Customer Reviews

Vampire Nation

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

 

 

I lived in Romania during the last 15 years of communism and yes, the atmosphere pervading the book is awfully close to reality. The dark misery and total fear, the orphans, the total surveillance, they are all true. All telephones in Romania did carry microphones, as did ashtrays in some restaurants. The grotesque behavior of the ruling class - Nicu Ceausescu pissing on the oysters, and many others, are witness accounts described in "Red Horizons: The True Story of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescus' Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption", by I.M.Pacepa, from which the author borrows happily, even in terms of actual words said. (Pacepa was the chief of Romanian espionage and defected to the West; his book is available on Amazon as well). All geographical and architectural descriptions are correct too. Vampirism is an elegant explanation that gives totalitarianism a sense of logic. I almost wish it were true, at least things would have made much more sense. I can't stress that enough - except for the actual drinking of blood and the heroes' attempt to kill Ceausescu, the book is almost a documentary one. Overall, I enjoyed reading it, the adventures of Henry and Anya are fun. I only gave it 4 stars because 5 stars should be reserved for the rare masterpieces of literature.

For whatever reason, it often seems that literary talent seems to go hand-in-hand with left-of-center politics. Hence, for a political conservative such as myself, it is often difficult to find novels that are enthralling, enjoyable reads that don't require one to gnash his teeth whenever the author decides to mix a little political propaganda into the mix. However, occasionally, the intrepid right-wing reader is lucky enough to come across an exception to the rule and Thomas Sipos' often frightening, frequently hilarious, and -- in the end -- disturbingly haunting Vampire Nation is one such beautiful exception.

Set in the late '80s, Vampire Nation follows Henry, intrepid American screenwriter, into Romania where he discovers that the decaying communist regime is actually made up of decadent vampires. Somewhat forcefully recruited by an enigmatic woman, Henry is soon part of a violent conspiracy to assassinate Romania's ruler, Nicolae Ceausescu. Over the course of one night, Henry is forced into a netherworld where communist vampires live off the blood of the "common man" and where the country side is haunted by the ghosts of innocent men, women, and children sacrificed in the name of "the people."

The analogy between vampirism and communism is very explicit but also very believable. As a writer, Sipos has a definite knack for creating dark images and many of the book's sequences will remain in the reader's head long after the final page has been turned. However, what makes this political book work is the fact that Sipos doesn't simply rest on his politics. Instead, the book's anti-communist message is mixed in with a thrilling, fast-moving story that will capture the interest and imagination of any reader, regardless of that reader's ideology. As scary as Sipos' vampires are, this is also, at-times, a laugh out loud novel and Sipos shows a wit that would make several better known writers envious. He has created a truly likeable and sympathetic everyman in his protaganist and its hard not to get caught up in Henry's adventures and his unlikely romance with a woman who might save his life or kill him, depending on the circumstances. All-in-all, this is an impressive, intelligent tour-de-force and truly both one of the best horror novels and one of the best books period that I've had the pleasure to read in a long time.

This is an amazing novel. I can strongly recommend it as a delightful allegory of organized socialism in the last century. (Delightful being a relative term, of course!) It takes a lot to get me to read a novel in one sitting - Vampire Nation is just such a page turner. Moreover, I've never been a big fan of the genre (or genre fiction in general), but Sipos' treatment has transcended genre with its handling of the premise.

Without exaggeration, I can say that there are echoes of Orwell, Stoker, and Kafka in this novel. (And perhaps just a touch of Jonathan Swift? I couldn't help but feel, as I read the descriptions of the vampires as seen by Henry, the protagonist, that there was a touch of Gulliver's Travels, when Gulliver commented on the physical appearance of the pores in the giant's skin.) The trouble with statements like that, however, is that they compare the literature of today with the literature of the past. Sipos' vision is uniquely his, and uniquely modern, despite the "A meets B" cliche of the title of this review.

For those who like grim descriptions of morbidly graphic scenarios, there are plenty of those in this novel as well. What is particularly disturbing about Sipos' gift for the graphic, however, is that his descriptions of the ghouls in the children's hospital is probably less horrific than the reality of those awful places.

Whether you wish to read it as an allegory, or just an adventure filled romp through Communist Rumania, this book certainly only rarely gives the reader a chance to catch his or her breath.

