Customer Reviews

Necroscope: Avengers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Brian Lumley's brilliant Necroscope series comes to an end with Necroscope: Avengers. Like so many series under the leadership of Tor, this was an excellent reading diversion over the years. Unfortunately, the series does end with Avengers.

Jake Cutter, as a character, is a worthy successor to Harry Keogh, who does manage to make a guest appearance. Just like Harry, Jake's independence from E-Branch does make for good suspense.

The last few books of the series have dealt with a new threat to Earth. Three Wamphyri have managed to escape from Starside, crossing over via a transdimensional gate under the Carpathian Mountains. Of course, the goal of these three vampire lords is nothing short of total domination of Earth. The only thing blocking their goal is the British E-Branch, a governmental organization of talented mentalists.

As Avengers begins, the vampires, Lady Vavara, Lord Malinari, and Lord Swartz, are attempting to capture the Necroscope and return to Starside with Cutter's vaunted powers added to theirs. The triumvirate is extremely sick of Earth with its short nights and E-Branch, wanting nothing more than to escape Earth with a weapon that can be used against Harry Keogh's descendant Nathan, who has successfully cleansed vampires from his own world.

While on Earth, the Wamphyri have reaped more success than they realized. In earlier books of the series, the Wamphyri attempted to create spores that would filter through the atmosphere and eventually create more of their kind. Initially feeling the brutal sting of failure, the fruiting bodies of their spores have in fact been rather successful. A vampire plague is sweeping the Earth.

Can E-Branch effectively protect Earth and destroy the Wamphyri before they return to Starside? In his previous books, Lumley did not allow the Wamphyri to establish a toehold on Earth. In his last book of the series, however, Lumley does seem to remove all stops and creates an atmosphere of most anything goes.

And, it does not seem to work. While Avengers is a necessary read for those who have been following the Necroscope series, new fans should find their vampire thrills elsewhere. The last forty pages of Avengers are contrived at best, and bring the Necroscope series to a vastly unsatisfying conclusion.

At least Brian Lumley does in fact conclude his series. Quite a few Tor series seem rather endless in scope, and, as is the case with Robert Jordan, are getting rather sporadic with book releases and quality. Still, vampire fans not familiar with Brian Lumley's Necroscope series can safely read the series' first eight books.

While Brian Lumley's final installment to the Necroscope saga wasn't exactly all I had personally hoped it would be, it was still an incredibly fantastic read! Truly worthy Necroscope fans worldwide!

Taken as the final series installment it certainly brings closure to all the various loose-ends that have been dangling out there.

Taken as a whole in all of the thirteen novels . . . it fits beautifully in the Necroscope time line. To call this novel a "stale" bottle of wine is vastly incorrect. "Necroscope: Avengers" is an integral component to a brilliant and impressive tapestry. My only regret is that the ride had to end. It's been a lot of fun over the years. The entire Necroscope saga has been thoroughly well-crafted and entertaining! Jake Cutter may have been a reluctant Necroscope, but he did an admirable job regardless.

After three novels, some of the arguments between Jake and Ben Trask of E-Branch were becoming just a tiny bit tedious, but that's merely a MINOR complaint of mine. The rest of the story more than makes up for this! I especially enjoyed how Jake dealt with his unwanted "house-guest" Korath. That was a very well written sequence.

Thirteen novels! Over a decade of entertainment! And most of all, characters that became like family members! What more could you want? Thank-you, Mr. Lumley. Simply, thank-you for sharing with us the world of the Necroscope and the Wamphyri.

The entire series will always have a special place in my heart.

Let me start of by saying that I have truly loved the Necroscope series. I still remember seeing the skull of the first book staring out from the bookstore shelf, that was a good 11 years ago. Anyway, here we are with Avengers. This is the last book in the series according to Mr. Lumley. In this book he ties up the lose ends from earlier in this triology and from other book's in the series as a whole. However, I didn't like the plot device he used for the ending. Though with its use, he guarantees that there will not be a Necroscope 14. By itself, it is not the best in the series (that would be Necroscope and the Vampire World trilogy), but taken as part of a larger story it works. Mr. Lumley continues to make his human characters believable, for all their psychic abilities. Where his strength lies is the vampires. These creatures are antithesis to everything. As Mr. Lumley describes them, one can just see the red of their eyes and see how they change from the "beautiful people" to vile monsters. I will miss the series, but I have all thirteen novels and will revisit this world again and again.

"Necroscope: Avengers" is a fine conclusion to Brian Lumley's magnificent Necroscope series. In "Avengers" (the best Necroscope novel since "Bloodwars"), Lumley finishes the tale he started in "Invaders" and "Defilers," wrapping up the stories of the mighty Wamphyri, Lord Nephran Malinari, Lady Vavara, and Lord Szwart.

In "Avengers" we get all of the blood and gore we've come to expect and love from Lumley. His vampires are the meanest and most horrifying I've come across in fiction. Lumley's biggest weakness (and it's not much of one) has always been in his characters. His background characters are frequently merely cardboard cutouts that play off the Wamphyri vampire lords, and those in "Avengers" are no different. But the main characters in "Avengers" (Ben Trask & Jake Cutter) start to become more fully formed as they struggle with their humanity in the fight to vanquish the Wamphyri.

This book, as do the previous two in the E-Branch trilogy, focuses on the E-Branch members and not so much on the vampires. While this is initially disconcerting to those of us who loved the "Vampire World" trilogy, after a few chapters readers will find themselves enthralled in E-Branch's efforts to save the world.

