Customer Reviews

Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace. Student Claire Danvers has never been convinced, though--especially with the arrival of Mr. Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town's living and its dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball, attended by vampires and their human dates, that Claire realizes the elaborately evil trap he's set for Morganville.


For any of you who were frustrated or disappointed with Midnight Alley, Book Three, you're in for a treat with Feast of Fools. Feast of Fools takes all that we learned or thought we learned from Midnight Alley and puts it all together in a very entertaining package. I could not put Feast of Fools down, and there aren't a lot of books that I've read lately that I can say that about.

There is a level of tension in the Morganville books that keeps you on the edge of your seat, even in the background scenes you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it always does. Rachel Caine abuses her characters like a pro, and she doesn't shirk because these are YA books. Claire and her friends go through hell just trying to survive in Morganville.

Her characters are young, Claire is about to turn seventeen, but she is no Mary Sue. She's smarter than the average bear, but it's not rubbed into the readers face. Claire's roommates make up the rest of the main characters in the series, and they are pretty normal, or as normal as they can be after growing up in a town run by vampires. But above it all, each book stresses how important friendship is to these characters. You know without a doubt that they are willing to die for each other.

My only complaint is the cliffhanger endings in the series. I need to remind myself that Morganville reads like a TV series not like a movie. There really is no self contained storyline in each book, just a long arc that is being told throughout them all. In other words you cannot pick up Feast of Fools without reading the three books that preceded it.

Rachel Caine is a magnificent adult writer and now a young adult writer.

Her Morganville vampire series is amazing and the plot twists keep the storyline and characters fresh.

After Claire had to battle with the popular `protected' girls (Glass House) Shane's psycho dad (Dead Girls Dance) and then Amelia and the crazy, old, brilliant `spider alley' vampire (Midnight Alley) she now has to contend with Amelia's even crazier father; who believes that humans are nothing more than food and worms.

Rachel Caine is brilliant and this series is a must read for adults and teens who like smart strong female leads and of course vampires.

It would seem that Claire Danvers's life couldn't get any worse, what with living in a college town that is also inhabited by vampires who wouldn't think twice about killing her, and having her parents pressuring her to move back in with them when she already lives with her three best friends. But when Mr. Bishop arrives, things turn positively deadly.

No one's really sure what Mr. Bishop wants exactly--all they know is that he's more powerful than anyone--possibly even Amelie, and he lacks any good intentions. Everyone is on their guard. Soon everyone is buzzing about the upcoming formal ball, and all the humans are clamoring for invites, even Claire and Eve. But this is one party that the breathing might want to pass up.

Feast of Fools is an exciting, fast paced and chilling thriller. Caine has a real knack for combining a headstrong heroine, nicely creepy happenings, and a dash of romance and intrigue to bring about a knock out of a novel that'll stun, spellbind, and utterly captivate readers. There's a twist around every corner, and a cliff hanger that will leave readers desperate for more in this wonderful series that's reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A word of caution: once you start into the Morganville Vampires series, it's impossible to let go.

An hour from her home, Claire Danvers attends Texas Prairie University in Morganville, Texas. She has learned a lot in her time away from her parents about life, death, and the undead. One of her roommates is a rookie vampire; while another is the son of a vampire killer; the third one is a more typical American warm blooded teen, a Goth. Claire works for the school's Founder Amelie the vampiress and daughter of a royal ancient vampire. Humans and vampires live in peaceful coexistence in Morganville, but Claire knows not to venture out in the dark alone.

The harmony between the species ends when Amelie's father Mr. Bishop arrives with his superiority complex that frightens everyone even his daughter who wonders why he came. He believes his race is homo superior to the sapiens worms who are just dessert. At a formal ball in his exalted honor, he begins his scheme to insure vampire supremacy with him at the top of the pyramid and humans in the ooze below the base. Mr. Bishop is prepared for all contingencies except for the fact that he underestimated two females, his daughter's belief in equality and that warm blooded teenage nuisance Claire; to correct his mistake, he will enjoy dining on raw Claire.

Although there is a short recap of the three previous tales (see GLASS HOUSES, THE DEAD GIRLS' DANCE and MIDNIGHT ALLEY), it behooves the young adult audience to read those tales first to get a deeper flavor of the life and undead in Morganville. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action from the onset as Mr. Bishop displays his presence by simply sitting down in a kitchen chair so majestically Claire thinks of a king on a throne. The tale never decelerates as Mr. Bishop begins his opening moves in a chess game while Amelie and Claire try to counter. Ending with a bit of a cliffhanger, fans of the series will appreciate FEAST OF FOOLS, but would have preferred a more substantial climax.

