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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
I did enjoy this history-filled book about vampires. I do have a pretty big complaint. Henry meets all kinds of historical figures throughout the book but there are no complex female characters in the entire book. It's really too bad.
This was a good way to end 2019 and start 2020. I had very little in terms of expectations for this book. My only requirement was for it to be a fun twisted view of American History. It is. I admit I either did not read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, or it wasn't memorable enough to remember I read it. I did see the movie in theatres, which I remember as a fun and entertaining night at the movies.
This book definitely takes some of its inspiration from Anne Rice. It is an old vampire telling his story. A vampire who was present in the first book, and more intriguing in some ways than the main character of the first novel. Henry is a great leading man who has depth and humor as well as a gravitas that draws the reader in.
I have quoted this book for many friends already. My favorite quote (as well as I remember it) 'a human life is like an ant farting into a hurricane.' I am butchering that, but I remember laughing out loud and loving that dialogue.
The time frame is long and touches Roanoke to 1970s ish, and hits some of the major events across eras. The take on Jack the Ripper, Mark Twain, Tesla, and Stoker were genuinely some of my favorite representations of this historical figures I have ever read.
With Rice influence, a great leading vampire, great dialogue, and historical figures come to life, I am surprised I landed on a 3 Star rating. I liked the book. I did. I really liked aspects, but the over all is just a like.
My two major issues were the gore and the pacing. I should have known going in the gore would be intense, but I felt it stepped a little beyond just gratuitous at certain points. It was visceral enough that there were chunks of fight scene descriptions that I did skip over. I would glance at a page and see a word or two get the gist of who had the upper hand, and then move on. If you like gore, and violence maybe this amount would be grate for you. And yet, I loved when Grahame-Smith is a little more slowed down.
For me the best parts of the book were the character moments. The interaction, the dialogue, the relationships were well written, fascinating and what I wanted the heart of the book to be about.
So I guess the issue at the crux is pacing. The beginning of the book felt like a decent balance of character and violence. Just the right amount for me, but as the book continued character development, interactions other than fighting were replaced with more gore or REALLY quick character moments. Howard Hughes is introduced, has a quick scene, but really isn't interacted to explored to my satisfaction. There is a relationship between Henry and a women from his past that is the impetus for the whole adventure, and yet when they do come to a meeting point nothing is explored. It seems like a missed opportunity that still elicits visible frustration on my face while typing about it.
We here her back story, then hundreds of years pass, and boom VILLIAN. Which is a great motivation and story line, but i wanted to know it if I was supposed to be so invested. I lost my interest in there battle before by about 3/4 through the book and the end climax thus became dull.
To me this was just SOOO much potential, I am glad a read it even though it was frustrating. I would give this author another chance.
This book definitely takes some of its inspiration from Anne Rice. It is an old vampire telling his story. A vampire who was present in the first book, and more intriguing in some ways than the main character of the first novel. Henry is a great leading man who has depth and humor as well as a gravitas that draws the reader in.
I have quoted this book for many friends already. My favorite quote (as well as I remember it) 'a human life is like an ant farting into a hurricane.' I am butchering that, but I remember laughing out loud and loving that dialogue.
The time frame is long and touches Roanoke to 1970s ish, and hits some of the major events across eras. The take on Jack the Ripper, Mark Twain, Tesla, and Stoker were genuinely some of my favorite representations of this historical figures I have ever read.
With Rice influence, a great leading vampire, great dialogue, and historical figures come to life, I am surprised I landed on a 3 Star rating. I liked the book. I did. I really liked aspects, but the over all is just a like.
My two major issues were the gore and the pacing. I should have known going in the gore would be intense, but I felt it stepped a little beyond just gratuitous at certain points. It was visceral enough that there were chunks of fight scene descriptions that I did skip over. I would glance at a page and see a word or two get the gist of who had the upper hand, and then move on. If you like gore, and violence maybe this amount would be grate for you. And yet, I loved when Grahame-Smith is a little more slowed down.
For me the best parts of the book were the character moments. The interaction, the dialogue, the relationships were well written, fascinating and what I wanted the heart of the book to be about.