This book had a vitality that was missing in both "Invaders" and "Defilers." Lumley put everything he had into his final Necroscope novel and it turned out very satisfying indeed! In the end, we're treated to another one of Lumley's explosive finales. And if everything wrapped up a little too neatly, who cares! It certainly didn't affect my enjoyment of the novel.

It felt good to be reading another Necroscope novel. It felt like I was reacquainting myself with an old friend. I am saddened to hear that this is Brian Lumley's final Necroscope novel, but as a devoted Lumley fan I eagerly look forward to his future efforts. Recommended.

With the 13th novel in the Necroscope series, Brian Lumley brings it all to a close. Now, I must say that I have enjoyed the entire series, but these last bits with Jake Cutter as the Necroscope do seem a bit forced. This book is a far cry from the classic that is the first Necroscope, or my personal favs, the Vamipire World trilogy (Blood Brothers, Last Aerie, Bloodwars). It does tie up several loose ends left from the Lost Years. Brian Lumley has said that this would be the last in the series and he is being true to his word. I give this three stars, because I was drawn in until the very end. His human characters continue to be "real" while his vampires continue to go beyond anything Stoker or Rice could dream up.

I've read the entire Necroscope series, and this is the only one of them that I had to put away unfinished. In fact, Lumley has gotten weaker and weaker in his writing since the end of the Blood Brothers trilogy, making the last five books increasingly more difficult to get through. "Defilers" started Lumley over the edge and "Avengers" finds him plummeting off a cliff.

The "Lumley-isms" that have pervaded all his works are in full force here, and have finally turned me off completely. Nonsensical, long-winded passages abound, with the usual overly descriptive babble taking center stage. Many scenes are told in flashback as usual, but what worked in the original 5 Necroscopes doesn't work here. In the early books of the series, Lumley used flashbacks and storytelling sequences to great effect, showing how the Wamphryi lived their lives on Earth over the millenia. The "historical" aspects of the early books was enthralling and kept my attention for thousands of pages.

Now, it seems EVERYTHING is told in flashback, but it's poor recaps of events "currently" happening to the current crop of characters. The worst part is that all the characters relate events in exactly the same way, with the same phrasings and the same irritating style. People simply do not speak the way Lumley has them speak. The characters were never that great to begin with in Necroscope novels, and have gotten to a point where they all behave like carbons of each other.

I swear Tor books has given Lumley (and Robert Jordan) the freedom to publish anything he wants without the "hassle" (read: benefit) of an EDITOR. The last three Necroscope stories could have been told in half the words, but instead we get long-winded nonsense from a formerly impressive writer.

The New Necroscope series should not have been written. I strongly recommend the original Necroscope quintology as well as the Blood Brothers trilogy. Read "The Lost Years" if you must, the rest can be skipped.

Ardent Brian Lumley fans would not agree that any of his Necroscope books were getting "stale." Most of us were pacing as we waited for the next book full of new twists and turn and new creatures of dread. While I never found Jake to be as "intriguing" as Harry, his appearance in book 13 fleshed him out a bit more. Trask and the others become even more complex as the danger builds. Unexpected twists occur with familiar places, situations and names making themselves know once again.

The only drawback to me is that this is the last of the series!

Brian Lumley definitely changed the way we see the vampire and its world. The Necroscope series is some of the most original vampire stories told, along with Anne Rice's Lestat books.

That being said, you can only write something for so long before it begins to bore you to tears. Cutter is no Keogh, and Lumley never really builds up Cutter's character to match with your feelings for Keogh. You feel sympathetic to Keogh, but in the end he also revolts you as a Lord Vampire.

With Cutter, who cares? The other characters have been well developed in the past nine books; therefore there was no need to dwell on their pasts. Cutter never left me feeling anything for him or what happens to him. This book truly shows how thin the series has become and the ending of this long series is very disappointing, and after all the hard work of the E-Branch team, you feel somewhat cheated. If you have never read Lumley pick up the first Necrosope series and enjoy a true original vampire tale.

For those of us who have been with E-branch from the beginning, Lumley's last three books of the series seem a waste of great talent and a future that was not worth fighting for in the first place.

These are people with special talents that have quite literally moved a world off its axis. Yet, for years upon years (character time) they all seem quite befuddled by emotions and - while telepathic - unable to communicate effectively. This provokes the strong urge in the reader to give each character a swift, hard kick in the hinder with our largest boot. It also seems to make us want to know what happens next.

The story, of course, ends at the beginning, just as Brian Lumley has always told us it would. The Necroscope series has moved far beyond a what-happens kind of series, to who does what TO and/or WITH whom, why, how, and how it affects each character.

The trio of Great Vampires (Wamphyrii) are now on the run following the events in "Invaders". And there just ain't nuthin' more dangerous than a scared Wamphyr. Meanwhile, the multi-layered interrelationships slowly resolve, and new problems arise that make all the previous ones (and readers of this series know that there have been a few other rather dire situations) seem a little silly.

Some of the writing feels reflective of how Mr. Lumley must have felt during the writing process. A bit tired, a bit melancholy, tending to drift off a bit and explore a fascinating detail, wanting to get the story told and yet savoring each element as it unfolds. A 13-novel tale, a triskadecology, fulfills itself and becomes a coherant work. Some may not feel satisfied, but life is not always satisfactory - and neither one is a perfect world (our or Sunside/Starside).

A grand work overall, and now Brian Lumley is free, like Harry, to travel elsewhen. -M.

Wrapped up the series, answered the questions posed it the previous two books. Personally, I liked the book, but thought the ending - the final dozen pages - were pretty shoddy. It seemed that he ran out of ideas so wrapped it up with some mental time travel so we see how the future turns out.