From the blurb: 

Vlad Taltos is an Easterner an underprivileged human in an Empire of tall, powerful, long-lived Dragaerans. He made a career for himself in House Jhereg, the Dragaeran clan in charge of the Empire's organized crime. But the day came when the Jhereg wanted Vlad dead, and he's been on the run ever since. He has plenty of friends among the Dragaeran highborn, including an undead wizard and a god or two. But as long as the Jhereg have a price on his head, Vlad's life is messy.

Meanwhile, for years, Vlad's path has been repeatedly crossed by Devera, a small Dragaeran girl of indeterminate powers who turns up at the oddest moments in his life.

Now Devera has appeared again to lead Vlad into a mysterious, seemingly empty manor overlooking the Great Sea. Inside this structure are corridors that double back on themselves, rooms that look out over other worlds, and just maybe answers to some of Vlad's long-asked questions about his world and his place in it. If only Devera can be persuaded to stop disappearing in the middle of his conversations with her.

This is something of a closed house murder mystery that Vlad has to solve.  It's entertaining but not as good as previous installments of the series.  I miss the inclusion of Vlad's usual cast of unusual friends and acquaintances.

 

NOTE:  While this novel is a complete story, new readers will miss out on references to previous books in the series.

Vlad the World's Worst Vampire - Anna Wi... Book – Vlad the World's Worst Vampire
Author – Anna Wilson
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 160
Cover – Cute!
Genre – Children's, Comic, Vampire


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **



This was super cute. I really loved Vlad, our main character, and the way his story was told.

Vlad is like most sheltered kids; he wants what he doesn't have and is willing to break the rules to get it. He feels useless at the things his parents want him to do – fly as a bat, drink blood and have a real vampire laugh – and the pressure gets so much that he wants to be human. So he sneaks out of the house and gets roped into attending a human school where he meets a new friend.

Vlad and Flit are the most adorable friends, and the girl he meets at human school is feisty! A great influence for him. I love that we got to see his insecurities as well as his triumphs and the way he found his confidence in the little things. I especially loved that last scene with Mulch, the butler.

The graphics/illustrations were gorgeous. I mean, the entire presentation, from page layout, text alignment, font size and the little bats to show page numbers and chapter headings were brilliantly done. The attention to detail was just stunning.

I thought, from the cover, that this would be a comic book, but it's not. It's a fully fledged children's book with gorgeous illustrations littered throughout.

Overall, a great story with an even greater message that kids and adults alike will love. And I really liked the little extra gift of a snippet from Jollywood Academy at the end.

 

 

 

 

SB is writing the Vlad Taltos novels that are still being written (Thank god!). Be amazed by the beautiful cover of the latest book in the series!

 

It's important to have a code phrase to let people know if you've been kidnapped or are communicating under duress. Mine is, "Mmmm, kale!"

— Brent Weeks (@BrentWeeks) February 1, 2017

BW wrote the Night Angel trilogy. The protagonist of the series is on my list of favorite assassins.

„And I Darken“ von Kiersten White begegnete mir zuerst auf Nadines Blog MAD Books. Sie stellte es im April anlässlich der Aktion Gemeinsam Lesen vor und schrieb, die Protagonistin Lada sei erfrischend anders, weil sie keine typische Prinzessin sei, sondern unbequem, gemein und rücksichtslos. Sie empfahl es so vehement, dass ich neugierig wurde und ihrem Beispiel folgte, das Buch bei Netgalley anzufragen. Die Zusage des Verlags ließ zwei Wochen auf sich warten, aber letztendlich erhielt ich ein Rezensionsexemplar.

 

Ladislav Dragwlya verehrte ihren Vater stets mit nahezu blinder Hingabe. Sie tat alles, um Vlad II. Dracul zu beeindrucken und seine Aufmerksamkeit zu erlangen; um größer, stärker und schlauer zu werden. Sie weiß, möchte sie ernst genommen werden, darf sie keine zerbrechliche Prinzessin sein. Also wurde sie eine wahre Tochter der Walachei, brutal und skrupellos. Leider verloren all ihre Bemühungen ihre Bedeutung, als ihr Vater sie und ihren kleinen Bruder Radu den Osmanen als Geiseln überließ. Lada hasst die Türken und schwört, sich eines Tages dafür zu rächen, dass sie sie gefangen nahmen. Sie pflegt ihren Hass, nährt und hätschelt ihn, verfeinerte ihre Fähigkeiten und wurde zu einer gefürchteten Kriegerin. Niemand könnte Lada jemals zähmen. Niemand – außer Mehmed. Als sie den Sohn des Sultans kennenlernte, ahnte Lada nicht, dass er das Ziel ihrer Begierde werden würde. Doch während die Jahre vergingen, wuchs und veränderte sich ihre Freundschaft, bis Lada sich die Frage stellen muss, wem ihre Loyalität gehört: ihrem Land, ihrem Bruder oder dem Sohn des Mannes, der ihr die Freiheit raubte?

