Minion: A Vampire Huntress Legend [Paperback]

L. A. Banks (Author)

Book Description

Series: Vampire Huntress Legend | Publication Date: June 4, 2003

There is one woman who is all that stands between us and the eternal night.
Here is an account of her legend....

All Damali Richards ever wanted to do was create music and bring it to the people. Now she is a Spoken Word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records. But come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demons—predators that people tend to dismiss as myth or fantasy. But Damali and her Guardian team cannot afford such delusions, especially now, when a group of rogue vampires have been killing the artists of Warriors of Light and their rival, Blood Music. Strange attacks have also erupted within the club drug-trafficking network and drawn the attention of the police. These killings are a bit out of the ordinary, even for vampires. No neat puncture marks in the neck to show where the life’s blood has been sucked from the body. These bodies have been mutilated beyond recognition, indicating a blood lust and thirst for destruction that surpasses any Damali has encountered before. Damali soon discovers that behind these brutal murders is the most powerful vampire she has ever met, and this seductive beast is coming for her next. But his unholy intentions have also drawn the focus of other hellish dark forces. Soon Damali finds herself being pulled deeper into the vast and horrifying vampire world.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In fiction, film, and TV, vampires are a dominant trend of the young millennium. Is it is because the blood-suckers are a perfect metaphor for corrupt politicians and corporate executives? Because alternative sexualities are gaining acceptance? Because the idea of living forever (even if undead) is so alluring? The reasons are unclear. What is clear is that the hottest subgenre (in both popularity and sensuality) is the vampire-huntress subgenre, thanks to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter and Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With L.A. Banks's debut novel, Minion, a tough, sexy new vampire huntress challenges the dominance of Anita Blake and Buffy.

Damali Richards is a rising star of Warriors of Light Records--but her fans would never guess that she is also the most important vampire hunter in a millennium. However, unfortunately for the inexperienced young huntress, the vampires and demons have both discovered her existence. An age-old war escalates to unprecedented heights of violence as the dark forces strive to slay Damali before she comes of age and gains her full powers.

Damali is an appealing heroine, the concept is intriguing, and the series is promising. However, the first novel is rocky. Damali is a vampire-killing martial artist, and Minion presents an epic struggle between good and evil, yet the novel neglects to include a climactic battle between Damali and the bad guys (or much of a climax at all; a sequel is obviously forthcoming). Another problem is that Damali's teacher withholds crucial information from not only the huntress, but also her guardians, who should have learned everything many years ago. In contrast, the characters frequently tell each other things they already know. Readers craving the twisted erotic charge of the Anita Blake novels or the Buffy-Spike relationship may be dissatisfied that sexual tension is less important to Minion; and readers seeking Hamiltonian melodrama may also be disappointed. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

Lovely African-American Damali Richards is a "spoken word" performer with a complement of musicians and technicians in this first of a projected horror trilogy from Banks. As if this weren't fantasy enough, Damali is also a "vampire slayer." The entourage of this black "Buffy" is a politically correct rainbow of seven guardians, who disguise their weapons as musical instruments to get through airport security and on to the next gig. When the guardian team faces action, they tend to stand around jive-talking their adrenaline up for pages before they go after the vamps. But they aren't just vampires: master vampire Fallon Nuit uses his recording label as a front for gangsters, drugs and a multinational corporate empire that controls most of the world's economy. He's hooked up with a demon and has created "the Minion" of rogue hybrid-vampires. Nuit's so bad even the Vampire Council wants him gone. Damali's not just a slayer either. She's "ripening" as she hits age 21 into a superhuman who emits an aphrodisiacal scent that makes male vampires "go nuts"-they must "choose to kill her or take her." Overheated prose ("massive incisors ripped through her gums like they were giving hideous birth") and a complicated "legend" backstory (a hodgepodge of New Wave, paranormal, astrologic, Judeo-Christian, pseudo-African and mystical mythology) weigh down a story more calculated marketing idea than original literary concept. FYI: The author has written romances as Leslie Esdaile and TV tie-ins as Leslie E. Banks.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (June 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312316801
• ISBN-13: 978-0312316808
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (175 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Me, I'm a bit out there, I guess you can tell by the books:) I like keeping some things close to the vest--my favorite things to do among them... guess it's that whole mysterious author groove, LOL... but I like the good guys to win in the end.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!!!!!, February 22, 2005

By 

T. Drew (Hope Mills, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Minion: A Vampire Huntress Legend (Paperback)

Minion By L.A. Banks is an excellent book!!!! When I read the first chapter I was hooked. It is so great to have a vampire huntress who is African American and who has a very diverse guardain team. The book is exciting from beginning to end and will have the reader begging for more.

41 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting take on vampires., June 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Minion: A Vampire Huntress Legend (Paperback)

I think that this book is better than the first editorial review would lead you to believe. Yes, it is a commercial book but then aren't almost all books written in the hopes that they will be "commercial?" That is the author and publisher want the book to sell well.

I have read lots of other vampire fiction and am a big Buffy fan but this book has an interesting take on vampires; stuff that I haven't seem before but that makes sense within the story.

Also the setting, the hip-hop music world, shouldn't turn anyone off.

There were scenes that I found scary enough that I told myself not to think about them when I went to sleep so I wouldn't have nightmares. :)

In addition there is a good helping of romance with the interaction of Damali and Carlos.

Yes, there are times when the writing seems a bit clunky but that is because I think Ms Banks is trying to set up the start of what is going to be a very involved story.

If I had to put the books in a list I'd say that they were more complex and "adult" than the usual Buffy book, not as light and romantic as Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse, and not as violent as Anita Blake.

I look forward to the next installment.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treat!, November 1, 2005

By 

ThePaperbackStash.com (FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minion: A Vampire Huntress Legend (Paperback)

Minion is a delectable morsel that promises to be part of a much larger, tantalizing entree. Filled to the brim with genuine emotion, action around every corner, delicious characterization and an even, rapid pace -- this one's a definite addition to any vampire or horror addicts plate. When the ending came around I was drooling for more; my own bloodlust was so aroused I will personally hunt down the next addition just to sate my newfound hunger.

Minion kept me enthralled from the first chapter. Beginning with people from simpler times, it leaves the reader in a daze and a cliffhanger of sorts, only to lure us closer to the main course. I wasn't quite sure what to think at different moments; I went from having my questions about a certain person, to trying to unravel the plot in my head, to trying to figure out the outcome. To my delight I couldn't accomplish ANY of these things, and as a result this story ended up as my favorite type: unpredictable and knuckle-grinding.

The only complaint I could find about this one -- and it took plenty of searching to conjure up ANY negativity, believe you me -- was that I wanted more. The ending left me unsatisfied simply because I am not the biggest fan of cliffhangers. I was rabid with curiosity about what bloody mess Damali and her crew would drop into my lap next, and I have to wait to get it. But of course that technique IS the best way to draw in faithful fans for the next installments. It brings to mind what the main big bad vampire Nuit said (although not in these words) -- the newly turned will want to return to the master's cup.

Proper suspense was built at the right moments; there's plenty of violence to satisfy the graphic crowd. The atmosphere was tight, dark, gritty. But thankfully this book did not revolve around endless, pointless violence only for the sake of doing so -- it had a heart AND a soul. The style was all about realism in a fantasy we ourselves do not reside in.

Damali Richards is a character easy to identify with. The other characters all had their own personal magic, and while at time I had thoughts about whether I would have liked to slug the "mother" Marlene or not, in the end her personality shone through and it all made more sense.

Walk, run, hitchhike to the nearest bookstore to pick yourself up a copy. Or else take the lazy route like I do and just click onto the Internet.