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The Last Werewolf / Bloodlines Trilogy #3
By Blood We Live
From the author of the best sellers The Last Werewolf and Talulla Rising, the hair-raising conclusion to the saga that has galvanized readers' imaginations: an electrifying, startlingly erotic love story that gives us the final battle for survival between werewolves and vampires, and one last incisive--brilliantly ironic--look at what it means to be, or to not be, human.
Talulla has settled into an uneasy equilibrium: with her twins at her side and the devotion of her lover Walker, it's a normal family life--except for their monthly transformation into werewolves hungry for human flesh. But even this tenuous peace is interrupted for Talulla by nagging thoughts of Remshi, the 20,000-year-old vampire who haunts her dreams. In turn Remshi can't escape the feeling that he knows Talulla from years before (many, many, many years). They have their distractions: Talulla is being pursued by a fanatical Christian cult, and Remshi is following the trail of reckless feedings by a newly turned vampire. But, as the novel unfurls, they are inextricably drawn to each other--and toward the moment when an ancient prophecy may finally come to pass--in this tale of pulse-pounding supernatural suspense.
Talulla has settled into an uneasy equilibrium: with her twins at her side and the devotion of her lover Walker, it's a normal family life--except for their monthly transformation into werewolves hungry for human flesh. But even this tenuous peace is interrupted for Talulla by nagging thoughts of Remshi, the 20,000-year-old vampire who haunts her dreams. In turn Remshi can't escape the feeling that he knows Talulla from years before (many, many, many years). They have their distractions: Talulla is being pursued by a fanatical Christian cult, and Remshi is following the trail of reckless feedings by a newly turned vampire. But, as the novel unfurls, they are inextricably drawn to each other--and toward the moment when an ancient prophecy may finally come to pass--in this tale of pulse-pounding supernatural suspense.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
About the author
Glen Duncan
31 books875 followersAka Saul Black.
Glen Duncan is a British author born in 1965 in Bolton, Lancashire, England to an Anglo-Indian family. He studied philosophy and literature at the universities of Lancaster and Exeter. In 1990 Duncan moved to London, where he worked as a bookseller for four years, writing in his spare time. In 1994 he visited India with his father (part roots odyssey, part research for a later work, The Bloodstone Papers) before continuing on to the United States, where he spent several months travelling the country by Amtrak train, writing much of what would become his first novel, Hope, published to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic in 1997. Duncan lives in London. Recently, his 2002 novel I, Lucifer has had the film rights purchased, with actors such as Ewan Mcgregor, Jason Brescia, Jude Law, Vin Diesel, and Daniel Craig all being considered for roles in the forthcoming movie.
(from Wikipedia)
Glen Duncan is a British author born in 1965 in Bolton, Lancashire, England to an Anglo-Indian family. He studied philosophy and literature at the universities of Lancaster and Exeter. In 1990 Duncan moved to London, where he worked as a bookseller for four years, writing in his spare time. In 1994 he visited India with his father (part roots odyssey, part research for a later work, The Bloodstone Papers) before continuing on to the United States, where he spent several months travelling the country by Amtrak train, writing much of what would become his first novel, Hope, published to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic in 1997. Duncan lives in London. Recently, his 2002 novel I, Lucifer has had the film rights purchased, with actors such as Ewan Mcgregor, Jason Brescia, Jude Law, Vin Diesel, and Daniel Craig all being considered for roles in the forthcoming movie.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 264 reviews
March 27, 2016
Izgleda da mi, treći po redu, nastavak serijala The Last Werewolf uopšte nije "legao".
Koliko mi je "Talulin čopor" bio bolji od "Poslednjeg vukodlaka", toliko mi je "Krv naša nasušna" slabija od Talule. Ovom utisku je najviše doprinelo nezadovoljstvo i antipatija koju sam polako, ali sigurno, razvila prema glavnom liku - Taluli. Smorila sam se kao zmaj čitajući o njenim večitim dilemama, neodlučnosti, i na momente o njenoj sebičnosti...
S druge strane, Remši mi je jedan od najzanimljivijih likova u serijalu, i u njegovim i Džastininim poglavljima sam uživala.
Čini mi se da je autor ovakvim završetkom ostavio karte napola otvorene, i da ne treba isključiti mogućnost nastavka, uz ličnu želju da Talule ne bude u istom :)
I dalje su mi vukodlaci najmanje zanimljivi od svih supernatural stvorenja...izgleda da sam ipak #team_krvopija :D
Ocena:3.25
June 10, 2015
3.5
I hate to say it, but I was a little disappointed by this book. Don't get me wrong, it was good (even amazing at some parts), but I expected so much more. I guess that after how great Talulla's Rising was, I expected this book to be just as good, but it just wasn't.
But even though I had problems with the last book, the trilogy as a whole, was beyond amazing. I loved the world Duncan created, complex characters and well thought mythology, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's fan of fantasy, or just great story in general.
I hate to say it, but I was a little disappointed by this book. Don't get me wrong, it was good (even amazing at some parts), but I expected so much more. I guess that after how great Talulla's Rising was, I expected this book to be just as good, but it just wasn't.
But even though I had problems with the last book, the trilogy as a whole, was beyond amazing. I loved the world Duncan created, complex characters and well thought mythology, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's fan of fantasy, or just great story in general.
August 9, 2016
(This review was originally written for and posted at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography's site. The publisher graciously provided me with a galley copy of this novel.)
I can't say I was delighted when I found out that Glen Duncan, one of my long-time favorite living writers, had a werewolf novel in the works, let alone a whole trilogy of 'em; I can say, however, that when The Last Werewolf came out a few years ago, it won me over in a matter of pages, as tackling the ever- (and, for me, maddeningly) popular paranormal-beastie fad did nothing to diminish the elements of Duncan's writing that have kept me a loyally, fanatically enrapt reader of his works for more than a decade. Because, really, I read Duncan for the achingly gorgeous writing, and he does have an exemplary track record of wringing poignantly universal truths of the human condition from otherwordly characters, as he proved with earlier works like I, Lucifer and Death of an Ordinary Man.
By Blood We Live, the most recent installment in Duncan's werewolf saga, doesn't pick up exactly where the series' second book, Talulla Rising left off. The werewolf pack comprising Talulla, her three-year-old twins, her lover Walker, and a few of their were-pals is hunkered down in its newest temporary haven and waiting for their monthly transformation but to get to their story, one must first encounter the 20,000-year-old vampire Remshi, who just awoke from an unplanned two-year hibernation of sorts after running into Talulla and swearing that she is the reincarnation of his long-ago werewolf lover. To complicate the already hairy issues that arise from eating people and the existential crises such gory imperatives tend to bring, the usual self-righteously obsessed group of monster-hunters (the Vatican-based Militi Christi has supplanted the now-defunct World Organization for the Control of Occult Phenomena as The Enemy) is determined to take down all the paranormal monsters (and publicly bring Talulla to the light of God, whom she makes no secret of believing dead) as the human world has slowly begun to accept that it's sharing living space with supernatural apex predators who feed on them, which thoroughly mucks up the vampires' and werewolves' secrecy, plans and whatever degrees of normalcy their respective curses allow them.
What makes a genre that isn't easy (again, for me) to take seriously actually work for this novel and its two predecessors is that Duncan uses supernatural characters to expose otherwise wholly human impulses, fears, motives, and struggles to reconcile reality's ugliness with the individual's impossible wants. Myriad Big Issues--life, death, love, fate, religion--get ample air time as they're examined from all angles by all kinds of beasties. Rather than sticking with a primary point of view like the preceding two books did, By Blood We Live is a story told by its vampires and werewolves alike, allowing the fantastic elements to serve the story rather than the other way around. We get to see their shared sympathetic understanding of each other as well as how each curse affects the afflicted differently through a host of variables ranging from lifespan to mental state to current preoccupations. While this method of storytelling does betray that all of Duncan's characters are prone to similar bouts of matter-of-fact pontificating, it's hard to justify complaining about narrators' common predilection for high-minded observation and ten-dollar words: If nothing else, it turns a currently over-sexed genre into something much more intellectually and emotionally compelling.
The demonstratively reiterated humanity of monsters and monstrosity of humans is an effective somersault of expectations. The werewolves and vampires alike in Duncan's lore feel the lives they've taken swimming through their blood, allowing the until-recently unsympathetically rendered beasts to feel a morally ambiguous mix of secondhand human memories they can only enjoy vicariously, a conflicted dominance over their food source and jealousy of its comparatively uncomplicated existence, and an understanding acceptance of why their prey is eager to rid the world of the unnatural threat it fears. The supernatural cast are but slaves to the biological need for regular slaughter and each have to make their peace with it in order to go on living; the so-called army of God out to destroy Talullah, Remshi and their kin are doing so without the twinges of conscience their supposedly monstrous counterparts suffer. It's a subtle enough shift to underscore the point without beating the reader over the head with it while putting basic human turmoil on a grander stage for better observation.
Of all the recurring elements waltzing through this novel, the echos of Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" was both the most unexpected and the most satisfying, especially as someone (once again, like me) who is just over the moon for Stephen King's Dark Tower series based on the same poem. It is so geekily gratifying as when literary worlds collide, and whispers of Roland's quest resurfacing in the narrative with an increasing frequency as Duncan's story hurdled forward made for recent memory's best surprise comminglings of two unrelated written works. Like Roland, who's the last of his people in both his indigenous poem and King's seven-volume series, Talullah and Remshi know a thing or two about seemingly meaningless, circuitous quests and an unfathomable life span that spreads far beyond the finite days of their natural peers.
The novel ends with confirmation that the war between the non-human factions and mortals is just beginning, and modern times make living under the low-visibility an immortal being needs to avoid becoming an obvious target a more difficult task than it was in the less tech- and surveillance-besotted past. By Blood We Live does both its readers and characters the compliments of an unresolved ending, as a book cannot wax eloquent about the cruelties of the world continuing to forge ahead in the face of death without doing so itself, as it would cheapen the elements of messy truth within to wrap them up with a convenient but wholly unrealistic tidiness. The world Duncan has created for his characters bears a striking resemblance to our real one in that it spins on the axis of life trudging onward well after individual stories end.
I can't say I was delighted when I found out that Glen Duncan, one of my long-time favorite living writers, had a werewolf novel in the works, let alone a whole trilogy of 'em; I can say, however, that when The Last Werewolf came out a few years ago, it won me over in a matter of pages, as tackling the ever- (and, for me, maddeningly) popular paranormal-beastie fad did nothing to diminish the elements of Duncan's writing that have kept me a loyally, fanatically enrapt reader of his works for more than a decade. Because, really, I read Duncan for the achingly gorgeous writing, and he does have an exemplary track record of wringing poignantly universal truths of the human condition from otherwordly characters, as he proved with earlier works like I, Lucifer and Death of an Ordinary Man.
By Blood We Live, the most recent installment in Duncan's werewolf saga, doesn't pick up exactly where the series' second book, Talulla Rising left off. The werewolf pack comprising Talulla, her three-year-old twins, her lover Walker, and a few of their were-pals is hunkered down in its newest temporary haven and waiting for their monthly transformation but to get to their story, one must first encounter the 20,000-year-old vampire Remshi, who just awoke from an unplanned two-year hibernation of sorts after running into Talulla and swearing that she is the reincarnation of his long-ago werewolf lover. To complicate the already hairy issues that arise from eating people and the existential crises such gory imperatives tend to bring, the usual self-righteously obsessed group of monster-hunters (the Vatican-based Militi Christi has supplanted the now-defunct World Organization for the Control of Occult Phenomena as The Enemy) is determined to take down all the paranormal monsters (and publicly bring Talulla to the light of God, whom she makes no secret of believing dead) as the human world has slowly begun to accept that it's sharing living space with supernatural apex predators who feed on them, which thoroughly mucks up the vampires' and werewolves' secrecy, plans and whatever degrees of normalcy their respective curses allow them.
What makes a genre that isn't easy (again, for me) to take seriously actually work for this novel and its two predecessors is that Duncan uses supernatural characters to expose otherwise wholly human impulses, fears, motives, and struggles to reconcile reality's ugliness with the individual's impossible wants. Myriad Big Issues--life, death, love, fate, religion--get ample air time as they're examined from all angles by all kinds of beasties. Rather than sticking with a primary point of view like the preceding two books did, By Blood We Live is a story told by its vampires and werewolves alike, allowing the fantastic elements to serve the story rather than the other way around. We get to see their shared sympathetic understanding of each other as well as how each curse affects the afflicted differently through a host of variables ranging from lifespan to mental state to current preoccupations. While this method of storytelling does betray that all of Duncan's characters are prone to similar bouts of matter-of-fact pontificating, it's hard to justify complaining about narrators' common predilection for high-minded observation and ten-dollar words: If nothing else, it turns a currently over-sexed genre into something much more intellectually and emotionally compelling.