 

Im April kannte „And I Darken“ noch so gut wie niemand – heute entwickelt sich bereits ein solider Hype um den Trilogieauftakt. Ein Hype, dem ich mich wieder einmal nicht anschließen kann. Ich kann mit „And I Darken“ nichts anfangen, weil ich das Buch nicht verstehe. Ich nahm an, es würde die fiktive Lebensgeschichte der fiktiven Tochter des walachischen Woiwoden Vlad Țepeș erzählen. Ein folgenschweres Missverständnis, denn Ladislav ist zwar sehr wohl die Tochter eines Vlads, dabei handelt es sich allerdings um Vlad II. Dracul, nicht um Vlad III. Drӑculea, der unter dem Namen Vlad der Pfähler bekannt wurde und vermutlich als Inspiration für die Figur des Graf Dracula diente. Folglich ist Lada nicht die Tochter des Pfählers – sie ist selbst der Pfähler. Genau an diesem Punkt setzt es bei mir aus, weshalb ich das Buch nicht höher als mit zwei Sternen bewerten kann, trotz der grundsätzlich eingängigen Geschichte. Warum? Warum aus Vlad dem Pfähler eine Frau machen? Ich begreife es nicht und fand dadurch überhaupt keinen Zugang zu „And I Darken“. Vlad Țepeș ist eine Persönlichkeit der Geschichte, er hat tatsächlich gelebt und erlangte durch seine Grausamkeit zweifelhaften Ruhm. Ich verstehe nicht, was Kiersten White dazu bewog, sein Geschlecht zu ändern. Alles, was Vlad III. Drӑculea erreichte, konnte er nur erreichen, weil er ein Mann war. Das mag sexistisch klingen, ist im historischen Kontext allerdings die reine Wahrheit. Sein Leben wäre völlig anders verlaufen, wäre er eine Frau gewesen, weil Frauen zu dieser Zeit eben nicht die gleichen Rechte und Chancen wie Männer hatten. White ignoriert diesen Fakt schlichtweg und setzt sich dementsprechend über die historischen Gegebenheiten des 15. Jahrhunderts hinweg. Sie eröffnet ihrer Protagonistin Lada Möglichkeiten, die sie in Wahrheit niemals gehabt hätte. „And I Darken“ erschien mir daher höchst konstruiert und abwegig, obwohl White die Position der Frau abseits von Lada intensiv beleuchtet und realistisch darstellt, über welche Umwege sie Macht erlangen konnten. Darin liegt aber eben auch die Krux: Frauen mussten indirekt agieren, wollten sie Einfluss nehmen; Ladas direkte Methoden sind meiner Ansicht nach Humbug und stellen sie auf ein irreales Podest. Natürlich ist sie unabhängig von ihrem geschichtlichen Vorbild eine starke, ungewöhnliche Heldin mit speziellen Talenten und ich kann verstehen, dass dies einen gewissen Reiz auf viele Leser_innen ausübt. Manchmal ist sie vielleicht sogar zu hart, zu grausam, zu gefühlskalt, sodass sie mir hin und wieder ein wenig unglaubwürdig erschien. Ich mochte ihren Bruder Radu wesentlich lieber, auch weil über Radu als historische Person weniger bekannt ist und er somit mehr Spielraum für Spekulationen bietet. Schlussendlich spielte Sympathie für mich jedoch insgesamt keine große Rolle, weil ich nicht darüber hinwegkam, dass das Buch ein Leben nachzeichnet, das unter diesen Voraussetzungen historisch undenkbar gewesen wäre.

