The Vampire Tapestry [Paperback]

Suzy McKee Charnas (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster; First Edition edition (1980)
• ASIN: B002GEDRRQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,007,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the genre's best., July 24, 2003

By 

Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vampire Tapestry: A Novel (Paperback)

Humans are cattle. There is no other reality for vampire Edward Weyland. That is, until two wounding bullets at the hands of vampire huntress Katje de Groot leave him vulnerable to a greedy third-rate Satanist named Reese, and his existence is changed forever by a frantic, knee-jerk act of compassion by a sensitive teenager named Mark. Further affected by the love of a disturbed psychiatrist named Floria and the friendship of a kindly but troubled professor named Irv, Weyland must discover if these three humans have given him a great gift - or a terrible curse...

This is a novel that doesn't allow you to leave your brain at the door. Charnas is delightfully subtle - there's no one big moment where you can point out that Weyland has changed, and it is sometimes a whole chapter later before you find out what effect the human "guest stars" have had on him, all of them affecting him in very different ways. And she never lets you forget what he is - this is not someone you would ever want to have a cup of tea with. This is probably the best depiction of the vampire as a predator, neither good nor evil. We remain rather detached from Weyland as he almost clinically self-examines himself.

Weyland's relationships with the humans he encounters are so different that each chapter varies wildly in tone. I personally found Mark's chapter the most powerful, with a wonderful picture of the terror and aching conscience of a truly good boy, and Floria's curiously anticlimatic considering her obvious significance. Everyone will have a favorite.

Though not quite perfect, a welcome addition to any vampire fiction collection.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different kind of vampire, December 11, 2003

By 

Allison "Librarian" (TN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vampire Tapestry: A Novel (Paperback)

Unlike Anne Rice or even Bram Stoker's vampires, Suzy McKee Charnas' view of the vampire is more realistic and grounded. Her vampire is more akin to a scientific or evolutionary mutation. Dr. Edward Weyland is a professor at a prolific university, teaching and testing the effects of dream therapy; a clever disguise in order to lure test subjects in and victimize them for his own cravings for blood.

Instead of fangs, he has a stinger on his tongue and as for garlic, crosses, holy water and sunlight, they are, to him, laughable myths that have no bearing. He knows of no other like himself and has only vague memories of the centuries he lived before and no memory at all of his life (if there was one) before becoming what he is.

This is almost like an intimate character study of what a real vampire might be like and what he might go through. There are no slatherings of sexual overtones or manic violence; what little there is of both are done with a realistic detachment. If your looking for a break from the usual tale of the undead, then this should be right up your alley.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vampire Tapestry, December 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Vampire Tapestry: A Novel (Paperback)

By far one of the very best books I have ever read. I think Stephen King puts it best with the comment of "Unputdownable". It took me a little time to get into the story, the first 20 or 30 pages are a little slow, in my opinion. After that I had a hard time stoping. It was easy to read the 285 pages in a night. Suzy writes a revolutionary vampire novel, I found myself thinking 'Weyland' could be a real person some place in the world, vampire and all.The ending gives me a very satisfied feeling, and the entire book is a pleasure.