Customer Reviews

Clan Novel: Tzimisce (Vampire: The Masquerade)

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

 

 

Eric Griffin should be commended. As a writer, he did the best thing possible, which was to tell an engaging story with some interesting characters. Seeing that this is the second book of a thirteen book series, there was again, as in the first Clan Novel, a great deal of necessary set-up for the meta-plot. However, Griffin, gave the main character, Sascha Vykos, a powerful purpose and made it one of the most disturbing and hideous creations in horror literature. The Tzimisce are one nasty clan of vampires! The infighting between the two Sabbat clans was also quite fascinating to read. I'll be interested in seeing what happens in CN:Lasombra.

Excellent characterization, easy reading and overtly disturbing, Clan Novel #2 - Tzimisce, is a very good read and highly recommended!

Tzimisce may be nearly unpronounceable (though it's revealed as being pronounced as "Shimishay" in the 6th novel), but it meets the major criteria for the elements of this 13-novel set: a) does it tell you of and truly paint the world from the viewpoint of the featured clan? b) Does it have an interesting plot which it advances well? and c) does it move both quickly and clearly enough to be enjoyable reading.? I say yes. We are horrified by the propensities of the shape-twisting Tzimisce, so all is correct there... We see the overlay with the events of Toreador, but they are interesting, new and vital in their own right (though I wish the Camarilla came out of it with a bit more, but... ), and enough happens to keep the viewer interested.

Warning: this is White Wolf / V:TM Vampire fiction... meant for afficianados of that genre. Readers seeking non- less-niche-oriented vampire fiction are encouraged to seek out something amidst the broad spectrum of Ann Rice, Brian Lumley;s Necroscope, or P.N. Elrod's Jack Fleming stories. Fans of V:TS fiction, however, will find their expectations met and exceeded.

While the Sabbat isn't noted for pleasantness, the Tzimisce are one of the grimmer clans. Specialists in the modification of flesh, they are feared for their whimsical cruelty and delight is creating pain and horror that is condemned to live changed forever (or until the next whim). Getting in a disagreement with a Tzimisce is an existence-limiting move. Sascha Vykos is from the hard old line of the European vampires and has been sent to the Sabbat council meetings about the future of Atlanta as the representative of Cardinal Moncada whose ambitions are great. Her presence is an offence to the New World Sabbat members, and all are quickly embroiled in the dense politics of the vampire world.

While Sascha gets her share of this novel, the story is really about the wider conflict, giving us our first glimpse of the world of the Sabbat. It is a place where even the faint respect for rules that mark the vampires of The Masquerade is completely missing. Fear and subterfuge are the means for power. Sometimes it is subtle and sometimes sudden but almost always cruel. Vykos and her Tzimisce have come to pursue a master agenda and both Sabbat and Camarilla have cause to worry.

The focus shifts from Sabbat to Camarilla, as what is to become a complete turnabout in New World vampire politics unfolds. Tzimisce, LaSombra, Settite and even Assamite assassins take their parts. Even Victoria Ash enters, obviously intended to be a key character.

The detailing is drawn fine, and you get a real flavor of what it feels like to be a vampire within the confines of the game. Eric Griffin is a more of an action writer than others in this series, and the story moves along at a good clip, replete with ghoulish moments. If you like horror, politics, and exquisite torment then enter the darkness here.

Mostly enjoyable romp through the World of Darkness. Only rarely a page-turner. Most memorable scene is the final battle between the Malkavian Prince of Atlanta and the Brujah Archon versus the Sabbat. It leaves many open paths for other books to follow, such as The General surviving the attack unnoticed.

This is a passable action-based, hack-and-slash story with very little else to recommend it. Detailing the bloody war between two factions of vampires, one of which is merely cruel, manipulative, bloodthirsty (in both the literal and figurative meanings of the word) and soulless, the other of which is actually the bad guys, the story also suffers from a lack of beginning or end, being as it is merely the second in a thirteen-novel storyarc. (The Tzimisce of the title are one of the "clans" or bloodlines, of the more vicious of the two factions, and are themselves vile and sadistic (to say nothing of psychotic) enough to make "normal" vampires seem mild by comparison.)

