C.T.

A funny space opera

Reviewed: 04-09-25 Listener received this title free

I’m familiar with Noah Chinn primarily from his column in KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE MAGAZINE, which is the successor to DRAGON magazine except for the fact it is much-much funnier. There he reviews indie books and science fiction/fantasy that has served as one of my guides to purchases for the past few years. He was also the author of Fuzzy Knights, which was a cartoon about plushies playing Dungeons and Dragons. So, like Ben “Yahtzee” Croshow, when I heard he had written a book, I decided to check it out with all haste. I’m glad I did.

The premise for LOST SOULS is that Maurice “Moss” Foote is a star pilot turned smuggler that has recently lost his ship to a crime lord. He used to be a big famous intergalactic hero supported by a megacorporation but lost his mojo when he went on a drunken binge that cost him all his endorsements. Accompanying him is the AI of his ship, Violet, and a runaway kleptomaniac slave named Hel.

Lost Souls is definitely of the Firefly, Traveller, Privateer, The Outer Worlds, and Han Solo Adventures sort of storytelling. It’s not about big galactic adventures and overthrowing evil empires but dealing with the day-to-day problem of keeping the lights on in your ship as well as your hyperdrive fueled. When I played Star Wars D6 back in high school, this was actually the game style preferred by the tabletop RPG as the rules meant that if you tried to do too much pulpy heroic science fiction heroism then you got shot in the face.

The universe that Noah Chinn has created is definitely on the funnier and enjoyable side of things, though. Moss has strong Malcolm Reynolds energy and yet he’s a lot less cynical and grumpy despite his losses. Perhaps because he has the self-awareness that the majority of his problems are his own making. He is very much against casual killing and is happy to give an escaped slave a lift or a job but he’s also someone that isn’t seeking out adventure. Whatever he used to do in order to be a big hero is something he can’t afford anymore and he’d prefer to try to just rebuild his life quietly if he can.

Too bad there are SPACE PIRATES out there. Yes, I put the words all in caps because SPACE PIRATES deserve to be capitalized. A hero is only as good as his villain and the SPACE PIRATES are pretty well-realized in this world. They’ve taken over a border world with their syndicate but are a feuding bunch of questionably professional scumbags that prefer to go after the lowest hanging fruit they can. They’re dangerous, don’t get me wrong, but not so terrifying as our hero can’t believably oppose them.

The world building for this space opera setting is also pretty well done. Like in many settings, humanity made a bunch of genetically engineered slaves and they rebelled. However, this is centuries later and said genetically engineered slaves are now the ones in charge. It’s left natural born types like Moss in a second class citizenship state but not so much that it dominates the storyline. Also, there’s a very humorous bit where an out of universe document talks about how the idiot science fiction writers of the 20th century envisioned aliens all looking like humans. Then we went out into space and it turned out all aliens looked like humans anyway (despite it being acknowledged as making no scientific sense).

Lost Souls, despite its title, is a light read even if it’s not a short one. It’s about 350 pages or as many as your typical paperback science fiction or fantasy book from the Nineties. The story is neither especially humorous or overly serious but keeps a brisk entertaining pace throughout.A little more serious than your typical MCU movie I’d say and far less on the quippage. There’s some ridiculous stuff in the book but I was reasonably able to buy it as a “serious” setting. What’s my recommendation? Well, I’m going to go buy and read the sequel now so you tell me.

Narration? Top notch.

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Better than the actual comic

Reviewed: 04-08-25

DAREDEVIL: GUARDIAN DEVIL basically is the second most important Daredevil story in the entire history of the character after BORN AGAIN. It's not my favorite of the runs but it brought massive attention back to the character, started the run that included Brian Michael Bendis and Ed Brubaker (helping rocket them to the fame they'd later achieve), as well as established the modern status quo for the character. It is also infamous as the run that killed one of the most beloved supporting cast members of the series. A character who still hasn't been brought back in comics.

