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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
I experienced some disappointment returning to the world of Vampire Hunter D with the second novel, Raiser of Gales. Why? Well, I'll get into it, but in TL;DR form it essentially doubles down on all the things I did not like in the first one while retaining only some of favorable elements.
Going by the two stories I've read so far it very much seems Vampire Hunter D stories are standalone affairs which makes for a great jumping in point since you can start with any of them. It also presents a major problem for me personally - the world is treated as already established so Raiser of Gales gives you a more truncated take on the setting. This "post-apocalypse meets magic meets SF" melting pot with an oddly anachronistic mannerism was the big draw in the first place. Nevertheless, there are some interesting bits here when D goes into ancient ruins belonging to Nobility and waxes poetic about genetics of all things as a topic that comes perfectly natural to a wandering Dhampir. This is either one of those things that makes Vampire Hunter D interesting to the reader or eye rolling mumbo-jumbo to gloss over.
As befitting a Hunter scouring the Frontier, D once again finds himself hired by a village mayor to sort out their problems. Village in question is called Tepes. Yeah. Inventive naming aside, villagers have always existed in the shadow of a nearby hill and looming ruins of now gone vampiric Nobility. So much so they never figured out what happened to four missing children of which only three eventually returned. It's been ten years since then and killing seems to have started again with the most unlikely scenario on everyone's lips - day-walking vampires. That's enough to even get the Vigilance Committee from the Capital to check things out...
Once again I'm not sure how much of this is due to translation or original Japanese, but Raiser of Gales is such a jumbled mess of a narrative. In some half-realized effort to keep the suspense going there's more than few instances of not clearly conveying PoV shifting, preferring obtuse obfuscation over honest mystery [let's not talk about it], and just plain old awkward dialog. That last part could be due to a 17 year old girl playing a major role with all the teen quirks you'd expect, though. D is about as close to a non-character who trounces everything standing in his way, but since we're bashing characters let me pull a 180 here and say I actually liked how almost everyone is a bastard or has an agenda. This is not some some idyllic utopia as places like that would never survive on the Frontier where might makes right. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, fawning over D's beauty is still an obsession of the author to a point it becomes detrimental in mood establishing. Just to show this isn't bias on my end there's much WORSE imagined and done to Lina resulting in some graphical scenes. You have been warned.
I enjoyed the story after all the cards were on the table during the last few chapters. Journey to that point was at times excruciating, though. In my opinion story also has far too many characters who end up as distractions or Red Herrings. Ending itself was genuinely heartwarming demonstrating minute, but lasting impact of the events.
Going by the two stories I've read so far it very much seems Vampire Hunter D stories are standalone affairs which makes for a great jumping in point since you can start with any of them. It also presents a major problem for me personally - the world is treated as already established so Raiser of Gales gives you a more truncated take on the setting. This "post-apocalypse meets magic meets SF" melting pot with an oddly anachronistic mannerism was the big draw in the first place. Nevertheless, there are some interesting bits here when D goes into ancient ruins belonging to Nobility and waxes poetic about genetics of all things as a topic that comes perfectly natural to a wandering Dhampir. This is either one of those things that makes Vampire Hunter D interesting to the reader or eye rolling mumbo-jumbo to gloss over.
As befitting a Hunter scouring the Frontier, D once again finds himself hired by a village mayor to sort out their problems. Village in question is called Tepes. Yeah. Inventive naming aside, villagers have always existed in the shadow of a nearby hill and looming ruins of now gone vampiric Nobility. So much so they never figured out what happened to four missing children of which only three eventually returned. It's been ten years since then and killing seems to have started again with the most unlikely scenario on everyone's lips - day-walking vampires. That's enough to even get the Vigilance Committee from the Capital to check things out...
