Rating: 
Summary: I have a new fav writer!
Review: I have just within the last 2 months completed all of Ms Due's books: The Between, My Soul to Keep and the Living Blood. She is my favorite author the way she spins a story riveted me. I want (...) to just send me her next book once it is out. I don't want to even know what it is about... just send it to me!! Cheers Gen
Rating:
Summary: Truly Delicious
Review: The book arrived @ my local library on Mon, 7 May, Wed, 9 May, I was finished. This book was not at all what I expected. I read it when I took my morning walks, while I bathed, while I listened to music and even when I was stopped in traffic waiting for the train to pass. I want to know what happens to Fana as an adult, how did the meeting, at the end of the story, turn out. Which ones at the meeting will end up being the bad guys? Will the BEE LADY resurface. ( I read the books out of sequence) I got MY SOUL TO KEEP on Wed and finished it on Thurs. The books were so very thought provoking that I rechecked them out again on the 14th so I could read them again. A truly exceptional book. My library is starting a book club, The Living Blood will be one of the books that I recommend. 5 stars is not enough, 10 plus to snaps!!
Rating: 
Summary: This lady has the Midas touch
Review: In THE LIVING BLOOD, ostensibly her sequel to 1997's MY SOUL TO KEEP, Tananarive Due adroitly explores territory traveled far and wide by many other authors, the age-old classic battle between the forces of good and evil. The central characters from MSTK, the immortal Dawit Wolde and his estranged wife, Jessica (also now an immortal) are back but TLB is a very different book from it's antecedent. Primarily, plot revolves around Fana, the precocious three year old daughter of the two immortals, a young child who is beginning to exhibit powers well beyond her mother's understanding and even further beyond her ability to control. As with her home and clinic in South Africa, where she had fled to soon after Fana's birth, Jessica decides to abandon the clinic she and her dedicated sister, Alexis, are running in Botswana to seek out guidance from the LifeBrothers, the secret Ethiopian colony of immortals, before Fana's powers mature any further. She knows the blood coursing through her veins can be a salvation but also carries a tremendous liability. Unbeknownst to her, but not unexpected, there are conflicting external forces, corporeal and otherwise who want to gain control of the blood and her daughter, for a multiplicity of reasons: some personal, some altrustic, some captialistic and some...just pure malevolence. Due does an excellent job of encapsulating MSTK's significant plotlines within TLB. She masterfully crafts a portal to an alternate 'unreality' as seen through the comprehension of a three year old. She evokes vivid images of Southern Africa and the little acknowledged history and beauty of Ethiopia. As she has proven with earlier works, she writes with uncomplicated elegance, seemingly unafflicted with the arrogance so often displayed in the works of so many other writers. TLB is a good book but that is not to infer it is flawless. There are a number of incongruities that cannot be effectively addressed here without detracting from the story for future readers. One that I can talk about however, might be my misconceived idea of the LifeBrothers, and their ethereal leader, Khaldun, rather than a failing on the part of the author. Due chose not to devote a great deal of the story to the LifeBrothers, their philosophy and the religious implications. In essence, the immortals were portrayed as little more than men who just lived forever, subject to the same petty jealousies, competitiveness and insecurities as mortals. Rather than superior, they appeared to be stagnant, unable to die but for the most part unwilling to evolve. Hopefully, there will be a follow-up to TLB that deals with that aspect in depth.
Rating:
Summary: Tananarive does it again!
