Tomes of Shadowstalking
Tomes of ShadowstalkingWelcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.
This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review!
Nathan Kiklu fought long and hard to return to the Szgany Lidesci, and for a time found happiness in his wedding to Misha and the knowledge that his mother yet lived. However, his own brother, now a Wamphyri Lord, threw him into the white gate to the hell-lands and into the homeworld of their hell-lander father, the Necroscope Harry Keogh! Now trapped in his father's world, Nathan searches desperately for a way to return to his wife, and the only way to do that seems to be in working with British E-Branch, the very organization that once hounded Harry out of the world and back to the source world...Nathan's world. Nathan has the telepathy his father didn't and has his deadspeak--if the dead would speak to him. The only thing he needs now is his father's greatest weapon/tool: the Mobius Continuum. But can he achieve it before Soviet E-Branch's head invades the source world and elimantes him from the picture?
The backstory appeared in Blood Brothers, so very little of it appeared here except in the "Resume" that summarized the first book. However, I found it enjoyable to see the reactions of British E-Branch when they first received "word" of Harry's demise. I found it even more interesting to watch as they did their darn best to repay some of what they owed Harry--and they owed him a lot--to Nathan. And of course the most interesting part of all was seeing Nathan meet Zekintha Foener, who was a legend back in the source world. But these are the naturally interesting parts...at least to someone who'd read the Necroscope books and knew what had gone down between Harry and E-Branch. There were other parts that were very interesting and would be interesting even to those who had very little of the backstory.
The section about the "Nightmare Zone" makes for vivid, fast-paced, action packed reading. Ignoring for a moment that there is the threat of vampires and Wamphyri looming on the horizon. This section readily reveals that there are other metaphysical things to worry about besides blood-sucking leeches. Okay, we already knew from the Necroscope books that the dead went on and that they could, when needed, rise from their graves. This time, though, it wasn't for the sake of the Necroscope that they were rising but because one man wanted vengeance so badly that he wouldn't stay down and each time he rose he threatened the world of the living that much more. This was probably the coolest part of the entire book...not counting the near miraculous--well, you can read that part yourself.
Book two of the Vampire World trilogy continues the story of the Necroscope's legacy. The quality of the writing and plot development makes it a worthy heir to the novels that preceded it into the spotlight. Some of the original characters returned, yet their reappearance wasn't wasted. Zek Foener, Ben Trask, and David Chung--among others--provided a sense of continuity with the first five Necroscope books while the new characters offered a sense of progress since the end of Deadspawn. Believe you me when I say you definitely want to read this! Warning: contains some graphic/sexual content.
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