Choice of the Cat

Vampire Earth #2

by E.E. Knight

55e année de l'Ordre Kurian. Le lieutenant David Valentine est fier de servir chez les Loups, une caste de combattants d'élite qui consacrent tous leurs efforts à reconquérir la Terre. Mais après une bataille qui tourne au désastre Valentine est traduit en cour martiale et doit démissionner. Il s'enrôle alors chez les Félins, une caste espions. Sa première mission consiste à s'infiltrer en Zone Kuriane, en plein territoire ennemi, afin d'en apprendre plus sur la Croix Torse, cette organisation de combattants hybrides qui possèdent les talents guerriers des meilleurs vétérans et la voracité morbide des Faucheurs...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Vampires, Horror, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

344 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 4, 2004

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typically I'd rate this as a 4 star book. The first book of a great series gets an extra star for introducing me to a wonderful world & this book gets an extra one for introducing two more characters that continue through the series & add a lot. One is a female action hero, the other... well, I don't want to spoil the surprise. Read it!

Again, the world is realistically, but quickly drawn. It's a fairly fast read, but contains enough detail to paint the world in perfect detail. Knight does well with horses, the trials of travel, & with human ingenuity & spirit.

I could babble on, but if you liked the first book, Way of the Wolf, which you should read first, you'll love this. If you just have this one, I think it would stand alone fine, though. If anyone does that, please let me know how it went. Knight certainly doesn't bog down with a lot of rehashing of the previous book, but does fill in where needed.

Again, Knight gives a brief foreword that's great, as is the reader. I can't recommend this series highly enough in either written or audio format.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Very good follow up to Way of the Wolf. This book focuses on Valentine joining and learning the ways of the Cat (the spy/assassin/intelligence gathering arm of the resistance. E. E. Knight has created a superb, post-apocalyptic world as the setting of a terrific battle between the surviving humans and the vampiric, life aura stealing Kurians. Post-apocalyptic, vampire, military SF at its best. These books are a lot of fun.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Valentine returns home for a break in Choice of the Cat, but his rest is short-lived, as he quickly becomes the victim of military bureaucracy and is given a special assignment: he is to partner with a special agent who goes by the code name Smoke. Smoke, a small, attractive female killer with mild psychotic tendencies, is a specialized soldier called a Cat. While we learned a little about Cats in Way of the Wolf, we get to see what it’s like to be one in Choice of the Cat. Valentine (now code-named Ghost) and Smoke are assigned to gather intel on a group of Nazi-like super soldiers who are under Kurian control. These “Twisted Cross” soldiers are capable of organized destruction and have been to known to wipe out entire fortified cities overnight. This may sound a little silly, but if you’ve read the first book, you know what you’re getting into (and if you are contemplating reading the VAMPIRE EARTH series, check out our reviews of Way of the Wolf).

The story format E.E. Knight chose is the same as the first book: Valentine is placed in one tight situation after another, and usually cracks a few heads to get his way out. It's fun, a tad bawdy, and exactly what you want from this type of book. There are books that enlighten you, make you cry, or try to change you for the better. Then there are the books that just kick ass and chew bubble gum, and are all out of bubble gum (thank you Duke Nukem). Choice of the Cat is that second type of book. There are no elves, no fairies, and no magical glades of wonder. Guns, explosions, punches to the face, and just a touch of the human spirit are what you get in the VAMPIRE EARTH series.

I listened to Choice of the Cat on Audio CD by Brilliance Audio. The novel is once again read by the talented Christian Rummel. (Go back to my Way of the Wolf review to see exactly how I feel about Rummel.) Suffice it to say that he fails to disappoint in this sequel. As the number of characters increases, so does the range of voices he has to cover, and he manages all of it without ever breaking you out of the narrative flow. This is a fun book and a very nice addition to Brilliance Audio’s library of titles. Highly recommended to those who like action-adventure type SF&F.


www.fantasyliterature.com.

You can also learn more about EE Knight’s books at the Fantasyliterature EE Knight page

These books also remind me somewhat of the Deathlands series. Though EE Knight is a much better writer. My review of Deathlands is here: Pilgrimage to Hell

[Happy Bookaholic]

Pre-read...preview?

Back for more punishment, but only because as awkward as the first book was, it showed promise and I just want to return to the time of the first F-ing scene. This is BS, Knight. Next time start at the beginning. F—. My hopes for excitingly violent scenes were raised by the opening chapter and the rest, though decent and at times good, did not live up to its promise.

Now about this "beautiful" Cat... Love schmove from the first book. Where is she? Conveniently killed off so he can shag, er, fall in love with other hotties? Let's call lust what it is. Calling it love only adds guilt and that ruins sex, not entirely, but it taints the memories a smidgen after you've gotten your rocks off and get to thinking.

