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afalsealarm's review
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
personalcurio's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
3.0
Good for world-building for VtM games, but definitely a product of its time and a male author. The illustrations are anIeye-roll.
I found plenty of ways to flesh out my Lillith-worshipping Camarilla sheriff and specific things to use to hint at her alignment for players.
You know, read with a grain of salt, take the parts that work and make something better.
Fast read, could do it in an evening if you want.
I found plenty of ways to flesh out my Lillith-worshipping Camarilla sheriff and specific things to use to hint at her alignment for players.
You know, read with a grain of salt, take the parts that work and make something better.
Fast read, could do it in an evening if you want.
nmcannon's review against another edition
1.0
As I said in my review of The Book of Nod, found here, I've decided to read books from the tabletop setting Vampire: the Masquerade for my 2020 GoodReads Challenge. I'm attempting to go in a sort-of chronological timeline of my favorite character Cuthbert Beckett's life.
The Book of Nod deals with the popular theory of vampires' genesis, and Revelations of the Dark Mother is advertised as a twisted mirror version of it. The Book of Nod focuses on the masculine Caine, the triumphs of civilization, and how to live a good undead life. Revelations of the Dark Mother focuses on the feminine Lilith, the chaos of nature, and how to cause harm. Nod's stories are accepted by vampires worldwide as containing truth; the Revelations' myths are only believed by a volatile fringe group known as the Bahari.
For those who are semi-familiar with real world theology, the Barhari and their teachings will remind of a loose group of faithful who center their worship on the feminine and believe that the only way to experience enlightenment is through pain. I was reminded of Catholic religious who practice flagellation to clear the mind & meditate; fasting during Lent so that one may have a physical reminder of one's devotion to God; or the Greek cults of worship to Hestia, Hecate, and other female goddesses.
And it is a very great pity that, with the above paragraph, I just put more thought into the Bahari philosophy than the book's author did.
I DNF Revelations of the Dark Mother at page 18 because I read this with my own two eyes:
"Although their allegiance to Lilith might make the Bahari seem like natural feminists, the truth is far more complex. Female does not necessarily equal exalted. On the contrary--most women, in the Bahari view, are descendants of Eve, the third and most inferior woman. Created from lonely Adam, lacking Lilith's original gifts and her divine gestation, these women really are the cheap cattle that misogynists scorn. Until and unless a woman consumes the Mother's blood and takes her Oath, that woman is an animal--worthwhile in her own way, certainly, but far below the Bahari."
What. The. Fuck.
There are SO many things going wrong that I could be here all day. Misogyny is not complex: it's the boring, banal pain that almost every person on the planet experiences every damn day, unless he's a cishet white man. How can one claim to worship the first woman and not see women as people? How does a philosophy, which paints itself as counter-cultural and in opposite to the masculine-dominated Caine stories, get to make those claims when it spouts the patriarchal norm?
On a meta-level, why is the author going out of his way to assure misogynists that they have a place among the Bahari? Is that the demographic White Wolf wants playing their games? Also: while they did try to disguise it under pen names, why on EARTH did White Wolf not hire a woman to write this book? Hello??? I realize this was published in 1998, but that seems like such a no brainer. Female fans of VTM exist.
It hit me in a flash: Revelations of the Dark Mother is bullshit. The author does not care about theology, or female VTM fans. He likes slasher horror movies, where the serial killer tries to teach their victims a "lesson" by torturing them. This isn't like high-vaulted Greek myths, or a darker twist on Catholicism. It's just. Torture Porn. A misogynist typing out 60 pages of drivel like a monkey at a typewriter. Uncreative. Not worth anyone's time.
Dear God, I hope the Victorian Trilogy goes better.
The Book of Nod deals with the popular theory of vampires' genesis, and Revelations of the Dark Mother is advertised as a twisted mirror version of it. The Book of Nod focuses on the masculine Caine, the triumphs of civilization, and how to live a good undead life. Revelations of the Dark Mother focuses on the feminine Lilith, the chaos of nature, and how to cause harm. Nod's stories are accepted by vampires worldwide as containing truth; the Revelations' myths are only believed by a volatile fringe group known as the Bahari.
For those who are semi-familiar with real world theology, the Barhari and their teachings will remind of a loose group of faithful who center their worship on the feminine and believe that the only way to experience enlightenment is through pain. I was reminded of Catholic religious who practice flagellation to clear the mind & meditate; fasting during Lent so that one may have a physical reminder of one's devotion to God; or the Greek cults of worship to Hestia, Hecate, and other female goddesses.
And it is a very great pity that, with the above paragraph, I just put more thought into the Bahari philosophy than the book's author did.
I DNF Revelations of the Dark Mother at page 18 because I read this with my own two eyes:
"Although their allegiance to Lilith might make the Bahari seem like natural feminists, the truth is far more complex. Female does not necessarily equal exalted. On the contrary--most women, in the Bahari view, are descendants of Eve, the third and most inferior woman. Created from lonely Adam, lacking Lilith's original gifts and her divine gestation, these women really are the cheap cattle that misogynists scorn. Until and unless a woman consumes the Mother's blood and takes her Oath, that woman is an animal--worthwhile in her own way, certainly, but far below the Bahari."
What. The. Fuck.
There are SO many things going wrong that I could be here all day. Misogyny is not complex: it's the boring, banal pain that almost every person on the planet experiences every damn day, unless he's a cishet white man. How can one claim to worship the first woman and not see women as people? How does a philosophy, which paints itself as counter-cultural and in opposite to the masculine-dominated Caine stories, get to make those claims when it spouts the patriarchal norm?
On a meta-level, why is the author going out of his way to assure misogynists that they have a place among the Bahari? Is that the demographic White Wolf wants playing their games? Also: while they did try to disguise it under pen names, why on EARTH did White Wolf not hire a woman to write this book? Hello??? I realize this was published in 1998, but that seems like such a no brainer. Female fans of VTM exist.
It hit me in a flash: Revelations of the Dark Mother is bullshit. The author does not care about theology, or female VTM fans. He likes slasher horror movies, where the serial killer tries to teach their victims a "lesson" by torturing them. This isn't like high-vaulted Greek myths, or a darker twist on Catholicism. It's just. Torture Porn. A misogynist typing out 60 pages of drivel like a monkey at a typewriter. Uncreative. Not worth anyone's time.
Dear God, I hope the Victorian Trilogy goes better.
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