The premise is that Matt Murdoch is doing his usual thing when he encounters a sixteen year old girl that is carrying around a baby. Said girl is also being chased by a bunch of murderous cultists that want to kill her as well as said baby (or so it appears). The young woman, Gwyneth, proceeds to tell Matt Murdoch that her child is Christ Reborn. Matt is somewhat nonplussed by this as while established as Catholic, he is very much of the lapsed variety. Things get stranger for Matt as he finds himself met by a mysterious old man who claims the baby is actually the Antichrist.

Matt Murdoch's handling of this isn't particularly great as he immediately starts getting paranoid and suspicious. I don't think he ever actually believes the baby is the Antichrist or Redeemer until he's incredibly drugged up (and even then you can tell he's unwilling to cross some lines). Still, I think he is more credulous than he probably should be. Perhaps my favorite part of the story is that one point he decides, "Screw it, I know Doctor Strange so I'll just go ask him if the baby is legit."

Even so, the book suffers for the fact that a lot of it feels like warmed over BORN AGAIN. Someone has figured out Matt's secret identity and decides to attack him through his friends as well as loved ones. Foggy Nelson is under arrest for murder and sexual assault (!!), Karen Page is seemingly suffering from AIDS, and Bullseye has been hired to screw up his life. There's a line between rip off and homage, though, which I believe Kevin Smith was doing more to the latter than the former. Still, the ultimate revelation of the Scooby Doo plot nature of things is underwhelming.

At the risk of spoiling what is heavily implied before the end, Matt Murdoch is under assault by someone who isn't even one of his villains. He's under assault by someone he only knows peripherially but has decided to make him his project because, well, why not? It's an underwhelming revelation and the deliberate psychotic pettiness of it is something that will either go over well or not with a sufficiently jaded reader. Still, I can't help but think this probably would have worked better played straight with someone like Mr. Fear or an actual member of Matt's rogues gallery.

I also gotta deduct points from the book from the fact that it's a little heavy in the 90s casual misogyny. Again, Kevin Smith is making an actual point here. Matt Murdoch even gets lectured about the fact he has unconscious issues with women due to his mother, Karen Page, and Elektra. Plus, maybe, some unresolved Catholic issues. However, no less than three main female characters are murdered in the plot as well as Foggy's mom hanging him out to dry. Thank God for Natasha Romanov or this would have been even worse.

While the comic is well-regarded for a reason, I actually prefer the Graphic Audio version. I'm just not a fan of the art. I think this is definitely a must read for Daredevil fans but I also don't think it's at the top of the list but more like seventh or eighth. Joe Quesada's influence is something I also think contributed to the comic being far edgier than it needed to be and that's acknowledging Daredevil is pretty edgy to begin with.

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Incredibly fun homage to 90s Spider-Heroes

Reviewed: 02-26-25

ARANA AND SPIDER-MAN 2099: DARK TOMORROW is something that has been on my TBR list for some time because I am a huge fan of Spider-Girl (which is not her codename but everyone calls her even in-universe). I am also a big fan of Miguel O'Hara even before he was made famous with SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE. So having two of my favorite slightly-obscure Spider-People do a collaboration together was something that I was all in on. I also decided to get the audiobook because I feel like comic book books are best consumed in audible form. Why? Because that's how I feel about my own superhero books.

The premise is that teenage Puerto Rican New Yorker, Anya Corazon, is living her normal life when she is invested with the power of the Spider Society by Miguel Legar. Trying to be a spider-heroine, Anya ends up finding herself way over her head very quickly. Anya manages to fight villains like Stegron (AKA a stegasaurous man who is like the Lizard but without the pathos) but is totally overwhelmed when she meets Nineties Clone Saga villain Judas Traveller. Judas is portrayed as something other than a joke and sends her flying through time into the far future of 2099. From there, Anya has to try to find her way back to the past as well as deal with Miguel O'Hara's depression.

This book seems like it was made for me because I was actually a Spider-Man fan from the time I was four years old until the Clone Saga briefly broke up my relationship with Peter Parker like a deal with Mephisto. There's a huge amount of in-jokes, references, Easter Eggs, and usage of characters that have largely been forgotten by the comics. I already mentioned Stegron and Judas Traveller but there's also the Sisterhood of the Wasp, Demogoblin, and even the Cult of the Scrier. These things are mostly throwaway characters and explained well-enough in the book but it's still a treat if you recognize any of them.

