but when you come right down to it that's what I found _Waking the Moon_ to be. Sure, it was full of rich imagery, and descriptions of the fantastic that made you think you were seeing the actual events take place. Plus, Sweeney is a great protagonist. But all in all, the book was just a great experience... Read Full Review

Ditto to almost everything written heretofore. Add to that prose of great facility and voluptuousness. Language that in a controlled and wonderful way suggests the very best of Jack Vance and Clark Ashton Smith, with exactly the right words to describe precisely what is occuring in the scene. The scenes become tangible, livable entities, increasing the horror and the delight.

Convincing characters, original use of old horror themes, sharp social commentary and the smooth integration of research makes Elizabeth Hand's "Waking the Moon" a novel worth any reader's time. Hand makes the characters practically live and breathe on the page; readers will relate to main character Sweeney's longing for the "Beautiful Ones," and cheer on her unlikely May-December romance with Dylan. Hand avoids making anyone... Read Full Review