Way of the Wolf

The Vampire Earth, Book 1

By: E. E. Knight

Narrated by: Christian Rummel, E. E. Knight (Introduction)

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Louisiana, 2065. A lot has changed in the 43rd year of the Kurian Order. Possessed of an unnatural and legendary hunger, the bloodthirsty Reapers have come to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of enslaved human souls. They rule the planet. They thrive on the scent of fear. And if it is night, as sure as darkness, they will come.

On this pitiless world, the indomitable spirit of mankind still breathes in Lieutenant David Valentine. Brought into the Wolves - an elite guerilla force sworn to win back Earth - Valentine leads his first command in the Kurian Zone. Driven by the losses of his past and the hope of a future, Valentine is in it to win. No matter how long it takes. No matter what doom awaits him beyond his wildest nightmares.

Bonus Audio: Includes an exclusive introduction by author E.E. Knight.

©2003 Eric E. Frisch (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Way of the Wasted Credit

Who could've guessed that humanity's last hope against a world filled with Vampires could be so boring? I wish I could get my audible.com credit back for this one. I was looking for a new supernatural-related series to start on, so I gave this one a shot. I will not be getting book 2. Unremarkable characters that absolutely failed to make me care what happened to them; awkward, unrealistic dialogue from most characters; overly long and boring acres upon acres of description; forced and unnecessary exposition. I think there were more scenes of people having dinner together than there were action scenes. No, seriously. And even most of the 'action scenes' left a lot to be desired. That could be in part because of the less-than-stellar narrator, who sounds suspiciously like a narrator I've heard in a few PC video games. I joined audible.com to get audio books to help keep me interested and awake while at work. This book actually made me MORE sleepy, so had to I stop listening with about 2 hours to go in the story. That's pretty bad.

terrible writing

the author uses too many adjectives. every gaze must be "weary," etc. i found it too distracting to listen to.

Ashamed....

I could kick myself for spending my last credit on this book. I just couldn't stay interested at all....I couldn't figure out the story line at all....I might consider listening to this book again if it were the last one left in my Library that I haven't listened to. Until then.........

Vampire Earth 101

I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT
Lots of different elements in this book make for an interesting concept. A western with vampires and aliens. Knight says this is the second book he wrote and the first to get published. I wanted to like it as the competing subjects matters, seem interesting when you think about it. I also like that the story takes place in the Ozarks, where I live. My town is even mentioned as a border town. Unfortunately, it does read like a first attempt. The above phrase happens often, a character knows something is going to happen, but he can not explain why he knows. This is a novice way of getting around difficult situations. The world building, which should have been the best part of the book, was done through lecture. It was like sitting in a college class listening to a professor describe Vampire Earth 101. I don't want to be told, I want to be shown.

THEIR BRAINS ARE AT THE TAIL END, KIND OF LIKE THINNER HERE.
In different places we see glimpses of Knight's imagination. He has the ideas to put together a top notch novel or series, it is just a shame a publisher or editor did not force him to work harder and longer to come up with it. Hopefully, like many other writers have done, he will get better and better through experience. Sometimes getting published or popular early in your career can be the worst thing to happen in the long run. It could stifle his growth as a writer.

As far as the narrator, I don't know if it was him or just the way it was written, but at the end of each sentence where these long pauses. The result was to make the book sound like a child's letter. Hi, how are you. I am good.

where's the plot?

This book had a good premise but I had two problems with it. First, it did not have a plot. I listened to 8 hours and the guy was still just roaming around having random adventures with no overarching plot. Second, every charecter had either a redneck white trash southern accent or a 1800's western accent, even if they lived in 2065 Wisconsin. I could only listen to so many people say "howdy stranger" and "ain't that a fat chicken ya'll". My husband and I listened to this book on a long trip and I was never so glad to get home, we never did finish it.

A warning to anyone starting the series

The early books are amazing some of my favorite books of all time.
They start to fall off towards the end though and the last book is just terrible.