There's also a bit of humor from the fact that the book "redeems" Judas Traveller. Judas was a character that was wildly overpowered and poorly written during most of the Clone Saga to the point he was considered an embarrassment by Marvel. He was retconned from being an all-powerful Doctor Strange-esque sorcerer to being a mutant illusionist. The book uses the latter origin but portrays him as the genius and archvillain he was initially done as. He can also time travel, try to resurrect vampire gods, and ham it up with the best of them. Spider-Man has plenty of villains to spare and his D-listers can shine against poor Arana.

If I had any problems with the book, it is the fact that it goes a bit overboard with the references (and that's me saying this). Judas Traveler is welcome and so is Demogoblin. Maybe even the surprise inclusion of a certain multiversal vampire. However, by the time Ghost-Spider (AKA Spider-Gwen) shows up, it's gotten a bit too much. There's some of these guest characters that could have been cut for brevity. The book also ends in a deus ex machina that I could have done without.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book and I think the audiobook version is even better. Anya Corozon is a great character and Arana deserves more attention from the media. People already know Miguel O'Hara from the Spider-Verse movies but they know him as a semi-antagonistic character versus the kind of hero he was in the 2099 comics. Victoria Villarrael is great in this, especially as Anya.

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Post-Apocalyptic Horror

Reviewed: 09-25-24

I'm a big fan of DEAD SPACE, SYSTEM SHOCK, and RESIDENT EVIL to a lesser extent. Basically, stories about how you arrive at some place and discover that everything has completely gone to crap with mad science at fault. It's a great premise and one that forces the protagonists to try to figure out what happened before making their escape. However, Eric Malikyte takes it one step further with, "What if the horrible place is one you can't leave because there's no chance of surviving outside?" Throw in a bunch of H.P. Lovecraft bits and you have the Walking Dead meets Fallout meets Cthulhu.

The narrator did a fantastic job. No notes.

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Gary Noon brings a vampire monarch's life to life

Reviewed: 09-19-24 Listener received this title free

PRINCE OF THE CITY by Keith Herber is both a prequel as well as sequel to the book DARK PRINCE by the same author. It is one of the early VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE novels that is set in the WORLD OF DARKNESS where supernatural entities live among us, hiding their existence so they can prey upon us better. Dark Prince was a fantastic novel with a hard gritty street-crime edge and a loathsome protagonist that, nevertheless, manages to undergo serious character development. It introduced the character of Vannevar Thomas and I was interested in seeing where this book would take him as Prince of the City stars said supporting character.

Prince of the City is a very different book from Dark Prince despite so many crossover characters and including Vannevar’s perception of the events in the latter. It’s a credit to Keith Herber that he’s so dramatically able to shift his style. If I had to compare it to any other book, I’d say it’s most similar to Interview with a Vampire as it’s essentially a centuries-long biography of Vannevar from his days as a Revolutionary War soldier embraced by his deranged uncle to his rise to power as one of the early residents of San Fransisco.

One of the first things to note is that Vannevar Thomas is a far more likeable protagonist than Sullivan. He’s a vampire and feeds off the living but all indications are he’s about as nice a person as you can probably be and still survive in Kindred politics. He’s a progressive minded fellow that rescues a black man from being lynched (making him his ghoul), supports California joining the Union during the Civil War, and shows unexpected mercy that occasionally pays off. This makes him far easier to root for but does take away some of the book’s edge. Really, the worst thing that Vannevar does is turn a blind eye to all of his much-much nastier fellows’ doings.

Keith Herbert obviously did a lot of history of San Fransisco and the book is a decent travelogue of the city through its various changes across multiple centuries. We follow the city from its days as part of the Wild West and Gold Rush to its transformation into an organized city as well as its ultimate fate as a counter-culture mecca. Vannevar trying to figure out what the hell hippies are saying when tracking down his LSD-blood drinking childe, Margaret, is one of the rare humorous parts of the story.

