Tag: Vampire Fiction

The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy #3) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Posted on October 21, 2024 by - Book Review

Well, this was the one that broke the camel’s back. I’m done with this series taking up any more of my time, and I have no earthly idea why this series got popular.

I was really hoping, by book three, that some sort of writing improvement might have started to develop. No dice. Ms. Peckham and Ms. Valenti could really benefit from having an editor look at their work. Books one, two, and three could have been a single novel with some moderately decent pacing instead of clones of one another. All of this shit and each book covers the span of about a week each?!?!

I know that the intention is to make Tory and Darcy seem like progressive strong young women, but there is far too much willing subjugation for that to hold any water. The flingy flip-flopping over the Heirs is just so incredibly cringe. These aren’t much more than re-hashings of the Gor books.

I’ve been told that the later books “get better,” but I wonder what the bar is. I won’t be finding out because I’ve already wasted far too much time on this drivel.

Such promise squandered on shitty writing, shitty character development, and a total lack of pacing. I’m sure the fan-fic is far superior to the source material.

Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy #2) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Posted on October 18, 2024 by - Book Review

My god, why do I keep reading these books. I was really hoping for a bit of an improvement from the first book, but that just didn’t happen. If anything, the ridiculous extremes from the first book magnified here. The heirs are still dicks, only now they are just that much more dickish! The poor Vega twins are still rattled and confused and slide right into their victim roles despite showing slight sign of the toughness and independence they claim they are based in.

I think what bugs me the most about this series is the pacing. I churn through loads of pages, but barely any time passes, and nothing really goes on. Half of this book could have ended up on the editor’s floor (I’m making a bold assumption that there was an editor at all), and the story would have been unaffected.

Ahh, but this book does have something that the first doesn’t: more violence against women, more role manipulation, more racism, and more inappropriate posturing.

I honestly don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it through this entire series. If it wasn’t for the other books that I’m reading concurrently, I would have already abandoned this folly. At this point, I guess all I have to look forward to is seeing if it’s the Vegas or heirs who crack first, and to see who dies (someone better die).

Lightfall (The Everlands Trilogy #1) by Ed Crocker

Posted on October 15, 2024 by - Book Review

** This book was provided to me by St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review **

Lightfall is a book about vampires, werewolves and sorcerers. In fact, it might be the most innovated novel about vampires, werewolves and sorcerers that I’ve read in decades, and I do not say that lightly.

Mr. Crocker has managed to create a world of immortals and make the reader worry about their humanity. This book really tilts everything with its politics and hierarchy plays. That this is Mr. Crocker’s first novel is even more amazing. Some authors just have the gift right out the gate.

The city of Lightfall is a fallback haven for the vampires who were basically chased out of their primary city of First Light by the very mysterious Grays. Blood determines the rules, and if you are nobility, you have access to the powerful blood, and if you are a worn, you get basic stuff that causes you to show age over time. Nobody leaves Lightfall in fear of being killed by the Grays.

One problem, though. The city’s ruler’s youngest son is murdered, and by some ingenuity, and a lot of luck, palace maid Sam finds the only substantial clue. What entails pulls in a magic-less sorcerer cult, an apex predator werewolf, and a whole lot of mystery and intrigue.

This book is super high on my best books of the year list, and it doesn’t even come out until January 2025! The way Mr. Crocker has written each character’s point of view is masterful, and the worldbuilding is absolutely top notch. It’s been a very long time since someone brought something this dynamic to the genre without it falling back on cliche. This is a novel that came to me out of left field and I could not be happier.

Let me just tell you that the last quarter of Lightfall is an insane roller coaster that had me guffawing and gasping with each turn of the page. I absolutely cannot wait for book number two, and I will be giving many friends “raincheck” Christmas presents so I can get this in their hands come January.

The Awakening (Zodiac Academy #1) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Posted on September 25, 2024 by - Book Review

I am reading this series because a very dear friend of mine suggested I check them out. She warned me that they would probably make me angry — she was correct — but I’m going to get through this drivel if it kills me.

Darcy and Tory Vega are twins who were apparently swapped with human children by their royal Fae family as babies to protect them. Now that they have been found by the Fae, they return to that realm to learn to tame their fantastic powers at the Zodiac Academy. The thing is, though, there are four ruling houses headed up by “The Heirs” who will take control of the realm since the ruling family was gone. The twins’ return threatens that. Broody hilarity ensues.