Harriet Klausner

Feast of Fools starts off where Midnight Alley left off. The Glass house has been taken over by a vampire, Mr. Bishop, who claims to be Amelie's father. He has big plans for the humans and vampires of Morganville, and he, along with his evil cronies, will do whatever it takes to put them into motion. It all comes down to the masked ball where the vampires bring human dates. Who will pledge loyalty to Mr. Bishop, and who will stick with Amelie?

I really enjoy anything that Rachel Caine writes. All of her characters have an interesting past, and the development of them has been great over the course of four books. I think Claire is finally learning when she needs to back off, and let other people take care of things; especially with the addition of her parents in Morganville, because one wrong move could put them on the chopping block.

Claire and Shane's relationship is growing, and they both want to take things to the next level. But Shane continues to be the good guy and stick to his guns (unfortunately for the reader). This only makes Shane more likeable in my opinion. He knows what he wants, but he knows that he can't have it...yet.

My favorite character is still Myrnin. The addition of him in Midnight Alley added a whole new level of intrigue to the story. With the new serum Claire has been working on to help him, and the other vampires, he's able to stay out of his cage for longer. This had me on edge because I was just waiting for him to attack Claire at any minute.
Monica is still as evil as ever! She is the biggest bully for a college gal. I wish she would get what was coming to her, because it seems that several near death experiences aren't cutting it! How many times does Claire have to save her before she leaves her alone? There is one scene that had me fuming. I felt so bad for Claire.

This series always ends on a cliff hanger, which I've gotten used to now that this is the fourth book. It's kind of nice because the story keeps continuing instead of jumping to a new problem/plot. It's like one long book if you piece them together. Feast of Fools was quick and enjoyable, and I look forward to reading the fifth in the series, Lord of Misrule.

I really am enjoying this series. It is fresh and hot without going too far into romantising vampires OR having them pure monsters. BUT in this book I have been driven crazy over the wrong story facts over and over. Shot, not stabbed. Dark hair, not blond. Different story line details at least four times. It does not change the plot but it does distract me something awful! I really hope her other books have a different fact checker...or at least one that is awake!

Sixteen-year-old (seventeen in a week, thank you very much) Clair Danvers is an "employee" of Amelie, one of Morganville's Founders. At the moment, Amelie is the head vampire of the town. Clair's parents arrive in town. Unfortunately, they are moving into the area. Of course, this is NOT something good since Morganville, Texas, is run by vampires and people outside of town do not know that vampires even exist. Even worse, her parents are not the only new people in town. Amelie's father, Mr. Bishop, has arrived along with two vampire companions, François (mail) and Ysandre (female). Records show that five hundred years ago Mr. Bishop had been killing off his enemies within the vampire community to make himself ruler of the world. And then something happened, and he dropped out of sight - until now. Amelie and Michael have been meeting about the new vampires, but refuse to inform Clair, Eve, or Shane what is going on. Shane, Claire's boyfriend, expresses his worries that the powerful trio have come for some type of revenge and/or to destroy the town.

Though Shane detests vampires, except Michael, Ysandre sends him a formal invitation to escort her to an upcoming masked ball in honor of Mr. Bishop. And when one receives an invitation, one dares not refuse.

At the same time, Amelie has Claire and a doctor working to increase the effectiveness of some red crystals. If successful, the crystals will help the vampires ward off the effects of a degenerative disease. However, it is beginning to sound as though the vampires will not be the only ones in trouble should they fail.

**** If you have not read the previous titles you may find yourself lost quite often. The author does give a quick "The story so far" just before beginning the story; however, in my opinion it is not detailed enough for new readers to really understand what is going on. Therefore, I recommend that readers seriously consider reading all three previous titles.

This story does not add much in the way of character development for secondary characters or for the characters for the bad boys/girls in the previous tales. However, it does give more depth to the vampire hierarchy, as well as to the differences in the way many of them think about humans and rules. The main focus of prior stories were on Clair, but this time Shane steals most of the spot light. All-in-all, this is terrific for those keeping up with the series and I look forward to the next installment. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Claire, Claire, Claire...are you ever going to keep yourself out of trouble? Somehow I doubt it. In this fourth book of the Morganville Vampire series, we pick up almost immediately where Book 3 leaves off: Claire and her housemates are dealing with the arrival of her parents to Morganville when, out of the blue, Amelie's father (read: Big Daddy of All Vampires) arrives at the Glass House with two of his cronies, demanding food and Amelie. Turns out he's not there for a friendly visit, of course; he's there to wrangle control of Morganville from his daughter, and he doesn't give a flip who he hurts (or kills) in the process.