So I guess the issue at the crux is pacing. The beginning of the book felt like a decent balance of character and violence. Just the right amount for me, but as the book continued character development, interactions other than fighting were replaced with more gore or REALLY quick character moments. Howard Hughes is introduced, has a quick scene, but really isn't interacted to explored to my satisfaction. There is a relationship between Henry and a women from his past that is the impetus for the whole adventure, and yet when they do come to a meeting point nothing is explored. It seems like a missed opportunity that still elicits visible frustration on my face while typing about it.
We here her back story, then hundreds of years pass, and boom VILLIAN. Which is a great motivation and story line, but i wanted to know it if I was supposed to be so invested. I lost my interest in there battle before by about 3/4 through the book and the end climax thus became dull.
To me this was just SOOO much potential, I am glad a read it even though it was frustrating. I would give this author another chance.
I started reading this without realizing it was the sequel to Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, which I had started but never finished. I found this one entertaining and even learned a few things from this historical tale. Gore, be it on the screen or on the page, is still something I could do without however.
I won this through a Good Reads Giveaway.
I will say that I felt that the quick pace, and smart writing and historical integration where much better that the actual storyline. Which felt tedious and sort if self indulgent with the journal entries and the reiterating the entries with more dialogue. I had a hard time with that.
But overall it was very good.
I will say that I felt that the quick pace, and smart writing and historical integration where much better that the actual storyline. Which felt tedious and sort if self indulgent with the journal entries and the reiterating the entries with more dialogue. I had a hard time with that.
But overall it was very good.
There were certain parts of this book that I really enjoyed, but it spread over a very large time period. I skimmed over quite a bit because there seemed to be a lot more gore than the Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.
It must be fun to be Seth Grahame-Smith and get to see how many ways you can weave alternate vampire history into major world events. I won't spoil anything here, but suffice it to say he does it a lot, and in my pinion, does it well.
I enjoyed reading this book, as I did the prequel. I found myself smiling at each new turn and each new take on the history I know well.
I enjoyed reading this book, as I did the prequel. I found myself smiling at each new turn and each new take on the history I know well.
I enjoyed Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter but wasn't overly impressed. However this book by the same author is amazing. It is the life of Henry, the good vampire from Vampire Hunter. How he became a vampire, what he did before and after Abe. It is an interesting take on American history as well. I never knew vampires played such an important role!
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter so good, this just fell short to me.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
** Spoiler alert ** Once again, Grahame-Smith has captured my imagination with this book! This isn't your typical vamp book, y'all. (Nor was the first one. Start there if you haven't.)
I'm a sucker for any historical fiction, especially when adequately researched. He's executed this beautifully, as well as has a fun writing style that is very "matter of factly" (same with the first one.) Despite knowing vampires don't exist, I found myself being so caught up with how factually it's written that it had me wanting to go look up what was being talked about! That's an impressive thing to me. Given my profession is in the research field, the researcher in me was definitely in love with it. The cast of characters was large, but not hard to follow. There were several "stop everything because OH MY GOSH, did that REALLY just happen? Hold on. Let me rewind 15 seconds and be sure I heard this correctly!" moments. It was epic! (I listened via Overdrive, but NEED to own both of these books.)
Spoiler: Alexi Romanov appears in the end and I am BEGGING for a third book, but the history of his life and world from his perspective. Hint, hint! I went on a Romanov binge about two years ago and am highly infatuated with that family going back to their inception. I think I'd devour something along those lines without a second thought!
Obviously, I highly recommend this book if unpredictability, history, vampires, and well-developed writing styles are your things!
I'm a sucker for any historical fiction, especially when adequately researched. He's executed this beautifully, as well as has a fun writing style that is very "matter of factly" (same with the first one.) Despite knowing vampires don't exist, I found myself being so caught up with how factually it's written that it had me wanting to go look up what was being talked about! That's an impressive thing to me. Given my profession is in the research field, the researcher in me was definitely in love with it. The cast of characters was large, but not hard to follow. There were several "stop everything because OH MY GOSH, did that REALLY just happen? Hold on. Let me rewind 15 seconds and be sure I heard this correctly!" moments. It was epic! (I listened via Overdrive, but NEED to own both of these books.)
Spoiler: Alexi Romanov appears in the end and I am BEGGING for a third book, but the history of his life and world from his perspective. Hint, hint! I went on a Romanov binge about two years ago and am highly infatuated with that family going back to their inception. I think I'd devour something along those lines without a second thought!
Obviously, I highly recommend this book if unpredictability, history, vampires, and well-developed writing styles are your things!