Customer Reviews

Women of the Night

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

 

 

Pretty good selection of "women" vampire stories, from the softhearted vamps to the rip your neck open divas!

It was exciting to find Women of the Night, featuring tales of female vampires in many guises. Many of the stories are written by women. That raised my expectations. Overall, however, this anthology was disappointing. Some stories were predictable, a few were just dull. Those that stood out as either imaginative or well written, or both, were few, yet memorable.

Friesner's "Claim Jumpin' Woman, You Got a Stake in My Heart" is wonderful. Based on a southern belle and country music, and throwing in a Yankee graduate of Yale, the author took many of the elements and wove them into a fun yarn. "Faith Like Wine" is more serious and beautifully written. This story alone made me a fan of Roxanne Longstreet. Then, Norman Partridge, in the final story, "Do not Hasten to Bid Me Adieu" continues Bram Stoker's Dracula in a logical and satisfying manner. Being the last three stories in the anthology, they made me wish that I had started at the back.

I could give this anthology five stars just based on the three stories, but the lead stories just didn't have the same punch or readability. I might guess that some of them were included because of the authors: Stephen King, Philip K. Dick, etc., but some of them were also written years earlier. Perhaps reading them within the time frame of their creation they would have seemed fresher. There are enough interesting moments in some stories to make them worth reading.

Readers who like this anthology might also like Women of Darkness edited by Kathryn Ptacek. Although out of print, there are copies available in online bookstores.

I really enjoy this collection of stories, which cover a wide variety of vampires. Some are kind, even generous. Others are bestial, or murderous monsters. They cover the board so you're certain to find a few good stories that you'll enjoy reading again. It's a shame the book is not bigger and with more stories, hence the subtraction of one star.