Nosferatu: Clan Novel (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Rating:
Summary: What a long, strange trip it's been....
Review: 4 (by itself) 3.5. (as series conclusion)

As the CLAN NOVEL series conclusion, NOSFERATU had lots to cover: the Sabbat-Camarilla war, the Eye of Hazimel, TREMERE and MALKAVIAN's obscurities, the mystery of Leopold, Benito Giovanni and the Tremere antitribu Nickolai. I expected much because Fleming has been the best series author at moving the plot while developing characters and clans well.

Primarily, it dealt with the hunt for the Eye and Benito's kidnapping, retelling incidents from a Nosferatu viewpoint- including much from MALKAVIAN. The Nosferatu characters were well drawn and their secret, subterranean network was interesting. Like BRUJAH, I read it in one sitting.

However, although Fleming did well, resolving this series in a book this short seems impossible, especially since new issues arose even in TREMERE. Ramona, Hesha, Victoria, Jan (somewhat), Sturbridge and Theo return, but if you hoped Liz, the other Giovanni, Khalil, Fatima or Lucita would reappear, you'll be disappointed. Also, besides Nickolai, there were no Sabbat major characters. The war (New York siege) was mostly a backdrop for Leopold's mysteries.

Some things weren't adequately resolved- only more hints about a hidden presence under Manhattan, empowering the Eye, for example. (But see the VtM supplement NIGHTS OF PROPHECY.) NOSFERATU also de-emphasized "the children in the well", giving that far less importance than TREMERE and BRUJAH indicated. If that wasn't important, why was TREMERE placed out of chronological sequence so close to the series conclusion, interrupting the action and frustrating readers? (While I don't hate TREMERE as some do, I admit I rated it too highly. I've got a chronicle using the New York chantry and found TREMERE so useful I missed how serious its failings were.) NOSFERATU does explain Nickolai and some puzzling references from MALKAVIAN ("young wizard" ) but there seemed to be mostly more obscurity about "the children", the Robe of Nessus etc.

CLAN NOVEL series review: (Your mileage may vary.)

Overall rating: 4

Revised ratings : TOREADOR 2.5 (lower than when originally reviewed), TZIMISCE 5 (the reason NOT to avoid Eric Griffin), GANGREL 5+, SETITE 5+, (good by themselves) VENTRUE 4, LASOMBRA 4, (paired with VENTRUE and set up ASSAMITE well) ASSAMITE 3.5, (I'm ticked about Moncada, OK?) RAVNOS. 5 +, (good by itself) MALKAVIAN 2.5 (lower), GIOVANNI 5, BRUJAH 4.5 (higher), TREMERE 3 (lower. portrays ritual sorcery well but that has very specialized appeal and the ending's a WRECK), NOSFERATU 4/3.5 (Didn't tie up ends clearly. Camarilla only.)

Stand alones: GANGREL, SETITE/RAVNOS. Sample the series: TZIMISCE, GIOVANNI. Exceptional clan portrayals: GANGREL, VENTRUE, ASSAMITE, RAVNOS, GIOVANNI, NOSFERATU. Best authors: Fleming, Ryan, Achilli. Honorable mention: Griffin (TZIMISCE). Series strengths: good characters, good action, epic scope, relatively good unity despite multiple authors. Weaknesses: establishes series momentum late (not until VENTRUE, I thought), keeps adding more than can be fully developed or resolved and even authors seem to lose track, some books confusing (MALKAVIAN, TREMERE), some (TOREADOR, TZIMISCE) lack clan focus, books digressing from the main action (GANGREL, SETITE, TREMERE) can be frustrating (but those books often stand alone best.)

Rating:
Summary: What a long, strange trip it's been....
Review: 4 (by itself) 3.5. (as series conclusion)

As the CLAN NOVEL series conclusion, NOSFERATU had lots to cover: the Sabbat-Camarilla war, the Eye of Hazimel, TREMERE and MALKAVIAN's obscurities, the mystery of Leopold, Benito Giovanni and the Tremere antitribu Nickolai. I expected much because Fleming has been the best series author at moving the plot while developing characters and clans well.

Primarily, it dealt with the hunt for the Eye and Benito's kidnapping, retelling incidents from a Nosferatu viewpoint- including much from MALKAVIAN. The Nosferatu characters were well drawn and their secret, subterranean network was interesting. Like BRUJAH, I read it in one sitting.

However, although Fleming did well, resolving this series in a book this short seems impossible, especially since new issues arose even in TREMERE. Ramona, Hesha, Victoria, Jan (somewhat), Sturbridge and Theo return, but if you hoped Liz, the other Giovanni, Khalil, Fatima or Lucita would reappear, you'll be disappointed. Also, besides Nickolai, there were no Sabbat major characters. The war (New York siege) was mostly a backdrop for Leopold's mysteries.

Some things weren't adequately resolved- only more hints about a hidden presence under Manhattan, empowering the Eye, for example. (But see the VtM supplement NIGHTS OF PROPHECY.) NOSFERATU also de-emphasized "the children in the well", giving that far less importance than TREMERE and BRUJAH indicated. If that wasn't important, why was TREMERE placed out of chronological sequence so close to the series conclusion, interrupting the action and frustrating readers? (While I don't hate TREMERE as some do, I admit I rated it too highly. I've got a chronicle using the New York chantry and found TREMERE so useful I missed how serious its failings were.) NOSFERATU does explain Nickolai and some puzzling references from MALKAVIAN ("young wizard" ) but there seemed to be mostly more obscurity about "the children", the Robe of Nessus etc.

CLAN NOVEL series review: (Your mileage may vary.)

