Customer Reviews

*OP As One Dead (Vampire - the Masquerade)

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I just read a book and was very surprised at how good it was. The book is AS ONE DEAD by Don Bassingthwaite and Nancy Kilpatrick. Nancy should not be a stranger to most. The book is set in the world of White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade and the title comes from Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET. As the title might suggest, there is a love story and plenty of tragedy. This isn't bad news sort of tragedy, this is bad things happening to characters that I found I actually cared about. Not many books have managed to pull off tragedy for me (ROMEO AND JULIET did not), but this one surprisingly did.

What's it about? Well... Toronto is under the control of the Sabbat clan. They defeated the Camarilla and took over. The remaining Camarilla have been confined to an eight-block area called The Box. They are not allowed out and the Sabbat are not allowed in. Enter Biana who enters the box claiming that the outside Camarilla want to rejoin those in The Box. Can she convince them? What are her motives?

The plot was more complex and better laid out than in many books I have read recently. Take a look at it, you just might be as surprised as I was.

"As One Dead", named for the line in "Romeo and Juliet": "As one dead in the bottom of a tomb", is based on the role-playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade. Like the Shakespearean play the title of this book is cited from, there is a forbidden love that blossoms against the Gothic Toronto setting. The Juliet character is an 11th-century vampire named Bianka, born into darkness by two different makers, one is Toreador and the other Brujah. She's come to Toronto with her pet raven (Ravena)--to the Box, to be more exact, a small section in the city where a stubborn group of Camarilla are confined by the Sabbat, a ruthless bunch of bloodsuckers. Bianka's purpose is to help free the imprisoned Kindred from the Sabbat's hold, but her mission is conflicted when she falls for the enemy (Lot).

While having some knowledge about The Masquerade storytelling game is useful, it's not really necessary. There are some terms that may be confusing, but a lot of it is self-explanatory, and most people shouldn't have any trouble reading this book. It happens to be one of my all-time favorite vampire novels, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in vampire fiction. Pretty much anything published by White Wolf is worth checking out as well.

I realize that this is a World of Darkness novel, but it seems like the author is not trying to write anything that rises above that. "As One Dead" is full of unexplained jargon (which I was familiar with, but the average reader might not be), cardboard characterization (of both people and setting), stagnant dialogue and a carbon copy plot. I'm not a hater of the WoD setting, and I have read some great novels set in White Wolf Games' world that were spectacular ("The Masquerade of Red Death" series is fantastic). I just get the feeling that the author(s) were people who just wanted to write a book for gamers, were very green in their writing, and were above editorial suggestions.

This wasn't Bassingthwaite's first novel, he's written a number of books before this one. So, it suggests to me that he "phoned this book in." Kilpatrick had published vampire fiction for a year or so before this book was published, so she might be where the "green" comes in.

Both of the writers are still writing, so they must have gotten better.

This book is terrible.

I hold no allusions that vampire novels in many and most cases are pretty much brain candy. but this book was not only entertaining but containg aslo a complex political subplot that interwove with the tribal activities of the sabbat and the self indugent attitudes of the camirilla towards the masquerade. this vamp book is an intriging love story as well that ranks up there with the Sonja Blue stories.

As One Dead is a short book. If you are a serious reader it will take you on an average of one to two days to read.

Despite being a small story it is a well told one, and quiet honestly one of my favorite stories in the World of Darkness setting.

The story centers around the Sabbat controlled city of Toronto. Within the city the remaining Camarilla survivors are forced to dwell within an eight block area. This area is known as the "Box" and is also one of the nicest areas in the city. Enter Bianca, a powerful elder vampire who enters the Box in attempts to assist the Camarilla in becoming free of the Sabbat influence.

On the other side of the coin, there is a Sabbat Templar by the name of Lot who serves under a psychotic Bishop named Fletcher. Fletcher, Lot, along with a Ravnos Antiribu are in charge of enforcing and governing the Box.

What occurs is a ephemeral romance story, ironically told through the eyes of the undead. As One Dead draws heavily upon Romeo and Juliet and follows the ingredients of the legendary play. The story is filled with drama, betrayal, action, angst, anger, politics, mystery, suspense, multi-dimensional characters, acts of heroism, and of course love.

This is one of the earlier Old WoD novels which explored the inner workings of the Sabbat. What enjoyed about this portrait of the Sabbat is that not all of the Sabbat characters, actually the minority of the fleshed out characters were not psychotic creatures of mass destruction who wanted to maim humanity in the most gruesome way possible. Every character given a name in the novel served a purpose, and each was unique and individualistic.

The romance which happens brings a moment of joy and hope in the dark and fallen setting of World of Darkness, and I honestly hoped the ending would be different the second time through.

"As One Dead" is a touching romantic story within the gothic horror genre. I recommend it to those who are sentimental and romantics at heart. There are fans those types of fans and individuals who play and followed the World of Darkness setting. If you are one of those people, this book is for you.

Being a White wolf buff and a vampire fanatic, As One Dead was true to it all. I found the book interesting, non-linear, and a real eye catcher. If you love vampire books then you'll love this one. it has everything you could possibly want from a vampire book.