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Vampire Earth #10
Appalachian Overthrow
E.E. Knight has proven “a master of his craft. His prose is controlled but interesting, and his characters are fully formed and come to life.”* In his latest Vampire Earth novel, the national bestselling author tells a tale about David Valentine’s fellow freedom fighter Ahn-Kha when he was imprisoned and forced into hard labor by the Kurians—and the rebellion he led against them…
Captured and sold to the Kurian–allied Maynes Conglomerate, to work as a slave in the coal mines of Appalachia, Ahn-Kha is angered and appalled by the dangerous working conditions, and the brutal treatment inflicted upon his fellow miners. When a protest against shortages is deliberately and bloodily suppressed, Ahn-Kha sets himself against the ruling Maynes family and sets out on a trail of vengeance through the Coal Country.
Finally, the people of the Coal Country are driven to the breaking point—and they now have a leader, a powerful and battle-hardened leader, determined to forge them into an army that will wage guerrilla warfare against the Maynes family and their Kurian masters—and free the Appalachians from their tyranny…
*Science Fiction Weekly
Captured and sold to the Kurian–allied Maynes Conglomerate, to work as a slave in the coal mines of Appalachia, Ahn-Kha is angered and appalled by the dangerous working conditions, and the brutal treatment inflicted upon his fellow miners. When a protest against shortages is deliberately and bloodily suppressed, Ahn-Kha sets himself against the ruling Maynes family and sets out on a trail of vengeance through the Coal Country.
Finally, the people of the Coal Country are driven to the breaking point—and they now have a leader, a powerful and battle-hardened leader, determined to forge them into an army that will wage guerrilla warfare against the Maynes family and their Kurian masters—and free the Appalachians from their tyranny…
*Science Fiction Weekly
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2013
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730 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
June 24, 2014
I'm starting to worry about E.E. Knight...
His editor has either abandoned him or is sabotaging him.
Although the Appalachian Overthrow reads in a herky-jerky fashion (it felt like I was trying to read by strobe light at times--flashing from one scene to another) the most egregious example is in the Chapter "Enemy of my Enemy." (pg. 288 of the hardcover)
Ahn-Kha starts to describe how he scavenged and then modifies his portable mortar...but mid-sentence jumps to the tail end of what can only be described as an alternate description of Ahn-Ka's confrontation with the "Elder Maynes."
Unfortunately, Age of Fire Six--Dragon Fate suffered from the same strobe-light effect where tantalizing glimpses of seemingly major plot lines reinforced why I like E.E. Knight's work so much...but it was so "undercooked and soggy" it just turned to mush....
I genuinely hope that Mr. Knight is simply got a case of the 'editorial-gremlins' and that he isn't fighting some other kind of demons in his personal life that would explain this precipitous drop-off in the quality of his well established stories.
I can only hope he makes a Steven King like recovery...I'm still willing to check out his next installments...he has more than earned it with VE 1-9 and AoF 1-5!!!!!
His editor has either abandoned him or is sabotaging him.
Although the Appalachian Overthrow reads in a herky-jerky fashion (it felt like I was trying to read by strobe light at times--flashing from one scene to another) the most egregious example is in the Chapter "Enemy of my Enemy." (pg. 288 of the hardcover)
Ahn-Kha starts to describe how he scavenged and then modifies his portable mortar...but mid-sentence jumps to the tail end of what can only be described as an alternate description of Ahn-Ka's confrontation with the "Elder Maynes."
Unfortunately, Age of Fire Six--Dragon Fate suffered from the same strobe-light effect where tantalizing glimpses of seemingly major plot lines reinforced why I like E.E. Knight's work so much...but it was so "undercooked and soggy" it just turned to mush....
I genuinely hope that Mr. Knight is simply got a case of the 'editorial-gremlins' and that he isn't fighting some other kind of demons in his personal life that would explain this precipitous drop-off in the quality of his well established stories.
I can only hope he makes a Steven King like recovery...I'm still willing to check out his next installments...he has more than earned it with VE 1-9 and AoF 1-5!!!!!
April 24, 2017
This was a good addition to the series, a book from Ahn-Kha's perspective. He's telling the story from well into the future & the end lends some great clues as to how the struggle will turn out. Valentine is mentioned several times, but doesn't appear in the story at all. It takes place during & after the events in the previous book which follow Valentine.
Ahn-Kha is a great character & it was fun to get his take on things. The writing was a bit choppy. At times that was an artifice to make it seem more like a personal chronicle, but a few times it seemed like poor editing. All in all, it was a good look at the Coal Wars.
