Leading a company of former Quisling soldiers in the rebellion against the Kurian Occupation of Earth, David Valentine is ready to join forces with a guerrilla army planning to establish a new freehold in the Appalachian Mountains, but he never expects what they will face at the end of their journey.
Another excellent edition to the series. Again, Knight is hard on his characters, but it is a hard world with the Kurians in it. His descriptions of what people can be like, both good & bad, are wonderful, if heartbreaking at times.
One of the things I like most about his books is his imagination. Most of the book takes place in Kentucky with the legworm riders. Legworms are an interesting concept, possibly even more interesting than the grogs, reapers, & Kurians. They're similar to horses in the scheme of things & Knight takes care with such livestock. They have strengths & weaknesses plus interesting natures. It's a level of world building that I see in too few other stories.
I can't say anything new about the book with out spoilers, so I won't. If you haven't read the series, do yourself a favor & do so, but start with the first bookWay of the Wolf. While each book stands alone well, the world is too complex to really grasp this far into the series. Oh, you'll understand the basics, but it is the nuances, the humanity of it all that makes it so good.
On to the next & final book I have in audio format, Winter Duty.
David Valentine is once again content to be a common laborer and support person within Southern Command but alas, he can’t escape his reputation for past success. He is recruited to build a unit of men and women who have lived in the Kurian Zone. The unit is to be part of an expedition to start a new freehold in the Appalachian Mountains, close to the Kurian strongholds on the Atlantic seaboard.
That’s the setup for this 7th novel in the Vampire Earth series about resistance fighters struggling against alien invaders who have had control of planet Earth since the year 2022, nearly fifty years earlier. I had taken a break from reading this series but felt the need to get back to it after a Goodreads friend recently posted about how good it was to return to a series and realize what was wonderful about it in the first place. That’s how I felt when reading this book. When I read stories that are military based (whether in a science fiction setting or historical) my favorites are always those that are about building a unit of some kind from a rag-tag bunch and turning them into real and effective soldiers. That’s what David Valentine does here, showing refined leadership when it’s desperately needed. This is a war story though and this author can be tough on his characters. Don’t expect all of your favorites to come out the other side alive or in one piece.
Looking forward once more with excitement to the next.
The first three books were so amazing that here I am, finally dragging myself through Book 7. The paving is off, the character had fleeting memories of ancillary characters I can’t keep straight (or really bother to remember even when I was reading them 2-5 books ago). There is a love interest... or two...? This book. But I can’t keep them straight. However. I will keep reading, Bc when this series finds its feet again, it’s gonna be either so amazingly epic, or so gut-wrenchingly sad, that I’ll be able to put the series down and be satisfied. And I won’t wonder what Valentine is up to... and if his enhanced abilities are, in fact, like turning the wick up on a lamp. Burning through resources in exchange to brighter light now.... or if that is just what we were led to believe... and it’s all a larger plot.
David is back with the militia with grand plans to assist the rebel forces in Kentucky and free them from Kurian control, and set up a new Freehold. As always Valentine ends up with an unlikely group to lead, ex-Quislings, battle worn hunters and grogs. A lot going on in the battle against the Kurian and their minions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This series is doing better again. It hit a low point on book 4 or 5 for me, but this one was much better. There are a few mistakes that can make the geography a bit confusing - he swaps east for west a couple of times. We're treated to revisiting some of the characters that got left behind in Valentine's travels which I appreciated. The update on them plus Val's legal situation is interesting.
One of these days I'm going to have to re-read this series & am sure I'll love it. I've read each book once as it came out, so it's been about a decade since I read the first one. Knight does a good job of reminding the reader of earlier books, but there are a lot of details that I'm now hazy on.
I wouldn't recommend reading this series out of order. Each book definitely builds on the last in too many ways & the story is told in chronological order.
In Fall With Honor, Val is taking part in an effort to start another area of human control in a Kurian zone. He's worn down, tired, and somewhat broken, but he's still Val.