The demonstratively reiterated humanity of monsters and monstrosity of humans is an effective somersault of expectations. The werewolves and vampires alike in Duncan's lore feel the lives they've taken swimming through their blood, allowing the until-recently unsympathetically rendered beasts to feel a morally ambiguous mix of secondhand human memories they can only enjoy vicariously, a conflicted dominance over their food source and jealousy of its comparatively uncomplicated existence, and an understanding acceptance of why their prey is eager to rid the world of the unnatural threat it fears. The supernatural cast are but slaves to the biological need for regular slaughter and each have to make their peace with it in order to go on living; the so-called army of God out to destroy Talullah, Remshi and their kin are doing so without the twinges of conscience their supposedly monstrous counterparts suffer. It's a subtle enough shift to underscore the point without beating the reader over the head with it while putting basic human turmoil on a grander stage for better observation.
Of all the recurring elements waltzing through this novel, the echos of Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" was both the most unexpected and the most satisfying, especially as someone (once again, like me) who is just over the moon for Stephen King's Dark Tower series based on the same poem. It is so geekily gratifying as when literary worlds collide, and whispers of Roland's quest resurfacing in the narrative with an increasing frequency as Duncan's story hurdled forward made for recent memory's best surprise comminglings of two unrelated written works. Like Roland, who's the last of his people in both his indigenous poem and King's seven-volume series, Talullah and Remshi know a thing or two about seemingly meaningless, circuitous quests and an unfathomable life span that spreads far beyond the finite days of their natural peers.
The novel ends with confirmation that the war between the non-human factions and mortals is just beginning, and modern times make living under the low-visibility an immortal being needs to avoid becoming an obvious target a more difficult task than it was in the less tech- and surveillance-besotted past. By Blood We Live does both its readers and characters the compliments of an unresolved ending, as a book cannot wax eloquent about the cruelties of the world continuing to forge ahead in the face of death without doing so itself, as it would cheapen the elements of messy truth within to wrap them up with a convenient but wholly unrealistic tidiness. The world Duncan has created for his characters bears a striking resemblance to our real one in that it spins on the axis of life trudging onward well after individual stories end.
May 14, 2020
How shocked would you be to see a pair of werewolves, slathered in blood, surrounded by the rent bodies of their victims, the two of them midway through an energetic bout of sex while one still has its snout buried in the guts of a twitching corpse?
Pretty damn shocked, yeah? I was. That’s some transgressive, edgy, full-on shit happening there! I want to look away, but I can’t! It’s horrifying but compelling at the same time! What a thing to force upon my reader’s eye Glen Duncan, you convention-defying devil!
How about the second time you saw it? The third? Fourth? I’d wager that by the fifth time you’d witnessed such a scene the impact would be somewhat less. You might even start getting a little bored – “Ugh. Not werewolves fucking on a freshly murdered corpse again! Get a room, lycanthropes!”
This transition, from transgressive shock to jaded tedium, is how this book, and sadly, Glen Duncan’s werewolf trilogy overall, felt to me.
I was genuinely hoping for a great story in By Blood We Live. I’m a massive Glen Duncan fanboy, and I was really looking forward to the conclusion of the story started in his brilliant The Last Werewolf.
I’ve given I, Lucifer as a gift (what a fun, FUN novel!), I’ve bored many friends with my recounting of sections from The Last Werewolf and I rate A Day and a Night and a Day as being one of the most memorable novels I’ve read.
By Blood We Live though… well, I won’t be gifting this one. As the story opens Talullah, her twin children and the pack of werewolves that came together in Talullah Rising Are living in Europe, eating people once a month during the full moon but otherwise trying to live a pretty normal-ish kind of life.
Talullah gets kidnapped (again) and escapes/is busted out (again) there’s lots of graphic slaughter (again) and some slaughter-sex (again). WOCOP- the vampire/werewolf hunting group from earlier novels is gone, and a new, fanatically religious Catholic organisation has taken on the role of policing the occult on Earth. (They're pretty much WOCOP, but humourless and dogmatic).
It's all a little repetitive. When Tallulah and one of her kids get abducted in By Blood We Live I got serious deja-vu. The werewolf-captured-by-shadowy organization plot device is flogged pretty hard across the three books in the series, and by book three feels pretty ho-hum and low-stakes.
Meanwhile Remshi, the ancient (20,000 year level ancient) vampire who appeared in the previous novel and whose book, the Book of Remshi was the Necronomicon of Tallulah Rising is suffering from some weird ancient-vampire problems, and spending time with his human friend Justine (who unsurprisingly doesn’t remain human for long)
Remshi, it turns out, used to have a werewolf lover, back when humans were getting around in animal skins, and he is convinced that Tallulah is her reincarnation, which seems to be why he helped her in book two. Remshi and Justine are of course drawn towards Tallulah and her pack, where they... they... sigh.
It all gets a bit Bella and Jacob for me, and the ending it builds to is as unsatisfying as a congealed-blood sundae.
Things get especially weak at the story's conclusion when
Suffice to say, the trilogy overall delivered severely diminishing returns for this reader.
My engagement with the story really dropped off after the original protagonist, jaded, lonely centuries-old werewolf Jacob Marlowe, died in book one. His world-weary voice (Duncan does world-weary like a champion) made the story so much more interesting and engaging than it is after he dies.
As the trilogy goes on the story gets less and less interesting, trending closer to ultra-gory fucking-and-slaughtering Twilightthan it ought to, and losing the tone and style that made The Last Werewolf stand out in the tired old vampires-and-werewolves genre.
The Last Werewolf is a great novel, worthy of any bookcase. Read it, enjoy it, and then maybe give its sequels a miss.
Two doomed werewolf-vampire romances out of five.
Pretty damn shocked, yeah? I was. That’s some transgressive, edgy, full-on shit happening there! I want to look away, but I can’t! It’s horrifying but compelling at the same time! What a thing to force upon my reader’s eye Glen Duncan, you convention-defying devil!
How about the second time you saw it? The third? Fourth? I’d wager that by the fifth time you’d witnessed such a scene the impact would be somewhat less. You might even start getting a little bored – “Ugh. Not werewolves fucking on a freshly murdered corpse again! Get a room, lycanthropes!”
This transition, from transgressive shock to jaded tedium, is how this book, and sadly, Glen Duncan’s werewolf trilogy overall, felt to me.
I was genuinely hoping for a great story in By Blood We Live. I’m a massive Glen Duncan fanboy, and I was really looking forward to the conclusion of the story started in his brilliant The Last Werewolf.
I’ve given I, Lucifer as a gift (what a fun, FUN novel!), I’ve bored many friends with my recounting of sections from The Last Werewolf and I rate A Day and a Night and a Day as being one of the most memorable novels I’ve read.
By Blood We Live though… well, I won’t be gifting this one. As the story opens Talullah, her twin children and the pack of werewolves that came together in Talullah Rising Are living in Europe, eating people once a month during the full moon but otherwise trying to live a pretty normal-ish kind of life.
Talullah gets kidnapped (again) and escapes/is busted out (again) there’s lots of graphic slaughter (again) and some slaughter-sex (again). WOCOP- the vampire/werewolf hunting group from earlier novels is gone, and a new, fanatically religious Catholic organisation has taken on the role of policing the occult on Earth. (They're pretty much WOCOP, but humourless and dogmatic).
It's all a little repetitive. When Tallulah and one of her kids get abducted in By Blood We Live I got serious deja-vu. The werewolf-captured-by-shadowy organization plot device is flogged pretty hard across the three books in the series, and by book three feels pretty ho-hum and low-stakes.
Meanwhile Remshi, the ancient (20,000 year level ancient) vampire who appeared in the previous novel and whose book, the Book of Remshi was the Necronomicon of Tallulah Rising is suffering from some weird ancient-vampire problems, and spending time with his human friend Justine (who unsurprisingly doesn’t remain human for long)
Remshi, it turns out, used to have a werewolf lover, back when humans were getting around in animal skins, and he is convinced that Tallulah is her reincarnation, which seems to be why he helped her in book two. Remshi and Justine are of course drawn towards Tallulah and her pack, where they... they... sigh.
It all gets a bit Bella and Jacob for me, and the ending it builds to is as unsatisfying as a congealed-blood sundae.
Things get especially weak at the story's conclusion when
Suffice to say, the trilogy overall delivered severely diminishing returns for this reader.
My engagement with the story really dropped off after the original protagonist, jaded, lonely centuries-old werewolf Jacob Marlowe, died in book one. His world-weary voice (Duncan does world-weary like a champion) made the story so much more interesting and engaging than it is after he dies.
As the trilogy goes on the story gets less and less interesting, trending closer to ultra-gory fucking-and-slaughtering Twilightthan it ought to, and losing the tone and style that made The Last Werewolf stand out in the tired old vampires-and-werewolves genre.
The Last Werewolf is a great novel, worthy of any bookcase. Read it, enjoy it, and then maybe give its sequels a miss.
Two doomed werewolf-vampire romances out of five.
February 5, 2014
I don't always read stories about werewolves and vampires…
but when I do, they're by Glen Duncan.
but when I do, they're by Glen Duncan.
July 4, 2015
I gave book 1The Last Werewolf four stars and book 2 Talulla Risingwas better so I gave it 5 stars. This one was even better so please can I give it 6 stars? In fact this book was just about perfect. I loved Remshi the 2000 year old vampire. He should have a series all to himself he is so good. Talulla was pretty fantastic in this book too. As the final book in the trilogy it certainly wrapped up the story but it also left a lot of stuff out there which could easily become a fourth book. What does Talulla do next? What about Walker and Justine and the twins? So come on Mr. Duncan. How about another book. You could even make it a series:)
March 19, 2020
In this, the last volume of Glen Duncan's Bloodlines Trilogy, the werewolf and the vampire meet to fulfill an ancient prophecy. These long-lived, paranormal transformatives have been circling one another throughout the duration of the tale; highly skeptical yet drawn by the promise of an evolutionary perk should they find the means to join forces, bodies, biochemistries...something subtle and lustfully subterranean that will spark a catalyst of conversion to, well, they know not what. Healing? Enhancement? The dawn of a new species? It's all so disturbingly inconclusive, and a circumstance not in the least improved by the growing ruthlessness of the humans who are hunting them.
Duncan's prose has a wonderfully sardonic edge. The intelligence he brings to his work is both wicked and weary, and serves his existential themes extraordinarily well. He does wander infrequently into pockets of sexual perversity, of this one should be warned; it is the price a reader pays for the keen eye and the grim truth and the insurmountable pain.
The first of his books, The Last Werewolf, is the best by far. The second and third fell off for me in a structural sense. While there were plenty of brazen characters to embrace and bleak wisdoms to revel in, he did seem to run quite completely out of story. Or perhaps that was interest? Impossible to say.
Duncan's prose has a wonderfully sardonic edge. The intelligence he brings to his work is both wicked and weary, and serves his existential themes extraordinarily well. He does wander infrequently into pockets of sexual perversity, of this one should be warned; it is the price a reader pays for the keen eye and the grim truth and the insurmountable pain.
The first of his books, The Last Werewolf, is the best by far. The second and third fell off for me in a structural sense. While there were plenty of brazen characters to embrace and bleak wisdoms to revel in, he did seem to run quite completely out of story. Or perhaps that was interest? Impossible to say.
December 11, 2013
A satisfying sequel to "The Last Werewolf" and "Talulla Rising" - and obviously not the end of the saga. Duncan has prepared the ground for a spectacular and epic Monsters vs. Humanity tome and I personally can't wait to read it!
Note: I have translated this book for the Serbian edition, as the previous two Duncan's werewolf/vampire epics for the publisher Laguna. The Serbian title is going to be "Krv naša nasušna." I expect this edition to appear in February or March 2014. I must admit that the most difficult task was translation of the excerpts from Robert Browning's "Childe Roland"...
....
(Two days later)
After the second reading(checking up my translation), I am additionally impressed by intelligent use of mainstream bag of tricks in this genre piece. I might add that work on this translation has improved the way I approach both translating and writing as craft of wonderful creation. And I can hardly wait The Last Werewolf #4.
Note: I have translated this book for the Serbian edition, as the previous two Duncan's werewolf/vampire epics for the publisher Laguna. The Serbian title is going to be "Krv naša nasušna." I expect this edition to appear in February or March 2014. I must admit that the most difficult task was translation of the excerpts from Robert Browning's "Childe Roland"...
....
(Two days later)
After the second reading(checking up my translation), I am additionally impressed by intelligent use of mainstream bag of tricks in this genre piece. I might add that work on this translation has improved the way I approach both translating and writing as craft of wonderful creation. And I can hardly wait The Last Werewolf #4.
