Minion

Rating:
Summary: A so-so debut
Review: I for one don't knock the "Buffy" comparisons, it being my favorite show. I was also happy to see that Minion was the story of a black vampire slayer, a story I was dying for Joss Whedon(the creator of "Buffy") to do, because while I loved SMG's portrayal of Buffy, I wanted someone I could _really_ relate to. From the first page, this book lacked that special something that should have grabbed my attention and kept it there. Instead, I quickly grew somewhat bored and spent about a week and a half reading this novel--an anamoly for me, someone who can read a 400 page novel in less than a day. I can point my main disatisfaction with Banks' slightly humorless prose and her bewildering way of taking for granted that the new reader knows what is going on. Damali's world is alot different from Buffy's world, and while that's a good thing, the way Banks introduced it to the reader was confusing. The action was written in a choppy manner and caused me to skip sections, as well as the very slangy dialogue being distracting. For some reason, reading slang became irritating to me, even though I hear it everyday. But on the upside, when the mythology wasn't confusing, it was well layered and the suspense of the fate of Carlos and his relationship with Damali(which is to be continued in "The Awakening") saved this novel. While I wasnt impressed, Banks will still be read for it's entertainment value.

Rating:
Summary: A Sista Doing Her Thing
Review: I for one, loved this book. The first edition left a lot of questions to be answered, so you will need to pick up a later edition. I thought this book was off the hook! Finally, a sista slayer! Leslie's description makes you think that you were there. The only bad part of this book is the ending. It leaves you wanting more and it delivers in the second book "The Awakening".

Rating:
Summary: Shawty got it
Review: I just read Minion and I gotta say that LA Banks laid it down. It was a dark book with an urban twist. That's what's up. I can't wait to read the next three books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Not to my taste...
Review: I love vampire fiction. I couldn't get enough of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels (before the series went haywire) and the books by Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, MaryJanice Davidson, and Kelley Armstrong are also favorites of mine. Imagine how excited I was when I heard about a series called The Vampire Huntress Legend. However, Minion, the first part of said series, disappointed me to the max. Damali Richards is an up and coming artist at Warriors of Light Records. Music is her life. However, she hadn't anticipated the fact that she had been the chosen one to become the vampire huntress for the new millennium. Now she creates music by day and hunts down and kills vampires by night. To make matters worse, vampires are killing artists from her record company, and Damali has to find out the reasons for the savage killings. There are various twists throughout the novel.

The main problem I had with this novel was the narrative. I like these novels in first-person style because you have more affinity with the heroine. Reading about Anita Blake, Elena Michaels, Paige Winterbourne, Sookie Stackhouse, and Betsy Taylor were like reading about a great friend. I don't like novels of this genre in third-person narrative -- they're just not as gripping without the voice of the main character. What also bothered me were the Blade/Matrix-like scenes. I don't like it when the authors make these sorts of novels seem as though they should come with special bonus features like the ones found in DVDs. I know this is sci-fi/fantasy, but still. And to make matters worse, I didn't like the heroine. She seemed cool at first -- the bohemian vibe of Erika Badu with the self-righteousness of Buffy -- but then she bored me to bits. I just couldn't get into this novel. L.A. Banks is no Laurell K. Hamilton. I won't read the other parts of this series. The first novel was more than enough for me.

Rating:
Summary: Do Vampires Have A Pulse?
Review: I really don't know whether or not vampires have a pulse but, what I DO know is... THIS BOOK DOESN'T! Damali, the vampire slayer, and her slaying friends spent more time sitting around talking than going out and doing any slaying! I kept waiting for this book to kick into high gear but it never got out of first gear. I realize that this is a trilogy but the ending was way too abrupt and, after reading an excerpt from book #2 in this series, I'll definitely pass on it and on book #3.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting take on vampires.
Review: I think that this book is better than the first editorial review would lead you to believe. Yes, it is a commercial book but then aren't almost all books written in the hopes that they will be "commercial?" That is the author and publisher want the book to sell well.

I have read lots of other vampire fiction and am a big Buffy fan but this book has an interesting take on vampires; stuff that I haven't seem before but that makes sense within the story.

Also the setting, the hip-hop music world, shouldn't turn anyone off.

There were scenes that I found scary enough that I told myself not to think about them when I went to sleep so I wouldn't have nightmares. :)

In addition there is a good helping of romance with the interaction of Damali and Carlos.

Yes, there are times when the writing seems a bit clunky but that is because I think Ms Banks is trying to set up the start of what is going to be a very involved story.

If I had to put the books in a list I'd say that they were more complex and "adult" than the usual Buffy book, not as light and romantic as Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse, and not as violent as Anita Blake.

I look forward to the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting take on vampires.
Review: I think that this book is better than the first editorial review would lead you to believe. Yes, it is a commercial book but then aren't almost all books written in the hopes that they will be "commercial?" That is the author and publisher want the book to sell well.

I have read lots of other vampire fiction and am a big Buffy fan but this book has an interesting take on vampires; stuff that I haven't seem before but that makes sense within the story.

Also the setting, the hip-hop music world, shouldn't turn anyone off.

There were scenes that I found scary enough that I told myself not to think about them when I went to sleep so I wouldn't have nightmares. :)

In addition there is a good helping of romance with the interaction of Damali and Carlos.

