Blood Enemy : Underworld Book 2

Rating:
Summary: Terrific -and terrible
Review: First of all, let's not kid ourselves - this is a terrible book. Plot twist is without surprises, the characterization is as superficial as in the movie, and the sentences are run-on, of the type "Lucian looked up at the wall where the were archers shooting arrows at the other guys while others were getting tar to drop on them and one the people was wearing socks his granny knitted, and once she made him a peach cobbler...". Not to mention melodramatic past the limit of the silly: "Lucian stared in rapt admiration at the incandescent vampire princess." It is not a book that would have been published in any other genre than paperback romance, had it not been an Underworld prequel.

So why give it a three?

Because it *is* an Underworld sequel, because I wanted to read the Lucian-and-Sonja story, and that aside from the really bad use of language, it is well laid out. The switches from past to present are effective, and the suspense works even if we know what is going to happen. I read it in about four hours, and I loved it. I hated it, but I loved it. A book doesn't always have to be of great literary quality to be a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Underworld: Blood Enemy is spellbinding reading!
Review: Greg Cox writes another excellent underwold installment. Cox ties all the strings of storyline together nicely here, thus explaining even more just what the first novel pertained to, and movie didn't quite clearly explain, in terms of background info.
Sure, this is more the lycan Lucian's story, with a tie-in to Selena in the beginning and end, but still this was so entertaining I didn't care after awhile.
Lucian's and Sonja's love story is well told here. Greg Cox shows us the very beginnings of this Lycan/vampire break-up in the midieval times setting, which was also wonderfully written. I loved the back and forth romp through time, from present day to distant past, showing the lycans and vampires in their sword and sorcery type setting.
I hope the next movie follows this same type of storyline.

Rating:
Summary: Good But Lacking In the Story I wanted to read...
Review: I pre-ordered this book and was excited about reading it thinking I was going to be reading more about Lucian and Sonja's romance considering it was the basis's of the whole war to begin with but the romance is told in such a lacking way I was disappointed...Lucian is my favorite character and I only read the books and saw the movie for his character and I was left disappointed...

Like yes, the romance lasted only a short time but it is told is such a sorter way I couldn't believe that there wasn't more detail on it and it left me hanging for more but it does switch back from the past and present a lot and the book is more based on Selene and I find that more disappointing than anything considering like I stated before the story and war started with Lucian and Sonja. Im going to be so disappointed if the second Underworld movie is mainly based on Selene because of the fact that the story isnt really about her but I wouldnt be surprized if it was...

I dont regret buying the book. I just regret expecting a lot from it because its a good guide to fill in spaces of the untold story but it wasn't the read I excepted or wanted...



Rating:
Summary: Almost where it needed to be
Review: If you like Underworld then this book is a must, if you have never heard of Underworld...read this book then read the Underworld book. Overall the book was solid, entertaining, and fun. There are also a couple things that should of been done but weren't. Unless Greg Cox is writing another prequel (that would be awesome), then this book is great.

Selene's lack of involvement in the book is bothering. The book starts with her, but never goes into her back story. But the author did do a great job of giving readers and fans a more in-depth idea of what Selene is like....and she is bad ass. Once again, if there is another prequel to be written with this series, then not going into Selene's origins is no problem.

The outcome of the events about present times in the story was pretty weak. Although it was a nice touch to have the bad guy be who it was, it really made no sense. How could a war have gone on for 800 years and this person not be heard from? Also the whole revenge for not being loved is way overplayed.

All the book except for four or five chapters is in the past, so the "present" story flaws do not take much away from the book. This book was an excellent telling of Lucian and Sonja. It also sets a tremendous foundation for characters like Kraven, Soren, Viktor, and Lucian. The main reason for this book is to provide you with a deeper understanding of the characters from the movie and get you deeper into the Underworld history. And this book did so with perfection....assuming that there will be another prequel written.

Rating:
Summary: Expands on what happened before the movie
Review: If you're not a fan of Underworld, you will be after reading this book. It's written well and draws you into the emotion that led to the war between the lycans and vampires. The first review is correct, it is all backstory to the movie but that's the purpose of the book. If you liked the movie and want to know more about the events that lead to it - read it. If you're just a fan of vampire or werewolf novels, you'll enjoy it too.

Rating:
Summary: Fills in some blanks
Review: The way this book was written reminded me of the style of the movie Godfather 2. It jumped from the "current story" which takes place about a year before the movie to 1200 AD when everything got started over and over.

With Selene's face on the cover and the opening chapter focusing on her, I was more than surprised to find that the lionshare of the book is Lucian's story. But it fills in some of the blanks like Soren's role, where Kraven shows up, and all about Viktor's daughter Sonja.

The book is 310 pages so I don't think they could've done more history this time around, however the way this is written I have a feeling that they plan on writing many more fun books filling in more blanks and providing more details on what happened during the vampire - lycan war.

If you liked the movie, read this book. It's compelling and kept me turning the pages. I would also HIGHLY recommend you read the novelization of the movie BEFORE reading Blood Enemy. I really liked the way this prequel jibes with the original.

Cox did the job well. I hope to see more, hopefully before the next movie.

Rating:
Summary: Decent enough...
Review: This book went back and forth in my mind between 3 and 4 stars several times. It does, as the other reviewers pointed out, go into alot of backstory information, but it also attempts to add to that back story. Unfortunately, Mr. Cox is NOT Len Wiseman or Danny McBride, and many of his attempts to add to the story (for instance, the sniper), just seem dumb. He did an excellent job with the novelization, and if he had just focused on the story Wiseman and McBride had already given him from the movie this would have been a clear-cut four-star book.

Also, this might have been better done as two books. I think a great deal more can be said about Lucian. Mr. Cox was unable to even get to Kraven's betrayal. I feel he should therefore have simply cut the book off with Lucian's escape, or possibly with him finding his first set of followers, and made the next book about the whole war.

If he had just made it into two books, not having ANY scenes in the modern day, and told us how it's determined when a pure-bred stops aging (been wondering that since the novelization) this would probably have been a five-star book.

Still, Cox didn't completely screw it up, and it remains four-stars.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing fancy
Review: Was disappointed with this book. I really wanted to see a continuation of the first story line and not a rehash of what we already know for the most part. More of the history of the vampires and wolves would have been a great addition to the story, yet nothing was expanded upon in this area. There were some new characters but the main story seemed to revolve around Lucian and Sonja. We already know what happened with them. This just gives slightly more detail.

If you're a fan of underworld I'd say give it a read or if you're bored and just like vamps and wolves in general it is ok for something to do. Just don't expect much more out of it than the first.