March 26, 2014
It’s a sad day for me; Glen Duncan’s Bloodlines trilogy has finally come to an end. This series has been a favourite of mine and I have been desperate to get my hands on By Blood We Live. If you don’t know, this trilogy started off as a bit of a joke for Glen Duncan. One New Year’s Eve party he jokingly claimed that he would write a page-turner with werewolves, and “none of my usual philosophical angst or moral inquiry.” Having recently been dumped from a publisher (he had no best sellers and had won no awards) the move towards literary genre fiction was a recipe for success for Duncan.
In the early planning stages, Glen Duncan had planned to write a “clever narrative with a memorable antihero at its feral, furry heart”. Being disappointed by the recent wave of popular paranormal novels (Twilight, etc) Duncan drew from the horror novels he loved (Frankenstein and Dracula) as well as his favourite werewolf movie (An American Werewolf in London); the end result was The Last Werewolf. It was Duncan’s take on the werewolf novel; remaining true to the mythology, unlike other paranormal novel The Last Werewolf was gritty, violent and over sexed. Jake Marlowe is the last werewolf alive, with the pending extinction of his new race, will he give up? The novel was nothing like other horror novels I read, this was dark and literary.
Then came Talulla Rising, which continued the story, this time from the point of view of Talulla Demetriou; a strong female protagonist that both kick-assed and was full of inner torment (my catnip). Where The Last Werewolf looked at life and loneliness, Talulla Rising forced more on love and family. It has been a two year wait but finally By Blood We Live was finally released to conclude this fantastic trilogy.
In By Blood We Live we follow both Remshi, 20,000-year-old vampire that has been haunted by Talulla in his dreams. Having half the novel from a vampires perspective is an interesting change for fans of the series. This novel focuses on survival and humanity, which are both common elements in a paranormal novel but a nice way to tie this trilogy together. Talulla is been pursued by a Vatican-based Militi Christian group of monster hunters who have taking the place of the now defunct WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena). Remshi tries to uncover why Talulla haunts him as well as trying to stop the recklessness of a newly turned vampire.
While I wasn’t disappointed by By Blood We Live, I felt like this book wasn’t as great as its predecessors. It did conclude the trilogy and there were some great moments within the novel, I just felt like it had less to say than the first two. The literary wasn’t as prominent, almost like Glen Duncan is moving into the realm of best-selling author. While he does deserve the success, I would hate to see Duncan throw away any sign of the literary in his future novels. Rest assured that the dark and gritty feel to this series is still there. Something I must have looked in the first two novels was the amount of literary and pop culture references have been made; I know they were always in this series but I noticed them so much more in this novel.
I loved this series and I plan to reread them sometime in the near future; I know I’ll need to return to these witty and dark novels. I also have to try some of his other books, I know he said he wasn’t going to add his “usual philosophical angst or moral inquiry”, but I’m so glad he did, it really works for him. I hope Glen Duncan continues on his literary genre fiction journey and I’m eagerly awaiting what he does next. Has anyone else read this series? Or does anyone want to try to predict what genres his next book will cover?
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2014/...
In the early planning stages, Glen Duncan had planned to write a “clever narrative with a memorable antihero at its feral, furry heart”. Being disappointed by the recent wave of popular paranormal novels (Twilight, etc) Duncan drew from the horror novels he loved (Frankenstein and Dracula) as well as his favourite werewolf movie (An American Werewolf in London); the end result was The Last Werewolf. It was Duncan’s take on the werewolf novel; remaining true to the mythology, unlike other paranormal novel The Last Werewolf was gritty, violent and over sexed. Jake Marlowe is the last werewolf alive, with the pending extinction of his new race, will he give up? The novel was nothing like other horror novels I read, this was dark and literary.
Then came Talulla Rising, which continued the story, this time from the point of view of Talulla Demetriou; a strong female protagonist that both kick-assed and was full of inner torment (my catnip). Where The Last Werewolf looked at life and loneliness, Talulla Rising forced more on love and family. It has been a two year wait but finally By Blood We Live was finally released to conclude this fantastic trilogy.
In By Blood We Live we follow both Remshi, 20,000-year-old vampire that has been haunted by Talulla in his dreams. Having half the novel from a vampires perspective is an interesting change for fans of the series. This novel focuses on survival and humanity, which are both common elements in a paranormal novel but a nice way to tie this trilogy together. Talulla is been pursued by a Vatican-based Militi Christian group of monster hunters who have taking the place of the now defunct WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena). Remshi tries to uncover why Talulla haunts him as well as trying to stop the recklessness of a newly turned vampire.
While I wasn’t disappointed by By Blood We Live, I felt like this book wasn’t as great as its predecessors. It did conclude the trilogy and there were some great moments within the novel, I just felt like it had less to say than the first two. The literary wasn’t as prominent, almost like Glen Duncan is moving into the realm of best-selling author. While he does deserve the success, I would hate to see Duncan throw away any sign of the literary in his future novels. Rest assured that the dark and gritty feel to this series is still there. Something I must have looked in the first two novels was the amount of literary and pop culture references have been made; I know they were always in this series but I noticed them so much more in this novel.
I loved this series and I plan to reread them sometime in the near future; I know I’ll need to return to these witty and dark novels. I also have to try some of his other books, I know he said he wasn’t going to add his “usual philosophical angst or moral inquiry”, but I’m so glad he did, it really works for him. I hope Glen Duncan continues on his literary genre fiction journey and I’m eagerly awaiting what he does next. Has anyone else read this series? Or does anyone want to try to predict what genres his next book will cover?
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2014/...
June 12, 2022
4 stars- English Ebook
Duncan's mature writing is a brilliant display of keen psychological insight and absolute mastery of capturing ephemeral nuances of mood, thought, and feeling in language.
This is actually very very difficult to do; like capturing an extremely fragile exotic butterfly in amber, which forces you to closely observe and analyze minute details that are so fine that they pass before you do the intellectual alchemy.
He is really exploring the existence of ethics, morality, and survival psychology, the psychological accommodations we all make to survive & succeed in the world.
This last book in the series closes the story lines the author created. For my no more dark tales for a while.
Duncan's mature writing is a brilliant display of keen psychological insight and absolute mastery of capturing ephemeral nuances of mood, thought, and feeling in language.
This is actually very very difficult to do; like capturing an extremely fragile exotic butterfly in amber, which forces you to closely observe and analyze minute details that are so fine that they pass before you do the intellectual alchemy.
He is really exploring the existence of ethics, morality, and survival psychology, the psychological accommodations we all make to survive & succeed in the world.
This last book in the series closes the story lines the author created. For my no more dark tales for a while.
August 30, 2016
An absolutely fabulous ending to an already enthralling trilogy!!
There was this magazine reviewing Duncan that I read and one of the question's asked was something along the lines of "Were you happy with the way it ended?"
And Duncan was like, "Uh, yeah, I hope so."
No doubt Duncan knew that this idiot of an interviewer had not only NOT read "By Blood We Live", but hadn't read the previous two books either. Otherwise, that question would be completely unnecessary.
The third book is fantastic! I didn't know where Duncan was going to take the story after the first book, "The Last Werewolf", but each book kept getting better and better and better with each chapter read.
In this third and final installment of the series, we get, for the first time, narration of the story from a Vampire's point of view. It does not disappoint! There seems to be a little bit of Jake Marlowe in all of the characters, even though they are complete and different entities unto themselves.
First off, the story is one of the best Werewolf/Vampire/Human's hunting them stories in all of creation, but it doesn't stop there. The story brings the reader into touch with their own humanity, life in general, and opens the eyes of the reader to so many of those things our mind just skips over in our daily life. It makes us recognize all those things that are significant that culture just says "This is how it is, there is nothing to be done about it, so accept it, and forget it." This book makes you pay attention to the absurd, the irrational, and the way that we deal with it.
By the end of the series we see that the Werewolves and Vampires actually have more "humanity" than the human's portrayed in the story.
That, and the ending is spectacular. It does have to be a monumental challenge in wrapping up a trilogy that has SO much going on it it. Duncan does it in a way that few author's of trilogies are able to pull off. And Duncan does it in style.
Some people are not going to "get" this book the way Duncan wants it to be understood. However, everyone who gives it a chance, the entire trilogy a chance, will love his story, his characters, and his beautiful, poignant, cutting, observant, spot-on prose. His prose, yeah. Just commenting on that properly would take another review in itself. It's something you have to experience for yourself to enjoy completely. The only way I can adequately describe it in my sub-par language is that Duncan appears to have been born in the early 19th century, and only began writing these last several years. In short, the prose is a combination of goodness and greatness. It is an absolute joy to read.
There are not many books when I can just punch that 5 star rating when I review a book, but I punched it and punched it with gusto! Whatever you are looking for in a book, a series, a story, or writing, Glen Duncan provides it. In spades.
There was this magazine reviewing Duncan that I read and one of the question's asked was something along the lines of "Were you happy with the way it ended?"
And Duncan was like, "Uh, yeah, I hope so."
No doubt Duncan knew that this idiot of an interviewer had not only NOT read "By Blood We Live", but hadn't read the previous two books either. Otherwise, that question would be completely unnecessary.
The third book is fantastic! I didn't know where Duncan was going to take the story after the first book, "The Last Werewolf", but each book kept getting better and better and better with each chapter read.
In this third and final installment of the series, we get, for the first time, narration of the story from a Vampire's point of view. It does not disappoint! There seems to be a little bit of Jake Marlowe in all of the characters, even though they are complete and different entities unto themselves.
First off, the story is one of the best Werewolf/Vampire/Human's hunting them stories in all of creation, but it doesn't stop there. The story brings the reader into touch with their own humanity, life in general, and opens the eyes of the reader to so many of those things our mind just skips over in our daily life. It makes us recognize all those things that are significant that culture just says "This is how it is, there is nothing to be done about it, so accept it, and forget it." This book makes you pay attention to the absurd, the irrational, and the way that we deal with it.
By the end of the series we see that the Werewolves and Vampires actually have more "humanity" than the human's portrayed in the story.
That, and the ending is spectacular. It does have to be a monumental challenge in wrapping up a trilogy that has SO much going on it it. Duncan does it in a way that few author's of trilogies are able to pull off. And Duncan does it in style.
Some people are not going to "get" this book the way Duncan wants it to be understood. However, everyone who gives it a chance, the entire trilogy a chance, will love his story, his characters, and his beautiful, poignant, cutting, observant, spot-on prose. His prose, yeah. Just commenting on that properly would take another review in itself. It's something you have to experience for yourself to enjoy completely. The only way I can adequately describe it in my sub-par language is that Duncan appears to have been born in the early 19th century, and only began writing these last several years. In short, the prose is a combination of goodness and greatness. It is an absolute joy to read.
There are not many books when I can just punch that 5 star rating when I review a book, but I punched it and punched it with gusto! Whatever you are looking for in a book, a series, a story, or writing, Glen Duncan provides it. In spades.
September 28, 2017
"A book can make you find room in yourself for something you never thought you'd understand. Or worse, something you never wanted to understand."
I stumbled on The Last Werewolf by accident via the lending library on my Kindle and then (pun intended, sorry Mr. Duncan) devoured it, as well as Talulla Rising the moment I got them! It should be noted that this is 100% NOT my usual genre of reading, but by God, it got me. It got me good.
"The full moon rises. You change. You need what you need, so you do what you do. The kill - like the show - must go on."
I've been eagerly anticipating this third and *sob* final installment of the series. And it did not disappoint! I'm glad I went back and read the first two just before reading this one as there were some elements, lines, quotes and small, easily overlooked details I needed in order to follow and fully absorb and appreciate this final book.
I just finished, having drawn out my lunch hour by an hour to do so. I loved the recurring line from Jake "Don't bother looking for the meaning of it all, there isn't one." (But God was there!) Along with several other elements that my slow conscience took time to piece together. I did pick up on the new element in Tallulah before the ending revealed it though and I'm proud of that at least!
I thoroughly enjoyed Remshi's flashbacks over his twenty-thousand-year history - as well as his subtle and mischievous influence throughout the ages (presidential candidacy slogan *snort* love it!)! Duncan's unique perspective on the character of Remshi was intriguing. That someone could live so long, having seen so much. What would they say? Think? How would they view all of the vast changes they've seen over twenty thousand years? It's mind-bogglingly addictive to think on! Remshi had such insight into this, the most joltingly realistic being:
"Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, a very small number, really.... And yet it all seems limitless."
Mr. Duncan, as usual writes with a satirical humor, grippingly poignant and realistically grim view of the modern world that's both entertaining and enlightening in its way. His writing, in my opinion, grabs you by the throat, dissecting you, scattering your entrails all around before molding you and reshaping you into something completely different. Some call his writing pretentious. Bah! Far from it! The insightfulness, the wit, the compassion that comes with Duncan's words should make the reader reflect or ponder on the words themselves, not how he's writing them. I found myself rereading and highlighting whole paragraphs to go back and contemplate later. I also found myself at times, despite the stereotypical prejudice, the constant change and, of course, the dietary requirements, wishing I shared in Talullah's Lunar shuffle!
