*OP Inherit the Earth (Hunter: The Reckoning) (Paperback)

by Stewart Wieck (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Unknown to most humans, the world is largely ruled and directed by supernatural forces they do not even suspect. Werewolves once herded humans as humans now domesticate animals. Vampires still refer to humans as their herd, and there are mages who, though mortal themselves, consider most others to be "mundane" for their lack of insight and power. But now a force has come to Earth and imbued a select few humans with not just the knowledge of the evil that threatens them, but also with the power to do something about it. These Imbued, have become hunters, those rare mortals who seek to take back the night from ages old menaces.

This collection of nine stories concerns many of the most famous among the ranks of the hunters, such as Witness1 who founded Hunter.net. Also included are characters and events that connect to other World of Darkness stories, including the Predator & Prey series and the Year of the Scarab Trilogy. Get to know the characters who are taking back the night one monster at a time!

About the Author
Stewart Wieck is the author of the best-selling Clan Novel: Toreador, and the editor of the Clan Novel Anthology and The Beast Within.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: White Wolf Publishing (July 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565048393
• ISBN-13: 978-1565048393
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,685,991 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #12 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Wieck, Stewart
  #17 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Wieck, Stewart

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some Strong Stories and NO Particularly Weak Ones., August 21, 2001

By	R. Cole - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Inherit the Earth is an anthology set in the World of Darkness containing short stories featuring Hunters - normal humans granted "powers" that allow them to detect and battle the supernatural. The "supernatural" includes ghosts and werewolves, but in this novel is most often vampires (which will make those tired of the over-used "hunter vs. vampire" plot hook shudder). Still, _Inherit the Earth_ contains a good selection of stories, and I didn't find the usual "page-filler" tales that are so boring I can't force myself to finish them; instead, each tale was at least marginally interesting, with a few really standing out and being enjoyable. I would recommend this trilogy to Hunter fans, and to a lesser extent anyone interested in the World of Darkness (especially Vampire fans); I would not, however, recommend this book to people only interested in Horror stories, as none of the tales are particularly scary.

My one big complaint is that this book does not appear to have been proofread. Sure, the spellings appear accurate, but in a world of spellchecking word-processors, that isn't hard to pull off (unless you're like me and don't use them). There are, however, many words that are out of place ("though" instead of "thought") and whole sentences that don't make sense (as if the author decided to change a line, then inserted the new material incorrectly). This occurs mostly in the earlier stories, but still shouldn't be in a professional work at all (maybe an Amazon.com review, though.. ;).

The following is a brief description of the stories in the anthology. The descriptions contain slight SPOILERS, but none that should give away the endings or decrease the suspense.

"The Treatment of Dr. Eberhardt" by Stefan Petrucha. An excellent Hunter story that not only starts off the anthology, but really sets the mood for the whole book. It is hard to describe this story at all without spoiling a part of it, so I will simply leave it at that.

"Credo" by Eric Griffin. A story involving Witness1 (a character previously seen in the Hunter sourcebooks) and a potential meaning for the oft-used slogan "Inherit the Earth." I didn't find the story particularly exciting, nor the potential meaning of the saying to my liking, but it does give some insight into the existance of Hunters that may not have been available before.

"The Names of the Dead" by James Stewart. I found this story disappointing, and am getting VERY tired of the plot device that is revealed at the end. The character Dictatrix11 is somewhat interesting, though.

"Closure" by Andrew Bates. An excellent tale involving Carpenter from the "Hunter mailing list" presented in other sourcebooks. Wraith fans will probably also like this one, as it references some of the powers and laws from their corner of the WoD.

"Antibody" by Michael Lee. This story should have been called, "When Hunters Go Bad" due to over-zealous actions of the "hero" of this cautionary tale. It introduces a few new concepts that some may find interesting, but I was not particularly impressed.

"Some Faerie Tales are Real" by David Wilson. Bookworm55 takes to the streets and gets into a lot of trouble. This story was at times funny, at others very dramatic, and in a few areas very sad. It is very much worth reading, though some might think the joke about a Hunter named "Blade" a bit too much (but I loved it).

