Originally read in June 2008Christine Feehan's Dark Legend is the 8th book in her "Dark Carpathians" series, and I must tell you that the books just get better and better as I continue. In this book we delve further into the legendary twin Carpathian hunters Gabriel and Lucian. The last couple of books have "whispered" to us of them, but as this is Gabriel's story, we learn a lot about him and his brother here. This is also the story of Francesca Del Ponce, Gabriel's amazing lifemate.For two thousand years Gabriel and Lucian hunted the undead, endlessly sacrificing their souls for the safety of Carpathians and humans alike. Knowing the cost of so many killings, they make a pact of honor, that if one turns vampire, the other will hunt and destroy him. They each believe that no other than their twin could defeat them in battle. Seduced by the dark power of taking lives, Lucian succumbs and becomes the undead, and for hundreds of years Gabriel has been forced to do the unthinkable: to hunt his own brother.At the beginning of this book, Gabriel awakens after being within the ground for over a century. He never dreamed that his brother, who was the strongest of all Carpathians, could turn vampire, but he was determined to keep his promise to destroy him before he can ruin more innocent lives. Gabriel knows that in battle he is not Lucian's equal, but he did manage to trick him and imprison them both deep underground for over a hundred years. But something woke him suddenly and Gabriel knew that Lucian was free. All Gabriel felt, though, was a relentless hunger, an overwhelming desire for blood that demanded satisfaction. Before he could find suitable prey, he heard a voice calling to him, soothing, calming, and offering him strength to control his craving.Francesca Del Ponce was a Carpathian healer who had dedicated her life to good and helping those less fortunate. One of the few females who escaped the bloodletting many years ago, she had managed to live a human life for hundreds of years. Francesca had separated herself from all other Carpathians and resigned herself to living alone. She knew that she had a lifemate out there because she had seen him, but he had turned away from her without saying a word. That man was Gabriel.Gabriel had no idea that he had caused so much anguish to his lifemate and he was horrified when he found out the truth. Still, he could not be denied and claimed Francesca as his own. For the first time in centuries he could see colors and feel emotions - feel fear... He was suddenly aware that by binding Francesca to him, he had made her a target for his twin, Lucian, who was always watching, waiting for the moment to strike...This book was excellent! I love the stories she writes with strong females in them. Although I know every female holds a certain power over her lifemate, it's just more fun for me when they are so evenly matched. I cannot wait to pick up the next book in this series!
I had taken a break from this series (there are soooo many of them). Someone made a comment on another review and mentioned that I should go back and read this one (I skipped a few). I'm glad I did. This was definitely one of the better entries in the series.These books get repetitive. It's not that I don't like the plot or premise, but I find I get a bit burnt out when I read them back to back. This is the story of Gabriel, one of the infamous and legendary twins that are talked about in the previous books. They are very ancient - ~2000 years old. In Carpathian legend, they were great warriors who fought for centuries to protect their homeland and to hunt the undead.Everyone assumes they are dead as they haven't been seen in centuries. According to legend, the brothers had a pact that if one turned vampire the other would hunt him down. Lucien was said to have turned and Gabriel hunted him down. It was believed they both destroyed one another in a great battle, but no one knows for sure.Actually they did not destroy one another, but had been sleeping under a Paris cemetery for hundreds of years after Gabriel bound Lucien during a battle. Progress, in the form of moving the graves to make way for modern day buildings, woke them both.The first person Gabriel meets in his weakened state is his life mate Francesca. She is also an ancient and has managed to very skillfully hide herself from Carpathians and vampires alike while living almost as a human. She's an ancient herself and has been on her own a long time, so is reluctant to give up the life she built for herself - the basic hallmark of the series. Independent woman meets overbearing Carpathian male and spends the book smexing it up and then flip-flopping on whether or not she can be with him.In this instance the flip-flop didn't drag on as long. I loved this heroine, she was strong but she also knew what Carpathian men were about and didn't allow them to intimidate her the way a human woman is often intimidated and overwhelmed by them. She also has a sense of humor about it (this being her own species) and takes all their posturing with a grain of salt.Gabriel is more reasonable and less overbearing than some of the males, but he definitely has his moments. At his age, I'd have expected him to be far worse than many of the others. Maybe age mellows them out, relatively speaking.Anyway, the big mystery of the book was fairly obvious to me, but it didn't make it less enjoyable.