"Reader, I ate him."
"The moon sets. The next day you wake up in sheets that smell of fabric conditioner. There is CNN. There is coffee. There is weather. There is your human face in the mirror. The world, you discover, is a place of appalling continuity."
"You love life because life's all there is." ~ Jacob Marlowe, The Last Werewolf
Great conclusion, though, dare I hope there might be a resurrection later on?
Duncan made this trilogy so realistic that I find myself, in flights of fancy, scrutinizing strangers wondering if I would want to be anywhere near them on the next full moon...
I stumbled on The Last Werewolf by accident via the lending library on my Kindle and then (pun intended, sorry Mr. Duncan) devoured it, as well as Talulla Rising the moment I got them! It should be noted that this is 100% NOT my usual genre of reading, but by God, it got me. It got me good.
"The full moon rises. You change. You need what you need, so you do what you do. The kill - like the show - must go on."
I've been eagerly anticipating this third and *sob* final installment of the series. And it did not disappoint! I'm glad I went back and read the first two just before reading this one as there were some elements, lines, quotes and small, easily overlooked details I needed in order to follow and fully absorb and appreciate this final book.
I just finished, having drawn out my lunch hour by an hour to do so. I loved the recurring line from Jake "Don't bother looking for the meaning of it all, there isn't one." (But God was there!) Along with several other elements that my slow conscience took time to piece together. I did pick up on the new element in Tallulah before the ending revealed it though and I'm proud of that at least!
I thoroughly enjoyed Remshi's flashbacks over his twenty-thousand-year history - as well as his subtle and mischievous influence throughout the ages (presidential candidacy slogan *snort* love it!)! Duncan's unique perspective on the character of Remshi was intriguing. That someone could live so long, having seen so much. What would they say? Think? How would they view all of the vast changes they've seen over twenty thousand years? It's mind-bogglingly addictive to think on! Remshi had such insight into this, the most joltingly realistic being:
"Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, a very small number, really.... And yet it all seems limitless."
Mr. Duncan, as usual writes with a satirical humor, grippingly poignant and realistically grim view of the modern world that's both entertaining and enlightening in its way. His writing, in my opinion, grabs you by the throat, dissecting you, scattering your entrails all around before molding you and reshaping you into something completely different. Some call his writing pretentious. Bah! Far from it! The insightfulness, the wit, the compassion that comes with Duncan's words should make the reader reflect or ponder on the words themselves, not how he's writing them. I found myself rereading and highlighting whole paragraphs to go back and contemplate later. I also found myself at times, despite the stereotypical prejudice, the constant change and, of course, the dietary requirements, wishing I shared in Talullah's Lunar shuffle!
"Reader, I ate him."
"The moon sets. The next day you wake up in sheets that smell of fabric conditioner. There is CNN. There is coffee. There is weather. There is your human face in the mirror. The world, you discover, is a place of appalling continuity."
"You love life because life's all there is." ~ Jacob Marlowe, The Last Werewolf
Great conclusion, though, dare I hope there might be a resurrection later on?
Duncan made this trilogy so realistic that I find myself, in flights of fancy, scrutinizing strangers wondering if I would want to be anywhere near them on the next full moon...
January 10, 2015
By Blood We Live is the last in Glen Duncan's trilogy of werewolf stories. The series began in The Last Werewolf in which the World Organization for the Control of Occult Phenomena (WOCOP) is so good at hunting down monsters that eat people there is but one werewolf left - Jake Marlowe. While werewolves are not immortal they do live for an awful long time and world weary Jake has seen a lot and done a lot, and is ready to let go of this life. Then all of sudden Jake isn't the last werewolf. Talulla arrives and Jake's world gets a little brighter. Their meeting eventually leads to their twins Zoe and Lorcan.
Seconds after giving birth, Lorcan is ripped away from Talulla. In Talulla Rising the novel's namesake chases after her son's kidnappers in an effort to get him back. While Talulla doesn't have time for the sort of melancholic, existential crisis Jake goes through in the first book, there are questions about how one raises children who by their very nature have to learn how to commit murder efficiently and safely (safe for them, not their victims) on a monthly basis. Questions about life, death, and humanity play against a backdrop of action packed with copious amounts of blood and gore.
This trilogy started in an interesting way but got weaker with each book. The Last Werewolf had some beautiful writing in places and presented a new take on the werewolf genre. Written from a woman's perspective, I felt Tallula was less successful than its predecessor but was still well worth the read. By Blood We Live is written from multiple perspectives making for an uneven narrative.
The bigger problem I had with this and that was there didn't seem to be any overarching goal or problem to be solved. Not that every story needs this but in the first book there is a steady march towards Jake's demise, and then when Talulla arrives, the question becomes will Jake survive. The story continues in the second book with Talulla trying to rescue her son and get her children to safety. To be honest, beyond the daily struggle to survive - in the case of werewolves this means finding ways to satisfy the beast's hunger while evading humans who want to kill them (not without good reason) - I'm not entirely clear what the third book was about or why it matters. There was something about a cure, a prophesy, the reincarnation of an old lover, and militant angels who have made it their mission to hunt down and kill werewolves. The story never came together for me and it lacked the interesting introspection of the first two books. This would have been okay if this series were just a horror series about monsters and blood, but the series started out as something more. I found myself skimming through the last 100 pages because I just wanted to finish already and move on to something else. Thankfully, now I can.
Seconds after giving birth, Lorcan is ripped away from Talulla. In Talulla Rising the novel's namesake chases after her son's kidnappers in an effort to get him back. While Talulla doesn't have time for the sort of melancholic, existential crisis Jake goes through in the first book, there are questions about how one raises children who by their very nature have to learn how to commit murder efficiently and safely (safe for them, not their victims) on a monthly basis. Questions about life, death, and humanity play against a backdrop of action packed with copious amounts of blood and gore.
This trilogy started in an interesting way but got weaker with each book. The Last Werewolf had some beautiful writing in places and presented a new take on the werewolf genre. Written from a woman's perspective, I felt Tallula was less successful than its predecessor but was still well worth the read. By Blood We Live is written from multiple perspectives making for an uneven narrative.
The bigger problem I had with this and that was there didn't seem to be any overarching goal or problem to be solved. Not that every story needs this but in the first book there is a steady march towards Jake's demise, and then when Talulla arrives, the question becomes will Jake survive. The story continues in the second book with Talulla trying to rescue her son and get her children to safety. To be honest, beyond the daily struggle to survive - in the case of werewolves this means finding ways to satisfy the beast's hunger while evading humans who want to kill them (not without good reason) - I'm not entirely clear what the third book was about or why it matters. There was something about a cure, a prophesy, the reincarnation of an old lover, and militant angels who have made it their mission to hunt down and kill werewolves. The story never came together for me and it lacked the interesting introspection of the first two books. This would have been okay if this series were just a horror series about monsters and blood, but the series started out as something more. I found myself skimming through the last 100 pages because I just wanted to finish already and move on to something else. Thankfully, now I can.
May 30, 2021
3 stars exactly - not a shred more or less.
The plot: set three years or so after the events of the second book, Talullah,her lover and (ocasionally) her pack-mates are raising her children, the first natural born werewolves in God only knows how long. But there's a problem: the new werewolves have turned others, who have turned others so now there are several thousand weres roaming the world, to say nothing of the vampires. With so many 'monsters' around, it's no longer possible for them to hide their existence from human kind and the Catholic church have formed a military group to tackle the monsters, the Militi Christi. Also searching for Tulallah is Remshi, the oldest vampire in the world (20,000 years and counting), who believes she is the reincarnation of his lost love.
This is the last book of the trilogy and I must admit that by this time my initial enthusiasm for the series had waned. One reason for that was feeling of this being a re-run of book 2 in some ways: people being kidnapped by nefarious groups (I was fed up of people getting hit by tranquilizer darts and passing out - giving me a different plot point, please!) or going on killing rampages. And the idea of the vampire searching for the reincarnation of his lost love made me roll my eyes: that idea has been (badly) done sooo many times (admittedly, I can't help wondering if the author included that idea purely to make fun of it, so I suppose I should be a little more lenient).
It was still an enjoyable read and if you have an interest in old-fashioned monster werewolves you may find this book, in fact the whole trilogy, entertaining, but I felt a bit fatigued by it - maybe I've had too much violence and gore for a while.
The plot: set three years or so after the events of the second book, Talullah,her lover and (ocasionally) her pack-mates are raising her children, the first natural born werewolves in God only knows how long. But there's a problem: the new werewolves have turned others, who have turned others so now there are several thousand weres roaming the world, to say nothing of the vampires. With so many 'monsters' around, it's no longer possible for them to hide their existence from human kind and the Catholic church have formed a military group to tackle the monsters, the Militi Christi. Also searching for Tulallah is Remshi, the oldest vampire in the world (20,000 years and counting), who believes she is the reincarnation of his lost love.
This is the last book of the trilogy and I must admit that by this time my initial enthusiasm for the series had waned. One reason for that was feeling of this being a re-run of book 2 in some ways: people being kidnapped by nefarious groups (I was fed up of people getting hit by tranquilizer darts and passing out - giving me a different plot point, please!) or going on killing rampages. And the idea of the vampire searching for the reincarnation of his lost love made me roll my eyes: that idea has been (badly) done sooo many times (admittedly, I can't help wondering if the author included that idea purely to make fun of it, so I suppose I should be a little more lenient).
It was still an enjoyable read and if you have an interest in old-fashioned monster werewolves you may find this book, in fact the whole trilogy, entertaining, but I felt a bit fatigued by it - maybe I've had too much violence and gore for a while.
April 16, 2014
Hmm. Think I've reached my limit with these books. Tallula and her chums were turning into a bunch of Penelope Pitstops who kept getting captured. For people/werewolves who were much more brilliant than the rest of the human population they didn't seem very bright sometimes. I did like the idea of the Catholic Church coming out of the closet at getting involved with killing werewolves and vampires. The moral conundrum about when was it okay to kill babies was interesting too. Remshi was an odd character. It was really hard to get my head around the idea of a character being around for 20 thousand years. I also found myself pondering his comment that readers aren't interested in characters unless they'd want them as friends. Bitchy but there's some truth to it. I think I'd say I might not want to be friends with all the characters in the books I read but they have to have something - a spark perhaps?- that keeps me interested in reading about them and often being a sympathetic character is the easiest way of doing that. I think Tallula and her gang have reached their zenith with me in that regard. Still I enjoyed the ride.
February 16, 2014
It's not a secret how I feel about Glen Duncan. If there is one author (living) I could choose to have a drink(s) with - without hesitation it would be him. He simply writes on a different plane. He operates in a universe all his own. He is able to put the simplest words together and make such profound sentences.
"Everything between the two of us rejects all the names for it the world has to offer."
This is Book 3 of his Werewolf series. I'll admit, the 1st book The Last Werewolf still remains my favorite but that doesn't take ANYTHING away from this one. It's written in the same ferocious, flowing, beautiful style only Glen Duncan can give us.
"Everything between the two of us rejects all the names for it the world has to offer."
This is Book 3 of his Werewolf series. I'll admit, the 1st book The Last Werewolf still remains my favorite but that doesn't take ANYTHING away from this one. It's written in the same ferocious, flowing, beautiful style only Glen Duncan can give us.
March 31, 2014
《Overview》
➸ While still absolutely amazing, and a thrilling conclusion to the trilogy, it wasn't quite as good as books one and two.
➸ By Blood We Live continues in the vein of the previous books in being the dirtiest, sexiest, goriest supernatural series on the market, all while maintaining a solid place in the "literature" department. I've never read anything else like it, and I doubt I ever will.
➸ New characters are gained, old characters are lost, and the war with humanity begins.
➸ The best thing about this series will always be that monsters are monsters. These are people doing disgusting and horrible things, yet you can still sympathize with them. You don't need to "neuter" a monster to make a great character.
《Plot & Concept》
Talulla is seemingly at peace. Her pack, her lover, and her children are at her side, and they bide their time between shifts in relative harmony. Talulla should be content, except she's not. She's haunted by dreams and desires for someone she met only briefly, someone who should complete revolt her: a vampire. Remshi, at 20,000 years old, has also started to dream, feeling stirrings of lust he hasn't felt for 17,000 years. It seems these two are set on a collision course with one another, a prophecy lurking in the background, and it spares no one, not even her family. To complicate things ever more, a Vatican-based group of fanatics has begun obsessively hunting the paranormal, determined to bring their existence to light, and exterminate them, or heal them with the power of God. It's an incredible thrill ride of a book, and an intense conclusion to a remarkable trilogy.