"The Frailty of Humans" by Gherbod Fleming. This is a 12 page story that seems to spend 9 pages refreshing us with the characters Kaitlin, Black Rindle, and Barks-at-Shadows from Fleming's Hunter novel _Predator & Prey: Werewolf_. While that approach works in full-length novels, it just wastes space in the limited medium of a short story. Though the tale isn't horrible, it certainly isn't particularly interesting (yes, we know werewolves are racists; yes, they aren't always nice to others), and doesn't answer the question as to what happened at the end of the P&P novel.

"Lucimal's Heart" by Dominic von Riedemann. A predictable story involving everyone's favorite Hunter couple, Leaf and Oaken (though mostly Leaf).

"Unusual Suspects" by Richard Lee Byers. The last story in the anthology and most certainly one of the best. The question, "What happens when a vampire needs a detective?" is finally answered! There were one or two plot points that Vampire fans may have a problem with, but Hunter fanatics should love it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amateur Hour, May 18, 2006

By	Rodney Meek (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lately I've been on a big White Wolf kick, picking up a lot of their World of Darkness material (from their golden age prior to when they rebooted the whole product line in the wake of Gehenna). I really dig the assorted source books for Hunter, so I figured, Hey, a collection of short stories about Hunters should be AWESOME.

Oh, my, I was very much mistaken.

First of all, whoever did the proofreading should be sent immediately back to third grade. The book is riddled with spelling and grammar errors, sentence fragments, wildly variant deployments of capitalization, and even changes of character names in mid-stream.

The bigger problem is that most of the stories read like bad fan fiction. The spirit may have been willing, but the flesh was weak. I suppose the "authors" had good intentions, but their execution was highly flawed. Thus, while it may be thrilling for hardcore Hunter fans to see such stalwarts as Witness1, Dictatrix11, Cabbie22, God45, Potter116, and Doctor119 in action, for the most part the plot are ill-conceived and badly executed.

Each Hunter protagonist evidently comes from a different Creed (Innocent, Judge, Martyr, et cetera), and so that obviously affects how they'll react to their adversaries: with compassion or hatred, suspicion or trust, violence or efforts to communicate. This could be interesting if it was handled better, but the stories range from dull to cringe-inducing. Also, reviews elsewhere question whether the treatment of certain characters, particularly God45, is actually consistent with how they've been portrayed in the source books.

That being said, the God45 story, "Antibody", is actually tolerable. And the concluding story with Doctor119, "Unusual Suspects", is somewhat entertaining and mildly clever, while being improbable. "The Treatment of Dr. Eberhardt" had some promise but the author's reach exceeded his grasp. "Lucimal's Heart" is not altogether bad, and "Some Faerie Tales Are Real" hovers on the border of adequacy. The rest are garbage of various odoriferousness, particularly "The Frailty of Humans", which evidently is a repackaged chapter from another White Wolf novel.

I cannot recommend this collection under any circumstances except finding it on a bus station bench or needing it to complete your collection of Hunter material. Avoid!

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT THE BEST, July 30, 2002

By	Tyne(Kato) Lasley (BLOOMINGTON, IL United States) - See all my reviews

IM FAMILIAR WITH THE WORLD OF DARKNESS AND THE HUNTER GENRE AND I ENJOY A "well" crafted vampire tale as well as vampire hunters etc,so i picked up this book hoping 4 a interesting read.......i didnt get one. now before i sound too harsh there are a few well written stories in the anthology but overall the stories are predictable and derivitive.the best way to make the fantastic seem plausible is to layer in as much reality and credibility as possible to help authenticate the incredible plus allow 4 an easy suspension of belief.it takes a fairly competent writer 2 pull it off and unfortunatly there doesnt seem 2 be 2 many on this collection.....most of the stories and characters are just 4 lack of a better word ....corny.the three standouts are the treatment of dr. eberhardt,the names of the dead,the frailty of humans and unusual suspects.