Keith Herber really “gets” the early Vampire: The Masquerade handling of Kindred as the book is filled with dozens of unique vampires interacting off one another. The politics in the city frequently change and we often get characters who are fully realized, only for them to die or be replaced within a few chapters. A deranged sea captain Malkavian that rules the docks and frustrates Vannevar? Dies in the great earthquake.

A union leader Brujah that has ties to the Inner Circle of the Camarilla? Executed along with a previous prince. Vannevar’s archenemy for a century? Shuffled off after an opportunity to kill him pays off. There’s no canon fodder and the colorful personalities illustrate both how long Vannevar has been at this and the kind of unique weirdos vampirism creates. Undead politics are a dangerous business and we watch Vannevar manage to weather them better than most across his long-long unlife.

If I have any complaints about the book, it does go for “fridging” as a means of giving Vannevar emotional pain. One of Vannevar’s love interests across the centuries suffers a horrific assault that leaves her insane, another dies horribly during a riot in Chinatown, and a third, well, almost rather comically dies when they run out into the sun while high as a kite. Remember kids, drugs are bad. Still, this is a really solid book and probably the second best of the V:TM line.

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I love Rasyha

Reviewed: 09-18-24

SCION OF STORMS by Samuel Hinton is the second of the Manifestations book series. Manifestations is a cultivation book, which is a type of fantasy that is about accumulating power through an Eastern-style magic system. Manifestations is no more Eastern than Avatar: The Last Airbender but has strong influences from it that set it apart from typical Western Medieval fantasy. I really enjoyed the first book, SOUL RELIC, and picked up the second audiobook as soon as I was finished.

The premise is that village girl, Raysha, has just enrolled in the Academy now that she’s managed to overcome her issue of being unable to regenerate aeon. Ironically, no sooner than she arrives, Raysha ditches all of her classes before focusing on the chance to win the school tournament. This has the opportunity of bestowing cash as well as physical prizes that could be the difference between poverty or great wealth.

There’s a lot of humor to be had in this story as Raysha is mono-focused on the competition to the point that she has no interest in the Academy whatsover. As an academic, I understand this attitude even as I find it deeply frustrating. Raysha would rather self-study or try to pry secrets out of her brother than try to get information from anyone who claims to be an authority figure.

Raysha is quite entertaining with the chip she’s carrying on her shoulder from her time in the village being condescended to. She instinctively hates the rich, nobility, and anyone who is above her. This actually gets her into trouble as she drives away both allies and creates enemies. It also leads her to ignore the fact the primary purpose of the tournament is to get the patronage of the noble houses that she despises on general principle.

There’s a lot of Harry Potter energy in this story but less of the whimsy. Raysha has to eat humble pie several times as while she has a lot of power to throw around, she doesn’t have nearly the experience or knowledge to wield it. Raysha learns to soften some of her views but hardens others and seeing which way she falls is always entertaining.

If you like magical combat, tournament arcs, and snarky heroines then this is definitely the book for you. Raysha can be annoying to anyone who thinks the rich might not automatically be scum and you might want to actually take advantage of classes if you’re attending a university but these are depicted as flaws she needs to overcome. The narrator, Andrea Emmes, does a fantastic job of bringing Raysha to life.

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Fantastic coming of age drama

Reviewed: 09-13-24

SOUL RELIC by Samuel Hinton and narrated by Andrea Emmes is a cultivation fantasy, which is a burgeoning genre that basically means developing your elemental powers along very Eastern martial arts principles. The fantasy world the author has created isn't necessarily any more Asian than Avatar: The Last Airbender but that doesn't mean it's not squarely in the genre either. It is something that I think would appeal to both fantasy as well as sports fans.

The premise is that in this world, it is possible to become trained as an aeon-wielder or elemental magician. Raysha is a village girl who was born with a lot of aeon in her reserves but no way to naturally replish it. This is actually a fairly serious disadvantage and she is denied a chance at university after finally managing to escape her home. Her brother, Vashi, is determined to help her as well even if it means teaming up with an old archaeologist, Hlaya, to explore ruins of a civilization that once had to deal with people like Raysha.