For the first time in this trilogy, we get an actual full on split POV novel. We get to see things from the eyes of Talulla, the fierce mother wulf from previous installments; Remhsi, the 20,000 year old vampire; and Justine, the fledgling vampire most recently made by Remshi. Glen Duncan is definitely a master at multiple POV's, giving everyone a unique voice. I never had any problem remembering whose head I was supposed to be in at any given moment. Talulla is, as always, conflicted but sensible. I always love her POV, and she is, most likely, my favorite female werewolf character ever. Honestly, I would have been happy if the last book was all from her POV. However, while I questioned liking Remshi at first, I did like how his memories from the past would just kind of float into the forefront, taking us on a quick side journey into history. I also found it really easy to sympathize with Justine. We even get Walker briefly, which made me clap my hands like an excited child.
In a way, I kind of wish this had been a duology. Talulla had already been through enough, and I would have loved to see her have a "happy" ending with Walker and the pups. I always, always liked Walker, from the very beginning, and I wasn't very pleased to watch their relationship crumble away due to Remshi, a vampire, getting in the way. I also really wanted to spend more time getting to know the pups, Zoe and Lorcan. After only knowing them as infants, I really wanted to see how toddlers adapt to the change.
I was, however, kind of a sucker for the whole reincarnation aspect of Talulla and Remshi's relationship. Remshi describing his first love, and what happened to them was just heartbreaking and beautiful. By the end, though, I was left wondering if the whole "prophecy" aspect had really just screwed over Talulla's family life completely. Sure, she gets an amazing parting gift, but was it really worth it?
I did love the concept of the "Big Bad" this time around, a crazed military group sent from the Vatican to capture the werewolves, put them on reality tv, and "save" them with the power of God. This was a thematically clever little plot that really made you look at humanity as a whole, and how desperately greedy humans are, no matter how dangerous it might be.
The end, too! Guh! It really doesn't seem like this should be just a trilogy... I kind of need more.
All in all, these books have really always been about examining human nature and what makes us define "monster" and "human", "good" and "evil".
《Characters》
• Talulla: I've always loved Talulla. She's conflicted and world-weary, but still an intensely protective mother, and a woman of insanely strong character. I do wish we'd gotten more interaction with her and her pups. Her being separated from her children for so much of the book, even though her mind was clouded with Remshi's pull, didn't quite jive with her character from the second book. I didn't ever see Talulla willingly giving her children up for anything.
• Walker, Zoe, Lorcan, the Pack, etc.: I kind of felt jilted in this department for the conclusion. I hated what happened to Talulla and Walker, since he was always one of my favorites. I also really wanted to see more of Zoe and Lorcan, since they're a bit older. We get a brief glimpse of them on the hunt with the pack, and then they're being taken care of someone else for the rest. I did really like Madeline, though...
•Remshi: I did really enjoy his character, for a vampire. I still maybe kind of wish they hadn't butted their way into a series that, until now, has been all about werewolves and their struggles. Remshi, however, as an ancient, was truly fascinating. I actually really liked how his story ended.
《Writing》
Glen Duncan's writing is just lovely. There are so many stylistic choices that truly just make this go above and beyond any other kind of paranormal or supernatural novel out there. He toys with your emotions, making you question humanity, all the while sympathizing with brutal monsters that are ripping out hearts (literally), and devouring innocent families. The way he makes Wulf a constantly lurking presence is just brilliant. Wulf is always there, like another character, pushing the limits, always eager to muscle its way out and take over your body. He makes the shift to wulf terrifying, and the weight of living with it horrifying. The chapter from Walker's POV, where they talk about all the thoughts and feelings and happiness of this family, and watching their futures and love being snuffed out by monsters that can't live without feeding every month. Ugh. It just plays with your head, but in a really good way.
I've also always loved the stream of conscious writing, and it really shined here with the multiple POVs of different monsters feeding. It really makes me think of how a beast or an animal must think, little snippets of thoughts that all run together into one big messy instinct.
This novels will never be for the fainthearted or easily offended. They're dirty in every sense of the word. There is sex and there is violence, and there is sex within the violence. But the beauty and thoughtfulness of the writing will have you returning over and over to certain sentences, or entire chapters. These will always rank high in the "rereadable" category for me, based on the writing quality alone.
《Quotes》
"She would have been voted by all her (Cheltenham Ladies' College) school friends pupil least likely to become a werewolf. I've seen her punch through a man's sternum, rip out his heart and gobble it in two bloody bites. It's quite something to be able to say that and not be speaking figuratively." (pg. 53, hardcover 1st edition)
The entirety of Chapter 15. That legend...guh.
"These days young people found The Catcher in the Rye...sorta dull, kinda boring. Not to mention the new cognoscenti of all ages, from whom the test of whether a book was worth reading was whether they'd want to be friends with the protagonist." (pg. 265, hardcover 1st edition)
And so, so many more. At a certain point, I just read and forgot to take notes or mark quotes. It's totally engrossing. These books are examples of true literary talent.
《Cover》
This is a beautiful trilogy when they're all lined up together. The spines and covers are minimalist and absolutely perfect for this series. The pages are edged in a blackish-purple color that really just pops with the white cover. Bravo to the design team for these gorgeous books.
(My muddled review can't do any justice to this novel. Please read Madeleine's review for a perfect and eloquent reaction to this book.)
➸ While still absolutely amazing, and a thrilling conclusion to the trilogy, it wasn't quite as good as books one and two.
➸ By Blood We Live continues in the vein of the previous books in being the dirtiest, sexiest, goriest supernatural series on the market, all while maintaining a solid place in the "literature" department. I've never read anything else like it, and I doubt I ever will.
➸ New characters are gained, old characters are lost, and the war with humanity begins.
➸ The best thing about this series will always be that monsters are monsters. These are people doing disgusting and horrible things, yet you can still sympathize with them. You don't need to "neuter" a monster to make a great character.
《Plot & Concept》
Talulla is seemingly at peace. Her pack, her lover, and her children are at her side, and they bide their time between shifts in relative harmony. Talulla should be content, except she's not. She's haunted by dreams and desires for someone she met only briefly, someone who should complete revolt her: a vampire. Remshi, at 20,000 years old, has also started to dream, feeling stirrings of lust he hasn't felt for 17,000 years. It seems these two are set on a collision course with one another, a prophecy lurking in the background, and it spares no one, not even her family. To complicate things ever more, a Vatican-based group of fanatics has begun obsessively hunting the paranormal, determined to bring their existence to light, and exterminate them, or heal them with the power of God. It's an incredible thrill ride of a book, and an intense conclusion to a remarkable trilogy.
For the first time in this trilogy, we get an actual full on split POV novel. We get to see things from the eyes of Talulla, the fierce mother wulf from previous installments; Remhsi, the 20,000 year old vampire; and Justine, the fledgling vampire most recently made by Remshi. Glen Duncan is definitely a master at multiple POV's, giving everyone a unique voice. I never had any problem remembering whose head I was supposed to be in at any given moment. Talulla is, as always, conflicted but sensible. I always love her POV, and she is, most likely, my favorite female werewolf character ever. Honestly, I would have been happy if the last book was all from her POV. However, while I questioned liking Remshi at first, I did like how his memories from the past would just kind of float into the forefront, taking us on a quick side journey into history. I also found it really easy to sympathize with Justine. We even get Walker briefly, which made me clap my hands like an excited child.
In a way, I kind of wish this had been a duology. Talulla had already been through enough, and I would have loved to see her have a "happy" ending with Walker and the pups. I always, always liked Walker, from the very beginning, and I wasn't very pleased to watch their relationship crumble away due to Remshi, a vampire, getting in the way. I also really wanted to spend more time getting to know the pups, Zoe and Lorcan. After only knowing them as infants, I really wanted to see how toddlers adapt to the change.
I was, however, kind of a sucker for the whole reincarnation aspect of Talulla and Remshi's relationship. Remshi describing his first love, and what happened to them was just heartbreaking and beautiful. By the end, though, I was left wondering if the whole "prophecy" aspect had really just screwed over Talulla's family life completely. Sure, she gets an amazing parting gift, but was it really worth it?
I did love the concept of the "Big Bad" this time around, a crazed military group sent from the Vatican to capture the werewolves, put them on reality tv, and "save" them with the power of God. This was a thematically clever little plot that really made you look at humanity as a whole, and how desperately greedy humans are, no matter how dangerous it might be.
The end, too! Guh! It really doesn't seem like this should be just a trilogy... I kind of need more.
All in all, these books have really always been about examining human nature and what makes us define "monster" and "human", "good" and "evil".
《Characters》
• Talulla: I've always loved Talulla. She's conflicted and world-weary, but still an intensely protective mother, and a woman of insanely strong character. I do wish we'd gotten more interaction with her and her pups. Her being separated from her children for so much of the book, even though her mind was clouded with Remshi's pull, didn't quite jive with her character from the second book. I didn't ever see Talulla willingly giving her children up for anything.
• Walker, Zoe, Lorcan, the Pack, etc.: I kind of felt jilted in this department for the conclusion. I hated what happened to Talulla and Walker, since he was always one of my favorites. I also really wanted to see more of Zoe and Lorcan, since they're a bit older. We get a brief glimpse of them on the hunt with the pack, and then they're being taken care of someone else for the rest. I did really like Madeline, though...
•Remshi: I did really enjoy his character, for a vampire. I still maybe kind of wish they hadn't butted their way into a series that, until now, has been all about werewolves and their struggles. Remshi, however, as an ancient, was truly fascinating. I actually really liked how his story ended.
《Writing》
Glen Duncan's writing is just lovely. There are so many stylistic choices that truly just make this go above and beyond any other kind of paranormal or supernatural novel out there. He toys with your emotions, making you question humanity, all the while sympathizing with brutal monsters that are ripping out hearts (literally), and devouring innocent families. The way he makes Wulf a constantly lurking presence is just brilliant. Wulf is always there, like another character, pushing the limits, always eager to muscle its way out and take over your body. He makes the shift to wulf terrifying, and the weight of living with it horrifying. The chapter from Walker's POV, where they talk about all the thoughts and feelings and happiness of this family, and watching their futures and love being snuffed out by monsters that can't live without feeding every month. Ugh. It just plays with your head, but in a really good way.
I've also always loved the stream of conscious writing, and it really shined here with the multiple POVs of different monsters feeding. It really makes me think of how a beast or an animal must think, little snippets of thoughts that all run together into one big messy instinct.
This novels will never be for the fainthearted or easily offended. They're dirty in every sense of the word. There is sex and there is violence, and there is sex within the violence. But the beauty and thoughtfulness of the writing will have you returning over and over to certain sentences, or entire chapters. These will always rank high in the "rereadable" category for me, based on the writing quality alone.
《Quotes》
"She would have been voted by all her (Cheltenham Ladies' College) school friends pupil least likely to become a werewolf. I've seen her punch through a man's sternum, rip out his heart and gobble it in two bloody bites. It's quite something to be able to say that and not be speaking figuratively." (pg. 53, hardcover 1st edition)
The entirety of Chapter 15. That legend...guh.
"These days young people found The Catcher in the Rye...sorta dull, kinda boring. Not to mention the new cognoscenti of all ages, from whom the test of whether a book was worth reading was whether they'd want to be friends with the protagonist." (pg. 265, hardcover 1st edition)
And so, so many more. At a certain point, I just read and forgot to take notes or mark quotes. It's totally engrossing. These books are examples of true literary talent.
《Cover》
This is a beautiful trilogy when they're all lined up together. The spines and covers are minimalist and absolutely perfect for this series. The pages are edged in a blackish-purple color that really just pops with the white cover. Bravo to the design team for these gorgeous books.
(My muddled review can't do any justice to this novel. Please read Madeleine's review for a perfect and eloquent reaction to this book.)
March 12, 2015
I'm not sure what the point of all that was.
Of course, one of the sticking points of this series is that there is no point. Except when there is. It can be a fun narrative trick, in The Last Werewolf it certainly was, toying with a plot point for a few pages, and then tossing it out the window. Duncan never wants you to know what kind of book you're reading until its right on top of you. The issue here was whatever kind of book I just read I did not enjoy.
Because By Blood We Live is actually about fate and destiny and strings that tie its characters together, even though it doesn't want to admit, or won't admit it until the very end. Vampires, it appears, are much better entities for talking about destiny than werewolves, especially Remshi, in his old age of twenty-fucking-thousand years. His appearances in Talulla Rising made him seem cocky, like a rugged aimless rock star. Here, he's more like a sweet old man. A sweet old man who just saw the prehistoric love of his life reincarnated in an angry, self-deprecating werewolf mother of two. His perspective did get more interesting as the story went on, as the picture became clearer for him, however his point of view was incredibly static, as old men have a tendency to be. He's less of an active force in the story, and more a creature being swept up by the last tides of his life.
