Dhampir

Rating:
Summary: Great for Vampire Fans!
Review: I've read one previous novel by Barb Hendee, Blood Memories, and was impressed enough by the experience that I decided to read Dhampir. Let's begin by saying that I am not regretting that decision.

This is the first novel of a series, the next of which will not be available until January 2004. She is writing with her husband this time, J.C. Hendee, but the integration of their writing styles is seamless. If you liked the writing style of Blood Memories, you won't even notice that J.C. Hendee has come aboard. I count this as a good thing, because I liked Blood Memories quite a lot.

The story revolves around Magiere and her partner, Leesil (a half-elf), who are an awsome vampire slaying duo. Magirere is more special than she realizes; let's just say that she has some interesting ancestors. When the two decide to retire, their peaceful plans are interrupted by a trio of undead who know more about Magiere's birthright than she does herself.

This novel is set more in Tolkien's universe than in Laurell K. Hamilton's, Tanya Huff's, or P.N. Elrod's, but it should still satisfy fans of those authors. Still, it is one of the best introductory novels I've read in a long time. I hope that the rest of the series lives up to the promise.

Rating:
Summary: verdaeni on dhampir
Review: Im a pretty jaded reader, having been reading scifi for 35 years and the same old plots can get on my nerves. However I really enjoyed this book! The plot was interesting, the end was unguessable (could have gone easily more then one way) the main two 'heros' (hahaha) had complex but explicable personalities that get you hooked to find out more. Also the 'ememies' were well thought out and described with different personalities and motivations. Of prime interest, the characters reacted within their defined characteristics and motivations, but not TOO predicatably. Something in the style reminds me of Barbara Hambly who regularily produces 'can't put me downers'. I'm hoping for more books in the series and for more series as well!

Rating:
Summary: good vampire read
Review: It took a bit for me to get into the book but I really liked it. I think it would make a great film with perhaps Winona Ryder as Magiere.

Rating:
Summary: Bloody good
Review: Magiere and her partner, Leesil the half elf former assassin, has a sweet con game going- traveling from town to town capitalizing on the superstitions of the villagers and ridding the towns of "vampires". In reality, they were running a Bret Maverick type con- Magiere "killed" Leesil and performed a secret ceremony to destroy the body, allowing them to escape with a bit more wealth. Then, Magiere gets tired of it and they buy a tavern. The hitch is, the town has real vampires, and only Magiere, a half vampire dhampir can kill them. Once open war is declared, the battles rage until the suspenseful conclusion.
The Hendees have woven an intricate world with full bodied characters where the heroes are not sterling and the villains are almost sympathetic. Take Buffy, La Femme Nikita, and the Skin Game, add a dash of magic, and you have this series. I look forward to volume two.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating; demanding a series.
Review: Magiere, her half-elf partner Leesil and his dog, Chap, travel many lands to rid towns and villages of the undead, but do they indeed rid the town of Vampires or is it merely ridding hapless villagers of superstition? Little is known of Magiere's and Leesil's pasts, even to each other, and slowly it unfolds as the rest of the book's characters come into play: The Noble Dead.

This book is as much about Magiere and Leesil as it is about the vampires that haunt it. The past of Rashed, Teesha, Ratboy and Parko, vampires of Miiska, come out even more human than the Dhampir and her partner, though this does not disturb the great characterization of the important players in the "game". I am glad that the writers of this book didn't go too much into the "technicalities" of vampire hunting, turning, etc. While they had to establish some perimeters, the characterization, I feel, was the story's strongest point.

While the characters weren't overly emotional, I think the tone of the story is dark; intense, with only a smattering of relief (Leesil makes a few wisecracks, but that doesn't make much of a dent in the gothic nature of the whole thing.) The action in this book was played just right and I did appreciate the detailing in the right places. If someone were to turn this book into a movie, the director would be Tim Burton.

The writing and narration flows excellently and while I would prefer less points of view, my tastes shouldn't defer anyone from reading this well-crafted story.

Rating:
Summary: A Promising new series
Review: Mixing the high fantasy genre with tales of undead hunters, DHAMPIR refreshes both genres with a mixture of wit, humour, adventure and gothic flavor that I've not seen in a while. Magiere and her partner, Leesil the half-elf, begin the tale as not very likeable charlatan vampire hunters in a dark medieval-like world. They make their living scamming villages out of their hard-earned money by pretending to rid the area of imaginary undeads. At least so they think. And when they finally decide they've had enough and want to settle down in the quiet life, they're in for a big surprise. (Personally, I loved the twist where instead of adventurers just hanging out in a tavern as part of the tale, they'd rather buy the place and run it themselves). But they unwittingly settle in the home town of three true vampires, or Noble Dead as they are called in the book. Both Magiere and Leesil have dark pasts, which begin to creep up upon them from memory as they must deal with illusions and superstitions turned real. (The author's site now lists THIEF OF LIVES as the coming sequel to be released in January 2004.)

