Vampire Books

First, let me admit – this isn’t exactly a “vampire” book. One of the main characters is a Vampire, but it is not completely focused on Vampires. With that said, I did run across this book looking for more Vampire Books, and the description of the book (and the series), got my attention, so I bought it, and was very happy with my finding. I thought the readers here would like to know about this book, and possibly add it to their collection. Witchling is a book written by Yasmine Galenorn, and is the first book of the Sisters of the Moon series.

This book is written in the perspective of Camille D’Artigo. Camille is one of three very unique sisters who are from Other World, and work as an OIA (Other World Intelligence Agency) operatives. OIA was developed by the Queen of Other World to  govern the Other World society that has opted to move Earthside. Humans are aware of Other World and the creatures that live Earthside, and for the most part, humans have turned the Other World community into psuedo-celebrities.

Camille with her sisters, Delilah and Menolly,  own cover businesses, but soon find themselves fighting demons and trying to save both Other World, and Earth from an evil demon squad set on opening portals that will allow anyone into Earth, including the unruly, ruthless Demons who have been long cast aside, and refused entry onto Earth.

Camille D’Artigo is half-human, and half faerie, and possesses magical powers that are forged through her through the Moon Mother (as she calls her). Her sister Delilah is also half-human, but is also a were-cat. Delilah is able to change form into a small tabby cat. Menolly, her other sister used to be half-human and an acrobat, gifted with the ability to accomplish impossible acrobatic feats, but during one mission, in which she was caught by a gang of Vampire’s, Menolly was killed and risen again to walk the earth as a Vampire.

The sisters use their unique gifts and/or curses, in Menolly’s case, throughout the book to hunt down a Daageth squad, who has crossed through the portals onto Earth, and is searching for something called a Spirit Seal. This Spirit Seal will allow the Demon’s to split the portals wide open, enabling Earthside humans,  residents of Other World, and Demons to cross back and forth freely. If this happens, both Other World, and Earth will be destroyed by the havoc that the Demons will impose throughout both worlds.

I will admit that this plot sounds very exciting and full of adventure, and it is, when the author stops filling in pages of the book with shopping spree’s and talks of designer wears, but I do understand why she go into so much detail about these types of items, especially after reading the second book, Changeling. The fact that this book is told by Camille, and the second book is told through Delilah’s eyes, and the third book being told through Menolly’s perspective, it was good to get a sense for the differences between the sisters using their interests to distinguish the 3 personalities. If feel that if she hadn’t done that, by the third book I would be getting a bit confused.

Anyway, all in all, I really liked the books, their are defiantly some things that I would leave out – like the romance between Camille, Trillion, and Morio. At least tone it down a little and not go into so much detail during the sex scenes, but considering that this book is also classified as a romance, I can see why it was in their as well.

The other thing I really enjoyed about this book was how many mythical creatures were incorporated into this book, and how Yasmine used the creatures to play out each characters role. It was also enjoyable to see how humans on Earth reacted to the Other World creatures and their rituals, spells, magic, and special abilities.

I am already on the third book, so of course I will recommend this book to all who enjoys some good supernatural / mythical / suspense / action books. Their is a lot going on in this book, but I do believe that Ms. Galenorn has found a very good recipe when merging it all together. Good job Yasmine – I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Shadow Kiss is the 3rd book in the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead. It follows much of the previous story, and I recommend you read the first two books before you start on this book.

Let me first start out this review by saying that each book in this series has gotten gradually better, and I can not wait until the 4th book comes out in audio format. I don’t have time to read books much, but I do have a rather long commute to and from work, and I love listening to these books while I ride.

Now, on to the book! This book is set right before Lissa and Rose are due to graduate, they are in their last semester at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and they have a lot going on. Rose is seeing Mason’s ghost (if you remember Mason died in the last book), and she thinks she might be going crazy, and refuses to let anyone know what she is seeing.

Rose is also very much in love with Dimitri in this book, like every other book. And I still find it gross and disgusting. Then again most think Dimitri is Hot and Sexy – perhaps I’m weird. I still would love to see Adrian and Rose get together. Oh well, in addition to this though, Lissa and Christian are still together in this book, and Mead throws in a nice twist with having Rose guard Christian in their final guardian “in field” training each senior must go through.

The “in field” training is a 6 week training program where Dhampire’s are assigned to Moroi to watch and look after for 6 weeks, while the instructors sneak around and try to “get” the Moroi. The Dhampire’s must protect the Moroi against the instructors no matter what. Which is kind of fun, just thinking about being able to fight your instructors without holding back makes you go “hmmmmmm” lol.