 

Für sich genommen ist „And I Darken“ kein schlechtes Buch. Vermutlich ist es sogar spannend und mitreißend, wenn man noch nichts oder nur wenig über Vlad III. Drӑculea weiß. Mir wurde ganz offensichtlich zum Verhängnis, dass ich mich bereits intensiv mit dem walachischen Herrscher auseinandergesetzt hatte und dementsprechend beurteilen kann, wie wirklichkeitsfremd Kiersten Whites Ansatz ist, ihn als Frau zu portraitieren. Ich kann ja nachvollziehen, dass sie eine fiktive Interpretation der historischen Fakten schreiben wollte, schließlich war Vlad Țepeș ein faszinierender Mann. Mit Ladislav als Protagonistin schoss sie meiner Ansicht jedoch weit übers Ziel hinaus. Ich werde die Trilogie „The Conqueror‘s Saga“ demzufolge nicht weiterlesen. Obwohl es mich durchaus ein bisschen neugierig macht, wie Ladislav Vlads folgende Jahre durchleben wird, gehe ich davon aus, dass ich mein prinzipielles Problem mit ihrer Geschichte nie überwinden werde. Außerdem weiß ich ja bereits grob, was passieren wird, weil mir Vlads Werdegang bekannt ist. Die Trilogie weiterzuverfolgen erscheint mir daher ein wenig überflüssig.
Falls ihr übrigens Lust habt, eine realistischere interpretative Biografie von Vlad III. Drӑculea zu lesen, möchte ich euch C.C. Humphreys‘ Roman „Vlad“ wärmstens ans Herz legen. Ich würde dieses Buch „And I Darken“ jeder Zeit vorziehen.

 

Vielen Dank an den Verlag Corgi Childrens für die Bereitstellung dieses Rezensionsexemplars via Netgalley im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension!

Six writers have come together with 11 tales in this anthology. Foreword is by Joe McKinney. Contributing authors are: David Daniel, Ursula Wong, Dale T. Phillips, Stacy Longo,Rob Smales, and Vlad V.

This collection ranges from the humorous to the vengeful to the brutal to the calculated deadly. There’s vomiting demons, cheating spouses, serial killings, back-room justice, despair and sadness, innocent madness, and a post-apocalyptic deadly obstacle course. I really enjoyed the first Insanity Tales anthology but I think this one is a bit more diverse. My three favorites from this collection were Hooks,Spirit in the Stone, and The Devil’s in the Details, though Rape Kitdeserves a worthy mention.

Snow Day by David Daniel

Ed’s at a bar on a Thursday night about to head home. Normally he stays overnight in the city on Thursdays so he can get an early start at work on Friday and be home early for a long weekend. But it looks like snow is in the air and folks are hoping for a snow day. Liam, the bar tender, brings up the age-old question of whether size matters or not. Ed tells Liam a story about his grade school days: Susan liked to collect baseball cards –the more the better. Each individual one doesn’t matter. The size of her collection was what mattered to her. This story started off pretty innocently, letting me get all cozy within the telling, leading me by the hand down some dark alley of infidelity, handguns, and fancy lingerie. This was a good start to the anthology, getting the audience warmed up. And, yes, I did indeed like the running cliche of ‘size matters…. or not’ throughout the story. 5/5

The Book of Shadows by Rob Smales

James had his eyes operated on in his teen years, returning his sight. Now he lives out in the wilderness. A reporter, Carl, has tracked him down and wants a story about the serial killings. At first, James refuses to chat with him but Carl makes a strong argument for how he’ll get his story one way or the other. So James tells him his tale of how it all started, how he learned to interpret the shadows, and how it all went horribly wrong. Since the tale is told from the standpoint of the main character, I never questioned whether or not he was telling the truth about the shadows and his level of involvement in the deaths. Then we get to the ending and I have to wonder. James’s disturbed emotions over the foreshadowing shadows was quite clear and his horror, even terror at times, and eventual despair comes through clearly. 4/5

Voices by Dale T. Phillips

The story starts off with Chase Davis and his friend Marty at Rebecca’s graveside. Marty’s wife, Rebecca, was having an affair with Chase, who had wanted to call it off due to boredom but Rebecca was clingy. Marty misses her terribly and Chase is determined to keep his little secret so as not to devastate his best friend further. Yet Marty is certain he can find a way to communicate with the dead. All through this story I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Perhaps Marty knew about the affair all along or found out shortly after the funeral and now he wants to pull an elaborate, demented joke on Chase. However, there never is another shoe to drop. The story had a strong set up and then a whirlwind ending. In fact, I felt the ending was rather abrupt. 3/5

Nobody Ever Listens to Eddie by Stacey Longo

Eddie believes he has been psychic since he was a kid – his sister’s bike accident, his dad’s car, vomiting on the priest, that toad. So today is a big festive day and he has the worst feeling ever about the day. However, he’s reluctant to tell anyone about it. His sister Bev always finds a logical way to explain away his bad feeling. His wife Norma left him because of it as well. Will Eddie listen to his feelings today or finally set aside that side of him and try to have a normal day at the festivities? This was a fun, short piece. 4/5