Rating:
Summary: Let the fun continue
Review: Most of what you need to know has been said here by many reviewers, so I'll just be brief. This book was a blast. Instead of the usual sex and blood barage of most so-called vampire tales masquerading as S&M soft-porn, there's some heart to characters who don't run around with pure white and black hats. And instead of some over-powered magical item being chased after by wannabes, there's a plot that's down to earth even for its fantasy fixtures. And even as a guy, I wonder about Magiere and Leesil's future - together. I can't wait for the next one in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Fresh, exciting vampire action in a rich, immersive setting
Review: Not so long ago, there was a pervasive sense, even among horror fans, that the vampire genre was dead, that it had been bled dry of all creativity and effectiveness. We now know better, of course. One of the more recent scintillating entries in the vampire genre is Dhampir by Barb & J.C. Hendee. If you're a vampire fan, you will almost certainly enjoy this formidable work of dark fantasy literature. While I wouldn't go so far as to equate it with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it is exciting both viscerally and intellectually.

Magiere has built quite a reputation as a vampire hunter; she doesn't come cheap, but she always gets her vampire. Of course, her "vampire" is always her trusty half-elven partner Leesil playing the role of the undead fiend. It's a living, but Magiere has grown tired of the game, tired of basically robbing villages of their wealth; it's not as if the superstitious folks across the land actually need protecting since vampires don't exist in the first place. She has just purchased a tavern in the coastal city of Miiska, and she can't wait to get there and start a new life. Then she is attacked one night by a man with supernatural strength and abilities; lucky to survive the fierce fight, she is left troubled by the emotional and physical changes she experienced in the heat of battle. Although she does not realize it at first, a trio of vampires awaits her in Miiska and plots to destroy her, thinking this famous "hunter" is coming to destroy them. She doesn't even know what she is yet, though - not only is she truly a vampire hunter, she is a dhampir. While she is a mortal being, the vampire half of her blood gives her the ability and specialized skills to kill the Noble Undead. Leesin has a secret heritage of his own which makes him an ideal partner for the true hunter, and Leesin's dog Chap also possesses the special capacity to take on the undead. Magiere's undead foes are quite shocked to learn that she can actually harm them with her blade, and their growing realization of her true power and innate calling only furthers the determination of the head vampire Rashed to kill this hunter in order to protect his vampire family.

It's an odd set of vampires: Rashed finds comfort in a mortal life, setting himself up as a businessman and insisting that his kind feed upon but not kill its victims. The female Teesha also finds comfort in the trappings of normal life and is actually quite likable in several ways. Then there is Ratboy, the Pig Pen of the vampire world whose feral tendencies sometimes threaten to reveal the vampire presence to the local populace. The vampires also have an ally in the form of Teesha's husband (who just so happens to be a nearly-headless ghost). Magiere doesn't want to fight vampires, but the fact that she keeps getting attacked by them makes it unavoidable. Her mind is in constant turmoil, trying to cope with the increasingly troubling revelations about her true nature, worrying about Leesil on a number of levels, fighting just to survive each night when the sun goes down, dealing with a sense of guilt for the false life she has led up until now, and yearning for the settled, peaceful life she craves so dearly.

All of the main characters are complex and very human (or nonhuman, as the case may be), even the dog Chap. That makes the fight scenes all the more thrilling, and the Hendees know how to make vampire action exciting, I can assure you. There are a number of skirmishes and knock-down-drag-out-cut-off-the-head fights in these pages, each of them described in vivid detail. The thrill of it all isn't just blood lust either; the multi-layered richness to the vampires' lives and relationships raises them far above the level of simple monsters representing evil incarnate.

You still get your basic vampire mythology here, but some unusual additions to the lore help keep things lively and unpredictable. The fights are a joy to experience, as you get all sorts of killing instruments and murder techniques thrown in (garlic water, for example, when applied liberally to a vampire's skin, bakes it up into a most satisfying charred, smoky mess). The emotional growth of both Magiere and Leesil as the novel progresses offers a strong undercurrent that connects with the reader on a very human level, making these characters ones you really want to meet up with again in the future. The Hendees have created a truly vibrant world ready to open its arms wide to all vampire aficionados. Those who crave vampire-fighting action can sate their needs quite well in the pages of this novel, while those who want to understand the nature and motivations of vampires and their foes are in for a really special treat.

