The Five of Cups [Hardcover]

Caitlin R. Kiernan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean Press (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931081808
• ISBN-13: 978-1931081801
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,653,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Caitlin R. Kiernan was born near Dublin, Ireland, but has spent most of her life in the southeastern United States. In college, she studied zoology, geology, and palaeontology, and has been employed as a vertebrate palaeontologist and college-level biology instructor. The results of her scientific research have been published in the JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY, THE JOURNAL OF PALAEONTOLOGY and elsewhere. In 1992, she began writing her first novel, THE FIVE OF CUPS (it remained unpublished until 2003). Her first published novel, SILK (1998), earned her two awards and praise from critics and such luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, and Poppy Z. Brite. Her next novel, THRESHOLD (2001), was also an award-winner, and since then she has written LOW RED MOON (2003), MURDER OF ANGELS (2004), DAUGHTER OF HOUNDS (2007), and, forthcoming, THE RED TREE. She is a prolific short fiction author, and her award-winning short stories have been collected in TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER (2000), WRONG THINGS (with Poppy Z. Brite; 2001), FROM WEIRD AND DISTANT SHORES (2002), and TO CHARLES FORT, WITH LOVE (2005), ALABASTER (2006), FROG TOES AND TENTACLES (2005), TALES FROM THE WOEFUL PLATYPUS (2007), and, most recently, the sf collection, A IS FOR ALIEN (2009). She has also scripted comics for DC/Vertigo, including THE DREAMING ('97-'01), THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE DEATH ('98), and BAST: ETERNITY GAME ('03). Her short sf novel THE DRY SALVAGES was published in 2004, and has published numerous chapbooks since 2000. Caitlin also fronted the goth-rock band Death's Little Sister in 1996-1997, once skinned a lion, and likes sushi. She lives in Providence, RI with her partner, Kathryn, and her two cats, Hubero and Smeagol. Caitlin is represented by Writer's House (NYC) and United Talent Agency (LA).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you must read a vampire novel, make this the one you read, May 18, 2005

By 

H. N. Crider - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Five of Cups (Hardcover)

Forget the swoonings and Mary-Sue histrionics you've come to know as characteristic of vampire tales. The Five of Cups defies expectations and easy classification. The undead who populate its pages are concerned with matters pragmatic and arcane -- these are not mutually contradictory terms -- and they keep themselves far too busy for navel-gazing.

Kiernan's characters never do things the easy way, and there are times when this leads to moments of page-pounding frustration. Yet, in order to maintain the integrity of the characters, the plot really can't proceed any way other than it does. Anything else would be, somehow, untrue.

Readers who are familiar with the work of T.S. Eliot (at the very least, read Eliot's notes to "The Waste Land"!) and who have a passing knowledge of the Tarot will find The Five of Cups a richer and more rewarding read than those who do not. However, there really is no prerequisite to enjoyment of this book. I wouldn't recommend it as anyone's first foray into Kiernan's work -- as indeed the author herself would not; while this was her first written novel, it was not the first one she published -- but once you've delved into Threshold and swum through the wonders of Murder of Angels, come back to glimpse the genesis of a gifted writer's craft. It won't disappoint.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Brutal, and Bloody Collision of Worlds, September 1, 2005

By 

W. Bartilson Jr. (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Five of Cups (Hardcover)

The Five of Cups is a brilliant novel that once I started reading I couldn't stop. Contrary to what some other reviewers, as well as what at least one misguided agent thought about the plot and characters, it was very easy to like the characters. In fact I loved Gin, the young girl who was made into a vampire against her will. She is both filled with rage and hatred at what she's become, as well as, at times, a deep depression that she can never go back to what she was; a normal human being.

Even her mortal life was brutal, and the way she became a vampire just sort of was the icing on the cake for her young life. I won't go into details, but I don't look at public transportation the same way...

One of the best things Caitlin R. Kiernan accomplished here was keeping the reader in the dark about the history of Gin's Blood Father until she herself learns of it. That it comes late in the book only underscores why Gin felt so much hatred to other Vampires, her Blood Father especially. They have a strained relationship to say the least, and it only gets more twisted as time goes on.

The narrative Caitlin wove is a gripping tale of an unseen, unknown existence of Vampires in our time, and what would happen if one of them went rogue. Humans in this novel are merely prey, some more fortunate than others. The vampires, for the most part make no apologies for what they are, and even though Gin is at times reluctant to take human blood, when she does, it is with reckless abandon and she revels in the taking of it. See the nightclub scene for an example of the later.

If you truly love Vampires, and don't care about a romantic sub-plot (because there really is no romance here) get this book now. It's not really for the faint of heart, but it is what Vampires should be like. This was the first book I had read by Ms. Kiernan, but certainly will not be not my last.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great, March 12, 2007

By 

child of the cuckoo (Augusta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Five of Cups (Hardcover)

Of course Caitlin R. Kiernan is a PHENOMENAL writer...but this was certainly not her best. Personally, I could have read the last 50 pages and still have gotten the same effect as reading the whole book. The plot is muddled, confused with other lines of thought that may or may not be related to the story at hand. I was honestly hoping that it would have a little more to do with the Holy Grail than it did...
However, Kiernan incorporated such vivid historical elements that it seemed like I was watching a movie. She captured Ireland during the potato famine in such depth! She gained credibility with the reader by establishing her historical knowledge.
This book is worth reading, it's just not the best thing she's written. Still, if you're a fan of her work, read it.