I missed Talulla's drive and unbridled passion. She doesn't adapt to peacetime well. She feels unsatisfied in her relationship with Walker, she's nervous about her ability to raise her children through everything they've been through and everything they have ahead of them. If there's anything she does well at all in this book its hating herself. Which frustrates me because there was so much set up in the last book for the extraordinary thing she was becoming. It's called Talulla RISING for fuck's sake, she was being primed to be a pack leader, a mother of monsters. Instead, she's the reincarnation of an old ass vampire's love interest? The pawn of the Vatican's hunter faction, the Militi Christi? The fickle bitch who broke some poor former hunter's heart? This is what I was waiting for? Not that a female character can't have self-doubt, or can't be put in a compromising position. TR had plenty of that, but it also had plenty of Talulla kicking ass and getting shit done, even when she was scared out of her mind. Here, Talulla wasn't so much scared, but bored and tired. She wants to give up her relationship with Walker, her status as a mother, her pack, even her lycanthropy. I did not fall in love with a character whose first inclinication is to give up.
Nevermind the relationships that were teased in the second book, especially the one that was developing between her and Maddy. I was all about Talulla and Maddy. But instead of the two of them getting together, Talulla spends the whole time trying to push Maddy and Walker together so she doesn't have to feel bad about leaving him. Which, like, whyyyy? Why was that necessary at all? In fact, there was so much female goodness in TR (maybe its just me, but was it not implied that the reason why the wolves were bonding and working together better than they did in Jake Marlowe's day was because there were more female wolves?), that I was confused as to why we even needed the perspectives of Walker and even Remshi. I mean, when you get down to it, what did they even add to the story? Justine, Remshi's young companion, could have just as easily told Remshi's story, and then her own story would not have felt like an awkward side plot.
Now I'm just confused. This whole trilogy could not have been leading up to this kind of non-conclusion. Nothing at all is resolved, there's all this set up for a new phase of the story, Talulla even gets new abilities, and this is supposed to be the end? I feel like I just read a rambling interlude rather than a climax. That said, if there is more to this series, as much as I loved the first two books, I'm not sure if I would want to read it.
Of course, one of the sticking points of this series is that there is no point. Except when there is. It can be a fun narrative trick, in The Last Werewolf it certainly was, toying with a plot point for a few pages, and then tossing it out the window. Duncan never wants you to know what kind of book you're reading until its right on top of you. The issue here was whatever kind of book I just read I did not enjoy.
Because By Blood We Live is actually about fate and destiny and strings that tie its characters together, even though it doesn't want to admit, or won't admit it until the very end. Vampires, it appears, are much better entities for talking about destiny than werewolves, especially Remshi, in his old age of twenty-fucking-thousand years. His appearances in Talulla Rising made him seem cocky, like a rugged aimless rock star. Here, he's more like a sweet old man. A sweet old man who just saw the prehistoric love of his life reincarnated in an angry, self-deprecating werewolf mother of two. His perspective did get more interesting as the story went on, as the picture became clearer for him, however his point of view was incredibly static, as old men have a tendency to be. He's less of an active force in the story, and more a creature being swept up by the last tides of his life.
I missed Talulla's drive and unbridled passion. She doesn't adapt to peacetime well. She feels unsatisfied in her relationship with Walker, she's nervous about her ability to raise her children through everything they've been through and everything they have ahead of them. If there's anything she does well at all in this book its hating herself. Which frustrates me because there was so much set up in the last book for the extraordinary thing she was becoming. It's called Talulla RISING for fuck's sake, she was being primed to be a pack leader, a mother of monsters. Instead, she's the reincarnation of an old ass vampire's love interest? The pawn of the Vatican's hunter faction, the Militi Christi? The fickle bitch who broke some poor former hunter's heart? This is what I was waiting for? Not that a female character can't have self-doubt, or can't be put in a compromising position. TR had plenty of that, but it also had plenty of Talulla kicking ass and getting shit done, even when she was scared out of her mind. Here, Talulla wasn't so much scared, but bored and tired. She wants to give up her relationship with Walker, her status as a mother, her pack, even her lycanthropy. I did not fall in love with a character whose first inclinication is to give up.
Nevermind the relationships that were teased in the second book, especially the one that was developing between her and Maddy. I was all about Talulla and Maddy. But instead of the two of them getting together, Talulla spends the whole time trying to push Maddy and Walker together so she doesn't have to feel bad about leaving him. Which, like, whyyyy? Why was that necessary at all? In fact, there was so much female goodness in TR (maybe its just me, but was it not implied that the reason why the wolves were bonding and working together better than they did in Jake Marlowe's day was because there were more female wolves?), that I was confused as to why we even needed the perspectives of Walker and even Remshi. I mean, when you get down to it, what did they even add to the story? Justine, Remshi's young companion, could have just as easily told Remshi's story, and then her own story would not have felt like an awkward side plot.
Now I'm just confused. This whole trilogy could not have been leading up to this kind of non-conclusion. Nothing at all is resolved, there's all this set up for a new phase of the story, Talulla even gets new abilities, and this is supposed to be the end? I feel like I just read a rambling interlude rather than a climax. That said, if there is more to this series, as much as I loved the first two books, I'm not sure if I would want to read it.
April 12, 2015
Short version: Absolutely NOT worthy of the first two books in this trilogy. I got the feeling the author had gotten sick of the series and was only forcing himself to write this under contractual obligation.
It took me literally a year to slog through this goddamn book, maybe longer. I had to keep putting it down lest I rage-vomit all over the pages. I kept at it mainly because my inner completionist wanted to read the whole series.
My personal recommendation: Read The Last Werewolf and Talulla Rising, then STOP.
Long version (***SPOILERS***):
The initial setup is wearying with all the emo drama between the characters, but interesting enough with the introduction of the Militi Christi conflict. And if this had been the main focus of the book, it would've been spectacular.
Instead, the author decides to veer rapidly off into a painfully uninteresting subplot about a potential cure for lycanthropy (the eventual resolution of which is a dull, anticlimactic letdown), which turns out to be a cheap plot device in order to lure Talulla into, essentially, a completely bogus romance-novel situation with a character I cannot bring myself to like at all.
The latter subplot turns out to be, in fact, the main plot of the entire book. And it's hackneyed as hell. I can only assume the author realizes how cheesy and cheap it is because he also spends *the entire novel* having every single one of the main characters aggressively lampshade it. (Well, he lampshaded it either because he knew it was crap, or because he thought this was terribly clever. Those are my theories.)
And the resolution of the romance plot is so pointless that it, too, gets lampshaded, before the last 20 pages or so finally return to the Militi Christi subplot, introduce a single interesting twist, and then give the reader a big middle finger before signing off.
My other main problem with the book — aside from the plot completely sucking — is the structure. The chapters flip between several different first-person narrators, all of whom have almost identical narrative voices and philosophies. Even with chapters labelled by character name, I kept forgetting who the hell was talking. (Granted, this was exacerbated by my inability to read more than a few chapters at a time before ragequitting.) And still, American characters' narration is full of Britishisms, which just irritates the shit out of me.
The author seems to have mastered only a single narrative tone — and it's a good tone, rich and thoughtful and unflinching and distinctive, but it really belongs in a story with a single POV.
I hope he chooses to take that route in the future, because it really is lovely writing. Just… severely misused in this instance.
It took me literally a year to slog through this goddamn book, maybe longer. I had to keep putting it down lest I rage-vomit all over the pages. I kept at it mainly because my inner completionist wanted to read the whole series.
My personal recommendation: Read The Last Werewolf and Talulla Rising, then STOP.
Long version (***SPOILERS***):
The initial setup is wearying with all the emo drama between the characters, but interesting enough with the introduction of the Militi Christi conflict. And if this had been the main focus of the book, it would've been spectacular.
Instead, the author decides to veer rapidly off into a painfully uninteresting subplot about a potential cure for lycanthropy (the eventual resolution of which is a dull, anticlimactic letdown), which turns out to be a cheap plot device in order to lure Talulla into, essentially, a completely bogus romance-novel situation with a character I cannot bring myself to like at all.
The latter subplot turns out to be, in fact, the main plot of the entire book. And it's hackneyed as hell. I can only assume the author realizes how cheesy and cheap it is because he also spends *the entire novel* having every single one of the main characters aggressively lampshade it. (Well, he lampshaded it either because he knew it was crap, or because he thought this was terribly clever. Those are my theories.)
And the resolution of the romance plot is so pointless that it, too, gets lampshaded, before the last 20 pages or so finally return to the Militi Christi subplot, introduce a single interesting twist, and then give the reader a big middle finger before signing off.
My other main problem with the book — aside from the plot completely sucking — is the structure. The chapters flip between several different first-person narrators, all of whom have almost identical narrative voices and philosophies. Even with chapters labelled by character name, I kept forgetting who the hell was talking. (Granted, this was exacerbated by my inability to read more than a few chapters at a time before ragequitting.) And still, American characters' narration is full of Britishisms, which just irritates the shit out of me.
The author seems to have mastered only a single narrative tone — and it's a good tone, rich and thoughtful and unflinching and distinctive, but it really belongs in a story with a single POV.
I hope he chooses to take that route in the future, because it really is lovely writing. Just… severely misused in this instance.
October 28, 2014
Overall, 3.5 starts. I considered rounding up but after thinking about it I decided that I didn't enjoy it well enough for 4 stars.
This is supposedly the last I the Last Werewolf trilogy, although the ending leaves me in doubt of that. I love the style of Duncan's writing. It usually always keeps me interested, hanging on every word. Despite this, By Blood We Live, left me a bit disappointed. I loved this trilogy from the very beginning and maybe I just had too high of expectations for the ending.
By Blood We Live is told from many different points of view. Duncan seemed to want to make all of his characters equally important, and while a worthy goal it just left it all a bit jumbled. There seems to be a lot going on and at the same time a whole lot of nothing. We are drawn into the lives of vampires and werewolves alike and with that comes lots of blood, lots of killing and eating, and lots of bestiality/sex. But at the same time, there just doesn't seem to be much of a point to it all (maybe that's the point of real life, there really is no point.) We hear a lot about this important prophecy and the life of a 20,000 year old vampire. The whole story seems to culminate with Remshi and Talulla coming together. (This isn't a spoiler cuz its listed in the blurb) Then its like and ...... now what?
Overall, I love this series. Its not for everyone but if you like werewolves this is the series to read. But having said that, I had much higher expectations for the ending.
This is supposedly the last I the Last Werewolf trilogy, although the ending leaves me in doubt of that. I love the style of Duncan's writing. It usually always keeps me interested, hanging on every word. Despite this, By Blood We Live, left me a bit disappointed. I loved this trilogy from the very beginning and maybe I just had too high of expectations for the ending.
By Blood We Live is told from many different points of view. Duncan seemed to want to make all of his characters equally important, and while a worthy goal it just left it all a bit jumbled. There seems to be a lot going on and at the same time a whole lot of nothing. We are drawn into the lives of vampires and werewolves alike and with that comes lots of blood, lots of killing and eating, and lots of bestiality/sex. But at the same time, there just doesn't seem to be much of a point to it all (maybe that's the point of real life, there really is no point.) We hear a lot about this important prophecy and the life of a 20,000 year old vampire. The whole story seems to culminate with Remshi and Talulla coming together. (This isn't a spoiler cuz its listed in the blurb) Then its like and ...... now what?
Overall, I love this series. Its not for everyone but if you like werewolves this is the series to read. But having said that, I had much higher expectations for the ending.
February 14, 2019
I wanted to give this 4 stars, but the ending just... I can't even say. There was a point near the end, with about 10 pages or less to go, and I was like "that's a really, really good place to end..." but there was more. Of course, without that I would have wanted more, but it wasn't the ending I wanted? I couldn't even say what ending I wanted, but it wasn't what was written.
"By Blood We Live" was a weaving of different storylines, each that couldn't happen unless another storyline was also happening. It was interesting, a good read, especially the play on "destiny" and a whole lotta foreshadowing, which is a stark contrast to the first two books which there were no hints (or none that I could see) and characters were convinced that there is no rhyme or reason. I don't think the story ever answered anything regarding chance vs. destiny, but I also think that's very appropriate, considering the series as a whole, rather than standalone books.
And in the end, the destiny played out, and the characters are left with... what? That? Really?? So, yeah, enjoyed the series, and if I ever re-read the series, I probably will stop at that point that I thought was a good ending.
"By Blood We Live" was a weaving of different storylines, each that couldn't happen unless another storyline was also happening. It was interesting, a good read, especially the play on "destiny" and a whole lotta foreshadowing, which is a stark contrast to the first two books which there were no hints (or none that I could see) and characters were convinced that there is no rhyme or reason. I don't think the story ever answered anything regarding chance vs. destiny, but I also think that's very appropriate, considering the series as a whole, rather than standalone books.
