Rating: 
Summary: A Night in the Life
Review: After hearing a couple reviews from friends in person, as well as the enthusiastic applause it received from the readers here, I expected quite a bit more from 'Clan Novel: Toreador' than I received from the first of the 13-book series. Not that it was a bad book, or that it occupied countless volumes of my time. Rather, it was an easy read, one that went by quickly but did not leave many lingering afterthoughts in its wake.As would be the fashion, bits and pieces of this book are to be incorporated in the following 12, each overlapping a small amount. I initially ordered the first six of the series and intend to read through them; I hope that the intrigue grows, or even, appears. Like other books of a series, though, I'm hoping this is just a lead-in to much better material.
Rating: 
Summary: Adequate Beginning
Review: An RPG tie-in novel doesn't have to be WAR AND PEACE for me to give it 5 stars. It doesn't even have to be THE LORD OF THE RINGS or INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. It just has to be a REALLY GOOD RPG novel. It should be helpful as a resource to people who play the games. (In the case of CLAN NOVELS it means that the book should have a clear, developed focus on the title clan.) At the same time, it has to be more than just an RPG resource. The story should be able to stand alone for people who don't know much about the game or who aren't reading the whole series. So what have we here? First, it's really hard for the first book in a series to stand alone. Part of it's job is to establish the intriguing and unresolved issues that will shape the rest of the series. It's supposed to raise more questions than it answers. However, a really good first installment should also establish interesting characters in compelling situations- characters the reader can identify with and whose concerns will move the reader to follow them through the rest of the series. For me, those kinds of characters and concerns didn't start showing up in this series until Volumes 3, 4 and 5 (GANGREL, SETITE and VENTRUE, respectively). What was I left with here was an intellectual curiosity about where it was all going to go but no real driving concern about anyone likely to have survived. OK but not great. Then there's the title clan. All the required things are here- the Toreadors' artistic interests, their interest in high society, their fascination with humans and even a bit of the tendency of the other clans to underestimate the Toreador. What's missing, I think, is any real sense of the Toreador's preoccupation with beauty that makes them seem like something other than manipulative, self-involved caricatures. There's a whole gallery full of art here, for example, assembled by a Toreador but it's only really discussed in terms of how grotesque the subject matter is and the amount of prestige it brings. Another character does have the Toreador weakness (fixation on beauty) to the point of derangement as part of his artistic process but mostly it just seems intriguingly weird rather than a typical manifestation of the clan's attachment to beauty. In general, though, the book has a lot to cover in order to set up for the series. It does a decent job and even has some decent individual situations. (Good because you can't really skip it.) My guess is that people will find things to enjoy and want to read further based on what's here. It's just not the strongest book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Poor characters saying poor dialog
Review: Basically it's a book to set up the 12-book plot. Only a very few of the mainly peripheral characters are interesting. If you're looking for a better White Wolf vampire novel, try the Masquerade of the Red Death trilogy. I'll admit that there were some good scenes though, but for what was told it should have been cut down to a short story. I'm just hoping the series gets better.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Beginning
Review: Clan Novel Toreador, the first of a thirteen novel series, provides readers with the foundations for a massive story. The novel introduces us to two main characters in the overall meta-plot, the Toreadors Victoria Ash and Leopold. The novel, as all others of the series, is divided into three main parts. The first part of Toreador centers on one of the most important characters in the series, Leopold. Author Stewart Wieck gives is a nice starting point, a vampire filled with self-doubt, too close to his emotions to understand them in context with what he now is. Along the way, we get glimpses of other strange events...the disappeaance of a powerful Giovanni, infighting amongst the Camarilla of Atlanta (specifically the Brujah Theo Bell and Prince Bennison, a Malkavian. We are also given a substantive look at signature Toreador, Victoria Ash, a sensual beauty who is as covert in her mechanations as she is attractive. We are also introduced to a Setite named Vegel and a Nosferatu named Rolph. The story finally goes into high gear as the Sabbat attack a place where the Camarilla of Atlanta has gathered. The violence and destruction is enormous and powerfully written. The final two pages provides the necessary bite and twist that will bring readers back for more. By necessity, Clan Novel Toreador spends time setting up the meta-plot. Author Wieck is to be commended for his ability to give us a group of characters that are interesting and typical of their clans. A fantastic, easy and engaging read. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Beginning
