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Necroscope: Avengers

Necroscope: Avengers

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent conclusion to a fabulous saga
Review: "Necroscope: Avengers" is a fine conclusion to Brian Lumley's magnificent Necroscope series. In "Avengers" (the best Necroscope novel since "Bloodwars"), Lumley finishes the tale he started in "Invaders" and "Defilers," wrapping up the stories of the mighty Wamphyri, Lord Nephran Malinari, Lady Vavara, and Lord Szwart.

In "Avengers" we get all of the blood and gore we've come to expect and love from Lumley. His vampires are the meanest and most horrifying I've come across in fiction. Lumley's biggest weakness (and it's not much of one) has always been in his characters. His background characters are frequently merely cardboard cutouts that play off the Wamphyri vampire lords, and those in "Avengers" are no different. But the main characters in "Avengers" (Ben Trask & Jake Cutter) start to become more fully formed as they struggle with their humanity in the fight to vanquish the Wamphyri.

This book, as do the previous two in the E-Branch trilogy, focuses on the E-Branch members and not so much on the vampires. While this is initially disconcerting to those of us who loved the "Vampire World" trilogy, after a few chapters readers will find themselves enthralled in E-Branch's efforts to save the world.

This book had a vitality that was missing in both "Invaders" and "Defilers." Lumley put everything he had into his final Necroscope novel and it turned out very satisfying indeed! In the end, we're treated to another one of Lumley's explosive finales. And if everything wrapped up a little too neatly, who cares! It certainly didn't affect my enjoyment of the novel.

It felt good to be reading another Necroscope novel. It felt like I was reacquainting myself with an old friend. I am saddened to hear that this is Brian Lumley's final Necroscope novel, but as a devoted Lumley fan I eagerly look forward to his future efforts. Recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent conclusion to a fabulous saga
Review: "Necroscope: Avengers" is a fine conclusion to Brian Lumley's magnificent Necroscope series. In "Avengers" (the best Necroscope novel since "Bloodwars"), Lumley finishes the tale he started in "Invaders" and "Defilers," wrapping up the stories of the mighty Wamphyri, Lord Nephran Malinari, Lady Vavara, and Lord Szwart.

In "Avengers" we get all of the blood and gore we've come to expect and love from Lumley. His vampires are the meanest and most horrifying I've come across in fiction. Lumley's biggest weakness (and it's not much of one) has always been in his characters. His background characters are frequently merely cardboard cutouts that play off the Wamphyri vampire lords, and those in "Avengers" are no different. But the main characters in "Avengers" (Ben Trask & Jake Cutter) start to become more fully formed as they struggle with their humanity in the fight to vanquish the Wamphyri.

This book, as do the previous two in the E-Branch trilogy, focuses on the E-Branch members and not so much on the vampires. While this is initially disconcerting to those of us who loved the "Vampire World" trilogy, after a few chapters readers will find themselves enthralled in E-Branch's efforts to save the world.

This book had a vitality that was missing in both "Invaders" and "Defilers." Lumley put everything he had into his final Necroscope novel and it turned out very satisfying indeed! In the end, we're treated to another one of Lumley's explosive finales. And if everything wrapped up a little too neatly, who cares! It certainly didn't affect my enjoyment of the novel.

It felt good to be reading another Necroscope novel. It felt like I was reacquainting myself with an old friend. I am saddened to hear that this is Brian Lumley's final Necroscope novel, but as a devoted Lumley fan I eagerly look forward to his future efforts. Recommended.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Unimpressed
Review: After enjoying all of the previous Necroscope books, I was very disappointed with Brian Lumley's concluding book. Most of the Necroscope books are vivid, exciting and well-written, but this final book is slow, drawn out and ends unsatisfyingly. It starts out well enough, with an exciting episode upon a cruise liner, but the book soon loses steam. There are many scenes and lengthy dialogues that have little relevance to the narrative or plot. Brian Lumley appears to have written the extremely unsatisfying ending of the series hastily, which made me question why I had bothered to read the Necroscope series at all. I won't recommend this to anyone. After spending so much effort in writing this series (about 15 years!), I am amazed that Brian Lumley ended the series so lamely.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wouldn't missssss it.
Review: Ardent Brian Lumley fans would not agree that any of his Necroscope books were getting "stale." Most of us were pacing as we waited for the next book full of new twists and turn and new creatures of dread. While I never found Jake to be as "intriguing" as Harry, his appearance in book 13 fleshed him out a bit more. Trask and the others become even more complex as the danger builds. Unexpected twists occur with familiar places, situations and names making themselves know once again.

The only drawback to me is that this is the last of the series!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: sorry to see it all end
Review: As the last in the Necroscope series it proves out to be not one of his best, but hey, I'm not complaining. I'm just sorry to see it all end. But as they say all good things must come to an end. If you've read the other books this is a must. Maybe we'll have a vampire necroscope series?