Please kill much, sex little and for Grog's sake entertain me.

[Serenity Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent sci-fi read. A bit slow at times but enjoyable all the same if you're looking for a mostly male dominated story about aliens.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not fine literature, of course, but this is a pretty fun post-apocalyptic novel with a couple of features that set it apart from similar novels and series. After reading a few Deathlands and Survivalist books (which, like this series, have audiobooks produced by Graphic Audio), I've come to appreciate this series a little more. These are significantly better than those books. Vampire Earth is a unique setting that attempts to do some of the heavy lifting of explaining how the world will actually function after "the end". It's not just a generic wasteland: Knight is putting effort into worldbuilding. I wouldn't say that I was blown away by any specific aspect of the book, but I did find it to be a quick and enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to getting around to the rest of the series at some point.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opened in a completely unexpected to me way; but still managed to hold me. Okay, I guess we're going through all three of the fighters? Sure, why not.

The male-ness of the romantic plotline got over the top in this one. Also you realize that the author wants to make women and men equal, but can't quite actually envision it. I sort of appreciated the effort, but the way David gets his panties in a twist about Alessa defending herself from sexual assault and spend the rest of the book saying how broken she is gets really tiresome. (How many people have you murdered, guy? Maybe he who is without sin should cast the first stone, dude who was raised by a priest?)

Despite this, I downloaded book 3 immediately after finishing it.

[TinaMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

David's road fighting the Kur takes a new twist, trying to uncover the secrets of the new threat byt the Kur. His sense of honor and need to help others leads him to the path of the Cats. It's not a pretty world, but it is interesting reading.

[lonnie fairfax · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is is a great continuation of valitines great adventure's

These adventures are action packed with all kinds of wounderful characters. It's worth it to read all the books in this series.

[Kaleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was another good book in the series. The author continues to engage with a different type of vampire as compared to the "norm". I look forward to the next book and would highly recommend this if you enjoy fantasyish, post-apocalyptic genres.

[Foil McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great moments but overall didn't blow me away. Enjoyable read though, definitely not a waste of time. They lost me by introducing a new character and species seemingly randomly towards the end of the book, who ended up being super important, felt random and unnatural.

[MICHAEL Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid follow-up to Way Of The Wolf. David Valentine learns that even in a post apocalypse world your bosses will screw you over to protect themselves.

[Paskal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meilleur que le tome 1 à mon avis. On suit avec de plus en plus de frénésie les aventures de Valentine ses errements et ses bravades

[Vera · Rating 2 out of 5]

So gut wie mir der erste Teil gefallen hat, so wenig hat mir die Fortsetzung zugesagt. Ich hatte furchtbare Schwierigkeiten in diese dystopische Zukunftsversion zurück zu finden. Bis auf den Protagonisten und dem grundsätzlichen Weltsetting gibt es kaum Zusammenhänge zum vorherigen Teil. Das fand ich wirklich sehr schade und hat mir stellenweise das Gefühl gegeben, dass man den ersten Band auch hätte nicht lesen brauchen. Denn zum Auftakt von Wolfsdämmerung gibt es ohnehin erst einmal eine Situation, wie es sie ähnlich bereits im Vorgänger gab. Auch über die Welt und den Widerstand habe ich nicht so richtig mehr erfahren, auch wenn man hier eine andere Elitegruppe etwas besser kennen lernt. Die Charaktere sind mir dennoch meist fremd geblieben und die Geschichte konnte mich bis zum Ende nicht wirklich packen. Wirklich sehr schade, da die Welt in meinen Augen mit dem dystopische Scifi Charaktere ein sehr großes Potenzial für mich hätte. Dieses würde in Teil 2 leider uberhaipt nicht ausgenutzt, weshalb dieses Buch für mich bei Weitem nicht mit seinem Vorgänger mithalten konnte; sehr schade.

[James Hein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio Book

Book about Dystopian future where aliens have control and the humans are trying fight back

[Kenneth Ezell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. This book brings you in and continues a well developed story.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the graphic audio book and it really enhanced the experience. Graphic Audio uses voice actors for each character with sound effects, similar to old radio shows

[John Noehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sequel

[Benny · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Sadness, but a bit of hope.

[Sensitivemuse · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s best if you read Way of the Wolf before going into this one, as events flow from one book to the other. It was off to quite a slow start although I thought the idea of the Twisted Cross was interesting and worth the read. The action does pick up but not for a while as the reader follows Valentine through his training to be a Cat (uber stealth soldier).

I’m still on the fence about Valentine. Actually, let me take that back. He’s starting to annoy me. However I can’t just drop the book because I find the main character annoying. Why? because the supporting characters in this book actually help and made my reading rather entertaining. I’d have to say Duvalier is awesome. She’s just what this series needs. She may not be perfect (she does carry baggage with her) but she provides that bit of life to carry on the plot and made it interesting. She’s definitely got grit. Now what got to me was Valentine trying to get into her pants or admiring her from every angle possible. Oh for crying out loud. Seriously? Is this series going to be like James Bond where he has to do at least one female character in every book? because if it is, I’m afraid of pursuing this series further.