This series should be read in published order. Don't start with this book, but Way of the Wolf.
Ahn-Kha is a great character & it was fun to get his take on things. The writing was a bit choppy. At times that was an artifice to make it seem more like a personal chronicle, but a few times it seemed like poor editing. All in all, it was a good look at the Coal Wars.
This series should be read in published order. Don't start with this book, but Way of the Wolf.
June 29, 2013
I love the vampire earth world and I really wanted to like this book. I gave it only 1 star because it was very hard to follow the story, I had no idea what I was going on for most of it. The telling of the story jumped all over the place and felt very rushed. Overall, the story content was good but I wish it was written better, it was almost like it was written by a completely different person to the previous books. I really did not like the first person, memoir style either but that is small compared to the rest of the shortfalls.
There are few books I have had to push myself to finish, this was one of them.
There are few books I have had to push myself to finish, this was one of them.
April 9, 2014
Avoid this book. This book is a poorly put-together afterthought that adds nothing to the Vampire Earth series. Reading this I felt the author had swept all his notes into a pile, jammed a staple through them, and called it a book. It is a rambling mess. I have been told stories while visiting the old folks home that were more coherent.
Everything in this book is a side-note. There are side-notes of side-notes of side-notes. In sections the timeline bounces around because there are so many side-notes.
And the editing was atrocious. At one point the main character is sizing a rifle when suddenly he is mid-paragraph into a conversation with a reaper - and instead of fighting he is now negotiating a peace treaty.
There is no real climax for this book. It tries to build some conflicts but then resolves them in a paragraph or two. At the end the book finally runs out of side-notes and mercifully just ends (or the author fell asleep - I am not sure which).
Everything in this book is a side-note. There are side-notes of side-notes of side-notes. In sections the timeline bounces around because there are so many side-notes.
And the editing was atrocious. At one point the main character is sizing a rifle when suddenly he is mid-paragraph into a conversation with a reaper - and instead of fighting he is now negotiating a peace treaty.
There is no real climax for this book. It tries to build some conflicts but then resolves them in a paragraph or two. At the end the book finally runs out of side-notes and mercifully just ends (or the author fell asleep - I am not sure which).
June 27, 2013
Holy crap was this book poorly written/edited. I am shocked that this made it to print.
March 15, 2016
This installment of Vampire Earth was extremely disappointing. I thought Ahn-Kha's story would be great and different than getting a story from David Valentine. But this book was awful, not only was it the worst of the Vampire Earth series, but as a book on it's own it was terrible.
The narrative was from Ahn-Kha's perspective and that was different for this series. But the story was extremely fragmented and it was very hard to follow. Even the dialogue was hard to follow, since most of the time, you didn't know who was saying what, it was just dialogue. The overall plot was very boring, there was not a lot of action or exciting parts. Most of it was just Ahn-Kha moving around the Kurian zone and working for the quislings. There was lots of descriptions and history of the area, but not a whole of action. This was very boring for a Vampire Earth book. When there were exciting parts, it was one sentence in a long paragraph and most of the time, you didn't know what was going on anyway. There was one chapter that stands out as the worst, Page 288 of the hardbacked version. Ahn-Kha has a conversation with Old Man Maynes that just starts in the middle of a paragraph about Ahn-Kha finding a gun. He starts talking to someone, who isn't introduced, you have no idea where he came from or what the heck they are talking about. It must have been extremely bad editing, like this conversation belonged in another chapter but accidentally got put in the middle of a different one. How did this get past an editor? It was very confusing for the reader. Stuff like that happened throughout the whole book.
I like Ahn-Kha, but this book was so bad that it was just about worth it to skip. In fact, when I go back and read the series again, I will be skipping this terrible book. The story was just too fragmented and jumpy. There were a lot of parts that I read and I didn't know what was going on, who was talking or I was just bored. This book felt very much like Knight needed money and just wrote some crap, stamped "Vampire Earth" on it and sent it out. This was so different than the other books in the series that it felt insulting to the fans that love these books. It was obviously a ploy to take advantage of the readers and maybe push back a publishing date. I was very disappointed and if the next book is like this one, I will have to give up on the series and that will be very sad since it's one of my favorites. But I can't rationalize paying for these books if the author isn't going to put any effort into writing them. So disappointing, 1 out of 5 stars.