There is a lot of action in Feast of Fools, with Michael conflicted over his vampiric nature, Eve losing her estranged father, Shane forced to attend a vampire ball as the escort of the dangerous Ysandre, and Claire still working with the increasingly volatile Myrnin on a cure for the disease affecting the vamps. The relationship between Shane and Claire continues to grow (rather nicely, as a matter of fact), and Claire's self-confidence increases despite her misgivings for belonging to Amelie. The height of the action hits when Amelie is forced to give a ball for her father, and sides are chosen as to whom loyalty will be given. Claire's knowledge brings her into the center of things, and once again we're left on a major cliffhanger (and I'm left checking my mailbox every few hours, waiting on my Amazon shipment that contains book #5!).

Feast of Fools is a very interesting installment in the series; we see Claire maturing constantly as she tries to figure out the complex intricacies of the vampire society and her place in it. The addition of her parents has left me a bit puzzled because it honestly feels as though Claire is the parent and her parents are the clueless ones. I like how the series develops its characters as the stories move along, and I like how, despite the turmoil going on in Morganville, there are some rather "human" stories, such as Michael playing guitar in Common Grounds. I may as well confess it now: I'm hooked, and I'll be reading this series until it bleeds me dry. Great, great fun.

This book picks up right where the previous one left off, right in the middle of the action. I love when books do that. I flew through this book as quickly as the previous three, barely taking time to eat or sleep. I would compare the infamous Mr. Bishop to Dracula - minus the romantic leanings. Nothing about him is remotely appealing, and he has no interest in making himself appealing, unlike the other two power players in town, Oliver and Amelie. Lots of subplots are developed, but this one felt like more time could have been devoted to these other elements and lengthened the novel a bit without sacrificing the quality of the text, such as exploring how Claire could wield the power of Glass House, the effect that Michael had on others when he performed, Claire's problem with her professor, or even Claire's parents reaction to the truth about Morganville. It feels as if there are too many characters in the script and not enough pages to give them all adequate time in the spotlight. I find the character of Myrnin even more fascinating in this book - he seems sort of like the dark town jester. I was also disappointed in Claire's lack of interest in her classes, given that she was so happy about her schedule change in the last book. The funeral of Eve's father seemed forced, like it was inserted in the plot as an afterthought, especially since we did not see her mother at the ball at the end of the book, even though it seems logical that Mrs. Rosser would try to use the occasion to make a specticle of herself, not unlike Monica Morrell. Wow, so I had alot of nit-picky things to say about this book, but I still really enjoyed it and I really like this series, especially the character of Claire, who has more courage and daring than anyone in the book. I look forward to the next one, Lord of Misrule.

Oh Book 4. Usually, by now, I am a little sick of a book series (or heck even a tv series that's reached season 4). Creators will introduce new characters, kill off old characters, put the main character in so much of the same old situations that its like 'X did this just like Y did! Yet the MC fell for it again!' and repetition is not the better part of valor in books. Caine however seems to have found a niche to work well for her. By not having the books cover a large amount of time, and having each subsequent book pick up as if its just the next page in the same story, it feels less like I'm reading Book 4 and more like I'm reading chapter whatever of Book 1.

Mr. Bishop, introduced at the end of Book 3 when Claire's parents made an unfortunately timed move to Morganville (its implied heavily that Amelie had a hand in that, which has disasterous ramifications for her timing abilities if you ask me). I want to feel bad for her parents, but honestly I don't. Up until closer to the end they are really just extreme stereotypes of the overprotective parent. I'll admit they at least admitted the truth quicker then Claire did.

Mrynin continues to delight. I like him so much more then any of the other 'older' vampires. Half-crazy or not he's a wonderfully fun guy to read about. Amelie's shell cracks even further with Bishop's arrival and the implications of that (patricide is never a good idea kids). Oliver isn't actually that bad honestly, but he's still such an oily weasel I have trouble picturing him as helpful.

Romance wise Shane and Claire are dealt a low blow--one of the vamps Bishop brought with him, Yasdere (I think that's how you spell it, my sister has my copy at the moment), has an instant attraction to Shane. She makes it clear that she wants him, he'd better get used to it or she'd make everyone he knows pay for his refusal. Claire is, irrational as it is, jealous of the fact that the vamp chick can mystically FORCE Shane to want her. Eve and Michael are also dealt a blow, but its less of a blow and more of a misunderstanding.

Let me put it this way, the title can be taken one of two ways I think. Once the true purpose of the Feast that Amelie gives for Bishop is known it makes those participating (vampire and human alike) seem like 'fools' because everyone underestimates everyone else and their motivations. If you take it from a historical perspective, the Feast of Fools was a religious holiday celebrated in Medieval times "in which power, dignity or impunity is conferred for a few hours upon those ordinarily in a subordinate position" (source: Catholic Enclyclopedia). Ignoring the religious aspects of it (it has been deemed blasphemous), basically it was a celebration that gave leave to subordinates to act how they pleased towards their superiors without reprecussions. Take that as you will after reading the book.