Customer Reviews

Valentine's Exile (Vampire Earth, Book 5)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought for sure that there would be no way for Knight to write a followup to Valentine's Rising that could compare with that book. That's what I get for thinking.

Not that I don't think that he's up to the task, it is just that I've found that most serial writers get locked into a predictable formula and/or get mired in minutia and backstory. And with him writing yet another original series as well (Age of Fire), I wasn't going to be disappointed if Valentine's Exile was of lesser quality than Valentine's Rising - I knew it would still be a great read.

Well, consider me overjoyed! Knight has succeeded in creating another absolutely wonderful story in the Vampire Earth setting. The story is thoroughly involved, challenging, and enthralling. I found it extremely difficult to put down as Knight gives the reader a continuously moving plot that keeps the reader guessing and entertained. He has a talent matched by few wherein he delivers enough description to give the reader a detailed image of the setting without detracting from or interrupting the pace of the storyline. His setting, though fantastic, is filled with characters and events that you can visualize without suspending logic or belief. His heroes are wonderfully drawn and complex without the need or want to make them unbelievable superheroes.

Valentine's Exile opens with David taking part in a major offensive against the Kur. The battle is long and costly, with his good friend Post being severely wounded. As a reward for their duty, David and company are given an undesired leave. David decides to use this time in search of Post's wife as a personal favor to him. Accompanied by Duvalier and Ahn-Kha, Valentine travels from one edge of the Midwest to the other discovering intrigue, betrayal, conspiracy, and slimy politics (is there any other kind?). I was pleasantly surprised every step of the way.

The story is gritty, produces a lot of emotion, and is completely entertaining. I rate it as Valentine's Rising's equal (my personal favorite of the series and one of my favorite books of all time).

"Valentine's Exile" is the fifth volume of the Vampire Earth series; I strongly recommend reading the preceding volumes or at least "Tale of the Thunderbolt" and "Valentine's Rising" before reading this one.
E. E. Knight (b. 1965) has developed a thrilling saga, where the writer mixes different genres fluently: sci-fi, fantasy, terror, military & thriller giving way to vibrant & gripping tales.
This is the first book in the saga in which the author repeats some themes as military trial and search of an abducted woman in Kurian Zone.

The whole series is placed in post-apocalyptic scenery where an alien race, the Kur, has subdued all Earth powers installing a reign of terror & servitude over humankind.
Some human enclaves still resist and confront Kurian Order. They are backwater regions that stubbornly fight to remain free.
These free communes are aided by other ancient aliens the Lifeweavers that train humans and develop latent potentialities within them creating Wolves, Cats and Bears to fight the Kurian Reapers with some chances to succeed. Wolves work in packs with military organization similar to commandos. Cats are loners that work behind enemy lines as spies, saboteurs or assassins. Bears are dangerous berserks able to kill Kurians almost singlehanded and operate in small teams.

The main character is David Valentine. He has been a Wolf (see "Way of the Wolf") afterwards a trainee Cat (see "Choice of the Cat") and an autonomous Cat fulfilling his own mission (see "Tale of the Thunderbolt"). His last mission has been to create havoc behind Kurian lines and lead the resistance in a fateful siege (see "Valentine's Rising").
At the start of the book he and his Razors are participating in the last push to recover Dallas from Kurian hands.
After some fighting while he is visiting an old relationship he is summoned (one more time) to a trial.
Subsequently, after some issues that I won't disclose, he is again in KZ looking for the abducted wife of a friend.

The author explores in depth the feelings and emotions of Valentine forced to act ruthlessly and cruelly. How can he reconcile this with his natural humanitarian self? Is he justified? The reader will decide, Valentine can't and his conscience tortures him relentlessly.

Another interesting issue of this series is that Valentine is not immune to his hazardous life, he bore scars all over his body and one of his legs gives him permanently trouble. This adds to flesh a real person and not a stainless iron hero.

This is a book that may be enjoyed by sci-fi, fantasy and action adepts as well as general public too.
Only one caution (applicable to the whole series): some scenes are really truculent, be warned.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Valentine's Exile continues to follow the travels and tribulations of David Valentine and his fight against the Kurians on Vampire Earth.

This book is complete with action and suspense from cover to cover and in my opinion, the best of the series.

Past books in the series have disappointed me because of Knight's storyline with large scale battles and troop movements. You seemed to lose the personality of Valentine and his comrades especially in the "Tale of the Thunderbolt" and the last 1/5 of Valentine's Rising.