I guess I should start out with what I find wrong right off the bat. First, off, the girls have their Fae names of Gwendalina and Roxanya. Nobody ever questioned which one was which, and that drives me bonkers.

Second, “The Heirs” are total jerks, but Tory and Darcy go between loathing and loving them. This books rife with situations where one of the twins is being literally tortured, but oohing and aahing over their torturer’s chiseled abs or plump lips. It’s maddening to me.

There is some intrigue that I find interesting. Yes, the twins are overpowered and, per the formula, don’t have control of their powers. In fact, they don’t even know what “Order” of Fae they might be. I imagine that will pop up in an important passage in a later book. I also did appreciate that Ms. Peckham and Ms. Valenti set these characters as a tad older than this typical fare from other authors. It made some of the situations and experiences a tad more plausible.

The one thing that bugged me the most was how rapey everything surrounding “The Heirs” is. I mean these guys are on a serious power trip, and it always seems to go threateningly sexual. Can’t they just be mean?

Yes, I’m in for the long haul with this series just because there has to be some sort of redemption arc somewhere in there. If not, I’ll roast more of them.

Vampire Brother by Steve Stephenson

Posted on September 25, 2021 by - Book Review

** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review **

Vampire Brother

Elves and vampires; what a fantastic combination! I never like to fault an author for releasing their works out into the world because it is horribly stressful, and, for some, quite traumatic. That being said, I just couldn’t get into this book. It had all of the hallmarks of being right up my alley, but it just falls flat on so many fronts.

First of all, there is a massive amount of lore that is just gently glossed over. The way certain things are addressed in Vampire Brother, it is as if this is a middle book in a series. History and mythology are hinted at, but not expounded upon. There seems to be a literal cast of thousands, and the story switches perspective very often. At points I just felt like I was reading my notes from previous sessions of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The action was there, but very little flavor.

If developed, this could have been a very good multi-book series, but just too much was tackled, and in a semi-haphazard way for my liking. I really detest being harsh, but I have to be honest.

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Posted on September 10, 2021 by - Book Review

** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review **

I’ve been a big fan of Mr. Kristoff for quite some time, but this one really knocks it out of the park. Empire of the Vampire has received a ton of hype over the past year, and sometimes that can backfire, but, boy howdy, this is a novel that absolutely delivers.

Our main character, Gabriel de León, is a Silversaint in a time and place where the sun has basically been blocked out for twenty-seven years, and the ruling houses of vampires have risen up and basically carved up the world into their kingdoms. What’s a Silversaint you ask? A Silversaint is the result of the union between a vampire sire and a human woman. The sons that result (there are only sons) inherit a bit of vampiric power from their undead fathers; as well as a degree of their bloodlust.

Now Gabriel has been captured by the creatures he has vowed to destroy, and the bulk of the story is him telling his life’s history to a vampire historian.

Empire of the Vampire has all of the Kristoff halmarks. Sex? Check. Violence? Check. Incredibly witty banter peppered liberally with crude jokes? Also, check.

There is an undeniable comparison to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, just from the way the narrative is presented, but this gem of a novel is wholly unique. Mr. Kristoff is no stranger to the anti-hero, but de León may be his finest masterpiece to date. At some moments the reader feels very sorry for this peasant’s son: hell, there are even moments when he seems kind and tender; but there is also a nihilistic and destructive side to Gabriel that will often make the reader reconsider their opinion of him. Hell, as I was going through it, I just was hoping that we’d figure out why he seems so incredibly jaded.

In building the setting of Empire of the Vampire, Mr. Kristoff absolutely goes all out. We have divided and conquered kingdoms with rich histories, the creation and deep lore several religions, magick and power systems to go with each tradition and House, and a vast landscape that the reader can actually see, feel, hear and even smell. This is a craft that Mr. Kristoff is very well-versed in, and he’s definitely used the finest tools in his toolbox to execute this one.

This is definitely a book that wraps you up in a rollicking story mixed with enough fervor, blasphemy, faith and action to keep a reader seriously engaged while furious page flipping is going on.

This novel is going to be on lists and winning awards very shortly. Don’t miss it.