Rating:
Summary: Action-packed!!
Review: STORY: The "charlatan" vampire hunters Magiere and Leesil go from town to town exploiting the fears of the locals. Magiere is tired of such a life and without Leesil's knowledge buys a tavern on the coast announcing to him that she is retiring and he is coming with here. Little do either know, that the little coastal village where they are headed is a nest of vampires. Through the story Magiere finds out she is specially equiped to fight vampires for real and not pretend. Aided by Leesil, their "special" hound Chap and some townsfolk they fight for thier lives and future dreams.

MY FEEDBACK:
1) Setting - Could have used a map of the world. Each time a place is described I wanted to start drawing so I can get in my head where every city, town, or region is in relation to the others. This fantasy setting only has humans, quick reference to elves and of course vampires...no other races or monsters referred to. With that said, I didnt feel at any point that the story needed these things, YET. There is so much room for the authors to take and create a more vivid world. What they've created here is a functional envioronment that is very small in scope and works for this first story installment.

2) Characters -
a) Protagonists - I really liked the three main protagonists: Magiere, Leesil, and their hound Chap. Each had their strenghts, weaknesses, and secrets. It was a nice twist that all three have travelled several years together, yet there is so much they don't know about each other or themselves. Nice character growth and relationships through the story.
b) Antagonist - The best thing about the vampires is that each one comes into his/her mental abilities differently. The authors played up on such strengths which helped define the individual vampires from the rest. Overall, the authors kept to most classic forms of killing vampires (garlic, stakes, etc) which was totally acceptable.

3) Story - Great Action! Believable dialogue and decisions made by characters. The story is written to be the first book in a series. The nice thing is 98% of all story conflicts are resolved in the end so even if they never get around to writting more in the series this book is a self-contained story. No real major plot twists and turns or comments on society and life...it was simply a straight forward action story, which was ok with me.

OVERALL: If you like what I said above, then you won't be disappointed by getting your hands on this book. I'm keeping this book in my collection and recommending it to friends. Fun story that I read in two-day's time. I'll be looking for any future installments of the Dhampire series.

Rating:
Summary: D&D Meets Vampire: Dark Ages
Review: The cover indicates the book is a blend of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings. I found this to be untrue and most likely a crass marketing attempt the authors of this great book wouldn't ascribe to. What is presented is a nice blending of traditional non-epic fantasy akin to the D&D type and the modern interpretation of vampires as something more than loathsome monsters but entities who have their own hopes, dreams and desires.

Magiere has an obscure past, one she doesn't even fully realize. Her partner in fraud is a half-elf from the Northern lands named Leesil who has a past he is desperately trying to forget. Leesil's one tie to his past, the one element he wouldn't be able to do without is a dog, Chap, that his elven mother gave him when he was a boy to act as a friend. Together they defraud superstitious villages, with Magiere taking the role of vampire hunter and Leesil the role of vampire.

When the game becomes tiresome to Magiere she buys a tavern in a small coastal city in hopes of settling down and leaving her `hunter' past behind her. On her way to the tavern, she is attacked by a raving lunatic and with the help of Chap, subdues and kills him. Fearing repercussions from the village, she sinks the body in the river and flees. Unknown to her at the time, she had killed a vampire and in the process brought the attention of that vampire's brother and his cohorts to her.

A story of this nature is allowed a few `coincidences' to push the plot forward and the key coincidence in this story is the tavern Magiere purchases happens to be in the same city as the vampires who seek vengeance for the death of Parko, the lunatic Magiere killed. When she arrives in the city, Rashed, the leader of the vampires and Parko's brother assumes she is there to hunt them.

What follows is a story of a reluctant hero coming to terms with her destiny and a tragic story of a `family' struggling to survive in a world where they are predators.

The characters in this book are rich and the story is tightly written. The action scenes are well crafted and easy to visualize. The authors, unlike many writers, were able to clearly detail what actions were taking place without becoming plodding or losing the sense of danger.

Though, at times, I felt the story was written too much like a Ravenloft D&D novel or a Vampire: Dark Ages novel, but I am willing to deal with that because I have a soft spot for roleplaying games. The world created in this book has such depth and detail that I could very easily see it as a setting for a campaign of one sort or another.