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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Just like an episode of supernatural "Survivor", May 26, 2009
This review is from: The Vampire's Bride (Atlantis, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)
Plot Summary: Layel is out killing dragons, so it's business as usual, when he meets an Amazon in the midst of battle. Delilah has cerulean blue hair, violet eyes, and a yen for violent men, so naturally she likes Layel on the spot. Too bad he's still carrying a torch for his human mate who was raped and murdered two hundred years ago by a small group of dragon soldiers. Before the battle is over, Layel, Delilah, and a host of other creatures are magically transported to an island, where a group of bored gods and goddesses have decided to hold a competition to see which creature is the best. The penalty of failure is death, and Layel does his best to channel his inner ice-man while Delilah makes it clear she's interested in some vampire loving.
We finally get Layel's story, the bad-boy of Atlantis, and king of the vampires. In an interesting twist, Showalter sets up this story just like an episode of "Survivor," except instead of nerdy accountants, clueless baristas, and heartless corporate types, the competitors are unwilling supernaturals from all the species in Atlantis. Poseidon and his cruelly indifferent chums have a petty argument over who gets to use Atlantis as his/her private playground. Showalter does a great job creating deities that I love to hate, and she succeeds here again.
To settle their dispute, the gods select the best warriors from Atlantis and strand them on the island, thereby setting up their own cock-fight, with each god backing different supes. The teams have to compete in challenges, with the winners getting a reward, and the losers facing a `tribal council' elimination. Except getting voted off the island means decapitation. It mirrors "Survivor" so closely that it's hard to take it all seriously, but I was a fan of the show for many years, so that's probably why I found it amusing.
Meanwhile, Delilah pursues Layel like a woman who knows her own mind (which I like), and Layel battles his conflicted heart for a couple hundred pages. The romance is stretched and drawn out like a taffy pulling machine working over a huge gob of sugary confection. Just when you think progress is being made, it folds in on itself, and Layel pulls back from Delilah. Sometimes I get impatient with this type of two-steps-forward, one-step-back romance, but it held my attention, and I enjoyed the ride.
While I think that the paranormal world in the Atlantis series is rich and vivid, it's also a bit light, fluffy, and cheesy at times. I definitely prefer Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series, which feels a lot grittier, with the heroes housing evil demons within their bodies.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Reality book, anyone?, July 11, 2009
This review is from: The Vampire's Bride (Atlantis, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)
Gena Showalter has written a great series, but her final installment of Atlantis was kind of disappointing for me. It was as if the Gods had been watching TV in the human world (a world they had not only ignored but been ignored in for centuries) and decided to take our lame idea to play out in the Atlanteans' lives. It just didn't appeal to me, though I did like the characters and their connection as well as the growth they went through. Not my favorite. I actually prefer her Lords of the Underworld series.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Vampire's Bride by Gena Showalter, March 7, 2009
This review is from: The Vampire's Bride (Atlantis, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)
If you're a big fan of the TV show 'Survivor', then you'll love Gena Showalter's "The Vampire's Bride". This is the story of the vampire king Layel and fans have been waiting for it since 2007 when she published her last 'Atlantis' book. You could call this one 'Survivor: Atlantis' or 'Paranormal Survivor' and you'd pretty much have it.
The gods have returned to Atlantis after centuries...and they're bored. To amuse themselves (which is NEVER a good thing), they decide to pit their creations against each other by sequestering them on a deserted island and dividing them into teams to compete in battles-both physical and mental-to determine who is the best warrior species. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, in the god's version getting kicked off the island isn't dramatic enough...instead they behead the loser voted off in the presence of the remaining team members. It's a perverted game played by prisoners worthy of the Marquise de Sade.
Layel is the King of the Vampires. He has been involved in a private war with the dragons since the day they captured he and his mate, violated her in front of him, and then killed her and his unborn daughter. On that day Layel vowed to obliterate the entire dragon race and has refused to feel or care about anything other than his vengeance.
Delilah is an Amazon, one of their best and bravest warriors. On a mission to retrieve her Queen's daughter, who was captured by dragons, she and her band come upon an ongoing battle between Layel and the dragons. Delilah's auddenly feeling things she thought she never would...and those thoughts and feelings center on the Vampire King.
Now these two are part of a group of nine pairs of each Atlantian race, taken against their will from their world, and deposited on an island to battle in teams, one of each race, against each other for the amusement of the gods. Their attraction grows, but their interactions are watched and limited by their opposing teams and their own personal struggles.
I'll confess that while I enjoyed the rest of this series, this one was just TOO much for me. While Delilah was a perfect mate for Layel, it was the whole 'survivor' theme that blew it for me. While I could certainly see the Pantheon acting in such a way, I wanted something more dignified for Layel. But such is the lot of readers. I'll still look forward to more books set in this world, but this isn't one I'll remember with much fondness.
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