Necroscope [Paperback]

Brian Lumley (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tor Books (2000)
• ASIN: B001SDCDE4
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love Necroscope, May 9, 2002

By 

Plaque "Plaque" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Necroscope (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm not sure where to begin praising the Necroscope series. Let me try to break things down scientifically...

1. Brian Lumley's writing style is... unique. He truly shines during this series, but... buyer beware. He has a quirky style to say the least. Don't look for characters who mirror real-life. They don't. Don't look for his "pseudo-science" to make too much sense... it doesn't. But the rewards far outweigh any suspension of disbelief you'll have to excercise. DO look for quality, suspense filled writing that builds and builds until it hits the boiling point! DO look for some of the most inventive and original use of "blood-and-guts" ever to be put on paper, and somehow he manages to keep the descriptions eloquent and elegant.

2. These books contain, without question, the greatest vampire literature in the history of mankind. This is not a joke, nor is it blind worship of the author. Lumley's vampires are leaps and bounds above any other vampire characterizations you will ever find, period.

3. Lumley's use of stories-within-stories is also top notch. He is the only author I know (with the possible exception of older King) who can tell a very long and detailed history of a character or plotline (for hundreds of pages sometimes!) without losing his readers or becoming boring. You WANT to know what happened way back when, and when Lumley is finished, you crave more!

4. Lumley seems to be a bit of an enigma. I've read other works; The House of Doors (terrible), Psychomech (even worse), and Demogorgon (passable, I think, but I don't remember it AT ALL!). I have never come across an author who is sooo good at one particular brand of story or series, yet falls flat with everything else.

Anything else I say here would probably ruin the plots, so I will quit now. Buy this series.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a CLASSIC, Lumley's vampires rock!!!, September 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Necroscope (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been reading this series of books since I was in sixth grade, and these books are masterpieces!!! I am not the biggest vampire fan around, I think they are old, overused and out of date. However, Lumley has found a way to make a story so gripping and so original, that NECROSCOPE is one of my favorite books of all time!! A war between the dead and vampires, MASTERWORK if you ask me!! This novel charicters are also original and they do the story justice! I am sure this book will become a classic read in the years to come. I also think it's a shame that authors like Anne Rice get well noted for their vampire novels, when they don't even come close to Lumley's vampires. Brian Lumley's work to me is just as good as William Peter Blatty's 'The Exorcist' of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot.' You will understand me once you have read it. NECROSCOPE is the ultimate in vampire horror. (P.S., the other novels in the series are pretty good too, but I would only recommend the first three in the series, and NECROSCOPE:THE LOST YEARS. So let Lumley give you a vampire story with definition, and read this book! I'm only 15 and I love it!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First of only three good books in the series., May 20, 2001

By 

Christopher Wanko "-C" (Nutley, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Necroscope (Mass Market Paperback)

People need to know some things about Brian Lumley's writing in general, and this series in particular.

My firm belief is that the idea had gone as far as it should have with the first three books. Of the subsequent novels, there's perhaps two good novels of material spread over about six books, more or less.

My advice is to get the first three, and then buy used copies of any others. After awhile, Lumley's egregious use of exclamation points wears on a reader. And, honestly, the ideas are better than his execution at times.

However, the *ideas* are incredibly good, and really, the first three books are excellent diversions and good reads. Not strictly "horror"- this isn't scary like Salem's Lot is scary- but if you made the first book into a movie, you'd probably have a box office hit grossing $100 million.