This is very much a classic coming of age journey but is made all the more interesting because of the fact that Raysha and company are fairly out of the larger politics at work. The God of Knowledge has just slaughtered all of the other gods in the region in a coup but none of this is a concern of Rasyha. She has her own problems to deal with that don't allow her to even think of such bigger deals.

I really liked this story and the characters involved, Raysha is an adorable heroine who may be a bit whiny about her status but quickly won me over with her snarky can-do attitude. I also liked the supporting cast and am interested in seeing where this story goes. Vashi, Hllaya, and Ocatvian are all a good cast of characters for supporting Raysha and keep her attitude from getting too insufferable.

I found the magic system to be well-designed and the writing to be entertaining throughout. I liked how our heroes also came into the sights of the Big Bad. Too often, it's destiny or contrived but, no, our heroes ended up killing some of his minions in an encounter and things just sort of snowball from there. I really like that.

The narrator does a decent job of representing Raysha and the various characters. Andrea Emmes manages to do also convey the danger as well as inner resentment the character is suffering. I'm eager to listen to the next book in the series.

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The narrator does a fantastic job with Victoria As

Reviewed: 09-02-24 Listener received this title free

CLAN NOVEL: TOREADOR is the first novel of the VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE Clan Novel saga that began in 1999 and finished right before the ending of the Old World of Darkness tabletop roleplaying game. If that sounds like gobbledygook to you then you’re probably not the intended audience of Goth nerds who ate these books up toward the turn of the millennium. Even so, I remember a lot of people picking up these books who’d never played a game with dice or character sheets in their life. It was a big influence on my STRAIGHT OUTTA FANGTON books as well as works like TRUE BLOOD and UNDERWORLD.

The premise of Vampire: The Masquerade (and the World of Darkness setting in general) is a familiar one to urban fantasy fans. The world we know is built over a hidden reality where vampires, werewolves, mages, and other supernaturals compete for supremacy. The undead wield amazing powers, financial and otherwise, that protect them from hunters as well as other threats. They control the world and feed on humankind with impunity. Unfortunately, they are their own worst enemy with the vampires divided into 13 clans, multiple sects, and a conflict between elders as well as neonates.

This book begins a 13 novel series that illustrates each of the clans as well as tells an overarching story. Among other things this means that while some of these books are going to be self-contained stories, others will just be open-ended. In this case, Toreador only starts the journey of its protagonists and you’ll have to read the entire thing to see how it all ends up. I did read the original thirteen novels and while some were only so-so, others were great and I recommend it all to readers.

Clan Novel: Toreador follows two members of the Toreador Clan, a clan of artistes and socialites who are the “pretty” vampires. The first, Leopold, is a Neonate who doesn’t remember his past and makes a living as a sculptor who feeds off street kids he seduces into being his models. The second, Victoria Ash, is a sex-obsessed Elder of her clan that is deluded into believing her petty power games are important. Both of them have their immortal ennui-filled lives disrupted by an attack from the Sabbat as well as the discovery of a magical artifact.

The Sabbat, for laymens out there, are the really evil vampires compared to the Camarilla or Anarchs who are just the sorta-evil vampires. They’re a bunch of rampaging psychopath monsters who want nothing more than to feed on humanity openly while the others want to hide. The artifact, the Eye of Hazmiel, is only hinted at being a gamechanger in their world but will not reach its full potential until later books. This book’s appeal is primarily groundwork and explaining the World of Darkness to newcomers.

The treatment of the Toreador clan was very well-done as we get the different sides of the Clan. The artistes are represented by Leopold, who struggles with the amorality of his work as well as his desire to give back to the world by creating beauty. However, he’s unable to create anything original anymore due to the curse afflicting him. He can’t even make sculptures of his fellow Kindred as something blocks his talent. Victoria Ash, by contrast, surrounds herself with art and misses how dark and disturbing all of it is. She also can’t break free from using sex and desire as her only weapons despite the fact most Kindred can barely remember what sex is like since the lust for blood has replaced it.