Spirit in the Stone by Ursula Wong

This story flashes back and forth between the present (she’s spreading Joe’s ashes in the desert) and their past few years together. She’s always been a bit sad, but one day she meets Joe in a diner and they hit it off. He likes having someone to take care of and she likes being taken care of. Unfortunately, Joe gets sick. During the last days of his life he goes a little nuts and accuses her of poisoning him, of killing his 3^rd grade teacher, etc. As she’s spreading his ashes, she finds some petroglyphs. She vaguely recalls a story that said spirits return to the rocks once their body passes. I really enjoyed this one. A bit mystical and yet everything can be explained by human nature. 5/5

Rape Kit by David Daniel

On a small campus in Pennsylvania, a 65 year old campus cop coordinates with his newest recruit, Roland, in dealing with the accusation of rape. They’ve taken care of all the immediate stuff and are waiting for the state police to show up. The old cop starts telling Roland stories of how such things were handled in the past prior to rape kits and forensic evidence. Plenty of food for thought in this one while dealing with a tough subject. 5/5

The Perfect Game by Rob Smales

Jimmy has been eagerly waiting for Joe and Charlie to return from their adventures in England. Joe shows up but he doesn’t look too good. Charlie still at Logan airport, waiting to be claimed by a family member. Joe tells Jimmy the lengthy story about a game of darts while they were in England and how it all went wrong. The dart game part took up the bulk of the story and I found it a bit boring. The surprise ending was a nice twist. 3.5/5

Hooks by Dale T. Phillips

Mr. Burrows lost his hands to an IED and now he has hooks. He feels they set him apart from society and he hates it. Even when people are kind, like giving him a free breakfast or such, he hates that too. One day he meets a nice lady and they spend hours talking before he reveals his hooks. She still likes him but is busy with school for a few weeks. He thinks she’s just letting him down easy. The story takes a much darker turn, showing how important (and perhaps deadly) it can be to self-identify as a predator instead of prey. I loved this one. It shined an eerie light on how disabled veterans are treated, even by well meaning folks, and a light on what those veterans might think of such pity. 5/5

The Devil’s in the Details by Stacey Longo

Tiffany is having a sleep-over at her house for her birthday. She’s invited the twins (Gretchen and Gerda), Allison (grammatical queen), and Julie. Tiffany received a Ouija board for her birthday and of course the girls have to try it out. Unfortunately, one of them makes the mistake of jokingly inviting a spirit to possess her body. Things change for her after that; some good, some bad. This one was quite fun and a bit light-hearted compared to the rest of the collection. It was cute and fun. I can see it as a start to a YA urban fantasy series. 5/5

Fly Away by Ursula Wong

Danny does his best to explain to his girlfriend Alice about his older sister Vega. She’s different and has spent the last several years at the Hampstead Home. Vega’s old room is full of ceramic birds, most in crazy colors. Now Vega is due to return home and Danny wants to meet her alone and introduce Alice a little later. But is reconnecting with Vega on the isolated farm really the best choice for Danny? This story started off strong. I like all the creepy bird imagery. The ending is a little abrupt and I could see it coming from the beginning. 4/5

Float by Vlad V.

This is a nitty, gritty, grimy, and sometimes slimy story. Set in the post-apocalyptic ruins of a large city (New Carthage), there’s still crime lords. Al Brunichelli wants his sister Adelina to at least marry an equal if not a little higher, perhaps allying his own crime organization with rival gang. Alas, Adelina has her eyes (and other body parts) set on Hector. He’s a low-level runner, and his skin isn’t white enough for Al. But they strike a deal. The biggest holiday of the year is coming up and that means the deadly float race is nearly upon them as well. Hector wants a float, and if he wins, then he gets Adelina. The float race is kind of like the thunderdome on big rubber water floats. There’s dirty tricks right, left, and center, and Hector has to figure a way through or under or over all of them. The competition is fierce and Al just might have added some extra dangers for Hector. I started off really liking this and it ended OK. I like the gritty feel to it and the dangerous float ride. However, there is only 1 woman and she is a prize to be won and she’s OK with that (a rather tired cliche). 4/5

I received a copy of this book at no cost (from the narrator) in exchange for an honest review.

Narration:  Fred Wolinsky did a really good job with this collection. InSpirit in the Stone, Wolinsky does a great job narrating the entire thing in a feminine voice. In Snow Day, Wolinsky had a little trouble with Liam’s Irish accent, but that’s my only negative comment on the narration. In The Devil’s in the Details, Wolinsky using special demon voice (gravelly) when the demon speaks and then he gave the voice a hollow echo for when the demon was speaking to his host in her own head.