11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nearly as good as the first, November 8, 2000
This review is from: Vamphyri! (Necroscope, Vol. 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Necroscope II is almost as good as it's predecessor. In fact, in many ways it's scarier. Lumley's Lovecraftian influence is made very clear here with his descriptions of the parasitic "vampires" and the different ways the creatures are capable of manifesting themselves. I also liked the wide variety of settings within the book, it was like there were four seperate stories going on. The continuing story of Harry Keogh and his search for a new body; the story of Thibor Ferenzcy and how he became a vampire in the middle-ages; the story of Yulian Bodescu; and Alec Kyle and his cloak and dagger dealings with the Russian ESPers. All these stories are wonderfully intertwined so that you'll never be bored. The only thing that keeps this from being great like the first book is that the characterization isn't nearly as good. Bodescu is a frightening villain, but not as sympathetic as Boris Dragosani from the original Necroscope and the many members of the British E-Branch seem to have little development and are pretty much just people for Bodescu to kill. Still, you'll have a good time reading this and will want to continue on with the series.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Say "Bite Me" to Wamphyrii, July 15, 2001
This review is from: Vamphyri! (Necroscope, Vol. 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Lumley takes the Necroscope saga (which ends at 13 volumes, a triskadecology, with Necroscope: Avengers - just released at the time of this review). In this second volume some of the real trouble to come begins to take shape. Britain's ESPionage unit, E-Branch, begins to come into its own as a secret service. (One worthy of standing with James Bond's M and Q, or the X-Files Division, or any of the other mythical or fictional government agencies that actually seem to get something done.)
Meanwhile our protagonist, Harry Keogh, has this slight problem of being dead himself. Then there is the Old Thing In The Ground, a true Wamphyri who begins to show that Lumley's vampires are not Euro-chic slicks in opera capes, but something quite horrid indeed.
The beauty of Brian Lumley is that he writes in such a way as the reader can easily choose to read the Necroscope series as techno-thrillers, horror novels, romances, mysteries or even psychological explorations. Or some blend of the above. Lumley can get rather gross at times, but does not linger over gory detail. Rather he moves the plot or character development ahead. If there is one flaw in his writing technique, it is the need (forced by the way we publish and distribute books) to repeat himself at times and offer frequent recaps and summaries to the action. This is difficult and annoying to do, for an author. In a way it is a necessary exercise, but if I might offer anyone (especially me) some advice; it would be to balance exposition with additional dialogue. Lumley writes dialogue quite well, but overall it seems there could be more of it, the characters actually discussing the facts of the situation to round them out further.
The unique factor in the Necroscope series is that if a character does not survive one action, s/he is not counted out of the war. With the living, the dead and the Un-dead all playing active roles, Lumley makes it possible to include an array of characters (such as Auguste Ferdinand Moebius himself) without further stretching the willing suspension of disbelief. Lumley has created worlds of balanced dynamics and rules that is internally consistent, the critical factor in any genre of fiction. If you're interest, by all means start at the beginning and work your way through the series.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Necroscope II: Vamphyri!, January 27, 2000
This review is from: Vamphyri! (Necroscope, Vol. 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the first but not the last of Lumley's books, that I hope to enjoy for years to come. Brian drew me into the vampire world with such force and savagery that I had to come back for more. Brian is very graphic in every detail. Yulian Bodescu was a fetus corrupted before he was even born. You just have to love cunning of Thibor Ferenczy. Thanks Brian, you have a fan for life.
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