Minion

Rating:
Summary: Minion
Review: Readers run out to your bookstore now or order online MINION, the latest and greatest in the vampire books. It will scare the living daylights out of you at times so keep all the doors and windows locked while reading this enthralling book about Damali Richards, vampire huntress, as you begin the first of four books. I don't know how Ms. Banks thought of all the material that is in this intelligent well thought out book, but believe me, it is compelling, fascinating and grabs your interest immediately.

If you like Buffy, or Anita Blake, Vampire Slayer you are going to love this one that stars the first multi-cultural vampire huntress series with a multi-ethnic, multi-religion cast of characters. Ms. Banks is a master storyteller that will stun you with her talent when you read MINION.

Suzanne Coleburn, Reader To Reader Reviews/The Belles & Beaux of Romance

Rating:
Summary: Buffy Doesn't Even Come Close!!!!
Review: so when my sister told me she'd found a book about an African American Vampire slayer I freaked.

I love Buffy the vampire slayer. More so, the idea of a female kicking Vampire and Monster BooTy.

Then she told me that the Huntress’s name was Damali, My Name Is Damali!! Once again I freaked!!

She brought the book for me and let me tell you this book is good. From beginning to end this writer had me.

I gave this book a simple 4 b/c of 2 things.

#1: Our writer has a tendency to ramble on. I found my self-saying to myself (LoL)
"okay I get the picture, move on now."
She over explained a few things and dragged a few conversations way out. But she makes up for it. Oh does she make up for it.

#2: The book ended with no type of closure what so ever. I know the book is a trilogy, but I always thought that each part of a trilogy is a story in it's self. You know a story in a story. In my opinion she could have chopped a lot of useless dialog out and had about 8 pages left to add some closure for the reader.

But don't let her rambling and limbo-esq ending scare you.
This book is Good!!!!!

From the beginning she throws you into the chaos & keeps you there for the rest of the book. You get a Great feel for the characters and at the end you are hungry for more.

Rating:
Summary: Weak Vampire Tale
Review: So, I was at the library last week and I found this book with this a very attractive cover. I confess that I'm fascinated with lower back tattoos, and since a good book cover is what usually catches my eye, I picked it up and looked at the dustjacket. It was about a young woman, a spoken word and hip-hop artist, who is also a vampire huntress. The official website describes this book here: "Every millennium a slayer is born... a Neteru, and now evil has something to fear -- Damali Richards: Vampire Huntress."

So... a special person, born to take on the task of killing vampires and demons. Sound familiar? It did to me as the lead character is basically an African-American Buffy, right down to the Guardians, an observing organization (i.e, the Watchers Council) and personal guide. And as with the Anita Blake series, there's a vampire council, and Damali is a hot recording artist, kinda like that guy named Lestat. Unlike all three of these influences, Minion lacks any of the eroticism of vampire subculture and, even worse, it just couldn't retain my attention.

Now, there's *nothing* wrong with the author's approach, it's just that the book itself is missing something I can't quite put my finger on. It could be that the musician and entertainment angle, something that does not seem to translate well to written text as it might on film. Or maybe it's the over-emphasis on describing characters' personal appearance or clothing. Take, for example, the first full chapter in which Damali, our heroine, spends some 17 paragraphs among the 22 pages, contemplating her lack of sixth sense and musical career, while observing her own hair, clothes, and physical body as well as that of the six other characters in her "Slayerette" type group. I'm taking carefull, detailed, quite frankly, *boring* documentation of the type, color, shape, weight, texture of whatever someone is wearing.

As I forced myself to read through ths chapter, I realized that, like the headdress our heroine wore while performing, everything else just weighed down this first chapter. I kept expecting something to make this book different from other vampire tales, but it just wasn't happening. The first chapter is where I stopped. I did not care to read more... description can be a wonderful tool in writing, but too much simply distracts the reader. This book is going back to the library!

Rating:
Summary: Exciting & Enchanting ....
Review: Spellbinding is one way to describe this book. Mrs. Banks has a unique skill for writing that will leave you wanting more. The story is mainly about Damali Richard, a girl that is struggling with her emotions that make her feel like a woman & her path to become the ultimate vampire slayer. There is also a preview of the next book, The Awakening, A Vampire Huntress Legend. (Release date is currently unknown but hopefully it will be soon.)

Buy this book & you will not be disappointed!

Sincerely,
JenJayLynn

Rating:
Summary: Move Over Anita Blake
Review: Terrific book, I couldn't put it down once I started.. I think the vampire huntress, Anita Blake, has a new rival - Damali Richards.. This book outbeats any of the Blake series so far..Can't wait for the next book to come out,. Only one disappointment - that was where the book ended - it really left you hanging for more, but then again, that's not necessarily a bad thng, just have to wait for the next book!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: The book started out really slow, she got too descriptive at times. There was a great deal she could have left out and the book would have been more enjoyable. It didn't need to be a whole series. She also ended it too abruptly. I understand she wanted to leave the reader hanging, but she went a little too far. The story finally began to get interesting and that's where she stopped. I don't know if I can suffer through the next one even to find out what happens. The slang was hard to get through too.