Yes, there are times when the writing seems a bit clunky but that is because I think Ms Banks is trying to set up the start of what is going to be a very involved story.

If I had to put the books in a list I'd say that they were more complex and "adult" than the usual Buffy book, not as light and romantic as Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse, and not as violent as Anita Blake.

I look forward to the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: A Female Blade? Not quite.
Review: I was drawn to the premise of this book almost immediately. I also really liked the cover.

Reading Minion was a little hard to do in the beginning. I honestly wasn't prepared for L.A. Banks' writing style, and her use of black slang. This unfortunately turned me off, at least early on. I found myself comparing Damali to a female Blade, albeit a whiney, self-absorbed, bratty Blade.

The story follows the young vampire huntress Damali Richards a week before her 21st birthday. She's surrounded by "guardians" all of who are from various backgrounds. Damali also has a makeshift den mother, whose sole purpose it seems is to make Damali's life all work no play.
The story itself is weak in the beginning. A whole chapter is devoted to the team discussing how they feel weird about what might happen that night. A whole chapter. And it's not as if we learn anything about the team as they're talking, just that they're all on edge for some strange reason. There's a lot of filler in the beginning of the novel, if left out, would have made "minion: more enjoyable and easier to read.

When this guy Carlos enters the picture, the story rakes an interesting turn. Carlos is basically a drug lord with various real-estate holdings, including a trendy club named Vengeance. He and Damali have a shared past, and it's quite interesting.

I won't give too much away, because the second half of the novel was the most enjoyable part.

A couple things bothered me. One was the fact that the entire team hunted vampires by night and were successful spoken word musicians by day. Spoken word? Is that even a nationally accepted form of entertainment? At least, I don't think so.

I know we all think differently than we talk, but Damali's string of slang she uses sometimes is baffling. In her mind, she's an educated young woman with a strong will. When she talks, her IQ lowers drastically and she constantly craves a "soda" and hot barbeque chips." ?!? The whole chips thing was really strange. My only hypothesis is that the author has a thing for them and incorporated them into her character. Banks doesn't write dialogue for a 20 year-old Damali very well. All the other characters whom are close to Banks' age sound believable, but something with Damali doesn't fit.

This wasn't anywhere near the steamiest vamp novel I've ever read, but it has potential. The shower scene is evident of this.

I wasn't going to order the sequel, "Awakening," but after finishing "Minion," I'm curious of Damali's fate.

Rating:
Summary: Buffy in the Hood
Review: I was in the grocery store, looking for a paperback to read on the work shuttle, when I saw this title called "Minion ~ A Vampire Huntress Novel". Now, I love vampire novels and I have a few favorite authors that I buy religiously. I'd never heard of this author before, but decided to try it out. Think Buffy meets Boyz in the Hood. The plot is interesting, but the street slang is distracting. The whole time I'm reading it, I can't help but list the similarities to Buffy.

See if you agree: A girl, fated to be Chosen, is found at age 15 by a wise Guardian. She is taught how to hunt demons and vampires. This girl, along with her crew of supernatural beings, fight the good fight in the streets of Los Angeles. Now, at age 21, the girl is finally ready to face her destiny and be the Vampire Huntress - the savior of humanity. She is in love with a guy who is completely wrong for her (Oh my gosh! He's a VAMPIRE!) She doesn't find out until the next book (a series of 3) that he's a vampire. She loves him, he loves her. Meanwhile, the MASTER Vampire is trying to lure her in so that he can kill her and become the Ultimate vampire. I think they referred to this girl about a dozen times as "The Slayer".

Ms. Banks should be sending Mr. Whedon a big thanks (and maybe a fruit basket) for creating Buffy.


Rating:
Summary: Minion Is Off The Charts!
Review: I've just completed Minion and will definitely be buying the next in this sequel, The Awakening. I found this book engaging and, ultimately, engrossing from the time that I skimmed through it at a book store. Though I believe the transitions (at times) could be smoother when introducing scenes, situations or characters, I find that the action and tension outweights the flaws to keep you turning the pages..."hungering" for more. The characters are hip and "fresh" and though a previous reviewer found problems with the hip language, I found it to add to the believability of the characters being described, since they were of the young, hip-hop, people-of-color culture and heritage: This is how they speak...just watch TV or go to the movies. Though my speech is much more refined and conservative, the speech of the characters in the book helped me to visualized them better...get into their heads; get a since of their background, where they came from. Having read the entire Vampire series by Anne Rice and loving her smooth, poetic narrative, I found a new voice in L.A. Banks, and a new attitude! One doesn't expect a New Orleanian from a rich, slave-owning plantation to act and relate to his/her surrounding and/or culture like one coming from a urban, hip-hop background in today's society. The difference is not just the writing, but the place the writer "writes" from...his/her own heritage, background, heart, feelings....It's what make a writer an individual and bring to us individual styles and points of view. L.A. Banks has provided us with a deeper knowledge of the Vampire lore and have set them in "our" territory...People of Color. It makes since that her books would be charactized a bit differently as ethnic (and racial) groups are as different from one another as male is from female. I highly recommended this highly-charged, don't-dare-try-to-sleep-with-the-lights-out book in the Vampire Huntress Legend series. The Minion is a must read if you love Vampire lore. Expect it to be different...I promise it will be Good!