Knights of the Blood

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment all around
Review: A major disappointment for Kurtz fans, this book shows none of her excellent characterizations. Unlike her Deryni series, none of these characters inspire a feeling that you want to know these people better. Not James Drummond, the protagonist, who apparently gives up his charmed, bachelor life working for the LAPD. Not the order of crusading knights who somehow felt that the desecration of the Grail Shrine in the Holy Land by vampiric Saracens could be cleansed by nailing the lead vampire to the shrine wall and drinking his blood using the cup of Christ. All in all, the work was clearly a lesson in writing for MacMillan, who got his characterizations down better by the book's end. But it's scarcely worth the read for Kurtz fans

Rating:
Summary: Congrats, dear authors. You blew it.
Review: Amazing. Reading other books from Katherine Kurtz, I expected, like many other readers, more from this... ahemm... series. What rattles me is rather simple. The basic idea behind the story is rather promising for a fictional story. The research done though to write the story is, how to put it politely...not very professional. You can't translate English into German by just looking up the words in a dictionary. If it were that easy, wow, I'd be fluent in more languages than you could shake a stick at. Ever heard of Grammar, Scott and Katherine? Sentence structure? Or, 'lo and behold, the fact that the meaning of a word can translate into more than one meaning in another language? Just a quick example. The German word 'sensibel' translates to 'sensitive' in English, not 'sensible' as one might think. We call words like these 'false friends', and boy, did you manage to find a lot of them. Next: Geography. For crying out loud, pick up a road atlas the next time you want to bring some scenery into a story. Please. The distances this bloke travels are stunning. Look it up yourself, think how fast he must drive to get from point to point and then shake your head as well in amazement. Sloppy work, my dear authors, bad and sloppy work. And please, if you need to come up with castlenames, go for something believable. The direct translation of the showdown in the second book might sound stunning in English, but elicits only a wince of pain from anyone knowledgeable in the language the authors clearly are not capable of. I got to wonder why noone had someone proofread the books before they went into print. Enough former GIs and their families who used to live in (southern to middle) Germany for quite a while, and quite well know the locations and the language. Not to speak of the people who picked up German in College.
As to the question of a third book? Don't...unless you do some research, alright?

Rating:
Summary: Not for fans of the Deryni and Adept series
Review: I bought this book on the strength of Katherine Kurtz's name. I've loved her Deryni series for years. When I saw she was working with a collaborator for the Adept series, I was sceptical, but have been won over by the well-written stories and excellent characterizations.

I was therefore all the more disappointed in this series. I've read the first two and decided not to waste my time and money on any of the others. The writing style is clunky (I'm really not interested in how the detective's rented Mercedes handles, what he's wearing, etc) and the characters are more like caricatures. I've been a reader of SF/fantasy since I discovered the Ring trilogy in grade school, so willing suspension of disbelief comes easily. However, I found this novel and its successor to be completely over the top. It also seemed more into weapons, gore, and violence than characters and plot development.

In short, except for the occult aspect, this book had none of the qualities I've known and loved in Kurtz's other works. However, if you like books about satanic Nazi vampires, give this book a try.

Rating:
Summary: Quit yer whining, Kurtz fans!
Review: I discovered the Deryni novels in the early 80's and eagerly await each one as it is published. I, too, was first attracted to Knights of the Blood on the strength of Katherine Kurtz' name, but immediately noticed that she was credited only as co-creator. I agree that Scott MacMillan's writing is not up to par with his wife's, but that isn't to say that the story is not engaging. I have enjoyed the books, although a globe-trotting millionaire homicide detective on the trail of Nazi vampires can seem a bit much sometimes, especially with his spur-of-the-moment sexual encounter. All-in-all, though, the books are extremely readable and enjoyable, and I have been waiting for book #3 for several years now, along with the next Deryni book. Are the MacMillans listening?

Rating:
Summary: Quit yer whining, Kurtz fans!
Review: I discovered the Deryni novels in the early 80's and eagerly await each one as it is published. I, too, was first attracted to Knights of the Blood on the strength of Katherine Kurtz' name, but immediately noticed that she was credited only as co-creator. I agree that Scott MacMillan's writing is not up to par with his wife's, but that isn't to say that the story is not engaging. I have enjoyed the books, although a globe-trotting millionaire homicide detective on the trail of Nazi vampires can seem a bit much sometimes, especially with his spur-of-the-moment sexual encounter. All-in-all, though, the books are extremely readable and enjoyable, and I have been waiting for book #3 for several years now, along with the next Deryni book. Are the MacMillans listening?

Rating:
Summary: Great! Can't wait for more in the series.
Review: I found both books to date in this series well written and engaging. They grab you from page 1. The characters are fleshed out and "real". The detail is exceptional. when will more in this series be published?

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I was quite disappointed with both these books. As others have noted, the characterizations were disappointing, the plot seemed a bit thin ... and while they held up tolerably well for one reading, they have no re-reading value. I also found it rather appalling that the *only* female character in the books exists only to sleep with the male lead, for no reason whatsoever.

As for the vampires ... bah. Badly handled and silly. Read Kurtz's Lammas Night for a real WWII occult thriller, and forget this and its sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I was quite disappointed with both these books. As others have noted, the characterizations were disappointing, the plot seemed a bit thin ... and while they held up tolerably well for one reading, they have no re-reading value. I also found it rather appalling that the *only* female character in the books exists only to sleep with the male lead, for no reason whatsoever.

As for the vampires ... bah. Badly handled and silly. Read Kurtz's Lammas Night for a real WWII occult thriller, and forget this and its sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Good, Fun Book
Review: I'm a little bewildered by some of the reviews below. The first review was my first guess that the cup in question was the Holy Grail. I understood it simply to be a sacramental cup from a church. The blood drinking is a very Medieval thing, though a bit pagan in origin (drinking of an enemies blood transfers their power to you).
It's a book that doesn't take itself too seriously...
It's fun, I heartily look forward to the third book in the series.
Maybe it's not for fans of the authors wife , but I think she'd disagree... maybe it is only for those fans who can enjoy a book without a running list of criticisms.

Rating:
Summary: Not a classic, but an enjoyable vampire novel
Review: Not being a Katherine Kurtz afficianado I can't compare to previous works, however I have to beg to differ with the previous review. I like Vampires, medieval history, and WWII therefore this hit the spot. Not by any means a horror classic but an enjoyable couple of days reading.