The narrative was from Ahn-Kha's perspective and that was different for this series. But the story was extremely fragmented and it was very hard to follow. Even the dialogue was hard to follow, since most of the time, you didn't know who was saying what, it was just dialogue. The overall plot was very boring, there was not a lot of action or exciting parts. Most of it was just Ahn-Kha moving around the Kurian zone and working for the quislings. There was lots of descriptions and history of the area, but not a whole of action. This was very boring for a Vampire Earth book. When there were exciting parts, it was one sentence in a long paragraph and most of the time, you didn't know what was going on anyway. There was one chapter that stands out as the worst, Page 288 of the hardbacked version. Ahn-Kha has a conversation with Old Man Maynes that just starts in the middle of a paragraph about Ahn-Kha finding a gun. He starts talking to someone, who isn't introduced, you have no idea where he came from or what the heck they are talking about. It must have been extremely bad editing, like this conversation belonged in another chapter but accidentally got put in the middle of a different one. How did this get past an editor? It was very confusing for the reader. Stuff like that happened throughout the whole book.
I like Ahn-Kha, but this book was so bad that it was just about worth it to skip. In fact, when I go back and read the series again, I will be skipping this terrible book. The story was just too fragmented and jumpy. There were a lot of parts that I read and I didn't know what was going on, who was talking or I was just bored. This book felt very much like Knight needed money and just wrote some crap, stamped "Vampire Earth" on it and sent it out. This was so different than the other books in the series that it felt insulting to the fans that love these books. It was obviously a ploy to take advantage of the readers and maybe push back a publishing date. I was very disappointed and if the next book is like this one, I will have to give up on the series and that will be very sad since it's one of my favorites. But I can't rationalize paying for these books if the author isn't going to put any effort into writing them. So disappointing, 1 out of 5 stars.
May 30, 2015
I can only guess that E.E. Knight didn't actually want to finish this book. The first 200 pages were semi-engaging (earning a two star rating in lieu of one). They started to lay out a story, but past that point it failed, simply failed. Poor writing, disjointed - almost as if whole pages were removed between sentences. Huge loss of time, characters introduced with no backstory other than a flashback of seeing them in previous chapters ... The last half of this book read more like writers notes. I can not believe it was published.
There are only two books in my life I have never finished. This one almost made that number three. I've already purchased the following volume, and I'm actually afraid to read it now.
There are only two books in my life I have never finished. This one almost made that number three. I've already purchased the following volume, and I'm actually afraid to read it now.
April 17, 2013
A little disjointed compared to the other books in the series, but I think that's an effect of who the main character is.
December 1, 2019
2.75 of 5 stars
This is Ahn-Kha's recounting of his time in Coal Country before and during the uprising. I should warn while there is no romance there is sexual abuse and atrocities recounted that may bother sensitive readers.
This was a tough review, I have loved the character Ahn-Kha since he was first introduced. I was thrilled he was the focus of this story but the charm and subtleties that have always charmed me before didn't come through very often in this read. The editing is also problematic as Ahn-Kha starts to describe one thing then it jumps to something completely different and I'm backtracking looking for the missing text for several minutes, only to realize it doesn't exist. While I appreciate the author sharing with us what happened to Ahn-Kha, I struggled to stick with this story.
For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/
This is Ahn-Kha's recounting of his time in Coal Country before and during the uprising. I should warn while there is no romance there is sexual abuse and atrocities recounted that may bother sensitive readers.
This was a tough review, I have loved the character Ahn-Kha since he was first introduced. I was thrilled he was the focus of this story but the charm and subtleties that have always charmed me before didn't come through very often in this read. The editing is also problematic as Ahn-Kha starts to describe one thing then it jumps to something completely different and I'm backtracking looking for the missing text for several minutes, only to realize it doesn't exist. While I appreciate the author sharing with us what happened to Ahn-Kha, I struggled to stick with this story.
For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2019
This book covers the time Ahn-Kha was in West Virginia. The story is comparable to the other Vampire Earth novels but there are a number of times where events are muddled and characters are not introduced, which made me wonder if I missed a page or two. I didn’t, the details are just missing or blurry, which I found very annoying. I get that it is supposed to be a journal and the blurry events are during tumultuous times but it still made for awkward reading.
If you’ve made it this far in the series, you should still read this one, but if the story stops making sense, just grit your teeth and move on. You didn’t miss anything.
My favourite part of the book is the appendix. Mr. Knight does an excellent job of providing broader context to the events in the story.
If you’ve made it this far in the series, you should still read this one, but if the story stops making sense, just grit your teeth and move on. You didn’t miss anything.
My favourite part of the book is the appendix. Mr. Knight does an excellent job of providing broader context to the events in the story.