This book emphasizes Knight's strengths. Valentine and friends in a covert mission into the heart of the enemy's territory. It reflects what I loved about the series in the "Way of the Wolf" and the "Choice of the Cat" but even better.

The writing is crisp and the reading is very fast. The twists are pretty surprising and Knight leaves a serious cliffhanger that leads to all sorts of plot-lines. Phenomenal.

All in all, his best of the series, and well deserving of the hardcover book.

I will continue to buy this series as it is only getting better.

I would have given this 3.5 stars, if I could. I chose 4 over 3 because the series as a whole is worth (I think) at least 4 stars.

General Feeling: Worth reading but unsatisfying in some ways.

I agree with what some of other dissapointed reviewers say, though I actually think the ending was good,it woke me up a bit.

There are a couple of continuity errors and (disagreeing with what someone above said) some plot recipes that reduce the quality of this novel, and the general overall story did not seem to make many advances.

First of all David seems to have lost some of his "Wolf" or "Cat" powers. Specifically the super speed, there were quite some occasions to use it, but he never did (for example in the competition with the worm riders).

The plot recipe (formula) I am referring to is the one where our hero is somehow brought into a "tribal" situation where he has to learn the customs of the new tribe and through his valorous actions becomes a valued member of that tribe. David already did with the Jamaicans, and now with the Worm riders. This formula gets old fast.

I am a fan of Knight but I really felt that not as much happened in this book as in the previous ones.

I am getting to where I really hate this author... because I know when the next book comes out I will not be able to put it down until I finish it. GREAT SERIES AND A GREAT BOOK. This one really pulls together a lot of loose threads and answers questions. I am still wanting to see more details on each of the hunters specialties. What a twist at the end. I really hope the member lost comes back in the next book though. So Mr Knight if you are reading this, PLEASE!!!!

I wasn't sure what to expect after Valentine's Rising (my favorite thusfar), but EE Knight has exceeded my expectations with Exile.

The latest book in the Vampire Earth series is an engaging combination of action/adventure, drama, and a little comedy. Despite its sci-fi/fantasy classification, it's not sci-fi in the stereotypical sense. The settings are recognisable and the characters continue to be dynamic and compelling. It's extremely hard to put down once the adventure's begun.

Exile is a wonderful addition to the Vampire Earth series and to the sci-fi community as well. Even people who don't typically read sci-fi would enjoy this book.

E.E. Knight's Valentine's Exile begins shortly after the events of Valentine's Rising. David Valentine and his platoon of Razorbacks have just finished playing the key role in saving Southern Command from complete destruction. Valentine's troops are mobilized to Dallas, a city currently held by the Kurians. When the Razorbacks save the day again, Valentine is promoted and is given three months leave. Things do not work out as planned, and Valentine finds himself exiled from his homeland as a fugitive under suspicion of murder.

Valentine's Exile is a standard addition to the VAMPIRE EARTH series. Like the rest of the series, it is a violent romp through a post-apocalyptic war zone of gooey vampires and enemy agents. The VAMPIRE EARTH series does many things extremely well. The cast is colorful and unique, and they almost always return for another adventure. The stories are just shallow enough to leave you wanting to read the next installment. However, there are some things they do very poorly, and Valentine's Exile just happens to be one of the clearest examples of some things I don't like about VAMPIRE EARTH.

Characters have a tendency to act out of character in order to move the plot along in a certain directions. E.E. Knight also likes to use courtroom drama to make major plot shifts in the overall story. So far there have been at least three courtroom battles that have generated major plot twists. In VAMPIRE EARTH, it seems you cannot change direction in a story without one an act of random homicidal violence or a trumped up criminal charge.

Despite a few "what the fuh..?" moments, I did enjoy Vampire's Exile. Once again I listened to Knight's story on Brilliance Audio CD. Christian Rummel is the voice talent, and he is, as always, superb. Some day, I will do a recorded interview with Rummel and make him do the entire piece in his Alessa Duvalier voice. --Justin at FantasyLiterature

I wasn't expecting to like this book nearly as much as I did, but I have to say that this was the best Vampire Earth book of them all. David Valentine is the centerpiece of this tale, and along with his comrades-at-arms, must get out of some trumped up murder charges, and then make a foray into the Kurian Zone in search of his CO's missing wife. There is a lot of action, humor, and revelations about the alien/vampire species that has taken over our planet.

Do not read this if you haven't read the other books in the series!

E. E. Knight's exciting series of a post-alien invasion Earth and the exploits of the human resistance spawned from it were, I freely admit, a steal at paperback original prices. They were the best deal a fan of speculative fiction could find.

