Author: David Renton
Not only have vampires replaced humans as the dominant species, but their numbers have grown to the point where they are far outstripping their ability to hunt. This is the core of the problem. The Fall of VampiressIt tells the story of young vampire Vincent as he fights against his own kind to keep his sister alive.
I realize that all of the reviews I’ve posted on this site so far have had similar themes, so I feel compelled to make the argument that while the core concept is interesting, The Fall of Vampires Ultimately falls victim to the weaknesses of its writing.
In this case, the main problem with the novel is that it attempts to commit murder through a thousand repetitions. The characters’ thoughts, resolutions, and actions are repetitive. Annoyingonly the wording of sentences has changed slightly, so I estimate that with some reasonable editing, this 500-plus page book could easily be reduced to less than 300 pages.
This is very disappointing because The Fall of Vampires It does touch on some interesting themes; and it presents itself from a perspective that, if not unique, is at least rare enough to hold its own. Caught between humans who are willing to kill him and his sister in order to protect themselves and his own people driven mad by hunger, Vincent does have some very tough problems to solve in a short period of time.
From a writing material perspective, this is great! Unfortunately, the same old themes are repeated throughout the book, leading to largely predictable outcomes for the characters, as page after page of pondering the same question is mistaken for character development.
I found myself wanting to like The Fall of Vampires I actually read a lot more than I should because, if you boil this book down to the basics, it’s actually pretty good. There’s a lot of action in the book, and the story progresses in a reasonable way. The characters are pretty likable, even though some of the dialogue is very awkwardly handled. I’m even interested in the core story and want to read what’s next. I just… I can’t stand it if it’s written in the same style.
With this in mind, The Fall of Vampires Gets another A in effort and a D- in execution.
Try it here.
score: 1.5/5
