Rating: 
Summary: Great Vampire Novel
Review: Golden offers a really good read and a unique brand of vampires that battle a secret sect of the Catholic Church bent on their destruction. Characters are vivid and real, and the storyline is exciting as it moves toward an impending, explosive climax.Peter Octavian is a bit of a loner in the vampire world. Having left his blood father and coven, he lives on his own working as a detective. We quickly find out that Octavian has made some realizations about vampire nature and the myths about them... crosses don't harm him, and he has even learned to walk in daylight! As grisly murders occur in his hometown, he is drawn into a mystery surrounding a powerful book stolen from a secret chamber of a Vatican library and an ominous secret society in the Church desperate to have it back. It may very well be the key to magic, sorcery, and the vampires themselves. So exciting... I just started the second book, Angel Souls and Devil Hearts. Loving it, too!
Rating: 
Summary: I was so disappointed
Review: I admit that I read the reviews of this series, and had looked for many weeks at the local bookstores for the first book in this series. I was quite excited to buy it the other day, and I started reading it immediately. Well, I got through the first 75 pages or so and ground to a halt. The reason? This guy can't write. His dialogue is extremely forced and unnatural, his descriptions are over-done (at times, other times they're okay), and the way his characters act are just silly. It's like a 9-year old decided to write a story and tried to describe the way people interacted. I honestly felt like I was reading something on the level of the Hardy Boys when it came to the descriptions. The story may be great. I know the plot sounds quite intriguing. But I just couldn't get past the poor quality of writing, and had to put it down. I wish it had been as great as everyone says. I really, truly do. I was so much looking forward to reading this book. I guess if you're into those 'Dungeons and Dragons' books that get cranked out every 7 minutes, then you might be able to put up with the writing style in this book. But don't expect Stephen King. Don't expect anything that a 14-year old couldn't produce in his 'Creative Writing' class in high school. Sorry to be so negative. I just want to warn anyone else who is reading these reviews and hunting diligently for the first book like I was. Stay away, and look for Stephen King's 'Dark Tower' cycle instead. Now that's great writing...
Rating:
Summary: One of the best vampire books ever!
Review: I found this book quite by accident and immediately fell in love. This is a completely different take on vampires and is actually my favorite novel - beating out Tanya Huff's series and even the Anita Blake series.
If you like vampire or horror novels you will love this book.
Our hero is Peter Octavian, a vampire called a "defiant one", and definitely one of the good guys. He is a private investigator investigating a missing persons case for a friend of his.
What makes Peter so likeable is that he is a great guy, but he is also all alone. He left his fellow vampires because he did not believe in their beliefs, and struck out on his own. He knows secrets about vampires that could help his vampire family, but no one believes him. They think of him as an outcast.
When you read about Peter, and realize what a good person he is, and how caring he is of humans, his fellow vampires and even the world in general, you really grow to like him. Also he is such a good strong guy, and you empathize with him because he is all alone without anyone to call family or friend.
Peter gets pulled into a missing persons case that will lead him to a conspiracy involving his "family" of vampires, the church, other "evil" vampire clans and a variety of very interesting characters.
This is an excellent excellent story. I highly recommend to all. You will not be disappointed. If you want to read the entire series, it is called the Shadow Saga and book 1 is Of Saints and Shadows (2) Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (3) Of Masques and Martyrs and (4) The Gathering Dark. I enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed the first four anita blake novels and more than the tanya huff series. I highly highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best vampire books ever!
Review: I found this book quite by accident and immediately fell in love. This is a completely different take on vampires. If you like vampire or horror novels you will love this book. Our hero is Peter Octavian, a vampire called a "defiant one", and definitely one of the good guys. He is a private investigator investigating a missing persons case for a friend of his. This missing persons case will lead him to a conspiracy involving the church, other "evil" vampire clans and a variety of very interesting characters. This is an excellent excellent book. I highly recommend to all. You will not be disappointed. If you want to read the entire series, it is called the Shadow Saga and book 1 is Of Saints and Shadows (2) Angel Souls and Devil Hearts (3) Of Masques and Martyrs and (4) The Gathering Dark. I enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed the first four anita blake novels and more than the tanya huff series. I highly highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Good till the end
Review: I hated the ending. The book was excellent up till that point. I'm not talking about the 'final battle', just the whole epilogue part, what happens after. I'm torn as to whether to continue the series or not. I rarely just read one book in a series. The author wrote very well, so I want to read more, but I don't see how the story can continue in a way I will like.
Rating:
Summary: On Par with Anne Rice !!!!! A MUST READ !!!!
Review: I have read Anne Rice, and now Christopher Golden. Christopher Golden has brought a fresh look to an old tale. He brought to life what we always believed about vampires. I thought the writing to be spectacular, and vivid. While reading this book, I was able to picture the characters, scenery, and emotions that were written. I look forward to many more stories from Christopher.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: I must admit, I have read Christopher Golden's works before, and this is most definetely one of the best. The descriptions and writing were grand. The characters had personality and feeling which one does not normally find in many writings. The gore and "sex" scenes were also great and descriptive > : ) Overall, this was an excellent book, and I cannot wait to go out and buy the other two! Great job Chris!
Rating: 
Summary: The best book of the Shadows saga
Review: I read this book, thinking it was all about vampires. To my surpise and at first disgust, it was about creatures called shadows, they thought they were supposed to be evil, but the only thing evil was the Catholic Church. Christopher Golden astounded me with this complete new view on how people view things and ideas. This book inspired me to read the other books in the saga. Unfortunately, in the second, my favorite character was not a big role, and in the third, he became human. This book changed my whole view and ideas of the previous books I have read on vampires. His untraditional ideas have completely changed my opinions on what makes a good book. It was one the best things that has happened to me to buy this book and not get what I wanted, I got more.
Rating:
Summary: Of Saints and Shadows
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I read a lot and I usally dont find that many books I dont like, on the other hand I find few books that I really liked and this was one of them. I found it hard to put down, and I was eager to get back to it when I did. I am not a dark and gloomy vampire lover but I do enjoy some vampire books every now and then. Christopher Golden really made his vampire characters likeable and he even threw in some suprises. I thought this was an excellent book!
Rating:
Summary: Original page-turner, very graphically violent.
Review: I really enjoyed this page-turning, exciting action-packed papal conspiracy piece of vampire fiction! I did not like AT ALL what happened at the beginning of the epilogue - it was not in keeping with the rest of the story and was a let down. But Christopher Golden really has created a great mythos here and I read the book in two days! I loved Peter, Meaghan, George, and Cody. I can't wait to read the rest.
My only other complaint is that some of the violence read like a graphic novel, or something written for teens, and the giant monster with multiple vaginas... please, too gross; I noticed there were no multiple-phallused demons, ahem. A bit sexist.
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