Review: One word: Engaging. After the success of her second novel, My Soul To Keep, Tananarive Due fans have been waiting for the continued story of Jessica, her family and Dawit and the Immortals. However, The Living Blood has surpassed all high expectations. First of all, The Living Blood is a self-contained story and one needs not to have read My Soul To Keep to follow the fast paced action and addictive plot line. I read most of this book in one weekend and I feel that others will have the same experience. There is something to be said for good "page turners" and I believe it is an art within itself to keep readers so glued to the page that they miss appointments, bus stops and much needed sleep. The Living Blood takes us on a journey over a massive landscape, touching down on different countries within Africa, Europe and landing within the United States. Ms. Due's narrative descriptions are so powerful that I often felt if I were to look out my own window I would see the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela or the greying skies of a coming tropic storm. The Living Blood takes you to these places through the eyes of several memorable characters. Jessica and her sister's tenacity continue into this novel from the previous, however, we are also introduced to Lucas Shepherd and experience his one-man quest to find a cure for his son's leukemia. Each character is distinct in their system of beliefs and Ms. Due has done a wonderful job in showing what ethical and moral questions might arise if the world were to become aware of the existence of a blood so powerful that it can heal most diseases and even cause immortality. By far one of the most interesting characters is Fana, the first child born of two immortals. Tananarive Due takes us inside the mind of this unprecedented girl as she discovers the full range of her powers over time. Truthfully, I couldn't put this book down until I hit the last page, and even after that I read the book jacket, the notes, and scanned the back cover looking for more! Tananarive Due is a wonderful author. At every opportunity, I have recommended her books to friends and family. There is one thing that I enjoy in particular about her books, The Living Blood and My Soul To Keep, and that is how Ms. Due's landscape of characters demonstrate the different faces of Americans and the rest of the world. While most of the main characters are African-American there are also prominent Caucasian and African characters, Latino characters, and Italian and Irish characters. All of these people are in roles of doctors, families, soldiers, scholars, lawyers and corporate heads. What is exciting is that while all of these characters interact with one another, the focus of the novel is not the _fact_ that they are interacting. I am so happy to see an author writing books that demonstrate the richness of the world we live in. We are all influenced by one another and Ms. Due's books let that be known through the character's likes/dislikes and experiences. Furthermore, while all of these ethnic and racial groups are interacting, there is little sense of the "other" or outcasts and stereotypes. In fact, the division is not between races but a dichotomy of mortals and immortals, and by the end of The Living Blood even those lines are blurred. Congratulations to Tananarive Due she is a wonderful and innovative author. I wish her much continued success.
Rating:
Summary: I belong in the house of fools
Review: I recently read THE LIVING BLOOD a few days ago and then I saw Tananarive Due at Northwestern Univ. in Evanston. THE LIVING BLOOD can keep you glued to the book and even make you take a day off of work to finish it. I daily recommend this book to everybody I talked too as well as the prequel My Soul to Keep. I would also recommend hearing a talk presented by Ms. Due she is very captivating and well spoken. I can't wait for future books and another chance to speak with Ms. Due. This time I won't make a fool of myself.
Rating:
Summary: Octavis Butler's Patternmaster Series and Living Blood
Review: The Living Blood demostrates an artistry that is lucid, provocative, and very reminiscent of the works of Octavia E. Butler. Tananarive Due's multiperspective telling of this speculative thriller will bring both tears and laughter to the reader as they experience the adventure of a lifetime and the memories of several lifetimes. Readers who are familiar with Octavia Butler's Patternmaster Series will enjoy a fresh slant on immortal characters attempting to construct a new race of people. And those who have never experienced African-American speculative fiction will discover an adorable and frightening young black heroine and an insatiable desire to read more of Tananarive Due's fantastic mix of Science Fiction/Fantasy/Mystery/History and Truth.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, as expected!!
Review: As with "My Soul to Keep," Due does not let her readers down. "The Living Blood" is excellently written with absolute suspense. Hopefully, after the movie of "My Soul to Keep,' there will be one made for this one. She deserves more credit and exposure for her writing style and ability to weave the supernatural with religiosity that leaves the reader wonder if it's possible!
Rating:
Summary: Sequel to Soul to Keep
Review: I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. My Soul to Keep was just wonderful and I anticipated the release of the sequel. Ms. Due has a very vivid imagination and it comes across in her writing. Her character development is creative and well done. I liked most of the new characters (hated the Bee Lady, and wanted to skip over that part) I read the book in 1 1/2 days. I loved the scenic descriptions of the country of Africa and later Europe. I could see a sequel of this with concentration on the original leader who started the cult and how he did what he did. Or an adult Fana. Keep up the great work, MsDue. If you read MSTK then you'll enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing plot, Spellbinding writing
Review: Intoxicating, Dues writing grips and holds your mind to a point where you see and feel the characters. This book was so complete I did not realize I was reading a sequel. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Wait!!
Review: Loved the history of religion and the lush descriptions of South and Eastern Africa. Jessica's character was very well developed, although she was afraid and timid at times and had mortal thought and desires, she was able gained strenght from the love for her family and Faith in God to save them from the sinster world of greed and the thrist for immortality and wealth. It is well written and in the end you are left to wonder "What would you do with The Living Blood?" I recommend that you read this lesson of life and love of family.
|
