Author: Caroline Barnard-Smith

First Published: 2009

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: “In the sleepy backwater of Dunraven Road, a group of hedonistic friends are trapped in a deadly prison of their own making. When Zach, their enigmatic leader, brings his long term plans to fruition and paves the way for a sadistic vampire cult, their fragile world begins to break apart. Fuelled by dangerous passions and an insatiable craving for ‘red’. The group must decide whether to succumb to the sweet lure of the abyss, or stand and fight for their very survival.

The review: In her acknowledgments, Caroline Barnard-Smith refers to her own book as “this strange little novel” and indeed it is that – though that is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed this is quite an unusual piece. As the novel begins we are in a world (despite senior citizens being killed in a manner that the press calls Vamp Attacks) focused upon the beginnings of a fledgling vampyre type group – one that we know will become murderous at some point.

Most of these young people are hooked to a drug called red – a liquid hallucinogen with very addictive qualities and the thickness and consistency of blood (we later discover the source of this). However what I found was that the characters were fairly non-sympathetic. Zach is a sadistic and petty character, his friend Justin came across as a doormat, the two girls Kirsty and Sapphire come across as victims and a criticism could be that there isn’t a strong (human) female character. We also have Paul, a junky and self destructive artist, unrequitedly in love with Sapphire and beholden financially to Zach, his dealer.

The non-sympathetic nature of the characters fit within the bleak worldview of the disillusioned and disavowed generation X, but made it difficult to find one to pin your attention to. Paul and Sapphire are placed in the centre of our world view as a reader but I did struggle to care for them. Enter the vampires.

We end up with two groups, the Ancient Order are evil vampires manipulating events for their own ends. These are our real vampires (as opposed to the good vampires I will mention, rather than as opposed to the mortal wannabes). The lore is sparse:

“…‘Shouldn’t the sun burn you, or something?’

“‘Myths and fables… …Same goes for garlic and wooden stakes in the heart. Fire will hurt us, or starvation.’”

We also discover that a trauma to the brain is also deadly. The vampires can take on the form of another person and they use red as a way of making victims placid. However the Ancient Order are not the force they once were. There are few new vampires created and feeding in a world where technology seems pitied against them, cameras line the streets and DNA can be tested is proving more and more difficult. They are shades of what once they might have been.

The kin are good vampires – actually described as vegan. They subsist on a concoction made of fruit juice and herbs. In fact the concoction actually seems to have kept them rather healthy. They fear the Ancient Order and hide in plain sight amongst humanity. There were interesting characters amongst the vampires who, perhaps, could have withstood some more exploration – though their enigmatic nature was perhaps the point.

There is a very strange and unusual form of slaying that is introduced but I will not spoil the book by saying any more. Its unusual nature, however, fit in well with a book best described as quirky. 6 out of 10.

Tags: addictive qualities, Ancient, barnard smith, book, Caroline Barnard-Smith, Caroline Barnard-SmithFirst, dangerous passions, deadly prison, Dunraven Road, enigmatic leader, evil vampires, group, Justin, Kirsty, nature, Order, Paul, Sapphire, vampire cult, way, world, Zach

Author: Gabrielle S Faust

First Published: 2008

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: After a century of Sleep, Tynan Llywelyn has awoken to find the world he once knew utterly obliterated by a war of epic proportions. In a new apocalyptic society, bitterly divided by magic and technology, the Tyst Empire has found that a hundred years of global domination is not enough to sate their thirst for power. They have discovered the secret of the vampire race and have designed a plan to seize their own sinister form of immortality with the help of an ancient vampiric god.

The Phuree, a rebel uprising that has been engaged in a bloody war with the Tyst since the beginning of the new regime, have obtained the knowledge of Lord Cardone’s plans and have allied themselves with the remaining Immortal clan. The powerful Phuree oracle, Nahalo, has had a vision that in Tynan alone lies the power to defeat the vampiric god and the dictatorship.

Cast into the midst of a global war between magic and technology, mortals and vampires, Tynan must make the harrowing decision to save the world he bitterly detests or stand and watch as humanity is destroyed by a primordial evil beyond all imagining.

The Review: The first thing to note about Eternal Vigilance is that it is a sci-fi novel. However, unlike many a sci-fi vampire story we do not have a sci-fi explanation for vampirism, these are not mutations or virus infected creatures, what we have are undead in the good old fashion sense of vampires. As a result we have a novel that blends the gothic and science fiction and that blend works well.

Faust’s writing style is richly gothic, but she doesn’t fall into the trap of all too flowery prose, rather she spreads a splendidly velvet web over her story. The story itself encompasses several areas of sci-fi and fantasy blended together; the world Tynan wakes to is best described as post-apocalyptic, the glimpse we get of the Tyst Empire is a cyberpunk society (at least amongst the elite) that has become totalitarian and then we have the spiritual, ‘new age’ rebels who have embraced magic, the Phuree. These disparate societal strands work well together creating a future vision that works.

As for the vampires we know that they are dragged into a sleep they cannot resist with the sun, we know that massive injury can finish them off but blood repairs wounds and drinking a creature’s blood gives the vampire the memories of that creature. We know they can fly and hide openly amongst humans as well as read minds. I felt that the opening chapter, describing Tynan stirring after 100 years of vampiric slumber, to be one of the better examples of relating a vampiric awakening. However, to many degrees, through the length of the novel we are still learning of the vampires’ capabilities.

This introduces my minor issue with the novel, by the time I reached the end we knew a little of the vampires and had been introduced to the new world orders but I wanted more. As the story ended I felt a little cheated, I wanted to immerse further into this world and explore further the story presented. I felt as though I had been introduced to a vista but wanted to get to know the world further. Luckily, at time of review, book 2 is available also.

I enjoyed immensely the voice of the novel – it is written in first person from Tynan’s point of view – all the more interesting as he is a creature struggling with his own sanity.

Rich, gothic prose encapsulating a sci-fi heart, I want more. 7 out of 10.

Tags: epic proportions, eternal vigilance, flowery prose, Gabrielle S FaustFirst, global domination, Llywelyn, Lord Cardone, novel, rebel uprising, Rich, sci fi novel, story, Tynan, Tyst, vampire, velvet web, war, world