Customer Reviews

Blood Colony: A Novel

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Upon opening the book I expected certain things. I expected darkness, horror with out equal, strong statements about race and racism, feminism, and mythology. I got all that I had asked for and more.

Blood Colony takes the story of Fana, who was an infant(with power that nobody matched) in the Living Blood, and here she is coming of age. She is lonely, much as I imagine any make shift deity would be, even though she was surrounded by her family and friends. She used her blood to cure illnesses around the world through what she and her family call The Mission, but the US regards her blood as a narcotic, thus it's illegal. Fana and her good friend Caitlin set up a modern day underground railroad in order to fight AIDS and other blood diseases. Glow, the street name for Fana's mystic blood, is the center of controversy and violence around the nation. When Caitlin witnesses a horrific act of violence, she and her dad are gathered by the Immortals(Fana's family) and this causes the two girls to run.

The novel is part road trip, part social commentary, and travels through many different emotions. There are scenes of heartbreaking sadness, gruesome violence, overwhelming passion and everything in between. You can't help but feel bad for poor Fana, who for all of her power, is mostly helpless and unsure of herself, as she and Caitlin try to run from the other Immortals.

Things get creepy, or creepier I should say, when it turns out that Fana's family is not the only group of Immortals who are looking for her, another branch is a religious sect which wishes to kill off man kind and use the Blood to revitalize any they see as worthy and usher in the New Days of religious monarchy, with them as the monarchs.

I absolutely loved The Blood Colony. It was rich, funny, well textured, dark, moody, cynical at times, optimistic at times, and well crafted. The series as a unit is my favorite of any horror series I've read(and I've read a lot). Blood Colony is the kind of book that makes reading fun. It isn't strictly horror, but travels a world between genres comparable to Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

The narrative is brilliantly structured, constantly evolving, full of twists and turns and fast paced.

Oh, and remember how I said it was more than I had expected? The book is hilarious. Okay, some of the humor was specialized, she introduces people who are of my particular religion, and a lot of the humor is very dark and bitter, she mocks peoples racism at points, and all of her characters are real, well thought out people, who occasionally make really stupid mistakes and often get in pretty good sarcastic remarks on the expense of others, especially Caitlin.

I've been a fan of horror for as long as I can remember. Horror has been something that I seemed to grasp firmly, even as a young child. I had read R L Stine's books, sure, and the Scary Stories series, and I watched Tales From The Crypt right after I watched Are You Afraid Of The Dark on snick. By the time I was in the sixth grade I'd been reading Stephen King's books and by high school I thought I was done with reading. I digested horror movies and music with out flinching and since I'd thought I had mastered the horror literary world, I began to notice that horror entertainment doesn't always have much of a point. I would seek out the horror writers and artists who said something I agreed with or was unaware of and became obsessed with Horror with a Point.

One thing I was never aware of, though, was race. I grew up in an extremely mixed community but the vast majority of the horror I was watching(or reading, or listening to) was created by white people, about white people, for white people. Sure, Night Of The Living Dead features an African American actor who does a great job, but there really wasn't anything out there besides that. It never even came up in my mind, seeing as I am white. One day, a few years ago I bought My Soul To Keep by Tananarive Due and was so instantly sucked into the world of African Immortals that I couldn't believe it. The story said a lot of things, used race, American Racism, and created a darker than dark mythology. I was salivating. Then the sequel came out. The Living Blood. Tananarive due killed the hell out of that book. I was in a rush. My world had altered so completely from these exposures, from them I went on to discover other African American writers of horror, sci fi and fantasy and couldn't be happier with the results.

But then I returned to Tananarive Due's world of Immortals. When I had heard that Blood Colony was coming out, I itched for it. I ached for it. One day, it came in the mail. I finished it several days later and it was a journey to behold.

This has gone away from what I intended to be a quick and simple way of expressing my love for a good book, so forgive me please, but read Tananarive Due's Blood Colony, and all of her other books for that matter. They will touch you, make you smile, make you cry, scare you and titillate you. I promise.

I Have waited a very long time to read this book. I fell in love with Fana and the other characters from Living Blood and My Soul to Keep. As soon as i got this book, i was completly consumed with it.I finished it in two days. I felt as if i was with fana the whole time.This story was so intresting and kept me on my toes. I really hated to finish the book so fast because i didnt want the story to end. Fortunatly the story left off in a place that i hope Mrs.Due will pick up on in the future. To Say i look forward to the fourth book would be an understatement.

Due tosses together vampiric creatures [super-strong, super-fast, super-smart, obsessed with blood and immortal: yeah, they're vampires], Christian faith, feminism, fate vs. free will and superheroes. The resultant rich and spicy mixture works. I credit much of her trilogy's power to Due's lean, muscular writing. The prose is quick but compentent in book 1, but it soon improves to swift, economical status by books 2 and 3.

Additionally, Due's themes of moral responsibility make this trilogy especially engrossing. While there are obvious good guys and bad guys in this series, Due's omniscient perpsective combines curiosity and compassion for all characters. She tries to realistically answer the question of how human beings would deal with immortality. The Life Brothers exclude themselves from humanity, perfecting intellectual arts, while Sanctus Cruor, the eugenics nuts, will obliterate human life in order to safeguard the Blood. Meanwhile, Dawit, Jessica and Fana, who spread the Blood as salvation, represent a generous use of immortality. In other words, Due's thesis is that immortality brings out the extremes in people, both the very best and the very worst. Her vampires are all too human, an interpretation of monsters that I find much more compelling than the monsters=aliens portrayal.


Verdict: With a sympathetic cast [including assertive and realistic women, woooo hoooo!], the pacing of a suspense series and a compelling moral exploration that most fantasy trilogies can't hold a candle to, the African Immortals trilogy provides an intelligent and delicious revision of vampire lore.

Excellent. I loved it. It is rare that an author can write sequels and they are just as interesting and entertaining and thought provoking as the original.

I just have two complaints. First, it was too short. Before I knew it, I was at the end, and the end surprised me. Secondly, I give the art work a 1 star. There is nothing about it that would make me pick up the book if I wasn't already familar with her. The only reason I even know who Ms. Due is is becasue the artwork on the cover kept calling me. Finally, I picked the Living Blood up and I have been a fan since.

I highly recommend. I would not mind reading a continuation of this story. I see many variations of this story. I want to hear more about Moses in the future. In fact, I hope Ms. Due will consider it. Ms. Due lost some of her mojo in Joplin's Ghost, but sistah gal has reclaimed her throne in "my" mind. I humbly bow.

Based on the positive reception and number of raving reviews for Tananarive Due's latest novel, Blood Colony, it is quite evident that my commentary will be in the minority based on my "3-star," middle of the road rating for the book. It is the first time I have ever applied an average rating to one of her novels, especially when I am a fan of the Immortal series. Like others, I pre-ordered my copy to ensure I would have it as soon as it dropped. While I LOVED My Soul To Keep and liked The Living Blood, I found Blood Colony to be just "OK" -- a good novel, but not of exceptional caliber.

The novel opens with an alert 17-year-old Fana fully emerged from the seemingly self-induced years-long trance finally participating in the "world" as secluded as it may be. The Wolde clan, along with selected friends and life brother supporters, have sequestered themselves within the Washington forest and secretly share the "living" blood with third world, remote countries under the guise of it being an experimental pharmaceutical drug. However, there is evidence that an underground distribution network exists in North America. With the blood as its catalyst, an illegal drug called Glow, is in demand with a high street value making it the target of governmental crackdowns with harsh penalties and punishments to those involved with its manufacture and distribution. It does not take long to figure out that Fana (without her parent's permission or knowledge) is the primary source of the blood that fuels Glow's production. Without divulging too much of the plot, Fana runs away from the safety of the complex with good guys, bad guys, and the government hot on her tail. The chase is afoot and we follow along and watch the body count increase at nearly every turn.

It is difficult for me to explain what did not quite work for me with this otherwise well-written and well-conceived novel. Perhaps it is the shift to Fana and away from one of my favorite characters, Dawit, who, in this episode, was relegated to a seemingly perfunctory role of neutered husband. It might have been the continued emphasis on Fana. I suppose it was time for her light to shine (no pun intended) and there is no doubt that everyone (including the reader) is supposed to love Fana as the enlightened one with extraordinary skills who holds the future of mankind in her veins. I "got" that this novel showed her as less monster, more human: she is a vulnerable, typical, confused, misguided teenager who throws caution to the wind and lives dangerously with no clue regarding the life-threatening consequences of her actions. In the span of one novel, she zooms through first crush, first kiss, to a ten-year engagement rooted in a questionable, antediluvian prophecy. Unfortunately, I failed to be enamored or empathetic with her in The Living Blood and still did not really connect with her or her friends (do-gooders to a fault) in this novel. Maybe it was the familiarity of themes used in other novels: the telepathic, humanitarian aspects elicited vibes from Octavia Butler's Patternmaster series, the evil Sanctus Cruor seemed akin to the misunderstood Opus Dei of The DaVinci Code fame.

Another annoyance is Jessica's (and now Fana's) overbearing, blinding insistence to share the blood (regardless of the ramifications to their friends and family) comes off as near fanaticism. Following the "like mother, like daughter" mantra, it is now both the Jessica and Fana's decisions that continue to endanger everyone around them while trying to save the innocent masses from disease, suffering, and death. I know that the light and goodness will prevail (or at least I hope so), but in order to pull it off, this hodgepodge family/team really needs to get it together because throughout this novel, it was more than apparent that they could barely save themselves let alone humanity. Last, buried in the pages, there is the banter and discussions from previous novels surrounding the social and philosophical arguments that continue to buoy the plot: Who does the blood really belong to? Who should benefit from it? Who decides who gets it? Should it be rationed? What is the cost of immortality? Is it really worth it? Where did it really come from?

Despite the shortcomings I have with the novel, I am still a fan of the author and will no doubt purchase and read anything she releases, however I am not nearly as anxious for the next installment of the Immortal Series as I was for previous releases - especially if Fana and Michel are at the center of it. YAWN! Here is hoping the trek back to Lalibela will focus more on the Life Brothers and their collective and individual histories, maybe a reappearance of Khaldun, or other supporting characters that seem to have fallen off the pages during this latest episode.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
July 26, 2008

Before I read Blood Colony I went back and re-read My Soul to Keep and The Living Blood. It has been some time since I read those books and I wanted to make sure I re-acquainted myself with the various characters. I found Blood Colony to be just as satisfying to read as the first two books.

I have a teenage daughter who turns 17 at the end of this month and I could not help but wonder what course I would be on if this child of my had gifts to rival Fana's. I thought Ms. Due did an excellent job showing the rebellious nature of teenagers trying to pave their own way. Sometimes taking giant steps, making good/bad decisions, and sometimes needing to lean on the wisdom parents can provide. I just hope my husband and I have instilled enough good values, as Jessica, her mother Beatrice, her sister Alex and her husband Dawit have in Fana.

Of course I don't want to get carried away with my own thoughts, there is still room for the Shadows to get their hooks in Fana. We won't know how Fana truely handles herself until the next installment. I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!!!

There are some authors that others aspire to be like and others that we just bow down to because we know we cannot achieve that level of greatness. Ms. Due is both. Like the other reviewers I've been waiting for this book for a long time and was not disappointed.

Without giving too much of the plot away, I'll just say I was never a fan of Jessica's and I wasn't a fan of Fana's, that is until this book. It is hard to know what lies ahead before the characters do, but in this book I did and it worked. I wanted to shake some of the characters and say "come on and do something." But there lies the reality of any situation: fear can immobilize you and make you second-guess yourself. There was a lot of reflection from a lot of people in this book and although it is fantasy it works on a personal level.

Basically the book resonates with you; it stays with you long after you're finished the last chapter.

There was always this sense of excitement and danger throughout this book and readers are in the crosshairs with the characters.

I love this series and Tananarive Due remains a "writer's writer."

This book was astounding! Tananarive Due, who is one of my favorite authors, has such a compelling writing style, the words just grab hold of you as soon as you read the first sentence. There is no need for me to rehash what others have already said. All I have to say is, I can't wait for the fourth book to come out.

I am recovering from Cancer, & fresh from a transfusion. I was joking with the vampires at the blood bank if anyone knew of an Author that could stand up to Ann RIce, of course they recommend the Twilight series. URGH. It was trite, and juvenile, and I couldn't finish two chapters.
BUT . . .
I am a believer that the best things come to you, when you are really clear about what it is you really want.
No doubt I was searching for something, really good, and really juicy.
I found a used copy of Tananarive Dues "My soul to keep", I was hooked. The characters, are so believable in their depth. The story is amazing, and kind of serendipitous in away, as I am contending with a disease of the blood.

It kept me fully engrossed. I literally lived to read this book, thru many days and nights of painful cancer treatments, I could easily get lost for a few hours each day engrossed in this amazing story.

I am not about to give anything away, it is a must read for all fans of the supernatural.
I was thrilled beyond belief when after finishing this complex and engaging story, and wanting more, that Tananarive had written two other books in this series. I just recently found out she is writing another in the "immortal Series" as we speak!!

The story is so good, and the characters so interesting, this could go on and on. Selfishly I hope she keeps writing this story line forever and ever.

Start with "My soul to Keep" , you will be hooked.
I am on to her other novels, "The Good House" is on my night stand now, and I am slowing it down as I don't want it to end. Joplins ghost is next, then "The Inbetween".

I am giving this book three stars because I am a fan of Tananarive Due, generally love her writing and appreciate the intelligence and skill she brings to her work. But, I found this book very, very hard to get through. Rather than being suspenseful and entertaining, the youthful naiveté of Fana and Caitlin throughout most of the novel was irritating to me and rather than identifying with the misdirected rebellious of the young protagonists, I just felt annoyed by it. I also agree with another reviewer who complained about the essential sterility and ineffectiveness of Dawit in this novel. Again, the book gets three stars because Due is a really talented story teller. But, this particular book did not resonate with me as much as earlier works.