Customer Reviews

Clan Novel: Malkavian

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Knowing this book was about a clan known for their mental instability, I approached it with more of an open mind and with a larger reserve of tolerance and patience. Unlike the book 'Catcher in the Rye', I made it through to the conclusion of this story. The entire story follows the disjointed musings of the Prophet of Gehenna as he goes from one place to another in search of something even he doesn't truly know. Often times the same scene will be replayed from a different perspective to lend a more understandable vision of what has transpired within the story. If these weren't included, I doubt I would've had the literary fortitude to complete the book. If it were the author's intent to illustrate the World of Darkness through the stereotypical perception of a Malkavian who is also held captive by his own prophetic visions, then it was a well articulated piece of work. There's really no other way to come away from this book with anything less than a feeling of total confusion.

If anything, reading this book will challenge your ability to decipher prophecy and translate that which is not communicated with a commonly expected level of elucidation.

If you are looking for a straight-forward ...the commonly expected plot, action, and demonstration of WoD mechanics, et cetera - than you might want to take a look at Clanbook:Malkavian FIRST before reading Clan Novel:Malkavian.

If you understand, accept, and actually favour the inner workings of the Malkavian mind - get this book.

If you are a fan of the fictional world created by White Wolf in connection with the role-playing game Vampire the Masquerade and the failed Kindred TV-series, you have probably read the previous books in this series. As the last books in this series are not yet out, I am not giving this book a one star just in case in some way this book serves some function in advancing the thirteen novel series. At first read, this novel is only loosely connected with the other novels.

As a stand alone novel, this novel is a complete jumble. While I guess it is supposed to reflect the madness of the Malkavian mind, this does not make for an enjoyable read. Nothing in this book makes sense separate from a vague connection with the previous novels.

I am an avid reader of all things Vampire, I have read all the Clan novels as they are released. This latest entry into the series is the first one I felt was just not very good. I understand that Malkavians are all mad but this book is enough to drive you over the edge. The story line was not advanced in this piece except to kill off a few more characters. Perhaps I'm missing something but you could of told this story in two pages, the rest of the book was just a wordy jumble of confused prose written in the first person then switching over to dialog between an ego and his ulterego. I know this is fantasy but give me a break, this series has been so good what has happened? I hope the last four novels in the series are as good as the previous eight, I guess thirteen great novels was just too much to ask.

but after only 18 pages, I had to give up. I love clan Malkavian, mostly because it is a rare person who can truly play one. A subtle clan to comprehend. I saw only one great Malk character in the novels so far, and he got killed in the first book (which tells me it's a rare author who can truly write a Malkavian). But this story is told in first person, which breaks the entire feel of the series, and of course, the teller is a mad man. I couldn't understand what he was talking about, or even how one sentence related to the next. Such an incomprehendable waste.

This book was the worst of the series. It is an extreme task to write a series of 13 novels. As a writer, I know this to be true. The writers must continue to hold the interest of the readers and they had done a great job up until this novel. Each novel took the reader deeper into the World of Darkness and made us interested in that world. The novels were easy to read and easy to follow. This one sets us back. I undersatnd that the writer tried to show us the "madness" of the protagonist but he forgot that this is a series and not a stand alone novel. It can easliy be skipped. If you want to enjoy the series as a unit skip it. There is a matter of style vs. subsatnce and the writer should have kept with the substance of the series and not the style of Anatole

Wow, I read all the books up to this one, and every one pulled me deeper. THEN this book came out. It is filled with stuff that just doesnt make sence. It liked reading my sterio instructions more than this, and it was more entertaining.

This book can and should be skipped... you miss nothing other than a small trip my Victoria Ash

Most of the books in this series have been no better than mediocre; the series, being thirteen books long, is rapidly getting interminable, but I'm stubborn enough that I'll finish it. (I'll be very glad when I do, though.)

This book, in particular, is weaker than most in the series, due in part, I suppose, to the fact that it actually tried to be more than it was capable of being: given that it is the clan novel for the Malkavians, it was inevitable that the attempt would be made to do a Faulknerian telling of a story through the eyes of a madman. I've read "The Sound and the Fury", not to mention Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (which is told stream of consciousness through the eyes of what I suppose would qualify as an autistic paranoid) and was impressed by the first and loved the latter. What I have to say about this book is twofold: one, Stewart Wieck is no Faulkner or Kesey, and two, it is therefore fortunate that only about a third of this book is told from the perspective of the main Malkavian character; those parts of it are just about unreadable; the rest of the book is what salvages a second star for it. It didn't help that the very first chapter was from Anatole's perspective; I almost put the book down as a lost cause right there.

This book is not worth the money. It adds little, if anything, to the story line. I like the overall series, so I would have to recommend reading this for completeness. It is unfortunate that is the only reason I can honestly give that recommends this book.

This was a great book that showed the Malkavaians as I always imagined them... crazy. But crazy in a smart way. The hallucnations in the beggining of the book are a tad confusing but you get used to it and the last half of the book does much to further the plot of the series.

Some would say that the book was hard to follow, hard to understand, page after page o nothing but jibberish. The takes of a Malk in the eyes of a Malk is not something that most people can follow. It is a bit hard to understand the point of an entire series, each clan book was seperated so greatly by the first persons ideals and prioroties, and while it is widely known to any one who has taken any research into this series of clans that the Malkavian clan is the most misunderstood. Why would the author protray them as anything else. I personally found the ideas and stream of consiousness intriguing and sometimes find myself with the same thoughts and ideation. The character telling the story never really seems to be the main character, just someone who understands the main character and the greatness of Anatole. If the story were told by Anatole it would be a waste of time completely, though i like the author using someone else, who is never really an active participant, just someone who is there to experience the events and can translate them into somewhat more thought out terms, than perhaps someone at Anatoles point of veiw could express. This content of this book is very metaphorical, so just try to think in terms of symbolism if you don't already know the whole background. This is a book that you either think about or ignore. But if you really have no understanding of the clan Malkavian it would probably just be a waste of time to read this book so don't even bother to buy the book. But if you want to hear a delusional person's explanation of a schizophrenic, go ahead and keep reading.