Another character that really stood out was Ahn-kha. He’s hard to describe, although he seems to be this rather large, hairy sasquatch looking furry thing but really overall seems to be such a gentle giant. I liked him from the start and was rather glad he joined the plot as well. I suppose, it was his gentle manner that endeared me to him. Not only that but well, he’s really like a talking Chewbacca. How can you not like him?!

The plot as mentioned before, was off to a slow start, but it does pick up its’ pace with battles here and there. It seems to be the standard method of these books but it helps carry the plot along. It’s not too bad, as the action scenes are well written, but I’m sure it’s going to get old quickly and hopefully things will change as the series progresses. The ending leaves off to the reader looking forward to another adventure and wondering where Valentine is off to next.

Fans of Way of the Wolf will probably enjoy this one just as well. Otherwise it might not be for everybody. I thought it was all right although I’m in no rush to get the next one. I’m just getting ready to roll my eyes at the next love interest Valentine has. Seriously, I do not find the appeal in Valentine. All I see is a robotic super soldier. (Unlike some book crushes I have) :P but that’s another story. I’d say take it or leave it with this one. However if you do pick this up, read it for its’ great supporting characters, because Valentine just gets annoying after a while.

[Amarinske · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very solid 3 star read. Just a little bit more and it could've been four stars (or a little bit less, actually). I didn't need that weird random sex scene somewhere around the middle of the book. I happened in book 1 as well. Is this going to be a pattern throughout the series? Random sex scenes for Valentine? It's not even that the scenes were poorly done, they just come out of the blue, and to me, they add nothing to the story at all. It makes sense Val would have sex now and then but I don't need to read it. It detracts from the actual plot, especially since he nearly dies twice during the events of this book.
The plot was well executed, but nothing that special. The Twisted Cross seems to be an overarching society that existed over the ages and it also led to Nazism or was at least involved? Not that I mind the alternative explanations, but some of it seemed a bit far-fetched to me. Now that I think about it, even the stuff with the sand bug I've seen before. The renditions had other creatures but it's still basically the same idea and execution. (The most recent example I can think of is the way Aimia is protected in the Stormlight Archive novella Dawnshard). If it ain't broke, don't fix it, they say. And I agree, but you can still innovate a bit, which wasn't done enough in my opinion.
But I did really love the whole deepening of the world. First by exploring the Cats and how their working ethic and method differs from the Wolves. Then we get some nice insight and development of the Grog society and how they came to be on Earth. I'm very curious to see where that goes. And I really liked the answer for where those weird, speaking Reapers came from. The fact that the Grogs call them Hooded Ones was really fun. As is the idea that the Grog language has musicality to it yet it sounds like a bunch of pig snorts. That makes me laugh.
The contempt the General (leader of the Twisted Cross) has for the Lifeweavers feels like it should be there yet I didn't get a proper sense for why it is there. Did they have some kind of heavy fallout centuries back or something? We'll never know because that part of the plot seems to be complete and the General is now dead and I don't really see how it could come into play or can be important in later books.

All in all, I think the world-building and character interactions were the strongest parts of the book book. I'd say the logic and plot were probably less so, especially since the motivations of some of the characters are just not there (or I didn't see them well). Valentine's character development was done nicely as well.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this second book of the Vampire Earth series more than the first book. This one had a constant story and didn't skip around. We also get to meet Ali, a Cat Hunter and see what that is all about. There is no stop to the action in this book, there's always something going on, which means bad guys dying! I really enjoy Ali's character, she is amazingly violent which makes for exciting fight scenes, but there are times where you really want to smack her and yell "hey stupid". Like where she gets on the train of enemy soldiers dressed like a hooker, well of course they are going to paw at you, what did you think was going to happen? Stupid! I was also annoyed that she didn't stay to help the wagon people, but it turned out OK since she helped in her own way. Other than a few things about her, she is a pretty awesome character.
Not only is Ali pretty awesome, but Valentine does a good job as a one man army and blows some stuff up and kills lots of people! It will be interesting to see if he eventually gets to try out being a Bear, since he has been a Wolf and now a Cat.
There wasn't really anything serious that I didn't like about the book, the same awesome action scenes, world building and characters. We get to meet an awesome character towards the end that I think makes an awesome addition to stories to come! Yay, Ahn-Kha! Overall, 5 out of 5 stars, and that is a rating I don't give out lightly!

