Jürgens armies under the sign of the Black Cross march out to conquer the east. Against them stand the vile Tzimisce ruled by the Voivode of all Voivodes: Count Vladimir Rustovitch.

But not only those stand in the way of Jürgens men, between their home and the Voivodat lies Livonia, a fierce, primal territory ruled by Quarakh the Untamed and his horde of Gangrel. By his side there is Deverra, High-Priest of Telyavel and Tremere renegade.

When writing a book based on a hit television series, one has to ensure that the characters are accurately portrayed through action and dialogue. Angel: Haunted, written by Jeff Mariotte, sets out to bring the characters from the cult hit “Angel” to life.

Written as one in a series of books, Angel: Haunted had a beginning that was both awkward and difficult to follow. The first few pages were cumbersome due to the language and descriptions. As one reads further, the pacing and language improves dramatically. Instead of reading the words a character speaks, one hears a believable representation of an “Angel” character’s dialogue. The further along in the story, the less noticeable the writing style becomes. This is one sign of an experienced writer who can successfully translate television to print.

This is E.E. Knight’s first book, and I can definitely see it taking off as a very long series indeed, but one which I will be eagerly anticipating each new arrival. The setting is of a near future, starting around 2065, but with the events leading up to that current frame only happening in the next few years that we have to look forward to. Granted, this book is entitled Vampire Earth, and it does have to do with vampires, only not in the traditional sense.

This book had much in the way of promise for a good science fiction romp through the horror of Dracula. Unfortunately, it’s promise falls onto it’s face about halfway through.
We meet Joe Bodenland, who is a un-renowned scientist, working on a type of time machine that will suspend an item indefinitely at one moment in time. His goal, to use this for storing Nuclear Waste. His wife, Mina, isn’t as enthusiastic about it as he seems to be, in fact, we find that Joe is so absorbed in his project he even misses his son’s wedding.

What would you do if you woke up one day and discovered that everything you thought was silly superstition and nonsense was real and you were the only thing standing between evil and the rest of Humanity?

Thea Ghandour, the unlikely pot-smoking heroine who continuously laments her lack of a sex-life, and a less-than-intrepid and equally unlikely band of fellow Hunters have been trying to answer that question since they found each other. Heralds of the Storm opens on one of their self-imposed missions, just outside the lair of a vampire, one of “the greatest predators ever to walk the earth.”

Haunting the Dead features four novellas set in White Wolf’s World of Darkness featuring characters from the Orpheus game line. This is a break from the usual format that White Wolf uses when releasing a new game. Usually there is a fiction anthology featuring several short stories. The novellas in Haunting the Dead allow for more character development and (as with any good ghost story) more plot twists. This was a great idea and I hope White Wolf continues his trend.

French countrysides, medieval haunts and political intrigue colour the stories published in Dark Tyrants, A Vampire: The Dark Ages Anthology. Edited by Justin Achilli and Robert Hatch, the Dark Tyrants anthology sets out to create dark intrigue in an old world setting.

The combination of Horror and Westerns does take a little getting used to. The Foreword to this volume, written by Joe Lansdale, explains the appeal of both genres and how they might work when mixed together. Deadlands explores these themes, mixing elements from TV shows, movies and comic books in a bizarre, but workable, adventure. The fiction in this volume explores the living and the dead, good and evil, drama and humor.