Review: Clan Novel Toreador, the first of a thirteen novel series, provides readers with the foundations for a massive story. The novel introduces us to two main characters in the overall meta-plot, the Toreadors Victoria Ash and Leopold. The novel, as all others of the series, is divided into three main parts. The first part of Toreador centers on one of the most important characters in the series, Leopold. Author Stewart Wieck gives is a nice starting point, a vampire filled with self-doubt, too close to his emotions to understand them in context with what he now is. Along the way, we get glimpses of other strange events...the disappeaance of a powerful Giovanni, infighting amongst the Camarilla of Atlanta (specifically the Brujah Theo Bell and Prince Bennison, a Malkavian. We are also given a substantive look at signature Toreador, Victoria Ash, a sensual beauty who is as covert in her mechanations as she is attractive. We are also introduced to a Setite named Vegel and a Nosferatu named Rolph. The story finally goes into high gear as the Sabbat attack a place where the Camarilla of Atlanta has gathered. The violence and destruction is enormous and powerfully written. The final two pages provides the necessary bite and twist that will bring readers back for more. By necessity, Clan Novel Toreador spends time setting up the meta-plot. Author Wieck is to be commended for his ability to give us a group of characters that are interesting and typical of their clans. A fantastic, easy and engaging read. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: a good book (source book)
Review: Clan Novel: Toreador is a good book. Containg depitctions of how Kindred city would look and act. Hilighting, on how a newley Embraced Kindred would act. Genrally speaking any refutes to this shuld look to who the auther of the book is. I think it is a book all VtM players (or Storytellers) shuld read to better understand the game All and all it is a good book for what it is. A source book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting for what it is, but not a good book
Review: CN Torrie was an interesting book needless to say, but in the whole grand scheme of things I didn't like it. The char's were cardboard cutout's with a few execptions. Mainly the Nosfuratu. All in all, if you are a White Wolf fan you are going to buy the book. If not, I say don't bother. I just hope CN Tzimece is better.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone loves a Torrie!
Review: Even though the book started slow, it sets up the plot. You have to remember, this is the first book in the clan novel series, and as the first book, I think it does a good job of setting up the plot and the characters. Toreador is the beginning, and even though its not bursting with action like most of the other books, it's still great. Alas, no one will ever understand the plight of the artist, will they?
Rating:
Summary: Good for starters
Review: For my $ and a few hours reading, this is a good start to what is quite an epic series about vampires. No doubt, this is not an instant classic, but that's not what I expect from a short pulpy book that's the first of 13. It has character sketches of two Toreadors (one "real" artist and one "poser"), it shows the two main sides of White Wolf's vampire faction (the Camarilla and the Sabbat, and even tosses in some of the independent groups, like Setites) and it gets the action of the series underway (the Eye of Hazimel, the Sabbat attacks, etc.). The sex is not erotic, but these are undead we're talking about. There are some scenes that drag a bit, but there are some interestingly unsettling ones as well (a vampire coming out of frenzy licking dried blood off a road, a vampire kissing a bust he sculpted, etc.). My advise is either expect to read the entire series or don't pick up the first book at all. Judged by itself it may not be what YOU want it to be. But as part of the series, I think it succeeds just fine.
Rating:
Summary: What's a Primogen between Enemies?
Review: Here begins a 13 volume essay on the world of The Masquerade, the vampires who are its denizens, the intensity of its politics, and the fragility of its architecture. Each of the books take a narrow slice of the events leading up to and surrounding the Sabbat's plans to steal Atlanta from the claws of the Masquerade. If you don't know, the Masquerade ore the clans who are determined to keep vampires out of public sight and notice, and the Sabbat, who want to be able to run wild and treat humans as walking snack bags.
We are introduced to two vampires of the Toreador, a clan best know for its focus on the artistic and sensual. Leopold is a struggling sculptor, and Victoria Ash is determined to rise to control of Atlanta. Both are struggling with their identity, but Leopold is trying to find out who he is, and Victoria's goal is to discover what she may become. When Victoria throws a party with her own surprises planned she discovers that the Sabbat has other plans entirely. Soon their primary goal is simple survival.
This is a fan book, by which I mean that it will be most meaningful to those who are players of the associated game and know much of the details of the background against which the story takes place. If you come in cold you will find this book too heavily detailed and fragmentary. In fact, until the series settles down in later volumes, this element of confusion is the norm.
Not that the story doesn't have juicy parts, but it is often more of a sourcebook than an action tale. In these tales much of what happens comes in tiny bites. If you are a fan of Masquerade's intricate gothic plots and unpredictable character behavior then this will suit you fine. There is material here for endless maneuvers and adventures. In no case, however, expect this to be a sex charged romance novel. The Masquerade was made for vampires, not their food.
| 