January 13, 2020
Why E.E. Knight
Huge fan of the series but this book has continuity issues. Scenes jump back and forth , full pages of dialogue without the speaker being introduced. Overtly gratuitous and unneccessary sex scenes including vile descriptions of child abuse. Climatic scenes are rushed when the first half of the book moved numbingly slow.
This series all together has fallen apart in quality. Perhaps better editors or less ghost writers are needed.
Why u do this to us
Huge fan of the series but this book has continuity issues. Scenes jump back and forth , full pages of dialogue without the speaker being introduced. Overtly gratuitous and unneccessary sex scenes including vile descriptions of child abuse. Climatic scenes are rushed when the first half of the book moved numbingly slow.
This series all together has fallen apart in quality. Perhaps better editors or less ghost writers are needed.
Why u do this to us
March 29, 2021
Never understood the importance of good editors before reading this book. It's all over the place and reads more like an unfinished draft than a proper book. As a fan of the Vampire earth series I must say I'm very disapointed - I will have to do some research on the next (and final) book in the series to see if it is worth it to finish the series or if I should just consider March In Country as the Canon ending in ordner to keep my good opinion of the series as a whole
dont-read
July 26, 2020This was slow and dry. Wordy without going anywhere. Depressing world. Got about a quarter through and decided to read something else.
May 28, 2023
Not my favorite book of the series, but still very enjoyable.
December 12, 2025
I was a bit disappointed to be honest. I was eager to see Ahn-Kha's point of view and hear his story, but mostly got the same things retold. I expected more...
June 11, 2014
It was interesting reading the book from Ahn Kah's point of view and it filled in some gaps in the overall story arc, but it just felt like it was always missing a little something. I don't know what that "thing" was, but I kept expecting it to pop up on the next outing, or in the next confrontation, or I don't know... I think that's what was so frustrating about it. It just didn't have the chemistry between the characters that the other books have. Add that to the fact that He is writing them as his memoirs, there was no suspense or feel of unfolding drama. Some parts came off almost like it was an unpleasant chore he was being coerced to do just to write down what happened. I got that 'why bother/who cares' attitude from it. Which in a few places started to make me wonder why I was bothering to read it? I'm fairly positive that was NOT what the author meant to convey. I did like the way Ahn Kah told us more about the way the Golden Ones think and what they believe. And I appreciated the fact that after everything he stayed to help the people who mostly didn't like or trust him because that was what His honor dictated. That & it was quite irritating to have such an intelligent being have to play such an ignorant roll for such an extended time. Personally, I would have cracked and blown my cover and had to have had killed at least half if not more of his employers. If not outright, I think they would have all found many a mysterious and/or accidental death.
December 29, 2014
Appalachian Overthrow the tenth novel in E.E. Knight’s VAMPIRE EARTH series, is about Ahn-Kha. not David Valentine. I wanted to get that out upfront because if you have been following this series for a long time, which I have, then reading this book is interesting because of who it’s about and not because of the way it advances the storyline.
Ahn-Kha is a grog. That’s like saying that he’s an amphibian or a mammal because the diversity between the different species is enormous. As a “Golden One,” he is highly intelligent, very wise and has the physical dimensions of a Star Wars Wookie. Basically he’s huge, strong and super smart. Humans are lucky that the Kurians didn’t do a good job of linking his race to their war or we would have been in even worse trouble.
After David and Ahn-Kha are separated during a raid,... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Ahn-Kha is a grog. That’s like saying that he’s an amphibian or a mammal because the diversity between the different species is enormous. As a “Golden One,” he is highly intelligent, very wise and has the physical dimensions of a Star Wars Wookie. Basically he’s huge, strong and super smart. Humans are lucky that the Kurians didn’t do a good job of linking his race to their war or we would have been in even worse trouble.
After David and Ahn-Kha are separated during a raid,... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
January 20, 2015
I have been reading E.E. Knight and the Vampire Earth series now for about three years. I was intrigued with the first group in the series as it fleshed out a very different scenario of "vampire" conflict, how the world combatted it and the players involved. He writes in a journalistic way, meaning as you might write a journal of the story. I think this latest one isn't quite as good as many in the series. It revolves around a secondary character, the Golden One, who is not human and tries very hard to make us see his viewpoint. It seems like there are gaps in the story - sudden jumps - that interrupt the flow. I found myself going back to previous pages and then forward again thinking I had missed something.
I like the grog character. Some of his stranger in a strange land insights are good. As a whole though the novel just wasn't as interesting as the rest.
I like the grog character. Some of his stranger in a strange land insights are good. As a whole though the novel just wasn't as interesting as the rest.