The book is a bit slow going in terms of both action as well as deep character angst. For the most part Leopold’s story about not remembering his past isn’t as evocative as Louis from Interview with a Vampire’s “I need to kill people to survive.” Likewise, Victoria Ash is very comfortable with her existence as a monster. The action doesn’t begin until the end of the book and then it’s everything going to hell.

My favorite part of the book remains the opening where Leopold describes his night consisting of luring a young woman back to his home, convincing her to model for him, seducing her (with his powers or not), then feeding only to drive them away with a lure of drugs as well as cash. It’s a crass and robotic story that fascinates. We also learn how he makes his money, what he does to secure his haven, and other details that set it apart from other vampire stories.

The narrator does a fantastic job with Victoria Ash, being a sultry and playful tone. Her male characters are fine as well, showing she has a lot of versatility. The book jumps around between a lot of perspectives and this would be a daunting task for a lot of narrator but I really enjoyed her work throughout.

In conclusion, Clan Novel: Toreador has quite a lot going for it. I like both Leopold and Victoria Ash as characters. However, I do think this is a book that should be read primarily by people at least loosely familiar with the World of Darkness. I also think it’s a big commitment because you aren’t going to get the full appeal of the series unless you read the whole 13 novel set.

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Fantastic addition to the Clan Novels

Reviewed: 06-30-24 Listener received this title free

CLAN NOVEL: TZIMISCE is the second novel in the Clan Novel series by White Wolf games. Originally published in 1999, it and the rest of the series have been reprinted for their 20th anniversary by Crossroad Press. They’re available in a new trade paperback edition and Kindle format. I remember reading these back when I was 18 years old, a Goth kid in Kentucky, and so edgy that you could shave with me. Sisters of Mercy was the coolest, ooo! So, do the books hold up two decades later? Let’s find out.

The premise of the Clan Novels is the evil Sabbat, vampire terrorists, have invaded Atlanta, Georgia in order to take it from their rivals in Camarilla. The Camarilla is only marginally better than the Sabbat in overall moral terms but are far less violent, sadistic, and gross. The Sabbat aren’t stopping at the conquest of Atlanta, though. They plan to move on throughout Georgia, the Carolinas, and even into Washington D.C.

Whereas CLAN NOVEL: TOREADOR followed the beginning of the invasion from the perspective of the humane (seeming) Camarilla, Clan Novel: Tzimsice gives us the perspective of the Sabbat. We see their Crusade from the grunts on the ground to the behind the scenes plotting of its leaders as well as bits from Tzimisce signature character Sascha Vykos.

Sascha Vykos is a character who has undergone a series of revisions across her 20 year history. A member of the mortal House Tremere of magi 800 years ago, she was a transwoman in the Dark Ages who was embraced by their rivals in the Tzimisce. The clan of flesh-crafters allowed her to become the way she wanted to be and indulge her transhuman impulses but was somewhat troubled by the fact the Tzimisce clan was also the most inhuman, sadistic, and overtly evil vampires in the setting (aside from the Baali).

The character of Vykos was revisited in Beckett’s Jyhad Diary in 2018 with some smart souls realizing that maybe it wasn’t the best idea to have the most prominent trans character in the setting being a flesh-mutilating torture master. Sascha was revealed to have been mind-controlled by a much-older and more evil Methuselah (The Dracon) and finally freed herself from its control. She wasn’t a good person by any stretch of the imagination but was no longer a shock character. But how was Vykos treated in this book? Surprisingly well.

Eric Griffin doesn’t require much adjustment as the Sascha Vykos presented in this book isn’t played for shock value but presented as a powerful dangerous vampire woman. I suspect Eric may have picked up on the Unfortunate ImplicationsTM better than other writers and chose to make her a respectable villain. Sascha is always referred to as a woman, takes the form of Elizabeth Bathory for the entirety of the book, and is probably the most “respectable” Sabbat in the story. So, kudos to you, Eric.

