9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Van Helsing, May 5, 2010
This review is from: Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising (Hardcover)
Alex Van Helsing is only fourteen, but has already been kicked out of his previous school for fighting. And not long after arriving at Switzerland's Glenarvon Academy, he has made enemies of his roommates and is attacked by a vampire while walking alone near school grounds. Still, Alex has no clue he is a descendant of Bram Stoker's famous Van Helsing vampire slayer. After all, Alex's father has told him time and time again that there are no such things.
But there are such things. Henderson has created a fascinating world of legendary vampires with ties to classic literature, such as Stoker's Dracula, Shelley's Frankenstein and the poet Lord Byron. Alex is a curious and brave kid with a good heart. And young readers will like that his friends have such popular interests as vampires and manga. But the highlight for me was the vampire school Scholomance, which is a mysterious and creepy place full of deadly enemies without a conscience.
It's fresh and fun; and I was completely hooked from the start. A non-stop action and adventure fantasy for young adults, this new series doesn't disappoint. And the secret vampire hunting organization that gives the feeling of a young James Bond novel... with killer vampires. It's a fantastic vampire-slayer series debut for readers of all ages.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thankfully, the First of Three, May 13, 2010
This review is from: Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising (Hardcover)
In his new book, "Alex Van Helsing, Vampire Rising," Jason Henderson has supplemented the existing world rather than creating a whole new one. Where a fairy land of pure imagination is often fun, it is not as relatable to the reader as what Jason Henderson has managed to accomplish. He has also created a tangible world that not only engages the reader, but will likely create a curiosity in his young readers about the very legitimate literary references that he makes. There is also plenty for the older reader. Like other recent Young Adult series involving shadow worlds that exist in parallel to the mundane, there are points of interest for older readers as well. This book and I trust this series has references that will appeal to people of all ages. It addresses, but does not dwell on the tribulations of living as an adolescent male. It's examination of bullying, testosterone based issues of pride, and other interpersonal relationships never feels contrived, but those issues are merely another part of the entire lives of the characters. I look forward to the following books in this series. Fun writing is rarely intelligent, and intelligent wring is not always fun; this story is both.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun Beginning for YA series, June 29, 2010
This review is from: Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising (Hardcover)
Jason Henderson evidently has a love affair going on with Dracula and Frankenstein, two of the most wellknown horror mythos in literature and the history of horror. In the past, he wrote a comic series with a modern-day Van Helsing fighting against the lord of Vampires, Dracula. The series was called Sword of Dracula.
Now he's penning a new Alex Van Helsing series for young readers, and it starts off with a bang in Vampire Rising. Admittedly, the Van Helsing name is what initially drew me in. When you think of vampire hunters, Van Helsing has gotta be near the top. Of course, the younger generation is going to think of Buffy first.
But they're also going to think of Alex Rider, the 14 year old 007 created by Anthony Horrowitz that has revitalized the spy genre for young readers. Rider and Van Helsing both have techware that would make any red-blooded young male sit up and take notes.
Interestingly enough, Henderson not only ties the vampire legend to Dracula, but also to Frankenstein, and he's set the series near Lake Geneva, where Mary Shelley first wrote the famous short story that would later become a book that will live on in the annals of horror - oh yeah, literature too.
The literary history captivated me. The story of that weekend where Mary Shelley (then 18 years old), Lord Byron, John Polidori, and Percy Shelley has been mined by several writers, but this is a new twist. The two literary histories, vampirism and Frankenstein, are inextricably bound in this book, and it looks like that's going to be a staple of the series.
Young male readers are going to be entranced by the cornucopia of action Henderson throws into the story. The opening chapter has Alex Van Helsing (15 and in boarding school) facing a vampire in the forest at night. It's his first time. He doesn't believe in such things and believes that his last name is just bad luck.
From there, Henderson introduces his readers to what is going to be the staple of Alex's posse: Mr. Sangster, the teacher who's really an anti-vampire superspy with some hidden abilities, Minhi, the girl with martial arts skills and who is a Brainiac, and two guy friends cut directly from the nerd herd.
They're up against a vampire called Icemaker (almost a James Bond villain name, right?) who's trying to raise an old lover from the dead. Of course, if he does that, it will probably doom the world.
I like the cast of characters in this book, and yes, Sangster does remind me of a certain librarian from the Buffyverse, only tonied up a little more. Minhi looked like she was ready to come on and stand out, but she got lost in the shuffle of the action even with some of the chapters dedicated directly to her. There just hasn't been much in the way of character development, or really what's at stake so far. However, the book reads really fast and I'm confident school librarians should put this one on their shelves because male readers will love the gimmickry, the references to pop culture, the action sequences that are movie-ready, and the one-liners.
Hopefully there'll be more meat to dig into once Alex's parents figure out what he's been up to and have to deal with him knowing they've been keeping him in the dark.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