And in the end, the destiny played out, and the characters are left with... what? That? Really?? So, yeah, enjoyed the series, and if I ever re-read the series, I probably will stop at that point that I thought was a good ending.
February 1, 2018
The third book in Glen Duncan's werewolf/vampire (but mostly werewolf, at least until this book) trilogy is the weakest of the three, and I can pinpoint exactly why: it's too diffuse. Where the first two books focused on a single protagonist and essentially told a satisfying linear narrative, By Blood We Live shifts perspective from chapter to chapter, at various times centering on four different characters, all with competing motives. At a couple points Duncan even goes all Anne Rice, sending us thousands of years into the past to relate key werewolf and vampire origins.
The unfortunate thing is that the two main characters have compelling storylines that would have benefited from a unified point of view. The Main main character is Tallula – werewolf, protagonist of the second book in the trilogy, and possible reincarnation of Vani, one of the very first werewolves, dating back 20,000 years. The second main character is Remshi, an ancillary character in the second book who moves out of the shadows here to take over a significant portion of the book's narrative real estate. He is, by all accounts (including his own), the world's oldest vampire, approximately 20,000 years old and the paramour of Tallula's ancient predecessor. According to ancient lore, the mingling of werewolf and vampire blood will generate a cure for both.
It's the search for the cure that drives Tallula, and Remshi's search for Tallula that drives him. Complicating matters is a rogue band of Catholic priests devoted to destroying the werewolves, and Remshi is dealing with his recently-turned lover who wants to get revenge of the men who assaulted her when she was younger (a subplot that generally comes out of nowhere and is largely unresolved and forgotten by the end). And then there's Walker, Tallula's werwolf lover at the start of the book who takes care of her werewolf children but from whom she's becoming increasingly estranged – especially as she starts having sexy dreams about Remshi (without realizing it's Remshi because she doesn't even know who Remshi is). And, as I mentioned, there's an excursion 20,000 years in the past as we learn how Remshi was created, how he met Vani, how they fell in love, etc., etc. It's about two plots too many.
And that's a shame. The first two books are hugely enjoyable, with sharply drawn characters, smart, self-aware (but not too self-aware) dialogue, and a relentless narrative momentum. The characters in By Blood We Live are no less sharply drawn, but they exist in the service of a story that's too unfocused to be effective. In an otherwise satisfying trilogy, it's a shame Duncan couldn't stick the landing.
The unfortunate thing is that the two main characters have compelling storylines that would have benefited from a unified point of view. The Main main character is Tallula – werewolf, protagonist of the second book in the trilogy, and possible reincarnation of Vani, one of the very first werewolves, dating back 20,000 years. The second main character is Remshi, an ancillary character in the second book who moves out of the shadows here to take over a significant portion of the book's narrative real estate. He is, by all accounts (including his own), the world's oldest vampire, approximately 20,000 years old and the paramour of Tallula's ancient predecessor. According to ancient lore, the mingling of werewolf and vampire blood will generate a cure for both.
It's the search for the cure that drives Tallula, and Remshi's search for Tallula that drives him. Complicating matters is a rogue band of Catholic priests devoted to destroying the werewolves, and Remshi is dealing with his recently-turned lover who wants to get revenge of the men who assaulted her when she was younger (a subplot that generally comes out of nowhere and is largely unresolved and forgotten by the end). And then there's Walker, Tallula's werwolf lover at the start of the book who takes care of her werewolf children but from whom she's becoming increasingly estranged – especially as she starts having sexy dreams about Remshi (without realizing it's Remshi because she doesn't even know who Remshi is). And, as I mentioned, there's an excursion 20,000 years in the past as we learn how Remshi was created, how he met Vani, how they fell in love, etc., etc. It's about two plots too many.
And that's a shame. The first two books are hugely enjoyable, with sharply drawn characters, smart, self-aware (but not too self-aware) dialogue, and a relentless narrative momentum. The characters in By Blood We Live are no less sharply drawn, but they exist in the service of a story that's too unfocused to be effective. In an otherwise satisfying trilogy, it's a shame Duncan couldn't stick the landing.
January 12, 2024
This read like “Twilight” with more sex and violence. With several different characters becoming the focus through out the book, I found myself caring less and less for each of them. This is still well written, but by the end, I just kept asking myself, “is this it?” So many plot points are repeated from previous books in the trilogy, but some of the ideas were still original (the “cure” for the werewolf curse is especially interesting, and creates an interesting motif and theme throughout the three books), but so many of the moments in this book, especially the last twenty to thirty pages, just made me irritated. Still readable, and still better than the first book in the series, but just not a fan. But, I also can’t hate a book that makes Browning’s poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” a central aspect of the narrative.
March 3, 2018
A little too vulgar for my taste, but a decent plot.
February 5, 2014
True to form, By Blood We Live is not for the faint of heart or easily disturbed. As in the other two books, the descriptions of sex and violence are extremely graphic. Mr. Duncan leaves nothing to the imagination, especially when it comes to the monthly transformation and the intense build-up to it.
Yet, for all its explicit scenes of rough sex and gory murder scenes, By Blood We Live is a love story. Love is the driving force of the novel, whether it is of lost loves, future loves, or parental love. Talulla is still suffering from Jake’s death, and his memory is the measurement she uses for all relationships. In everything she does, deliberately or subconsciously, she is always seeking to make him proud and live up to his legacy. Then there are her children. Aged three now, she will never forgive herself for losing her son immediately upon his birth and constantly upbraids herself for her lack of protection. There is no doubt that her love for her twins is as deep as it is fierce. Finally, there is the increasing obsession she has with Remshi. She might be a legendary creature with a penchant for evisceration and vivisection, but her heart longs for the peace and comfort a loving relationship brings to everyone.
That Talulla and Remshi are living out an ancient prophecy is just a portion of the story. The introduction of the newest human danger, the Vatican-based Christian cult bent on unmasking the creatures and disposing of them, sets the stage for an entirely new battle. While the vampires and the werewolves will always oppose each other, the world in which they skirmish is definitely changing, and it is in this new world in which Talulla must find a way to negotiate her pack to safety. Given how the story itself ends, one can only hope Mr. Duncan has at least one more novel to write to close out Talulla’s story properly.
There is something incredibly hypnotic about the entire story. Talulla’s stream-of-consciousness rants are heartbreaking in the depths of emotion they show. Her mindset when fully transformed is equally mesmerizing because of the singular focus of the Wolf. In spite of all her outward toughness, Talulla remains the lost girl she was when Jake finds her, and her self-doubt is overwhelming at times. These very human attributes help balance the violence and destruction of which she is more than capable of inflicting on anyone who may get in her way.
By Blood We Live continues to explore the meaning of being human. For all her ferocity, Talulla is incredibly fragile, and she struggles to balance her brittle feelings with the fierce killer she becomes. That she both craves and abhors her behavior on every full moon underscores her continued conscience and is proof that she has not lost her humanity entirely. Then again, her capacity for love is further proof that she is not the monster she believes herself to be. The guilt she carries around with her – guilt at surviving when Jake is gone, guilt at her son’s kidnapping, guilt at her preoccupation with something other than her pack, guilt at the people who have been bitten or killed helping and protecting her – is brutal, but it is what helps keep her tied to her humanity when the Wolf wants nothing more than for her to shed her last vestiges of her past and fully embrace what she has become. For, no matter how often she changes and kills, as long as she continues to feel guilty about it, Talulla will always be human.
The third novel in The Last Werewolf series continues Talulla’s fascinating story. Her personal battles against the Wolf, as well as the battles she fights on behalf of her loved ones, remain provocative and intense. Mr. Duncan’s writing maintains its edginess, finding beauty in the grotesque, and capturing the elegance behind the mental anguish that comes with self-doubt and self-loathing. By Blood We Live is every bit as bloody and riveting as the first two novels, and fans can only hope that we will continue to follow Talulla through her personal existential crisis and her battle for survival.
Yet, for all its explicit scenes of rough sex and gory murder scenes, By Blood We Live is a love story. Love is the driving force of the novel, whether it is of lost loves, future loves, or parental love. Talulla is still suffering from Jake’s death, and his memory is the measurement she uses for all relationships. In everything she does, deliberately or subconsciously, she is always seeking to make him proud and live up to his legacy. Then there are her children. Aged three now, she will never forgive herself for losing her son immediately upon his birth and constantly upbraids herself for her lack of protection. There is no doubt that her love for her twins is as deep as it is fierce. Finally, there is the increasing obsession she has with Remshi. She might be a legendary creature with a penchant for evisceration and vivisection, but her heart longs for the peace and comfort a loving relationship brings to everyone.
That Talulla and Remshi are living out an ancient prophecy is just a portion of the story. The introduction of the newest human danger, the Vatican-based Christian cult bent on unmasking the creatures and disposing of them, sets the stage for an entirely new battle. While the vampires and the werewolves will always oppose each other, the world in which they skirmish is definitely changing, and it is in this new world in which Talulla must find a way to negotiate her pack to safety. Given how the story itself ends, one can only hope Mr. Duncan has at least one more novel to write to close out Talulla’s story properly.
There is something incredibly hypnotic about the entire story. Talulla’s stream-of-consciousness rants are heartbreaking in the depths of emotion they show. Her mindset when fully transformed is equally mesmerizing because of the singular focus of the Wolf. In spite of all her outward toughness, Talulla remains the lost girl she was when Jake finds her, and her self-doubt is overwhelming at times. These very human attributes help balance the violence and destruction of which she is more than capable of inflicting on anyone who may get in her way.
By Blood We Live continues to explore the meaning of being human. For all her ferocity, Talulla is incredibly fragile, and she struggles to balance her brittle feelings with the fierce killer she becomes. That she both craves and abhors her behavior on every full moon underscores her continued conscience and is proof that she has not lost her humanity entirely. Then again, her capacity for love is further proof that she is not the monster she believes herself to be. The guilt she carries around with her – guilt at surviving when Jake is gone, guilt at her son’s kidnapping, guilt at her preoccupation with something other than her pack, guilt at the people who have been bitten or killed helping and protecting her – is brutal, but it is what helps keep her tied to her humanity when the Wolf wants nothing more than for her to shed her last vestiges of her past and fully embrace what she has become. For, no matter how often she changes and kills, as long as she continues to feel guilty about it, Talulla will always be human.
The third novel in The Last Werewolf series continues Talulla’s fascinating story. Her personal battles against the Wolf, as well as the battles she fights on behalf of her loved ones, remain provocative and intense. Mr. Duncan’s writing maintains its edginess, finding beauty in the grotesque, and capturing the elegance behind the mental anguish that comes with self-doubt and self-loathing. By Blood We Live is every bit as bloody and riveting as the first two novels, and fans can only hope that we will continue to follow Talulla through her personal existential crisis and her battle for survival.
May 2, 2014
Book Info: Genre: Literary horror/werewolves
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of the author, series, realistic endings
Trigger Warnings: murder, memories of child molestation and rape, killing babies, genocidal attempts
My Thoughts: First of all, I have to tell you, the hardcover copy of this book is glorious. The edge of the pages are dark brown like dried blood, and the pictures of the moon on the dust jacket are foil, so it looks shiny like fresh blood. The texture of the dust jacket is wonderful, too, sort of rough and parchment-like—all in all a very sensual delight. I almost hated to sully it by opening and reading it...
One of the reasons I hadn't liked Talulla Rising quite as much as The Last Werewolf was that I missed Jake's voice, the perspective his age gave to his thoughts and actions. Well, that's back, in a way, in the form of the ancient vampire Remshi, in whose head we are when the book opens, and whose chapters intertwine with Justine's and Talulla's (and occasionally Walker's—we have a lot of different perspectives in this book). Unlike the previous books, we are given multiple points of view, and to watch Duncan switch voices and personas like that is really quite impressive, because he really does completely change his writing style and voice for each character.
Duncan took a huge risk in this book by not wrapping up the ending into a tidy little bow, and I would imagine there will be some folks who will not like this at all. I found it to fit perfectly into the overall storyline, and to be entirely realistic, because nothing is ever truly wrapped up and tied off perfectly in life. While it is true I would have liked to have a better understanding of where things will go from here, at the same time that would probably require that Duncan just keep writing books in this series, because there just isn't any easy way to wrap this sort of thing up. Which, come to think of it, would not necessarily be a bad thing...
At any rate, if you are a fan of the author, or the series, or just like reading books that are willing to take that risk at realism, check this series out. I do recommend you read from the beginning just so you're familiar with all the the background and characters.
Series Information: The Last Werewolf/Bloodlines Trilogy
Book 1: The Last Werewolf, review linked here
Book 2: Talulla Rising, review linked here
Book 3: By Blood we Live
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: By Blood We Live is a stunningly erotic love story that gives us the final battle for survival between werewolves and vampires, and one last searing—and brilliantly ironic—look at what it means to be, or not to be, human.
