Customer Reviews

Area 51: Nosferatu

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Or maybe that should be "Vampires Whose Parents are From Outer Space and Have Molded Human History for the Past 10,000 Years." Or... Well, you get the message. This is a concoction of alien invasion and Dracula, which, fortunately, was written by an author capable of making a story enjoyable reading even when it is completely unbelievable.

This is the eighth in Robert Doherty's Area 51 series, and in many ways, it is one of the best. The original series, up through The Truth, suffers from the persistence of the characters. Doherty's forte is not character development, and one can only stand a character endlessly repeating the same behaviors for a certain length of time. With Nosferatu, we get an entirely new case, human and Airlia scion included.

The Airlia, we discover, bred with humans to create a hybrid that they could use as blood bags. Having only half Airlia blood, they could provide nourishment to their masters while feeding on humans. There are very few of these 'vampires,' all kept in the complex under Giza and the pyramids. During a revolt, Nosferatu, Vampyr, and Nekhbet manage to escape. By dint of determination and the ability to sleep for thousands of years. Nosferatu and Vampyr manage to outlast the Airlia gods. Nekhbet was injured in the escape and cannot be awakened until a new supply of Airlia blood is found. Nosferatu is the one that loves her, but Vampyr seeks only one thing - revenge for what the Airlia and their human servants have done.

Gradually the story moved into the present, making a shambles of much of human history in the process. Doherty has a tendency to explain everything that ever happened as the result of the interference of the Airlia and the vampires. Personally, I find this excessive, but Doherty manages to keep this from becoming a show stopper, weaving everything together into an effort that is completely satisfactory. The only other flaw is that the conclusion is rushed mercilessly. This isn't a gradually build-up, but a sudden shift of gears. Unwarned, the reader is suddenly in the middle of the conclusion without the necessary mental preparation.

Still, a good story, even if it lacks greatness. Most people don't expect alien invations to be great literature (despite some glaring exceptions). What they do expect is suspense and entertainment, and these are the core of Doherty's success. This story can be treated as a stand-alone effort, but reading the preceding volumes will enhance the readers understanding of the baroque infrastructure underlying this tale.

Having enjoyed immensely the seven books in Robert Doherty's Area 51 series, I was thrilled to learn that he would be writing a new series of books set in that same world. Area 51: Nosferatu is the first of that new series, and I have to admit that Doherty really surprised me with the subject matter: vampires. At first glance, one might question the introduction of vampires into the Area 51 mythology, thinking that vampires have been done to death and don't seem to belong in Doherty's alternate history of the earth. To Doherty's credit, however, the new book does work, providing a new twist on the creation and nature of vampires while melding his Undead characters quite well into human history.

The novel opens in the immediate aftermath of the human victory over the Airlia, extraterrestrials who had used and abused mankind for as long as men had walked on two legs. The Eldest among the world's small number of vampires, Nosferatu, knows that the Airlia defeat has finally made conditions right for a new age, an age of the Undead. All he needs is a supply of pure Airlia blood, which can be taken from the frozen dead bodies of three aliens near the top of Mount Everest, in the defeated Airlia mothership orbiting the earth, and in a few other hard-to-reach places. His one true aim is to awaken his beloved Nekhbet, who has passed the millennia in a deep sleep, waiting for the pure Airlia blood she must have in order to leave her protective tomb. Nosferatu's task is complicated by the existence of a rogue vampire named Vampyr, a man bent on destroying the Airlia, mankind, and any fellow vampire who gets in his way.

Nosferatu and five other vampires were created before 8000 BC to serve as little more than the food of the gods. Chained inside a tube, they awoke only to feed on cold human blood or to be fed upon by the gods. When the vampires managed to escape, Nekhbet was captured and sentenced to a living death inside her tube. Nosferatu's love for her grows stronger every day they are apart. In this world, vampires are half-Airlia and half-human; they need human blood in order to feed the Airlia half of the blood what it needs to keep them alive. Nosferatu kills only when he has to in order to survive, quite unlike Vampyr. Nosferatu works silently in the background of the world, but Vampyr becomes famous under a guise of names for his savage cruelty: Vlad Tepes is by no means Vampyr's only incarnation in the history of violence on earth. After following these vampires over the course of history, the final chapters describe the inevitable confrontation of the two vampiric forces, closing out quite strongly while setting the stage for the next book. While the novel doesn't quite build the suspense that characterized the original Area 51 books, the incorporation of the unusual yet really quite beautiful love story between Nosferatu and Nekhbet gives it a personal dimension lacking in Doherty's previous books.

This eighth book of the Area 51 series begins a new cycle of stories. The characters from the first seven books are no longer part of the story (although there are some references to a couple of them). Although this is a new cycle, it is best to read the other seven books first (Area 51, The Reply, The Mission, The Sphinx, The Grail, Excalibur, The Truth).

The aliens have been defeated in the first cycle. Alien controls are gone. That leaves an opening for others who have waited long; the Undead. The Undead have been half-human half-aliens that were created to be fed on. But some of these Undead escaped. Most notable were Nosferatu and Vampyr.

As the Undead begin their plans to find true immortality, not that the Grail has been destroyed, we are then treated to their history for the past 10,000 years and how they have affected world history.

Eventually the story reaches the present where the Undead move their plans into action. A tense and fast-paced race begins until the very final sentences.

