Choice of the Cat: Book Two of the Vampire Earth | ||||||||
E.E. Knight | ||||||||
Roc, 352 pages | ||||||||
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A review by Cindy Lynn Speer
When these creatures attack a camp where Valentine and his team are posted, their leader, Captain Beck, decides to make a
stand. The regiment does, valiantly, especially when Beck is wounded and Valentine is placed in charge. Unfortunately the tide
begins to turn under the overwhelming grog numbers, and when a Cat named Smoke tells them that there are several reapers in that
group they know they're doomed, because they won't be able to stand another charge, especially if the Reapers come. Valentine
stages a brilliant retreat -- an action that costs him his life in the Wolves.
Smoke comes for him. Impressed by his abilities, she offers him another chance as a Cat. The two are soon on the trail to find
out about a new group in the Kurian Order, the Twisted Cross -- an order that might prove to be the Kurian's deadliest new weapon.
Part survival story, part SF, part horror, Choice of the Cat moves along very well. It makes for a very neat tale, the idea that
these vampire-like aliens come and take over everything, making the earth into some Orwellian nightmare. E.E. Knight gives a good to
counter the bad. The Lifeweavers are the Kur's cousins, an alien race who have long fought the evils of the Kurians. They
give wonderful gifts to the humans who agree to help -- Bears, Wolves and Cats all get abilities similar to their
names. Valentine can hear very well, see in almost-night (the way he describes his night vision much closer than I've ever
been able to describe) and fight like a mad man. These nifty strengths don't make him immortal, so there is a lot of tension
when he and Smoke go on into enemy territory, where some of their worst enemies are humans who have decided to work for the
enemy order. A quisling about to turn you in to the Reapers looks just like a friend who might give you valuable information.
The new society Knight has built is also very interesting. The Kurian's don't own all the land (yet) there are still free
zones where our kind have not yet been defeated or areas, even, that have been won back. The way that Smoke and Val trade their
way across both areas, sometimes a good cigarette and some decent liquor can buy you things that money can't, hopping trains
and getting horses is well done. You can see remnants of our world, in fact, Val has a very good grasp of history, but so
much is gone or warped to the Kur's use. I really enjoyed the journey for these little discoveries, even as it brought home
the importance of defeating the very scarily written Kur.
This book is the second in The Vampire Earth series. The first was Way of the Wolf, and the next,
due out in 2005, is Tale of the Thunderbolt.
Cindy Lynn Speer loves books so much that she's designed most of her life around them, both as a librarian and a writer. Her books aren't due out anywhere soon, but she's trying. You can find her site at www.apenandfire.com. |
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