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Valentine returns home for a break in Choice of the Cat, but his rest is short-lived, as he quickly becomes the victim of military bureaucracy and is given a special assignment: he is to partner with a special agent who goes by the code name Smoke. Smoke, a small, attractive female killer with mild psychotic tendencies, is a specialized soldier called a Cat. While we learned a little about Cats in Way of the Wolf, we get to see what it’s like to be one in Choice of the Cat. Valentine (now code-named Ghost) and Smoke are assigned to gather intel on a group of Nazi-like super soldiers who are under Kurian control. These “Twisted Cross” soldiers are capable of organized destruction and have been to known to wipe out entire fortified cities overnight. This may sound a little silly, but if you’ve read the first book, ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I REALLY wanted to like this book a lot more. The first book in this series was a lot of fun, and made me care about the character and the situation that Earth was in (being over-run by these aliens that fed off of life energy). But the first book seemed to me to be one story that just kept flowing from episode to episode. The writing in this novel felt more as if it the episodes were distinct, and were set in chronological order so as to make one story.

Don't expect anything to surprise you in this novel. It's very formulaic, once you get beyond the basic (yet very intriguig) premise. Just because of how interesting I find the premise, I do plan on picking up at least the next book in this series. But if that one feels as flat as this novel did, it'll probably be the end of my reading for this series.

[Ozsaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one gets off to a slow start but once it takes off, the action is almost non-stop. Choice of the Cat is less episodic than the first book, so the plot is more cohesive, especially when the investigation into the Twisted Cross begins.

There are fewer pastoral descriptions than in the first book, but there is more about the occupied lands, and the way things work outside the free territories.

Valentine's new trainer, a Cat named Ali, is a great character and I would have loved seeing more of her. I wish she had been given more screen time. I also liked the new Grog character, a Golden One. He gave a a different perspective on the conquest of Earth.

Still like Valentine, but I do hope he either gets into a long term relationship or quits the random female turns up for sex. I guess I'll see what happens in the next book.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

When last we saw David Valentine, he was an up and coming Wolf in the Southern Command, fighting against the alien Kur race who use "Reapers" to feed off the auras of humans. This time around, Valentine gets caught up in military politics and is forced to resign from the Wolves. However, he quickly takes up with another military faction, the Cats, and learns their stealthy ways. He uses his newfound skills to go after a new group, the Twisted Cross, before they can build up their forces to go after Southern Command.
It's not quite as strong as the first volume, but the Twisted Cross provides a good (or evil, as the case may be) antagonist for Valentine, strong enough for me to eventually want to read the next volume, though I probably won't review any more of them.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This follows up the action from Way of the Wolf, the first book in the Vampire Earth series. We now find David Valentine being railroaded by an officer who wants to keep his record spotless in spite of a couple of his own poor decisions, and Valentine makes for the perfect fall guy. Rather than face the stigma of a court martial, even one he has a good chance of winning, Valentine resigns his commission as a Lieutenant and signs up to be a cat, a covert unit of loners who sabotage, spy and otherwise make life difficult for the Kurian Order.

E. E. Knight has a way with character development, making them compelling and sympathetic -- even villains.Choice of the Cat is every bit as engrossing as read as Way of the Wolf; I highly recommend it.

[Tularia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an upgrade from the first novel. Less proofreading errors too! I loved learning more about Duvalier; she's become a terrific character with a lot of potential down the road. I'm hoping she makes it a few more novels at least. The later introduction of the Golden Ones (more intelligent Grogs of a different 'breed') and in particular the development of the relationship between Valentine and Ahn-Kha is quite notable and makes it worth the read. So much more is learned about Valentine simply by his interactions with these two characters than could be achieved by standard narration alone. I found myself truly enjoying this part of the tale, and I hope these qualities carry over into the third book.

Nicely done, Mr. Knight!

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad to have thoroughly enjoyed the second in this series. I always worry when I read a series because so often the first is full of newness and energy that demonstrates a real passion on the part of the author. But often the second becomes an attempt to recapture the magic and trying to fulfill obligations to publisher deadlines, etc.

Not the case here as Valentine, the protagonist of the series makes some major decisions and life changes. Lots of unexpected suprises and character development as well as a good fleshing out of this world and some of the major characters. Where the first book was a delightful welcome to this world, this second book serves as a welcome back and an invitation to stay a while.

I will certainly do so.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

as they start fleshing out the characters/main character and you start learning about the aliens, that have invaded earth it starts getting a little strange and feeling like it is going toward a religious story instead of staying a good Sci Fi read.
The idea of different branches of the military resistance having animal traits is a interesting concept, but definitely written by a American in the way that the animals are portrayed, at times it felt forced with perhaps needing a little more fleshing out of the archetypes.
the aliens, also felt very reused and stereotyped, the difference in feeding on blood vs "aurua" was a little strange.

worth the read, I was just whining about what I did not like, read it, books are good.