What do You think about Dark Legend (2002)?
For two thousand years, Carpathian twins Gabriel and Lucian were vampire hunters. But then, Lucian turned vampire, forcing Gabriel to hunt him. Lucian and Gabriel battled each other for centuries until two hundred years ago, when Gabriel sacrificed his freedom, trapping Lucian and himself in the earth of a Parisian cemetery. Now, modern construction work within the cemetery has disturbed their resting place and Gabriel and his dark brother Lucian are raised from the rubble. Weakened and in desperate need of blood, Gabriel fears he will lose his own soul before he can restore his strength. Fate is on his side when Francesca, a uniquely gifted healer, comes to his aid. Gabriel instantly recognises that she is his lifemate, and must convince Francesca before it is too late: Lucian is on their trail, and will let nothing stand in the way of his eternal conflict with his brother
—Ally
4 1/2 stars. Perhaps one of the best in her series so far. I liked this book, the plot and action. It was, perhaps, a bit predictable but everything turned out exactly as I wanted it to so...This was Gabriel's story, which, of course, involved Lucian as well. The romance was nice in this story, and balanced itself out well with the plot running along side it. I'd been waiting for the story of the legendary twins, had great hopes for it, and wasn't disappointed. I'm really looking forward to Lucian's story. Off to the next!
—Gardavson
I have a secret…….when it comes to reading books …it’s like living with OCD….you know…obsessive compulsive disorder!!!!! If I start reading the first book in a series I have to read them all……what a luck that my friend gave me the first 12 or 13 books in the Dark Series….which I finished reading nonstop for the next two weeks….and before I reached book 12, I had in my possession the entire series (after doing a web search to find where they could be bought!!!).Hunger…that’s what I felt……turning each page, reading the next book….I had to know more about these amazing characters…….With each new book, I discover new exciting, interesting characters…….the books just keeping getting better and better.DARK LEGEND is the 8th book in Christine Feehan’s Dark Series where we meet the ancient Carpathians, twin brothers Gabriel and Lucian Daratraznoff, who were thought to be dead.Gabriel had injured Lucian who had turned to the other side…i.e. became a vampire during a battle and to protect their people and all humankind buried them both until Gabriel could decide if he could really kill the brother he loved and cared for so much.Thousands of years later, Gabriel is awakened from their burial place in a Paris cemetery and knows he has to find his brother before he goes on a killing spree. He discovers a different world from the one he knew and whilst looking for someone to feed his hunger, meets Francesca del Ponce, a beautiful, talented healer has dedicated her life to helping the sick and poor living in the streets. Francesca is the first Carpathian woman in the series has turned away from her people and home hundreds of years ago when she was rejected by Gabriel, who she recognized as her lifemate. She had made a new life and ensuring that neither Carpathian or vampire would find her.She’s shocked when she recognizes Gabriel, who she thought had died. Recognizing her as his lifemate he is determined to do everything in his power for her to give him another chance.Francesca struggles with the feeling she has for Gabriel and how can she ever forgive him? Gabriel is tormented by the love he feels for his brother and the anguish of having to kill him.We are taken to a magical world filled with characters we know and introduced to new ones. Skyler, who becomes the ward of Gabriel and Francesca, breaks your heart….the cruelty and suffering she has seen and felt…..there’s is definitely a story about her……a dark mystery….We briefly meet Lucian and there is that twist to the brother’s lives…..is Lucien really a vampire? Will Gabriel have to kill his own brother?This is a touchingly romantic book filled with passion, love, anguish, pain, sexy, erotic and belief in the people you love.I can’t wait for the next book.
—Alex is The Romance Fox