The author captures a period of time, at the height of Communist dominance, to provide a commentary on the evils of the totalitarian state. He does it with an entertaining action scenario. It would be hilarious if not such a sobering example of the idiocy of man.

Brilliant satire. This is NOT JUST a vampire novel, in the same way that "Animal Farm" is NOT JUST a funny animal book. This gothic tale has our two vampire hunters (think of Zander and a really grown-up Buffy) taking on real-life dictator Nikolai Ceaucescu, here portrayed as the head bloodsucker of Roumania. Of course, the vampire tale is just the proverbial "spoonful of sugar" for the politics in the book, and occasionally, things begin to get a little heavy-handed. But Sipos doesn't let a reader's attention flag very long, because he knows people expect lots of vampires in a genre novel. In this, he doesn't disappoint -- the heroine doesn't get much time for speeches before the two of them are under attack again. The passages describing vampire depravity are made doubly chilling when set among the ruins of Roumania, which are described with an almost documentary flair. Part of the reason the two disparate elements of Vampire Nation work together so well is that Roumania is both a Communist wasteland and the homeland of Vlad Tepes, the real-life inspiration for Dracula. Author Thomas Sipos drew on his own childhood memory of the devastation of Roumania and turned it into a metaphor; in so doing he has created a vampire novel entirely on his own terms.

I very much liked the book. The author takes aim at all forms of collectivism, really (likening its practitioners to vampires, very apt IMO), and at the same time injects a very dark (dark red?) humor. I would also recommend his other novels.

The book is hilariously taking pot shots at socialism while reminiscent of "Love at First Bite" or a segment of "X-files while Buzzed." It could have been written by P.J. O'Rourke and Steven King and would seem even more appropriate as a movie wherein the antics could be displayed for the unimaginative mind. It's one of the funniest and one those blue days, it can provide humor and nuanced lessons on the problems with socialism. The author is nutty enough to be genius.

Henry Willoughby is a young American who travels to Transylvania on business during the closing years of the Cold War when that remote and legend-haunted Eastern European nation was firmly under the dominance of the communists. There he discovers to his sudden horror that Communism is vampirism, and a man is better dead than undead! Inspired by author Thomas Sipos' childhood memories of Transylvania under communist control, Vampire Nation is a riveting, unique, superbly written horror novel which is very highly recommended for all fans of the vampire genre.

Sipos captures the drab madness of Ceausescu's Romania, combining dark humor with nail-biting suspense as an American screenwriter teams up with a supermodel CIA rouge agent to drive a stake through the heart of the super Stalinist regime - and its diabolical leaders.
From the opening scenes in a gloomy Bucharest populated with vampires who serve the evil regime - and the ghouls and even orphans who grab at whatever human morsels they can, the story moves at near-breakneck speed to a climax so bizarre that the reader is left wanting another hundred pages of this stuff.
Sipos has a deft understanding of his subjects - socialism as vampirism - and Romania under the megalomaniac fist of super-Stalinist Nicolae Ceausescu and his obscene, venom-spitting wife, Elena. Some of the dialogue seems lifted nearly intact from Ion Pacepa's RED HORIZONS - a device that works perfectly in conveying the tragicomedy of those dark days in the 80's prior to the "Revolution" that ended with the bloody execution of the power mad couple.
I read it in a few hours, only wishing the book were longer. Well written and researched, VAMPIRE NATION is a bloody feast for anyone drawn to the horror genre - and a comic delight for anyone interested in the real horrors of life under Communism, especially its mind-boggling version that played out so tragically in Romania. It helps knowing that, eventually, Nic and Elena hit such a bloody and ignomious end - because the Romania Sipos reveals would have otherwise required an invasion by George W. Yet the book isn't dated in the least.
Its funny, scary, romantic, revolting and - yes - thought provoking. Sipos loathes the erstwhile Western approach of cooperation and conciliation with the Iron Curtain countries (Romania retained its Most Favored Nation trading status right up til the end). Like Reagan and others, he was right.
Buy it, draw the drapes, hide under the duvet with a good flashlight - and let this natural tale-spinner pull you into a vortex so real and creepy that you'll need a bath in holy water once the bloody thing reaches its final, dripping climax.

This rather short novel about the supernatural nature of socialism is wonderfully clever. The author, who is an escaped native of the area, takes every opportunity to compare one form of blood sucking to another!