Date Published: 2004, White Wolf Publishing.ISBN: 1-58846-862-3
# of Pages: 283
I have to preface this with an admission -- I've never played White Wolf's games before, and I really didn't have any sort of precedent before opening this book. What I did have was a frustrating desire to read more snappy, bitey vampires novels following Chuck Wendig's Double Dead, which I had the pleasure of finishing late last month. I originally obtained this book about six years ago, when I was in the middle of highschool (has it really been that long?!) and I remember reading it and liking it, but I didn't actually remember the story very much. Oops. I found it on my shelf after browsing my extensive collection (ahem) and decided to give it another go, based on the fond memories and everything.
It didn't disappoint. I was a bit out of the loop because I wasn't familiar with some of the key plot elements that are apparently a component of Vampire: The Requiem but things sort of settled out for me as the story progressed, and I found myself actually pretty comfortable with many of the terms and references and mechanics, which I think is a testament to the strength of the book. It does introduce things very gradually and keeps your interest peaked, and I think that's why I enjoyed this despite not being a player.
It does help that the story begins following Bruce, who is really a newcomer to vampires himself. It follows his realization that he has been "embraced" (read: transformed into a vampire) and carries on from there as he adapts to his new life. It also follows Persephone Moore, who is also a newer vampire, but by the action of the story is already well aware of it and is struggling more with the consequences of being the only "childe" of the city's Prince vampire, Maxwell. The problem is that there is an overall ban on creating new vampires, and it is not faring well for Maxwell's political support.
The political aspects of the novel are what did not move me much in the beginning but what eventually carried me into it and got me involved towards the middle. I was intrigued and curious about the mechanics and uses of the system. What did bother me was some of the characterization. I enjoyed the minor characters more than the two main characters, I think, though of the two (Bruce and Persephone) I would have to admit a solid preference for Bruce, who just rang much truer to me than Persephone, who was a bit too much in all senses of the phrase (too beautiful, too adaptable, too capable, especially for someone who was supposed to be new to the game). I did like hearing about how each new vampire dealt with cutting off ties with their former life. I don't recall hearing very much about this in other vampire stories so it was interesting and engaging.
There are, from what I can gather with my Google-fu, two more novelizations similar to this one, and I already have them both (though they are unread). I'm eager to get into them, but have some other things I want to finish up first. I'm a bit disappointed that there aren't more than that, if this book is any indication of their quality. It looks like the middle one is written by a different author from the first and third, so I guess it's really a crapshoot.
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