Customer Reviews

The Awakening (Vampire Huntress Legend)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Fast on the heels of MINION, the predecessor to the vampire huntress
series, is THE AWAKENING...the tale continues. Every one thousand years
a Neteru is born, divinely created and specially anointed, a female
vampire slayer with all the powers of the world of light. And should
she willingly host a vampire seed during her entrance into womanhood,
she will produce a 'day walker', a master vampire who can dwell
topside as a human, with the power to also transform other undead into

day walkers.

Carlos Rivera, a third generation vampire, has been summoned by the
Vampire Council and escorted to the sixth realm of hell. He is elevated
to a master vampire because the Council needs him to bring them the
huntress. Carlos is tormented, Damali Richards is the huntress and he
has had an attraction for her long before any vampire madness occurred.
When they were teenagers he promised to be her protector; now he is
destined to deliver to the world of darkness, the one woman he vowed to
protect.

Everyone's awaiting Damali's twenty-first birthday, the day of her
ovulation when she enters fully into womanhood, and the night of
reckoning for the darkside. There is dissention in the vampire ranks,
both The Vampire Council and a master vampire turned rogue, Fallon Nuit
want Damali. Ready and waiting to do battle with both powers is
The Covenant, the guardians sent to protect her. Whichever is victorious
will rule; and Carlos is the catalyst. Because of her love for him,
Damali openly welcomes him across her threshold, into her fortress. And
because of his love for her Carlos compromises himself and reveals that
he too is a master vampire, but he has a plan. He becomes a vampire
double agent and strikes deals with the Council, with Fallon Nuit whom
he now hates, and also with The Covenant. And so the battle begins.
Damali knows that the fate of the world rests on her shoulders and that
Carlos, although she feels in her soul, is the nemesis, or is he? Time
is running out, Carlos and Damali have choices to make.

THE AWAKENING is a masterful tale of hybrids: half demons, half vampires
and half humans, graced with guardian angels. The battle is still the age
old battle of good versus evil, but the players are caught somewhere
between the old world and the new millennium. L.A. Banks creates an
intriguing world of probability, one that invokes eerie inhuman interest
with all the possibilities she ignites.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I take back what I said about "Minion." "The Awakening" was excellent and definitely the best of this series. I had some struggles with the first novel in this series, "Minion," but "The Awakening" blew me away. I would strongly recommend a familiarity with African American literature before you attempt to read L.A. Banks. Her use of dialect could be hindering for the reader who is not used to it. Other than that, the novel is dynamic. Excellent character development and delivery. The protagonist is very sympathetic, thus the reader can easily relate to her. I would highly recommend this novel and its precursor to anyone who enjoys fantasy and vampire fiction.

Overall, this book lacked plot depth. It relied too heavily on the tried and true vampire cliches without developing the real character tension I'd like to have seen.

What destroyed all enjoyment of this book for me was the constant stream of typos, grammatical errors, and shifts in Point of View. If it weren't for the generally above average character development, I would have given this book a single star and thrown it at the wall.

As it was, Carlos thoroughly intrigued me throughout the book. His internal conflicts kept me reading to the end. Damali is at least somewhat different than the usual vampire novel heroine and I appreciated that. It was the overall lack of development of tension between them and the bad guys and the lack of development of a coherent trilogy length story arc that never really turned me on.

I haven't picked up a good vampire novel in quite a while. After reading the work of the authors whom I considered the masters of vampire fiction: Anne Rice, Stephen King, and even Robert McCammon, author of "They Thirst", I really didn't have high expections for this novel or any others in this genre.

What a surprise to discover that a Philadelphia sistah has written a bona fide, nail-biting vampire novel that is equal if not better than Anne Rice, et. al.

Damali, the Huntress is a black woman with locks. The multi-racial cast of characters added depth to this superbly written tale.

For me, one of the high points of the story is when Carlos, Damli's former friend now turned vampire invades her compound. There is unexpected erotica during this encounter that left me breathless.