Once again I'm not sure how much of this is due to translation or original Japanese, but Raiser of Gales is such a jumbled mess of a narrative. In some half-realized effort to keep the suspense going there's more than few instances of not clearly conveying PoV shifting, preferring obtuse obfuscation over honest mystery [let's not talk about it], and just plain old awkward dialog. That last part could be due to a 17 year old girl playing a major role with all the teen quirks you'd expect, though. D is about as close to a non-character who trounces everything standing in his way, but since we're bashing characters let me pull a 180 here and say I actually liked how almost everyone is a bastard or has an agenda. This is not some some idyllic utopia as places like that would never survive on the Frontier where might makes right. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, fawning over D's beauty is still an obsession of the author to a point it becomes detrimental in mood establishing. Just to show this isn't bias on my end there's much WORSE imagined and done to Lina resulting in some graphical scenes. You have been warned.
I enjoyed the story after all the cards were on the table during the last few chapters. Journey to that point was at times excruciating, though. In my opinion story also has far too many characters who end up as distractions or Red Herrings. Ending itself was genuinely heartwarming demonstrating minute, but lasting impact of the events.
I thought that this was going to be just another version of the first story, just repeating the same pattern, but nooooooo...
I was sooo devastated when the story came to the conclusion and seems like I'm gonna go through it to the end.
42 more to go :)))
I was sooo devastated when the story came to the conclusion and seems like I'm gonna go through it to the end.
42 more to go :)))
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
All I can say that the 2nd installment of this series was meh, the storyline was ok at best but it didn't grab my attention like the first book did. I'll continue with the series
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
A funeral congregation trudges slowly across a bridge with burly men carrying a child-sized coffin wrapped in chains. A hand bursts from the coffin and one of the men goes to restrain it. The coffin struggles mightily and both go over a bridge. All of this happens in broad daylight: a time when the dead should not walk.
How incredible and mysterious does that sound?! And sadly, the book just couldn’t live up to that opener. The story revolves around four children who were abducted a decade earlier, where only three returned. Lina, our FMC was taken in by the mayor. She's meant to be a dreamer who focuses on a better future rather than her horrible present and past. Thus, she's raped by her adoptive father every night (the mayor)... something that says more about his character than hers. She's also constantly the victim, and few of those who do her harm get what's coming to then. When they do, it's never by her hand. She's used by almost everyone in the novel. The Mayor is a rapey douche. He does even less to drive the plot. Nothing he does is productive in any sort of way. The Youth Brigade is a bunch of rapey douchebags who get to do what they want because they're big and strong. Not enough of them get what they deserve.
When you replace the fighting and interesting moments with a young girl's dreams and a high amount of murder and rape, this series takes a serious plummet. There are some good moments in this. I loved the lore expansion, especially the rain's effect on the frontier. The tamed monsters were another great addition to the universe as is the space loop. Too bad the rest of the novel stretches the mystery to the breaking point. And oversells rape and tries to make it “It was my choice I allowed it to happen” in the ending. Just. No.
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Vampires known as nobility, the peak of science and evolution, have vanished, leaving behind their relicts, and experiments. One of such starts terrorizing village of Tepes (yep) D’s passing by, where he gets hired to figure out what’s going on before it’s too late…
My Opinion: Almost strained my eyes rolling, due to every D’s description, even when he’s only mentioned as a rider, starting with “gorgeous youth“. Gorgeous, gorgeous youth that makes even the hearts of straight men beat faster. You know, I have a suspicion D might be handsome. Anyway, other than that the story was alright. Felt a bit unfinished or lacking logic at times, but was interesting visually and action-wise.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Vampires known as nobility, the peak of science and evolution, have vanished, leaving behind their relicts, and experiments. One of such starts terrorizing village of Tepes (yep) D’s passing by, where he gets hired to figure out what’s going on before it’s too late…
My Opinion: Almost strained my eyes rolling, due to every D’s description, even when he’s only mentioned as a rider, starting with “gorgeous youth“. Gorgeous, gorgeous youth that makes even the hearts of straight men beat faster. You know, I have a suspicion D might be handsome. Anyway, other than that the story was alright. Felt a bit unfinished or lacking logic at times, but was interesting visually and action-wise.
This series is more intriguing than I thought it would be. Been more of a vampire mood recently than I've been in years
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This volume had an interesting premise but there was just something confusing about the story and the plot.