Vykos is a terrible person who plays sadistic games with the rest of the characters in the book but there’s a panache to the character as she tricks a Assamite into lowering his guard long enough for her to kill him, manipulates her rivals into destroying themselves, and manages to bring down the defenses of Atlanta without sacrificing any of her pawns. She even manages to bring down Marcus Vitel, the most powerful Kindred in the New World, though that would prove to be a temporary victory. I quite enjoyed the flirtatious letters between her and Vitel as the two ancient vampires enjoyed a duel of intellectual equals.

The rest of the Tzimisce in the book are less impressive as it is shown the Sabbat are a crude, culture-less band vampires more at home in From Dusk til Dawn or Near Dark than Interview with a Vampire. If you’re looking for a work that portrays the Sabbat in a morally ambiguous or even heroic light then this is far from it. They’re constantly at each other’s throats, betray each other at the drop of a hat, and indulge in sick torture games as a matter of course. They even kill one of the Black Sisters from D.C. by Night and that’s a shame since they were among my favorite NPCs.

Strangely, my favorite character in this book is Victoria Ash rather than any of the Tzimisce. The poor Toreador Primogen of Atlanta has only a small role but she is struggling to keep her sanity while being tortured by a vampire who has adopted the appearance of a Picasso abstract. Certainly, it’s easier to root for the victim of torture to escape rather than the person doing the torture.

In conclusion, this isn’t my favorite of the Clan Novels and if you’re a fan of the intellectual inhumanity of the Sabbat then you’ll be disappointed. They’re closer to Warhammer 40K Orks and a band of psychotic soccer hooligans with a few geniuses leading them. Vykos maintains her dignity throughout the book, though, and this is an important set up for future volumes. As bad as the Camarilla is, we understand why they need to win along with the Anarchs. The Sabbat winning would be a complete disaster for humanity.

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The best of Vampire: The Masquerade

Reviewed: 06-28-24 Listener received this title free

DARK PRINCE by Keith Herber is the first full-length novel for the World of Darkness and, more specifically, VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE setting. It was published in 1994 and introduced the character of Vannevar Thomas. It also imagined a complicated interlocking web of undead politics taking place behind closed doors in San Fransisco.

The premise is San Fransisco in 1994 where a particularly scummy Caitiff vampire named Sullivan is intimidating sex workers under his control and shaking them down for twenties. Sullivan works for the Family, a group of Chinese vampires who have been working the docks since the 19th century and don't seem to follow the Cainite clan structure but are still able to make their own. Sullivan is neither particularly smart nor insightful but he's doggedly loyal. So much so that the Family has kept him on despite the fact they only Embraced him as an intermediary with the white criminal element.

Unfortunately, for Sullivan, Kindred power games don't care if you're loyal or not and he's soon set up as a traitor to the mysterious Grandfather. Sullivan finds himself bouncing from one faction to the next in San Fransisco, trying to find someone who will protect him from his sire. This includes the Anarchs, Prince, Primogen, old friends, and even older enemies. Sullivan soon finds out that his banal street level of evil has nothing on elder vampires or the Sabbat. He also finds himself shamed by vampires who actually tried to help others during the AIDS crisis among other human tragedies.

Dark Prince knows how to keep a careful balance between lore and character development. Garou, hunters, a frigging Bane, and (arguably) the Kuei-Jin show up in the book but you're never overwhelmed. The focus is entirely on Sullivan realizing he's wasted his vampire life and debating whether or not he should try to become a better person or pursue something more meaningful than being the exact sort of low level scum he's been for a century. As you might guess, power and prestige don't go well with personal growth. Neither does maintaining any sense of freedom or command over your own destiny.

I really recommend this book if you want to get started in the World of Darkness but also note that, well, the lead is a scummy pimp who only begins to become someone you don't want to see staked for the sun later on. Also, there's the koala scene. Let's just say that the Sabbat don't get any sympathy in this book. They're very much of the irredeemable monster interpretation even if they talk a good game about freedom.

Gary Noon is a fantastic narrator and really brings this world to life. He manages to make Sullivan as well as other characters distinct while making dramatic scenes dramatic as well as somber scenes somber. It is a great introduction to the World of Darkness and can be enjoyed by newbies as well as fans alike.

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