Customer Reviews

Children of the Vampire - the Diaries of Family Dracul

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Children of the Vampire" is the second in the trilogy of "The Diaries of the Family Dracul". "Covenant With the Vampire" is the first book is and the third and final book is "Lord of the Vampires" The reason I mentioned the other novels is because they should be read to get the whole and entire story. All are highly engrossing and interesting. How Ms Kalogridis thought up all this is beyond me - but she is obviously talented. Although all the books are wonderful reads - be prepared - there are strange situations in the books - among them are incest and homosexuality. The books don't go into to much "intimate" details on these subjects - and they're not something that carries on into the complete story. So the squeamish should tolerate them just fine. Therefore, I would advise anyone who likes vampire novels to purchase all three of them.

I first read Kalogridis' work in the burning times, and found it interesting, however for the diaries of the family dracul, i must say is astonishing. Each page goes by instantly and you can do little but keep on reading, and even after the first book is gone, your mind is so entangled in the plot you just have to keep reading.

Children of the Vampire is, with no doubt, a good horror book, telling with a subject that perhaps is somehow abused; anyway J.Kalogridis was able to capture the reader's interest thank to her skill of describing vivid, almost real scenes. If you read it, you won't dislike it, even if, in my humble opinion Covenant with the Vampire was far better than this one; in fact I think the plot of Children of Vampire does not match the expectations of the most of readers because it seems a bit too...weak, as if the author had been compelled to write extra-pages for economic reasons and so she had not payed enough attention to the general framework of her book. In a few words, a good work, as to style and atmosphere, but not fantastic just like the first of the trilogy.

This book was enjoyable but trashy. A string of erotic and/or action passages strung together only by the plot of the first book. The only interesting characters were peripheral or killed, so I don't know how keen I'll be on reading the last book in this series.

The second book of the diaries of the family Dracul is not good as the first. It's definitely too easy and fast to read, even for an entertaining book. All the good things in the book come as consequences of "Covenant with the vampire", in primis the great pseudo-historical connection between Stoker's vampire and the 1400's voievod. There is too much meaningless and very little sensuality...sometimes we forget that they aren't exactly the same thing; but this is a problem of many writers today. I see this book more as an intermission between the first and the last book than a volume with its own completion. All that is told in "Children of the vampire" had to be put in the first and in the third book, I believe. Luckily, the other two tomes are better. Read this one just to connect the facts and the characters in the other books.

The magnificent continuation to the previous masterpiece, Covenant With The Vampire. Arkady & Mary's childe has grown up, & Stephan, now in Amsterdam, has a brother, who has a hard time accepting the shadow world of the Vampire, & eventually comes to learn the horrible truth of it all, in the most personal manner. The psychological twists will set you reeling, as the twisted labyrinths Vlad has constructed unfolds. Zsusannah continues to improve & evolve in her new & glorious afterlife, & has come to realize her new abilities more intimately, & employs wicked trickeries taught to her by Vlad, & a secret society of Vampire Magicians.

The creative genius of Jeanne Kalogridis continues to delight & astound the Children of Darkness everywhere. She is the best new talent to creep forth from the recesses of the catacombes of horror-writers in quite awhile. She has become the Dark Goddess of this strange & compelling world where we long to be, & would swear upon our black souls, we have been. She has spread her black wings, & swiftly ascends unto the ranks of Anne Rice & Clive Barker.

The series, The Diaries of the Family Dracul, is truly an ingenious work, & bears boldly, The Draconian Seal of Approval. I do wish a movie lies in the future...

It isn't even that much of the elements have been done before by better writers. Or that the few original ideas don't logically track. It's that the author runs a subtle but nonetheless disturbing homophobia through all three novels.(Every time there's any hint whatsoever of some ambiguous character, this person is always repugnant) And yet she seems to have no problems whatsoever with rampant incest. Disturbing.

Diaries of the Family Dracul #2: Children of the Vampire, by Jeanne Kalogridis

A sequel to "Covenant with the Vampire," "Children of the Vampire" continues the Dracula prequel with diaries by Arkady, Zsuzsanna, and two new characters: Stefan and Bram Van Helsing.

Because Vlad broke the covenant he made with the Devil in the first book, he still owes the soul of the eldest son to purchase his continued immortality. Now that Arkady is a vampire, Vlad must find Stefan, Arkady's son who was spirited away from the monster's castle as a baby. Vlad and Arkady alternatively kidnap and save Stefan, as each tries to oppose the other.

"Children of the Vampire" is a weaker book than the first in the series; parts of it drag on and on, especially in the middle. It felt mostly like setup for the final book in the trilogy; like the author was moving all the characters and plot lines to where they needed to be for the last book. There are some metaphysical elements which start out interesting, but I got a little tired of pages and pages of them.

One thing I do like about this book, though, is that again Kalogridis isn't afraid to broach any subject, or write any plot twist. I was never exactly sure what was going to happen, and the unpredictability was nice.

If read alone, "Children with the Vampire" suffers, but as a middle book for the Diaries of the Family Dracul series, it's alright. I'm definitely looking forward to the last book to see how everything finishes up.

3/5.

This trilogy is the BEST series of vampire books that I have read. I am a rampant Anne Rice fan, but Ms. Kalogridis has captured a terror and eroticism that Anne Rice could not. Because of it's diary form, you feel closer to the characters. Also, I think it seems even more terrifying because of the close relating to the actual historical content. I have just finished the series today, and I want MORE! Ms. Kalogridis, if you're reading this, please write more books! She is a brilliant writer! I have not been this gripped by a series of novels in a long time! Mere words alone cannot express how I feel about this series of books.......if you love vampire stories, you will love this, I promise, no disappointment!

I have owned this series of books in the past and bought these to replace them. They were priced right and arrived quickly and in perfect condition!