Overall rating: 4

Revised ratings : TOREADOR 2.5 (lower than when originally reviewed), TZIMISCE 5 (the reason NOT to avoid Eric Griffin), GANGREL 5+, SETITE 5+, (good by themselves) VENTRUE 4, LASOMBRA 4, (paired with VENTRUE and set up ASSAMITE well) ASSAMITE 3.5, (I'm ticked about Moncada, OK?) RAVNOS. 5 +, (good by itself) MALKAVIAN 2.5 (lower), GIOVANNI 5, BRUJAH 4.5 (higher), TREMERE 3 (lower. portrays ritual sorcery well but that has very specialized appeal and the ending's a WRECK), NOSFERATU 4/3.5 (Didn't tie up ends clearly. Camarilla only.)

Stand alones: GANGREL, SETITE/RAVNOS. Sample the series: TZIMISCE, GIOVANNI. Exceptional clan portrayals: GANGREL, VENTRUE, ASSAMITE, RAVNOS, GIOVANNI, NOSFERATU. Best authors: Fleming, Ryan, Achilli. Honorable mention: Griffin (TZIMISCE). Series strengths: good characters, good action, epic scope, relatively good unity despite multiple authors. Weaknesses: establishes series momentum late (not until VENTRUE, I thought), keeps adding more than can be fully developed or resolved and even authors seem to lose track, some books confusing (MALKAVIAN, TREMERE), some (TOREADOR, TZIMISCE) lack clan focus, books digressing from the main action (GANGREL, SETITE, TREMERE) can be frustrating (but those books often stand alone best.)

Rating:
Summary: Best of an Uneven Series
Review: Gherbod Fleming has been the salvation of this particular series. I believe he has written 5 of them, and while there are others with flashes of fine writing, Fleming is consistently readable.

This volume is one of the best. Confronted with the task of capping off a series that has completely rewritten the vampiric map of the eastern seaboard Fleming has managed to draw many threads together, and pull off a surprise ending.

While the book does begin with something of a recap, don't expect to be able to follow the story unless you have read at least some of the preceding books in the series. And don't expect all the mysteries to be resolved either.

When I first started reading the books I thought they would be a 13 volume study of the various clans, and they really are not that. They are a history of a very short, but important period in the history of the Masquerade. While they pick up on other themes, do not expect all the peripheral questions to be resolved. Whatever is deep under New York City is still a mystery, and the reason for all the to-do about the Eye of Hazumel is still unclear. These will no doubt be the basis for many new tales.

In the meantime, this is a very pleasantly written book, and I greatly enjoyed the Nosferatu viewpoint. You will enjoy this book if you have enjoyed the series at all.

Rating:
Summary: Best of an Uneven Series
Review: Gherbod Fleming has been the salvation of this particular series. I believe he has written 5 of them, and while there are others with flashes of fine writing, Fleming is consistently readable.

This volume is one of the best. Confronted with the task of capping off a series that has completely rewritten the vampiric map of the eastern seaboard Fleming has managed to draw many threads together, and pull off a surprise ending.

While the book does begin with something of a recap, don't expect to be able to follow the story unless you have read at least some of the preceding books in the series. And don't expect all the mysteries to be resolved either.

When I first started reading the books I thought they would be a 13 volume study of the various clans, and they really are not that. They are a history of a very short, but important period in the history of the Masquerade. While they pick up on other themes, do not expect all the peripheral questions to be resolved. Whatever is deep under New York City is still a mystery, and the reason for all the to-do about the Eye of Hazumel is still unclear. These will no doubt be the basis for many new tales.

In the meantime, this is a very pleasantly written book, and I greatly enjoyed the Nosferatu viewpoint. You will enjoy this book if you have enjoyed the series at all.

Rating:
Summary: Highly anticipated
Review: I have eagerly devoured each novel in this series. Although many different authors were employed throughout the process, Fleming definitely wrote the most powerful stories in the series (with the exception of Gangrel). I can't wait to get my hands on this book and see how everything (?) is resolved. The clan novel series has been, without a doubt, the most chaotic and unpredictable book saga that I have ever read. I can't wait to own them all so that I can go back and read 'em again.

Rating:
Summary: Good Stand alone Novel, HORRIBLE as series Big Finish
Review: The one star is my review of the clan novel series as a whole first of all.

Gherbod Fleming is a great Author, and his novels in the series are by far the best, and nosferatu is a good book, though I bought these books thinking that they were a SET, and I expected some sort of closure after this Thirteen book "Epic", and I was sorely dissapointed.

The fact that they left open so many loose ends in itself earns a one star rating, showing again white wolf's eagerness to get it's hand in my pocket yet unwillingness to write a decent, even PARTIALLY fulfilling Clan novel set. As an avid fan of Vtm it saddens me that they can't tie up even MOST of the loose ends they created over the span of 13 books, and the very anticlimactic (And I barely can even call it that)ending and typical "See what happens in our new products" closure left me feeling robbed and cheated. This set is nothing more than a nice shiny bag of hype with no substance, a few good stand alone novels, but also hundreds of pages of wasted space, where they introduced players who had no further roles in the story when they could instead be filling at least some of the craters in the "Plot". And now they need more money, and are releasing the clan novel anthology, along with a Tremere AND Lasombra Trilogy. Give me a break white wolf, you can't finish a story in 13 books, so instead of apologising like you should the company instead drags it on through more wallet eating novels that will be equally cryptic, uncomplete and dolled up. Don't listen to the hype, and don't expect closure. Take the money and buy the trilogy of the blood curse (Fleming did that too, and even though the third book dropped the ball a bit it's still a very good series and annihilates this putrid excuse for a clan novel series "Epic").

When I read "The outcome of these novels will effect everyone in the world of Darkness", I expect something more than a commercial for further white wolf garbage.