Fall With Honor was a bit of a let down. There is an intriguing mission and there could be interesting characters, but the folks who surround Val seem to be just different iterations of many similar characters who he's fought, served with, and hated before. The best part of the book was when past characters put in cameo appearances. Val himself seems to be just going through the motions, and it feels like Mr. Knight has gotten bored with Vampire Earth and doesn't really give it the attention and talent that earlier installments got.
* "Fall with Honor" (VE7) by E. E. Knight (year 2022 alien invasion + 54) recruits official-exile David Valentine to lead former Quisling enemies east to meet guerilla resistance and establish a Southern Command outpost in Operation Javelin. I felt more like a fast tourist of scenic highlights, with emotional baggage, than building heroism and crashing conflicts or horror of earlier volumes, perhaps, he and I are jaded by long war. Enroute, cameos from other series characters, and support from Sergeant Patel (book #1) and Tikka, pretty legworm rider (#5), sabotage by a possessed dog, they battle until a big Moondagger force drives them into retreat, and a final turnaround showdown. If they must fall, they will do so with honor, seems more from his head than heart.
The Vampire Earth books are always a treat, I really love this series, as the author always comes up with fresh ideas and new people and places, while at the same time staying with familiar faces and embedding the events in the overall background, thus advancing the world of the Vampire Earth.
This seventh part of the series does not have one great mission or climactic battle event as before. In a way it is calmer and consists of a number of smaller events, but they kept me glued to the pages as always.
Had to give this book three stars. It started off a little slow, lots of politics. Then David Valentine, the main character, gets beat up and almost hung. This would have been good if he went back and kicked some bad guy butt afterwards, but the situation just dropped at that point. There were lots of skirmishes and scares, but no big battles throughout the book. No romance. Valentine didn't go see his vampire son. Not the best in the series as far as holding my attention, but I will read the next one to see if #7 was setting #8 up story-wise.
Most of us work a simple job, a 9 to 5, repetitious and somewhat dull. It seems that Knight is also in the same boat as the rest of us. I believe this book was written to pay his light bill, or perhaps possibly his rent. However, I doubt that it was written to entertain, or to tell us some important truth hidden under a layer of fiction. This tale has a few interesting points and some exciting bits, but they are all layered between sluggish bits of military jargon and long preparatory vignettes. I enjoyed much of the earlier work in this series and hope that it picks up in a bit.
Another awesome Valentine book. I was really happy that Ahn-Kha was alive. I was sad that he and Valentine didn't stay together at all and we never hear from him again in this book. I really want them to be the team that they were. This book was just as exciting and action-y as the others. There were some frustrating moments when they were retreating, but hopefully it will all work out in the end. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I had begun to lose heart with this series, but, this is the beginning of a return to form. We are still in the descending stage, where it is important for the previously ascendant character to get crapped upon, but, hey.... it actually makes more sense (as it were). I'm more than willing to pick up the next two (which will finish off whats been written so far in the series) after reading this one.
This is a great series! Not at all what you expect. It is one of the "Vampire Earth" Series, but this is not a typical vampire story.
It is a story of invaders who feed on earthlings' psychic essence and the very human story of the human collaborators and the resistance who fight them. The characters are so deftly drawn that you find that you really care what happens to them.
This is a decent military sci-fi novel. E E Knight Vampire Earth is gritty and fast paced. David Valentine leads a brigade to establish a new free hold in Kentucky. At first all goes well until the an ambush against it leadership sends the brigade into a hard fought retreat.
I take these books one at a time. They can be a little hard to read. David Valentine is very much a professional soldier slowly making rank under protest. I was happy to see old friends show up and have his back in a running retreat. A brutal read, but worth it.
I have come to love this series. In all honesty I probably would have rated this one higher if it wasn’t a part of such a beloved series. When compared to the previous books this one just wasn’t as good. Of course I’ll continue reading and hope it will meet my expectations once more.
I enjoyed it more than the last couple books, but I think I'm getting bored with the series a bit. Only one more (I think) has been written, will read it next.