August 3, 2015
I really wanted to like this book. I looked forward to getting to it. However, nothing really happened in it. There was only 2 hours left of the book when the resistance sort of conflict started and up until then it was a bit like he was wandering and letting himself be used for various things just to see what he could see. I didn't think that the behavior of the quizlings or the kurian were any more egregious than it was anywhere else but was expecting it to be given that he had previously told David he had to stay the course where he was because of how horrible things had been for the coal miners.
Also, the narrator who is quite good with voices tended to lower his volume when he was speaking as Ahn-Kha so I found myself messing with the volume a lot.
Also, the narrator who is quite good with voices tended to lower his volume when he was speaking as Ahn-Kha so I found myself messing with the volume a lot.
October 2, 2013
Not sure if this is the finale to Vampire Earth Series or not, but a completely different head character even though Ahn-Kha is a main character through the series. Maybe this means not the end but a different direction. Or that maybe Duvalier will be next book (if there is one) main character and we see live as a female and Cat.
Back to the book, I enjoyed the book and felt it helped understand Ahn-Kha better and his relationship with David and his part in overthrow of the Kurians. It also offered a way of looking at mankind from an outsider or different perspective. All in all, if you enjoyed the series you will enjoy the book.
Back to the book, I enjoyed the book and felt it helped understand Ahn-Kha better and his relationship with David and his part in overthrow of the Kurians. It also offered a way of looking at mankind from an outsider or different perspective. All in all, if you enjoyed the series you will enjoy the book.
August 29, 2014
I like Knight's Vampire Earth series and it was great to see things from Ahn-Ka's point of view. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone who hasn't read any of the other books and I can really only recommend it to anyone who wants to know what happened in certan gaps. I feel like the series has bogged down a bit and, having just finished the sequel to this one last night, I believe that sort of lethargy has continued. I still like the books but I know that the earlier ones were much more enjoyable and faster paced.
July 29, 2013
I have been a fan of EE Knight's Vampire Earth novels for years, but this one just didn't grab me like the others. It was still good, mind you, and I did appreciate delving more deeply into a different character (Ahn-Kha in this case, rather than David Valentine, the main character in the other Vampire Earth books). Perhaps it was the change in characters, or the story, but this book slips to my least favorite of the series.
September 4, 2015
I enjoyed it. I think the narrative was meant to be somewhat disjointed based on both the character's situation and alien perspective. There are points where it feels like a conversation or two or an explanation of events that have occurred get skipped and you are left to catch up to the actions that are occurring as a result. It might have been useful to have something to indicate that it was intentional though because it could be a bit confusing.
June 19, 2014
This is without a doubt not only a terrible book but the worst book I have read this year. Slow, tedious, and un exciting in any possible way. The story has no resolution and at times I was almost convinced to stop reading entirely. It switches to a different narrative style from his previous 9 books in the series and the book suffers.
August 13, 2013
This story follows Ahn-Ka's West Virgina adventure after being separated from David Valentine as they exited Ohio. Thw non-human Golden One works first for the ruling family and then the Resistance. Along the way he sees a section of the Kurian world that is unlike anything else in the world so far. I believe that E.E. Knight is setting up the end Kurian Empire on Earth.
February 7, 2014
I could not get into this one. Very disappointed in this book! E.E. Knight seems to lose focus and jumps all over the place even in the middle of paragraphs. He did the same thing in the last book of his Age of Fire Series as well. Starts out strong then just loses complete focus. I think I am done reading his work. :(
April 11, 2014
Ever read a long drawn out book without a climax? Well if not, then read this one! While I found it a bit interesting to read from Ahn Ka's perspective, it got tedious being lectured, repeatedly, the same points, like we maybe forgot what was said in previous chapters.
It's a shame because the Way of the Wolf was so amazing. This series has seriously fizzled.
It's a shame because the Way of the Wolf was so amazing. This series has seriously fizzled.
June 6, 2013
I love the vampire earth series. However, I only gave it 2 stars because of the way it was written. It was a little hard to follow the story and the minor character arcs. The telling of the story jumped too much for my liking. Overall, the story was good but I wish it was written better.
April 11, 2014
I have to agree with the...disjointed...feel of this novel, especially compared to the rest of the series. I'm not sure if it was an intentional artistic choice to reflect the way Golden One memories work, or what...but it really didn't work in an enjoyable manner.
July 2, 2016
I've read most of the books in this series, and this one, which is the most recent, I think, is a very blah entry. I suspect the author is sick of the series but it still pays the bills (S.M. Stirling, take note!). Lucky for me it was a library book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews