Customer Reviews

Blood Surrender

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked out the stories in this nthology so of course I think they are great, but I thought it would be helpful to tell a little of the philosphy behind them. I've edited several erotic vampire anthologies over the past dozen years, and I've seen every cliche you can imagine. The trick is to find fresh, new interesting takes on vampire myths, and yet to have enough of what makes a vampire recognizable, and sensual and interesting, to satisfy the reader. There are some very intense characters in these stories, and the authors really did a great job of making the vampires sexy, alluring, dominating, etc. It's stories like these that keep me reading the genre and keep me wanting more.

3.5 Stars: I'm an objective reader, not an author or involved with the publication of this book. I'm doing my best to be fair in my review, because it only makes sense to ask myself what a reader expects with this genre. Although I'm not unreasonably critical, I noticed this book had excessive spelling errors, so if you have a discerning eye then that could be an issue, or sometimes detract from the works as a whole. Moving on, many of the short stories were descriptive & I could easily visualize the characters & scenes. Of the 15 stories & 203 pages, my favorites are probably "She" by Caroline Aubrey, "The Permanent" by Catherine Lundoff (which is very sexually graphic, so be forewarned), and "In Service Immortal" by Paige Roberts. I appreciated the unique themes and literary styles of these three.
My least favorites are "Taken" by Genevieve I. Eldredge, and "Grey And Clinton" by Patricia E. Lang. I found Taken to be goofy and pretentious, like the author was trying to force a cliché romantic tone with bombastic prose, and the result was a silly & sexualized vampire fairy tale. Grey And Clinton seemed disjointed, and left much to be explained.
In summary, each story is sexual, as the back cover clearly states, so if you find that offensive or are just not a fan of erotica, this is NOT meant for you. This book makes a good addition to my vampire collection, and though it did not earn a place among my favorites, I would certainly like to see additional and *objective* reviews on this.

I have a story in this book, so I'll admit to a baised opinion. My rating is based on my one disappointment with the anthology, and that is that Cecilia Tan didn't contribute.
My personal favorite stories were When We Rise by Jason Rubis and Bloodletting by Michelle Blaid - very modern stories - but the traditional treatment by Thomas Roche in Moonlight and Trouble is a deft, lush return to familiar territory.

As a guy who doesn't read erotica you'd think, "Why is this guy reviewing an anthology about erotic vamps?" One reason: Kierstin Cherry. Taken is a phenomenal story by a well-educated, excellent writer. You can always tell when an author makes love to their work and Cherry is a perfect example. Great job!