The cover illustration is phenomenal. I heard there's going to be a movie (or perhaps movies) I'm not sure, but I hope so. I'm so excited I have to back track and pick up Minion and I'll read The Hunted next.

Kudos to Ms. Banks for reawakening my love of vampire novels.

The fact that the Vampire Huntress Legend series is highly derivative of Buffy didn't bother me and I liked the idea of more diverse characters but what did the series in for me was that the books are just plain boring. They aren't thrilling, suspenseful, frightening, exciting, or engaging.

The exposition reads like bad fan fiction, the dialogue is cliched, the characters are uninteresting, and the backstory and 'mythology' is amateurish and contrived.

There is a definite need for greater diversity in horror/adventure fiction. Unfortunately, Banks doesn't deliver anything more than sub-par stories with mediocre prose.

The Awakening was a good book MUCH improvement from The Minion. I was happy to see that the book was not long and drawn out but short and sweet. I like the chemistry between Damali and Carlos the sexual tension they keep fighting off. This one was a good read.

Although the series is a Vampire Huntress Legend, this second volume is really all about Carlos. The Huntress shows up for only a few scenes. Most of the book is more stage setting for the conflict to come. Carlos, one close to the Huntress, is a target for a lot of powerful factions. They all want his help and can offer him different rewards.

Most of the flaws of the first book are still here. Characters continue to change their speech patterns left and right. We learn a lot more about the Huntress and her role in history but most of the effects of her Awakening aren't seen in this volume (although they should be).

The big conflict that the first volume was building for cam off as a disappointment although I am sure there will be more repercussions in the next volume. After all, the whole story only lasted a couple of days. Although the predicted conflict of the first book is over, this volume predicts more troubles ahead so you will want to have the third volume waiting when you finish this one.

I could not put this book down! Not only does this story have great vampire fight scenes, but the characters' interaction and conflicts are intriguing. Banks knows her occult lore and designs some of her own theories to explain the unexplainable. I love her descriptions of the layers of Hell, and the central idea that what you send out is returned to you. Unlike Anita Blake, who says she is a Christian, but we never see her beliefs as a part of her. Damilia's deeply rooted beliefs are what make her an ideal vampire huntress. She understands evil, because she truly believes in the ultimate good.

I LOVE Carlos. In my opinion, he is the most interesting character. Within him is the ultimate struggle between good and evil. The relationship between Damilia and he, is so moving. I can't wait to read the next book, The Bitten.

Book 2 in a great series. This picks up the story from book one. Love the Hero- Carlos. There is alot of action and fun in this vamp/vamp hunter world. Starting to really get into all the secondary characters. If you like good vamp books, pick up this series with book one and you'll be hooked!

The second novel in Ms. Banks's vampire huntress series picks up exactly where its predecessor left off. Damali Richards is the most powerful Neteru that the powers of both light and darkness have seen in thousands of years. More importantly, she is on the cusp of her 21st birthday, when her long awaited "awakening" will begin. Fallon Nuit, renegade master vampire of the dark side, has aligned himself with the Amanthra demons in his desire to possess her. Planning to make her his "bride," he knows that filling the womb of a powerful Neteru with his seed will result in daywalkers...the most powerful type of vampires of all, who are virtually unaffected by daylight. The powers of light, however, are aware of this and seek to shield Damali during this critical time in her development. And throwing a monkey wrench into everyone's plans is the devastatingly handsome Carlos Rivera--love of Damali's life, former drug lord, and current master vamp. Carlos has made a deal with everyone--Nuit, the Vampire Council, and the Knights of Templar. Can he resist his newfound vamp desires and continue to protect his precious Damali? Or will the struggle for his soul be one in which no one, including he, can win?

A hot, hot novel rich in imagination and vampire lore. This would be a 5 star tale in my opinion if not for the fact that the author is still struggling with some of the dialogue. I'd love for it to eventually sound more authentic..the street slang used just sounds too artificial. However, I love the series and will continue to read on......


DYB