One of the better paced stories of the series. One that does not rely heavily on sudden revelation, but instead builds nicely on the history created in the first seven books. If you read the first seven for the story, you will love this one, but if you read them for the characters you may be a little disappointed in their absence.

Millennia ago, aliens arrived on Earth and using the disguise of gods they ruled Atlantis until a civil war broke out and destroyed the island completely. Some of the Airlia retreated to Egypt and again wore the guise of gods and mated with six women who bore children that were half alien and half human. Unlike the immortal Airlians, the halflings needed blood to stay alive and thus was born the legend of vampires.

The Airlians treated the halflings cruelly, keeping them in metal containers, only allowing them to wake up when they wanted to drink their blood. Eventually the halflings rebelled and three of the six halflings survived although Vampyr's twin sister was murdered. He swore vengeance on the Airlian and humanity, but Nosferatu only cared about finding a way to make him and his love immortal so that they don't need blood. Vampyr has his own agenda and with his allies makes his move on the very eve of Nosferatu's triumph.

Vampires, the Holy Grail, Excalibur and many other objects and events from myth and legend are explained in AREA 51: NOSFERATU. A very highly evolved race of aliens used these avatars to rule mankind. The minatour on ancient Crete and then the monarchs such as King Minos, Ghenghis Khan, Vlad Tepes and Ivan the Terrible, rulers whose power was absolute and used for evil purposes, were all the doings of one vengeful fledging. The lives that the two fledglings lived make for fascinating reading and the audience will find themselves sympathizing with Nosferatu who only acts according to his nature.

Harriet Klausner

No, it does not! Robert Doherty is now spinning tales out of his first 6 books to complete the puzzle. Our usual heroes are there no longer, they are mentioned only marginally. The Undead are in our focus now, and the story is as interesting as its predecessors. Perhaps the time-span is just a little bit too long. But the novel is as exiting as those of "Season 1". I sincerely hope this is the beginning of Season 2.

If you enjoy military and sci-fi then you need to read the Area 51 series. You can tell the author wasn't kidding when he says he is ex Special Forces by the correct military details and descriptions he provides throughout the book. All of the Area 51 books are nonstop page turners and are a great in-depth story line with a perfect ending. I highly recommend starting with his first book, Area51 and then move through the series so you understand the characters and the overall objective they are trying to reach. The books can be read out of order and still make complete sense but for the max enjoyment start at the beginning.

Let me start by saying that so far I have loved the series. I was able to devour one book after the other in the series. I enjoyed the other books very much, I would have liked it if new characters were introduced but i looked past that. This book however, was like hitting a pothole in the middle of a highway. Don't get me wrong if you like vampires it's a very enjoyable, readable book. However, if you ask me it has nothing to do with the series. I personally would skip it and go to "Legends" which is the last book in the series and serves as a recap of entire series, sort of like what was happening in the background, when you were reading about the action in the foreground.

I await more work by Robert Doherty

This book is about a vampire named Nosferatu, and he is the main character. It starts out in ancient Egypt where him and his loved are locked up in a tomb with 2 others. Some people free the 2 others his love and him. While they try to escape they are caught and 2 of them were captured. The 2 were his love and the others sister; Vampyr is the one who lost his sister. Vampyr and Nosferatu escape but Vampyr sister was killed and ran away with vengeance towards humanity and the Airlia Gods. Nosferatu's love was captured and promised to save her someday. When he finally saved after so many centuries he discovered he needed Airlia blood to live eternity with his blood. Throughout the rest of the novel Nosferatu searches for the blood and runs into many troubles in his journey for the Airlia blood as in traveling distant lands and running into his kind Vampyr.

I think this novel kicked some serious butty. The main part I kept reading this book is because it was about vampires and there was alot of gore. There were many battles that took place in this book as well as extra action. The ways the vampires are described in this book are some new things as well as things people would already know. Like their thirst for blood and poor immunity towards the sunlight.

The reason this book was good is the action the adventure and the way the author wrote it. This book also takes place in the future as well as the past of the characters. In the prologue there was this part in the book where a women is riding in a helicopter and it lands in a middle of a forest and there she gets off and waiting there is a vehicle with Vampyr inside, he gets out and Vampyr says" Run or you will die" and the women is puzzled by what he just said and she started running but soon Vampyr chased her down in the forest like he is playing with his food.

Another reason I picked this book is that it doesn't stay in just one place or with one character throughout the book. The book jumps usually between what Nosferatu is doing and what Vampyr is doing, or with some of the other small characters. There are real cool parts in the book as well as war between the Spartans and Athens in a time where Vampyr fought in.

I recommend this book too people interested in vampires, action, gore, the past, magic, and war. The majority of this book takes place in the past. There is gore description whenever the vampires hunt for blood or when Vampyr gets his arms cut of for eating a women and her children. The only magic I remember in the book is in a huge battle against a powerful I like to say a wizard and his army of ruffians. The Wizard uses his power to make lighting bolts, which destroy most of the enemy. I mainly recommend this book to people interested in vampires and Nosferatu and his journey.

Mr. Doherty continues to enthrall his readers. His fine tuned immagination draws you into the book. His characters are well fleshed out. A great series!

I wanted to read this book because the plot & characters did pull me in enough to make me want to find the outcome. I skipped many large chunks of the story because the author wandered off into long technical discourses which did nothing to further the plot & were of no interest to a non-science minded slug like myself.