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bloodless
Review: As with any series that spans over a dozen installments, Lumley's Necroscope chronicles have had their ups and downs but unfortunately he has chosen to end the series with one of his weakest efforts yet. After setting up a great opening sequence in a luxury cruise ship, the energy immediately leeches from the novel and nothing happens for virtually the next 200 pages. Our heroes are mesmerized into utter stupidity as they approach the final confrontation which is anti-climactic at best. The only real satisfaction I got from the novel was the futuristic epilogue which at least brought us a little closure while firmly nailing shut both the coffin and any possibility of a sequel. Having loved this series since its inception, it's disheartening to hand in a review as tepid as this one but I am a longtime admirer of Lumley's talents and have high hopes that his next offering will spawn an engrossing new tale.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Sad Ending for a Truly Fantastic Voyage!
Review: Brian Lumley definitely changed the way we see the vampire and its world. The Necroscope series is some of the most original vampire stories told, along with Anne Rice's Lestat books.

That being said, you can only write something for so long before it begins to bore you to tears. Cutter is no Keogh, and Lumley never really builds up Cutter's character to match with your feelings for Keogh. You feel sympathetic to Keogh, but in the end he also revolts you as a Lord Vampire.

With Cutter, who cares? The other characters have been well developed in the past nine books; therefore there was no need to dwell on their pasts. Cutter never left me feeling anything for him or what happens to him. This book truly shows how thin the series has become and the ending of this long series is very disappointing, and after all the hard work of the E-Branch team, you feel somewhat cheated. If you have never read Lumley pick up the first Necrosope series and enjoy a true original vampire tale.

For those of us who have been with E-branch from the beginning, Lumley's last three books of the series seem a waste of great talent and a future that was not worth fighting for in the first place.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Dark Side of the Moon
Review: Brian Lumley's brilliant Necroscope series comes to an end with Necroscope: Avengers. Like so many series under the leadership of Tor, this was an excellent reading diversion over the years. Unfortunately, the series does end with Avengers.

Jake Cutter, as a character, is a worthy successor to Harry Keogh, who does manage to make a guest appearance. Just like Harry, Jake's independence from E-Branch does make for good suspense.

The last few books of the series have dealt with a new threat to Earth. Three Wamphyri have managed to escape from Starside, crossing over via a transdimensional gate under the Carpathian Mountains. Of course, the goal of these three vampire lords is nothing short of total domination of Earth. The only thing blocking their goal is the British E-Branch, a governmental organization of talented mentalists.

As Avengers begins, the vampires, Lady Vavara, Lord Malinari, and Lord Swartz, are attempting to capture the Necroscope and return to Starside with Cutter's vaunted powers added to theirs. The triumvirate is extremely sick of Earth with its short nights and E-Branch, wanting nothing more than to escape Earth with a weapon that can be used against Harry Keogh's descendant Nathan, who has successfully cleansed vampires from his own world.

While on Earth, the Wamphyri have reaped more success than they realized. In earlier books of the series, the Wamphyri attempted to create spores that would filter through the atmosphere and eventually create more of their kind. Initially feeling the brutal sting of failure, the fruiting bodies of their spores have in fact been rather successful. A vampire plague is sweeping the Earth.

Can E-Branch effectively protect Earth and destroy the Wamphyri before they return to Starside? In his previous books, Lumley did not allow the Wamphyri to establish a toehold on Earth. In his last book of the series, however, Lumley does seem to remove all stops and creates an atmosphere of most anything goes.

And, it does not seem to work. While Avengers is a necessary read for those who have been following the Necroscope series, new fans should find their vampire thrills elsewhere. The last forty pages of Avengers are contrived at best, and bring the Necroscope series to a vastly unsatisfying conclusion.

At least Brian Lumley does in fact conclude his series. Quite a few Tor series seem rather endless in scope, and, as is the case with Robert Jordan, are getting rather sporadic with book releases and quality. Still, vampire fans not familiar with Brian Lumley's Necroscope series can safely read the series' first eight books.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GRIMSPEED, HARRY!
Review: Check Your Review of Necroscope 4: Deadspeak by Brian Lumley

Here is your review the way it will appear:

FORTHCOMING: A U.S. HARDCOVER FOR NECROSCOPE 4 HARRY KEOGH, BURIED AT LAST IN NECROSCOPE-13, and at last a hardcover for NECROSCOPE-4. Skip an epitaph for the NECROSCOPE? A review of the entire series? I despair. But what fun it would be, to measure the attainment and valiant imagination of Lumley's mindwarping 6,500 pages of DEADSPEAK (13 doorstoppers nearing 500 pages each, double the length of IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME--and chipped out of a single block of electronic marble, Lumley's brain, in only eleven years!), an Ozymandian fantasy of towering heights that will lie on the lone and level sands of oblivion as an unwitting but cautionary megaloid obelisk for future fantasists set on shaping on paper their own features out of eternal darkness: Look, ye mighty electron wielders, upon my mighty metamorphic crossdimensional vampire epic and scotch all hope that you can build such gigasparks of visionary brainwash out of glowing dreamspeak! How droll the darkness already lapping at Lumley's creation, with the last trade paperback edition reprinted in perdurable hardcover, all thirteen blocks now to sit on shelves unread by future generations of Bloodfans as they move into the forthcoming novelties of compunov on screenread that will leave Necroscope flickering in the nether regions adjoining Sax Rohmer's once widely read British series The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu last seen glimmering under black waters off the Limehouse docks.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I guess it had to end sometime
Review: I enjoyed this book a lot but for some reason I didn't like the ending. I supose it worked well enough and was a good conclusion to the series but it left me wanting more.....


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