Anyway, during the course of the book Rose becomes more and more convinced that she is seeing Mason for a reason, and tries to figure out what that reason might be. By the time she realizes what is happening its too late. The Academy is attacked by tons of Strigoi, and the Moroi, instructors, and Guardians must fight to protect the school and the Royal’s. This is a very exciting attack, not to mention the fight starts right after Rose and Dimitri “do the deed”. I would love to see this fight reenacted on film, it would be amazing!

This fight leads to the capture of several Moroi, and while on a rescue mission to take the Strigoi and save Moroi lives, Dimitri is turned into a Strigoi. This leads to a devastated Rose dropping out of school to go find Dimitri and kill him. This is the end of the book, and much like the end of this post, its way too abrupt to really be a “good” ending.

Of course ending like this really sets the tone for the next book, and I think its part of the reason why I am feining for the fourth book so much. Of course its not out in audio format yet, so we will just have to wait to see the next chapter.

All in all, this is one of my favorite books, 1, because of the Strigoi attack, it was described beautifully and it was very well thought out, and 2, because Dimitri gets turned into a Strigoi (hehe).  I would recommend this book, and this series to anyone urning for some more Vampire Love, Mead is a very talented writer, and these book seem very well thought out and they are easy on the ears.

Frostbite is the second book in the Vampire Academy Series, by Richelle Mead. The first books paves the way for this book, and lays the basis of this book, but it could also be read without the first one. The story is told through the eyes of Rose, a dhampire at St. Vladimirs Academy. St. Vladamirs Academy is a school for young Moroi Vampires, and Dhampires. Moroi are vampires who possess magic, and are in a general sense “good”. Dhampires are their protectors. Rose is best friends with a Royal Moroi, Lissa, who is very powerful, and possess the ability to wield “spirit”. Spirit is a very newly discovered ability and not much is known about it, but it is much more powerful than Air, Wind, Earth and Fire. In this book Lissa is learning to control her ability, and trying to keep out of trouble. She is dating Christian, which I think is a cute choice, they go together well, but have completely different personalities, so its fun to listen to.

Rose and Lissa are bonded together by a one way psychic connection. Rose can hear Lissa’s thoughts, and can also see what Lissa see’s through Lissa’s eyes. It is a very intriguing bond, and adds a lot to the story.

As for the specifics of this book, it is set in a ski lodge. Strigoi (the evil Vampires), attacked the Academy, leading to the whole school attending a very well protected ski lodge, usually reserved for Royal Moroi during Winter Break. Many extra Dhampire’s have been called in to help protect the students, including Rose’s very well known Mother. The tension between Rose and her Mother is well placed, and I believe it helps develop Rose a little more, and I like her character.

Again, Dimitri is in the book, romantic things happen, and it makes me uncomfortable… hahaha. I don’t like Dimitri, and I really wish his character was a little better portrayed. I listened to the audio book and his voice may be the thing that deters me, so it may be different if you are planning to read the book, instead of listen to it.

I love the character of Adrian, he is charming, mysterious, sexy, and I really dig the bad boys look (even though I get the feeling he isn’t too “bad”).

The plot revolves around the decision to either retaliate against the Strigoi for the attacks or do nothing. It is part of the old ways that the Moroi and dhampire’s stay clear of Strigoi, only fighting when necessary, but many Moroi and many Guardians think that it is time for a change.

The real adventure begins when Rose learns that Mason, Mia, and Eddie have escaped the Ski Lodge and gone after the Moroi that killed Mia’s parents. Mia is enraged and wants revenge, and Eddie and Mason are willing and ready to help take out some Strigoi. Of course Rose goes after them, and they are soon caught and held prisoner by Strigoi and their human helpers. In the end Mason is dead, Eddie has been starved and fed off of almost to the point of being dead, and Mia and Rose must create a plan to escape their bondage. They devise a plan and the group is well into their escape plan when they run into powerful Strigoi that want them all dead. Rose ends up showing her kick ass skills and kills her first couple Strigoi, and Mia, the whiny little brat overcomes her ways and becomes stronger as she helps Rose take the Strigoi out using the element of water.

Overall this book is pretty good, and if you liked the first book, you will definitely get into this one, and want to pick up the 3rd one right after you finish. It continues the story really well, and takes some nice twists and turns. As with the first book Rose is very easy to listen to, and the concept of the bond really helps keep this book flowing at a nice pace.