Resurrection: The Vampire Legacy

Rating:
Summary: Vampire Sociology
Review: The past century has wrought a significant change in the old, reliable vampire genre. In those glorious old days, women were women, men were men, and vampires were... the bad guys. Now, vampires have feelings, try to develop functional relationships, and harbor deep doubts about their ethical position. In short, they do everything but have therapists, and, Lord knows, some of them should do exactly that. Humans, on the other hand, are the villains half the time, and often are just portable blood supplies that dot the backdrops.

One of the inventions of this shift of sympathy from the victim to the predator is the creation of a completely new genre of vampire story, one that I call vampire politics (or vampire sociology if you need a more generic title). As Karen Taylor's latest demonstrates, the story is completely about the interoperations and machinations of various groups of supernatural creatures, almost out of context with the world in which the author proposes they live. On of the other things 'Resurrection' demonstrates is that unless this is done very well, it would be better if it had not been attempted.

Deirdre Griffin has been around as a vampire for some six moderately successful volumes. She has stopped several monstrous killers, taking a vampire husband, and endured a certain amount of family problems. Until now, the stories have been marked by strong plots and a variety of interesting characters, vampire and human. Now hunted across the world by a mysterious group known as The Others, Deirdre and Mike are in a struggle for their very existence. Somehow, Deirdre has been infected with a poison that is gradually erasing her memories, turning her into an empty vessel living only in the moment.

What should have become a fast-paced race against time to solve the threat of The Others and recover Deirdre's essence turns into a series of pat moves across the narrow stage of a tiny English town where the most momentous events seem to happen more off camera than at center stage. In truth, the book has fewer settings than the average off Broadway play. Coupled with a lack of character development (Deirdre is degenerating and everyone else is staying the same) this results in a book that is missing some important ingredients for success. This explains its lackluster sales performance.

It is clearly Taylor's intent to write a sequel, since almost every story arc is left unfinished. Hopefully, some of the tedium of this volume is due to the necessity for setting the stage upon which more exciting events will play. I am giving this book three stars because I do not want to sell short an otherwise successful author without seeing where she is going with the entire effort. But unless you are entranced by vampire stories where the most exciting event is the death if a dog (and Deirdre's money worries) be warned that you may find this far less satisfactory than other efforts.

Rating:
Summary: Vampire Sociology
Review: The past century has wrought a significant change in the old, reliable vampire genre. In those glorious old days, women were women, men were men, and vampires were... the bad guys. Now, vampires have feelings, try to develop functional relationships, and harbor deep doubts about their ethical position. In short, they do everything but have therapists, and, Lord knows, some of them should do exactly that. Humans, on the other hand, are the villains half the time, and often are just portable blood supplies that dot the backdrops.

One of the inventions of this shift of sympathy from the victim to the predator is the creation of a completely new genre of vampire story, one that I call vampire politics (or vampire sociology if you need a more generic title). As Karen Taylor's latest demonstrates, the story is completely about the interoperations and machinations of various groups of supernatural creatures, almost out of context with the world in which the author proposes they live. On of the other things 'Resurrection' demonstrates is that unless this is done very well, it would be better if it had not been attempted.

Deirdre Griffin has been around as a vampire for some six moderately successful volumes. She has stopped several monstrous killers, taking a vampire husband, and endured a certain amount of family problems. Until now, the stories have been marked by strong plots and a variety of interesting characters, vampire and human. Now hunted across the world by a mysterious group known as The Others, Deirdre and Mike are in a struggle for their very existence. Somehow, Deirdre has been infected with a poison that is gradually erasing her memories, turning her into an empty vessel living only in the moment.

What should have become a fast-paced race against time to solve the threat of The Others and recover Deirdre's essence turns into a series of pat moves across the narrow stage of a tiny English town where the most momentous events seem to happen more off camera than at center stage. In truth, the book has fewer settings than the average off Broadway play. Coupled with a lack of character development (Deirdre is degenerating and everyone else is staying the same) this results in a book that is missing some important ingredients for success. This explains its lackluster sales performance.

It is clearly Taylor's intent to write a sequel, since almost every story arc is left unfinished. Hopefully, some of the tedium of this volume is due to the necessity for setting the stage upon which more exciting events will play. I am giving this book three stars because I do not want to sell short an otherwise successful author without seeing where she is going with the entire effort. But unless you are entranced by vampire stories where the most exciting event is the death if a dog (and Deirdre's money worries) be warned that you may find this far less satisfactory than other efforts.

Rating:
Summary: Home is where you sleep........
Review: This is the first book in which Deirdre Griffin was the foremost character that I have read, and it will certainly not be the last. I was fascinated, as I always am, with Taylor's work. The subculture she creates in which vampires are part of society is plausible, as is the news media which is the way The Others track them for destruction. For a vampire is safe only as long as a vampire is a myth -- when the truth of their real existence is known, they must flee.

The Others are an intriguing breed created to house souls. Of course, they know vampires are real, and the hungers, desires, needs, that lived in them before, return. Even a human soul can be placed in an Other body. The soul is dormant until awakened, and old enemies return, as do those who have been loved.

I loved the freedom of the shape shifting vampires, and found I longed to run without tiring as they did. Taylor explores this amazing quality in ways I have not read before. There is a reason for each character and each scene, for every word and expression. They are the ingredients for a plot that is entwined with past, present, and future.

She weaves love and danger, suspicion and change, energy and despair into her characters, and they change. The mark of a good author is to let the characters tell their own stories. Taylor is a master. Be prepared, the end, the cliffhanger, will probably drive you forward for the sequel to Resurrection.

Karen Taylor fans will not be disappointed, and those who are new to the terrors she creates are in for a treat. I give this five stars.

Victoria Tarrani

Rating:
Summary: Home is where you sleep........
Review: This is the first book in which Deirdre Griffin was the foremost character that I have read, and it will certainly not be the last. I was fascinated, as I always am, with Taylor's work. The subculture she creates in which vampires are part of society is plausible, as is the news media which is the way The Others track them for destruction. For a vampire is safe only as long as a vampire is a myth -- when the truth of their real existence is known, they must flee.

The Others are an intriguing breed created to house souls. Of course, they know vampires are real, and the hungers, desires, needs, that lived in them before, return. Even a human soul can be placed in an Other body. The soul is dormant until awakened, and old enemies return, as do those who have been loved.

I loved the freedom of the shape shifting vampires, and found I longed to run without tiring as they did. Taylor explores this amazing quality in ways I have not read before. There is a reason for each character and each scene, for every word and expression. They are the ingredients for a plot that is entwined with past, present, and future.

She weaves love and danger, suspicion and change, energy and despair into her characters, and they change. The mark of a good author is to let the characters tell their own stories. Taylor is a master. Be prepared, the end, the cliffhanger, will probably drive you forward for the sequel to Resurrection.

Karen Taylor fans will not be disappointed, and those who are new to the terrors she creates are in for a treat. I give this five stars.

Victoria Tarrani