So now the Vampire Earth series has presumably become popular, and it is being published in hardcover, at correspondingly higher cost, and the question is raised - are the books going to be worth paying more and not waiting a year for the softcover release?

The answer is a resounding yes! In Valentine's Exile, the story is yet again broadened and expanded. The protagonist, one of the most interesting and superbly drawn heroes in the genre, is thrown into terrible circumstances, due to the vengeful machinations of a former superior officer in the guerilla army of the Ozarks region, whose incompetence has led not to disgrace but to an undeserved promotion and position of power. Hence the title, as Val is now a fugitive with a few steadfast friends, and on a private mission with shocking secrets to uncover.

Knight's greatest strength is his world-building skills. The reader gets the sense (similar to the feeling one encounters when first reading, say, Lord of the Rings), that for every page that has been written, there are ten more pages of background and detail in Knight's notes, that he mines for his plausible and rich storyline. This is an essential quality when writing speculative fiction, because the author must maintain the suspension of disbelief, and the best way to do that is to have a believeable answer for everything, no matter how out of the ordinary the plot and setting are. Let's be hones - are we on Earth likely to be taken over by a species of aura-feeding all-powerful aliens? No, but by God, Knight makes you believe it is indeed, quite possible, and that characters like David Valentine will give us a fighting chance to survive and eventually turn the tables.

Knight's second most impressive skill is his uncanny ability, (and believe me, this is quite difficult to do with an ongoing heroic series), is to never repeat himself. This series is five books and counting, and has not even remotely become formulaic. Valentine continually overcomes different obstacles and grows as a character, while still being our fascinating POV into an alien-dominated future America that Knight describes in sharp and clear prose.

This is simply one of the better pieces of science fiction on the market today, and whether it sounds cliche or not, Knight just keeps improving.

To return to my original hypothetical question . . . the truth is, that this series should have been printed in hardcover from book one onwards, and we readers were just lucky it was not. So do yourself a favor and scarf up a nice cheap copy of Way of the Wolf and get hooked. And if you've followed the series thus far, don't wait a year to buy Valentine's Exile. Instead, pass on a couple of other paperbacks, and use that money to purchase this superb entertainment now. You won't regret it.

"Valentine's Exile" is the fifth volume of the Vampire Earth series; I strongly recommend reading the preceding volumes or at least "Tale of the Thunderbolt" and "Valentine's Rising" before reading this one.
E. E. Knight (b. 1965) has developed a thrilling saga, where the writer mixes different genres fluently: sci-fi, fantasy, terror, military & thriller giving way to vibrant & gripping tales.
This is the first book in the saga in which the author repeats some themes, as military trial and search of an abducted woman in Kurian Zone.

The whole series is placed in post-apocalyptic scenery where an alien race, the Kur, has subdued all Earth powers installing a reign of terror & servitude over humankind.
Some human enclaves still resist and confront Kurian Order. They are backwater regions that stubbornly fight to remain free.
These free communes are aided by other ancient aliens the Lifeweavers that train humans and develop latent potentialities within them creating Wolves, Cats and Bears to fight the Kurian Reapers with some chances to succeed. Wolves work in packs with military organization similar to commandos. Cats are loners that work behind enemy lines as spies, saboteurs or assassins. Bears are dangerous berserks able to kill Kurians almost singlehanded and operate in small teams.

The main character is David Valentine. He has been a Wolf (see "Way of the Wolf") afterwards a trainee Cat (see "Choice of the Cat") and an autonomous Cat fulfilling his own mission (see "Tale of the Thunderbolt"). His last mission has been to create havoc behind Kurian lines and lead the resistance in a fateful siege (see "Valentine's Rising").
At the start of the book he and his Razors are participating in the last push to recover Dallas from Kurian hands.
After some fighting while he is visiting an old relationship he is summoned (one more time) to a trial.
Subsequently, after some issues that I won't disclose, he is again in KZ looking for the abducted wife of a friend.

The author explores in depth the feelings and emotions of Valentine forced to act ruthlessly and cruelly. How can he reconcile this with his natural humanitarian self? Is he justified? The reader will decide, Valentine can't and his conscience tortures him relentlessly.

Another interesting issue of this series is that Valentine is not immune to his hazardous life, he bore scars all over his body and one of his legs gives him permanently trouble. This adds to flesh a real person and not a stainless iron hero.

This is a book that may be enjoyed by sci-fi, fantasy and action adepts as well as general public too.
Only one caution (applicable to the whole series): some scenes are really truculent, be warned.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.