The story opens: Talulla has settled into an uneasy equilibrium. With her twins safely at her side, and the devotion of her lover, Walker, she has what appears to be a normal family life—except for their monthly transformation into werewolves hungry for human flesh. But even this hard-won, tenuous peace is undermined for Talulla by nagging thoughts of Remshi, the twenty-thousand-year-old vampire who haunts her dreams. For his part, Remshi can’t escape the feeling that he knows Talulla from many (many, many) years before. Still, they have their distractions: Talulla is being pursued by a fanatical, Vatican-based Christian cult, and Remshi is following a trail of reckless feedings by a newly turned vampire bent on revenge. But, as the novel unfolds, Talulla and Remshi are inexorably drawn to each other—and toward the moment when an ancient prophecy may finally come to pass.
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of the author, series, realistic endings
Trigger Warnings: murder, memories of child molestation and rape, killing babies, genocidal attempts
My Thoughts: First of all, I have to tell you, the hardcover copy of this book is glorious. The edge of the pages are dark brown like dried blood, and the pictures of the moon on the dust jacket are foil, so it looks shiny like fresh blood. The texture of the dust jacket is wonderful, too, sort of rough and parchment-like—all in all a very sensual delight. I almost hated to sully it by opening and reading it...
One of the reasons I hadn't liked Talulla Rising quite as much as The Last Werewolf was that I missed Jake's voice, the perspective his age gave to his thoughts and actions. Well, that's back, in a way, in the form of the ancient vampire Remshi, in whose head we are when the book opens, and whose chapters intertwine with Justine's and Talulla's (and occasionally Walker's—we have a lot of different perspectives in this book). Unlike the previous books, we are given multiple points of view, and to watch Duncan switch voices and personas like that is really quite impressive, because he really does completely change his writing style and voice for each character.
Duncan took a huge risk in this book by not wrapping up the ending into a tidy little bow, and I would imagine there will be some folks who will not like this at all. I found it to fit perfectly into the overall storyline, and to be entirely realistic, because nothing is ever truly wrapped up and tied off perfectly in life. While it is true I would have liked to have a better understanding of where things will go from here, at the same time that would probably require that Duncan just keep writing books in this series, because there just isn't any easy way to wrap this sort of thing up. Which, come to think of it, would not necessarily be a bad thing...
At any rate, if you are a fan of the author, or the series, or just like reading books that are willing to take that risk at realism, check this series out. I do recommend you read from the beginning just so you're familiar with all the the background and characters.
Series Information: The Last Werewolf/Bloodlines Trilogy
Book 1: The Last Werewolf, review linked here
Book 2: Talulla Rising, review linked here
Book 3: By Blood we Live
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: By Blood We Live is a stunningly erotic love story that gives us the final battle for survival between werewolves and vampires, and one last searing—and brilliantly ironic—look at what it means to be, or not to be, human.
The story opens: Talulla has settled into an uneasy equilibrium. With her twins safely at her side, and the devotion of her lover, Walker, she has what appears to be a normal family life—except for their monthly transformation into werewolves hungry for human flesh. But even this hard-won, tenuous peace is undermined for Talulla by nagging thoughts of Remshi, the twenty-thousand-year-old vampire who haunts her dreams. For his part, Remshi can’t escape the feeling that he knows Talulla from many (many, many) years before. Still, they have their distractions: Talulla is being pursued by a fanatical, Vatican-based Christian cult, and Remshi is following a trail of reckless feedings by a newly turned vampire bent on revenge. But, as the novel unfolds, Talulla and Remshi are inexorably drawn to each other—and toward the moment when an ancient prophecy may finally come to pass.
June 1, 2014
It feels a bit odd that much of this book which ends a trilogy about werewolves is narrated by a vampire. Yet it works beautifully. This final book splits between the perspectives of our old friend Tallula and ancient vampire Remshi. Tallula is fighting to survive in a world where the catholic church has created an army to wipe out the supernatural whilst Remshi is trying to help his newly turned companion cope with becoming a monster. Both know they are being drawn together, but surely Tallula cannot be the reincarnated form of Remshi's only lover- can she?
There are so many things I liked about this book. It does a good job at giving a very real-world feel over the supernatural that many try to achieve but don't manage as successfully as this. The supernatural elements of werewolves/vampires are kept to a minimum with the focus very much on their need to kill. The book is possibly the most brutal of the series with gruesome deaths galore but Duncan manages not to idolise the violence, just to have it seen as necessary and part of being the monster. There's also a fair bit of sex in here, which I usually detest in a book, but here it is only ever used if it plays a role in the story. The sex gives an element of the primitive, the non-thinking monster which works well.
I think my favorite thing here though is the way that Remshi's story mirrors that of Jake's in The Last Werewolf. They have both seen it all and done it all (Remshi is properly ancient)and find their world changed when end up turning a woman. I like the idea that vampires and werewolves generally hate each other, a form of racism I suppose, but actually just like with humans, there are more similarities than there are differences.
I was so close to giving this five stars but the ending, for Remshi at any rate, is dreadful. All the way through the book we are teased about what might happen when Remshi and Tallula finally meet again but what actually happens is a bit lame. For the last part of the book Remshi is a dull character and after being so good for so long it is really disappointing. Tallula's ending was better but it was left on a sort of cliffhanger and I always feel a little let down when that happens.
Whichever way you look at this, it's brilliant. A brilliant werewolf and vampire story. A brilliant supernatural tale that reflects real life. A brilliant piece of skilled writing. In one word (and I think you can guess what that will be): brilliant!
There are so many things I liked about this book. It does a good job at giving a very real-world feel over the supernatural that many try to achieve but don't manage as successfully as this. The supernatural elements of werewolves/vampires are kept to a minimum with the focus very much on their need to kill. The book is possibly the most brutal of the series with gruesome deaths galore but Duncan manages not to idolise the violence, just to have it seen as necessary and part of being the monster. There's also a fair bit of sex in here, which I usually detest in a book, but here it is only ever used if it plays a role in the story. The sex gives an element of the primitive, the non-thinking monster which works well.
I think my favorite thing here though is the way that Remshi's story mirrors that of Jake's in The Last Werewolf. They have both seen it all and done it all (Remshi is properly ancient)and find their world changed when end up turning a woman. I like the idea that vampires and werewolves generally hate each other, a form of racism I suppose, but actually just like with humans, there are more similarities than there are differences.
I was so close to giving this five stars but the ending, for Remshi at any rate, is dreadful. All the way through the book we are teased about what might happen when Remshi and Tallula finally meet again but what actually happens is a bit lame. For the last part of the book Remshi is a dull character and after being so good for so long it is really disappointing. Tallula's ending was better but it was left on a sort of cliffhanger and I always feel a little let down when that happens.
Whichever way you look at this, it's brilliant. A brilliant werewolf and vampire story. A brilliant supernatural tale that reflects real life. A brilliant piece of skilled writing. In one word (and I think you can guess what that will be): brilliant!
August 20, 2020
Maybe round up to 2.5
The first book in the trilogy was like a delicious tiramisu, rich and dark and heavy and so divine you could eat it forever. Book two is when you’re still enjoying the dessert but you know the best of the experience- that first bite and dive into luxury- is behind you now, but it’s good so you keep going. By book three you’re full, starting to regret how far you’ve taken this, thinking you should’ve quit while you’re ahead. You swear off tiramisu.
This book, oh, this book. Glen Duncan set the bar so high with his first book. I felt I had found a writer who is just as home on the fantasy book shelf as he would be in poetry, or literary classics. I feel a sort of grief over how much I disliked this last book.
Here’s my advice: Stop with the second book (ignore Remshi’s epilogue)and the stars in your eyes for glen Duncan and his werewolf tale will remain intact. The plot is weak, and we’re forced to listen to second rate characters narrate at times. Talulla grows more immature/entitled/flakey to the point that you question whether she and Jake would’ve lasted more than a few months had he stuck around.
The sex scenes that are from Talulla POV are so obviously written by a man, it was hard to lose myself to the moment. There was no difference in narration of sex between Jake and Talulla, and what style and language worked for Jake, just sounded cringey coming from Tallula. One of my main issues with this book (and in general) is how Talulla tries to convince us, during every relationship, that THIS is the one for her, THIS time it’s all fitting together, THIS sex takes her to a whole new world, yada yada. It’s like the girl who cried Wulf (sorry). Because of this third book, and Talulla as a character, if a fourth book came out I probably wouldn’t read it.
The first book in the trilogy was like a delicious tiramisu, rich and dark and heavy and so divine you could eat it forever. Book two is when you’re still enjoying the dessert but you know the best of the experience- that first bite and dive into luxury- is behind you now, but it’s good so you keep going. By book three you’re full, starting to regret how far you’ve taken this, thinking you should’ve quit while you’re ahead. You swear off tiramisu.
This book, oh, this book. Glen Duncan set the bar so high with his first book. I felt I had found a writer who is just as home on the fantasy book shelf as he would be in poetry, or literary classics. I feel a sort of grief over how much I disliked this last book.
Here’s my advice: Stop with the second book (ignore Remshi’s epilogue)and the stars in your eyes for glen Duncan and his werewolf tale will remain intact. The plot is weak, and we’re forced to listen to second rate characters narrate at times. Talulla grows more immature/entitled/flakey to the point that you question whether she and Jake would’ve lasted more than a few months had he stuck around.
The sex scenes that are from Talulla POV are so obviously written by a man, it was hard to lose myself to the moment. There was no difference in narration of sex between Jake and Talulla, and what style and language worked for Jake, just sounded cringey coming from Tallula. One of my main issues with this book (and in general) is how Talulla tries to convince us, during every relationship, that THIS is the one for her, THIS time it’s all fitting together, THIS sex takes her to a whole new world, yada yada. It’s like the girl who cried Wulf (sorry). Because of this third book, and Talulla as a character, if a fourth book came out I probably wouldn’t read it.
May 13, 2015
I got about 3/4ths of the way through this book and then I just. couldn't. do it. anymore. The plots are fantastic, even if in 2015 the whole Werewolves vs. Vampires vs. Humans thing seems a little tired, and I remember really enjoying Tallula Rising - if only because I was surprised at the deftness with which Glen Duncan handled a book told in first-person by a compelling female character.
HOWEVER. There comes a point at which all of the grandiose philosophizing and purple prose gets annoying, and by the time I got halfway through the book I felt like I was being beaten over the head with Important Musings About Life, Death, and the Nature of Evil. The writing relies way too heavily on certain phrases (why is everything soft and hot and big? How can someone's vagina smell SLY?). Keeping up with FOUR first-person narratives becomes especially difficult when all the voices basically sound the same, all the characters have the same life philosophies, etc etc etc. As always with books that have otherwise interesting plotlines, I'm a little annoyed when the main focus of a novel turns out to be some grand romance.
So, eh, it was ok. If there's a fourth book (and it seems like there will be), I won't be reading it. Quit while you're ahead, Duncan! Lastly, HOW MANY TIMES CAN A WEREWOLF GET CAPTURED AND THEN ESCAPE IN THE NICK OF TIME???
HOWEVER. There comes a point at which all of the grandiose philosophizing and purple prose gets annoying, and by the time I got halfway through the book I felt like I was being beaten over the head with Important Musings About Life, Death, and the Nature of Evil. The writing relies way too heavily on certain phrases (why is everything soft and hot and big? How can someone's vagina smell SLY?). Keeping up with FOUR first-person narratives becomes especially difficult when all the voices basically sound the same, all the characters have the same life philosophies, etc etc etc. As always with books that have otherwise interesting plotlines, I'm a little annoyed when the main focus of a novel turns out to be some grand romance.
So, eh, it was ok. If there's a fourth book (and it seems like there will be), I won't be reading it. Quit while you're ahead, Duncan! Lastly, HOW MANY TIMES CAN A WEREWOLF GET CAPTURED AND THEN ESCAPE IN THE NICK OF TIME???
July 16, 2016
I can't decide if this book was brilliant, or ridiculously disappointing. On the one hand, it seems to lack the dark gristly mood of the first book, and the all the rage and vigor of the second book. The plot seems to trudge forward: more details, deaths, violence, danger, passion. It seems almost monotonous after a while, and I couldn't help but wonder how this is all going to reach some sort of resolution I'd be happy with. On the other hand, there seems to be some grand metaphor afoot with a fairly lackluster ending and continual allusions to a certain Robert Browning poem. The closer we get to the mysterious beginnings of werewolves, that echo through all three books, the more pointless they seem to become. I'd like to think that was Duncan's point. That the meaning we force upon our lives, or the existence of life in general, brings us the furthest from our enjoyment from it, and the value we gain from it. Those moments in the beginning, when everything seemed so mysterious, were so strong, crisp, and heavy with a deeper meaning than the facts brought about.
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