Review: The Shroud Eaters - Alyx J. Shaw
This is something I don't normally do, but something I wanted to. Newly released in e-formats, this book will also be available in print via Amazon.com in the coming days, something I am very excited about. Why? Because its a vampire novel and I am a huge vampire fan.
But wait, vampires? Haven't they been done to death? Well frankly yes, they have. And there are some of us who have been left feeling let down by the 'vampires that sparkle' that have risen to such fame of late. After all, what self respecting apex predator sparkles in sunlight as its hunting tactic. No, just no. It personally left me jaded and in need of some 'real' vampires. But what makes a real vampire? The romanticised version that we think of sneaking in through windows, heaving bodices and fainting maidens? Stoker's alluring Count? Well these are all valid candidates, but this is where The Shroud Eaters comes in.
I had never heard of a shroud eater before reading this book, in fact, I had not heard of many of the varieties of vampire in this novel. Because frankly, Alyx Shaw has done her homework, in spades. She has dug up lore about forgotten kinds of vampire from cultures around the world and brought them to life. And these are the vampires of folklore, the origins of the chills and night terrors that made us all afraid of the dark. There are the terrors that our grand parents and their grand parents before them feared in the dead of night. Creepy, spooky and frightening in ways we've forgotten. And that is the atmosphere of this novel throughout, with all its perils.
Odd it might seem that our heroine is a vampire herself, a victim of murder and risen into undeath. But her story, and the companions we meet along the way - not forgetting her pet guinea pig, are wonderfully crafted characters that you come to love and identify with. Then there are the not so nice ones you just have to growl at. As such there are times that the reader is left questioning who is the real monster. Without giving away the story - as really, I want you to go and read the book for yourself! - the story is a journey of chills, suspense, twists and turns, with a varied cast of humans and monsters alike that grab you and draw you in. And before you know it, you've stayed up late to three am reading, the house is silent, and the normal knock your radiator makes periodically has you leaping out of your skin you've been that sucked in.
My verdict? Go, buy it, read it, and enjoy, preferably after dark, in a quiet house with no interruptions. Best vampire novel I have read in a long time. And if you are a purist like me, a nice antidote to the sparkly ones!
But wait, vampires? Haven't they been done to death? Well frankly yes, they have. And there are some of us who have been left feeling let down by the 'vampires that sparkle' that have risen to such fame of late. After all, what self respecting apex predator sparkles in sunlight as its hunting tactic. No, just no. It personally left me jaded and in need of some 'real' vampires. But what makes a real vampire? The romanticised version that we think of sneaking in through windows, heaving bodices and fainting maidens? Stoker's alluring Count? Well these are all valid candidates, but this is where The Shroud Eaters comes in.
I had never heard of a shroud eater before reading this book, in fact, I had not heard of many of the varieties of vampire in this novel. Because frankly, Alyx Shaw has done her homework, in spades. She has dug up lore about forgotten kinds of vampire from cultures around the world and brought them to life. And these are the vampires of folklore, the origins of the chills and night terrors that made us all afraid of the dark. There are the terrors that our grand parents and their grand parents before them feared in the dead of night. Creepy, spooky and frightening in ways we've forgotten. And that is the atmosphere of this novel throughout, with all its perils.
Odd it might seem that our heroine is a vampire herself, a victim of murder and risen into undeath. But her story, and the companions we meet along the way - not forgetting her pet guinea pig, are wonderfully crafted characters that you come to love and identify with. Then there are the not so nice ones you just have to growl at. As such there are times that the reader is left questioning who is the real monster. Without giving away the story - as really, I want you to go and read the book for yourself! - the story is a journey of chills, suspense, twists and turns, with a varied cast of humans and monsters alike that grab you and draw you in. And before you know it, you've stayed up late to three am reading, the house is silent, and the normal knock your radiator makes periodically has you leaping out of your skin you've been that sucked in.
My verdict? Go, buy it, read it, and enjoy, preferably after dark, in a quiet house with no interruptions. Best vampire novel I have read in a long time. And if you are a purist like me, a nice antidote to the sparkly ones!