Sascha, Sascha, Sascha. Twisted, demented, perverse, and outright evil to the core...but you have to love her, oh, his, um, I mean its personality. This is the book that truely gives WOD fans an inside look at the workings of the Sabbat and a glimpse into the mind of its spiritual core. Griffin does a wonderful job of carrying the overall metaplot of the clan novels throughout the book while also making Tzimisce a unique stand alone experience. Even vampire fans who aren't familiar with White Wolf's World of Darkness can stil appreciate the subtle innuendos and blatant brutality that bleed throughout this book.

I have only read up to the Setite clan book and honestly I still think this book is the best, maybe by a small margin but the cruelty displayed by the clan and the way it functions gives you a live feeling for the clan. Sadly the book is short but hey the series is a long one.

As you may already know conveying cruelty, malignant insight, torture methods and other Tzimisce characteristics is quite hard to do in a chronicle, but this book does such things with style: the characters are awesome, the story is balanced and for those with a Sabbat agenda the book reveals the ''I'm your best friend but I still have the right to flesh-craft you whenever I want'' relationship between the Tzimisce and Lasombra. A must have for those who want to read something ''different''.

If you read this book expecting that Sascha Vykos is going to be the main character, you may be disappointed. Vykos sort of is, but the book isn't really strongly focused on any particular character. It's a panoramic look at the entire Sabbat campaign in the southeast. It shifts focus between several different characters and moves quickly between many different episodes and subplots. Vykos is clearly a standout and very well drawn (as female rather than androgynous) but here the supporting cast has a very expanded role.

Because of its broad focus, this book also isn't really about any particular Sabbat clan. In its large cast of characters, I counted 8 named Tzimisce to 6 named Lasombra (plus one important ductus whose clan apparently isn't indicated.) The Tzimisce do some graphically sick stuff with their vicissitude discipline but a Lasombra ductus does some equally disturbing things with the help of obtenebration. Get the idea? The balance is slightly tilted toward Vykos and the Tzimisce but the book really deals with the whole Sabbat and its methods.

Still, not surprisingly, it does a somewhat better job of depicting the Tzimisce. For example, it captures the rivalries between the Tzimisce and the Lasombra well but misses little things like just how the Lasombra (especially those who work with Cardinal Moncada) tend to regard Catholicism. There's also a grotesque carnival atmosphere to the proceedings that is pure Tzimisce.

This book is not, as they say, suited for younger or more sensitive readers. It is, however, both good source material for the game and, despite its scattered focus, an entertaining story in itself especially for those who enjoy the Sabbat. It establishes fascinating villians and anti-heros for the series. (The more conventionally heroic characters don't show up until later books.) Although it stresses the larger campaign over individual characters, it's also early enough in the series that you should be able to follow it without reading what came before. (Incidents from TOREADOR are retold from other points of view here, though, and you'll miss that fun if you haven't read it.)

This is the first of the Clan Novel series I read, and at first I wasnt sure if I was going to like it or not. All my doubts desolved mere moments after I began reading it. The characters are most entertaining, and they seemed to be good examples of the clans and/or factions they represented of the many there were. She was an exelent example of the Tzimisce mind-set (except for her political manuverings). She actually made me sick to my stomach at one point, which is NOT something that happens to me (I watch shows on Canabalism, gore movies, and the like over dinner frequently). All in all, the only things that dissapointed me were the ending (to an extent, anyway) and the fact that the series will be contenued by different authors (something that has ruined many a good series of books). But dispite it all, I would highly recomend this book, to any who are in to the World Of Darkness role playing games, or anyone who would be interested in a story which involves it. One thing, though, is that the author assumes that the reader will have at least a minimal understanding of the World Of Darkness, and he only offers minimal explainations of the different clans, factions, and powers (disciplines) of the Kindred; Not to say that you couldnt follow the plot without said knoledge, just that it would help to know something before you read it