I disagree with the comment about the Anita Blake series. This writer doesn't hold a candle to Laurell K. Hamilton. I recommend her books to anyone that likes a good vampire tale.

Rating:
Summary: okay....
Review: the cover pulled me and the character sealed the deal. a black female vampire hunter...too cool !
but i put the book down after the first few pages.
the first chapters drove me nuts with aimless dialogue filled with slang and unlovely prose. and i HATE a lot of slang when i am reading for pleasure--- i dont know why, I JUST DO! i only like slang in my music!
anyway, i was able to come back to the book a few weeks later and finish it.
it was just fine when i skipped over some of the more odious slang passages.
and the plot was getting JUICY before i was hit with the cliffhanger-
sooooo...if the author could get rid of most the slang and throw in even more african tinged occult lore...
DAMALI just might be a match for buffy...
and a close runner up to anita blake.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible writing
Review: The idea of the book is a good one, we always love a good strong female vampire hunter (thanks Buffy), but the author did a horrendous job writing it. It had way too much boring dialog and long descriptions and not enough action. The action scenes that it did have got you hyped up but in the end it didn't pay off. I found myself skimming over all the dialog just to get to the good parts. I don't think I missed much. Let's just say I won't be reading the next book.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting twist to vampire fiction
Review: The story of Damali Richards is a bit cliche...the "chosen" guardian of humanity against the forces of evil...she's a girl who falls for the wrong guy...the guy is killed by vampires and becomes on of the walking dead...yadda yadda yadda. So, what makes L. A. Banks' story so interesting?

The most interesting twist to the general vampire fiction rule is the approach to the vampires themselves. As the most powerful "demonic" force in all of Hell, outside of Satan himself, the vampires are the undead elite...snobs, if you will. Their views toward other preternatural creatures can be seen as a vague social commentary of our world today.

Another interesting twist to the story is in the character of Carlos Riveria. What becomes of a man who willingly sells his soul to evil but dies with a prayer in his heart? The battle of good versus evil in the war for souls just got personal.

While the dialogue is a bit heavy handed at times...too much street slang and "hip hop" style references to be considered entirely credible...overall, I would have to say that Minion is a great read and a wonderful new take on an old fiction theme.

Rating:
Summary: Promising Beginning or Prelude to Disaster?
Review: The version of Minion that I am reviewing is the paperback special edition which boastes to be a slightly rewritten from the tradesized version. Minion is the uneven first book in series that tells the story of the Millenium Neteru Damali Richards, whose destined to be an uber Vampire Huntress. The Vampire Huntress Legend is a series in every sense of the word, because this book is not a complete story arc but a set-up for the rest of the series.
I don't think I've ever changed my feelings about a book as much as I have this one. After reading the prologue and first few chapters, I thought the book sucked but I was going to read it anyways since it was less than 300 pages long. The book would plod along and every know and again I would come across a scene that was just mesmerizing. Then it would plod along again. The only reason I'm giving the book 3 stars is because the last 40 or so pages were when the story finally seemed ready to take off.
The major problem with Minion is that it trying so hard to set the scene for the rest of the story that it forgets to give us readers a real pay-off. As the story ends, most of the characters in Damali's band/slayer group are still sketchily developed, Damali herself is only *just* coming into her awsome powers, and the forces of darkness are just getting ready to act on their plans. Aside from the first chapter and a scene were Damali's Neteru powers compell her to chase after a vampire there is very little action on that front. Most of the time the hunters are holed up in their hide-out waiting for Damali to awaken to her powers. Lots of talking about the mystical mechanics that this world runs on too. Banks definitely could have introduced those elements in a better way than endless chunks of dialogue.
Another thing I wondered about was how wise is it to give these vampire hunters such a visable day job? When the forces of evil want to kill off man-kinds last and best hope, I don't think I'd want our last hope up on a stage for all the world to see.
I don't really think that Damali has a very strong personality or is that compelling a character to carry a whole series. The evil characters like Fallon Nuit and Carlos are much more interesting. Given that Carlos, Damali's ex-boyfriend turned vampire, is slated to play a big part in the series, this could easily turn into a series where the love-interest steals the thunder of the supposedly powerful and strong heroine.
Perhaps, the most troubling plot-turn is the revealation about how the various factions of evil want to impregnate out virginal yet lustful vampire slayer. This plot turn would be quite hokey and silly if Banks hadn't vividly laid out how the stakes were. What has me uneasy is that I'v seen good series go to the dogs when the plot demands that people have sex. Case in point is Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series which Minion will inevitably be compared to. Hamilton put in a plot device that demanded the heroine of that series do all kinds of kinky activities effectively reducing Anita Blake into an avatar for the author to vicariously play out her blood and guts S&M fantasies. Hamilton's work has gotten so ludicrous and distasteful that it would be more merciful for everyone if she just sent her publisher a headless decomposing cat instead of her manuscript. What path Banks will take with this plot element will determine for me if this series tanks or succeeds.