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Classic World of Darkness Fiction
The Beast Within
Unseen. The Kindred Move Among Us
Not merely mad beasts of lonely hunters, the vampires of the World of Darkness who call themselves The Kindred because of the blood that elementally binds them together, are dangerously organized and cunning. They hide behind a plan they call the Masquerade so that they do not draw the attention or ire of mortals, and the society this masquerade obscures is as rich with wonders and as rife with conflict as any ever known among men.
This collection of stories concerning the Kindred of the World of Darkness serves as both an introduction to their nature and an expose of the danger they pose. Collected within this second edition are favourites of the first edition, including stories by S.P. Somtow and Mathew J. Costello, as well as two all-new stories from Gherbod Flemming and Eric Griffin, two authors of the bestselling Vampire Clan Novel series.
Not merely mad beasts of lonely hunters, the vampires of the World of Darkness who call themselves The Kindred because of the blood that elementally binds them together, are dangerously organized and cunning. They hide behind a plan they call the Masquerade so that they do not draw the attention or ire of mortals, and the society this masquerade obscures is as rich with wonders and as rife with conflict as any ever known among men.
This collection of stories concerning the Kindred of the World of Darkness serves as both an introduction to their nature and an expose of the danger they pose. Collected within this second edition are favourites of the first edition, including stories by S.P. Somtow and Mathew J. Costello, as well as two all-new stories from Gherbod Flemming and Eric Griffin, two authors of the bestselling Vampire Clan Novel series.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 15, 2008
This is a collection of short stories, set in the White Wolf (old) World of Darkness setting, Vampire: the Masquerade. The quality varies, but it's an enjoyable glimpse into the author's understanding of the world, and some of the stories touch upon world-significant characters.
May 7, 2015
I read this book originally about 15 years ago. Somehow it landed in my lap again and I took the chance to reread it. Although not all the short stories maintain the same level, I really enjoyed some of them and there's enough material to provide decent exposure to the undead Kindred lurking in the World of Darkness.
December 21, 2017
Okay, so at least one of my four stars might be for nostalgia -- I first read this anthology in my high school gothy days, and have an incredible fondness for it for that reason. It's not going to win any Nobel Prizes for Literature, but it's a good romp through the World of Darkness, and gives a good flavor of each clan along the way. I re-read it 20 years later and still enjoyed it!
March 26, 2010
i can't believe i spent money on this at some point long, long ago. i know i bought everything with "vampire" on it at some point. ha. trying to read things that have been on my shelf forever....
excluding a story or two this was much better than i thought it would be. ;)
excluding a story or two this was much better than i thought it would be. ;)
October 17, 2013
I bought this book years ago, and have bought two copies since. One of my favorite vampire stories is in it, and for me, that's saying something. "Expendable" is worth the cover price alone.
August 2, 2023
I have read several of these before, but the addition to several new Authors made this re-read a treat.
August 30, 2022
Disclaimer: I read the Revised edition that came out in the year 2000, but since that's not on goodreads I decided to post this review on the 1994 version since it has many of the same stories.
Fun bite-sized stories from the world of Vampire The Masquerade that all share the setting of San Francisco, which is painted as a beautifully gloomy and mysterious city by the writers, with conspiracies and Kindred vying for control utilizing the most underhanded methods imaginable, it's a dog eat dog world for the vampires of San Fran and the book presents this in a really thrilling way, where you as the reader never know who to trust, the characters can all be considered monsters by their actions but at the same time you do root for them, and then ask yourself if hoping for their success really is the right thing to do. A great example of this struggle for control coming from "Power", where a Kindred forensic pathologist schemes with a sleazy cult leader to take over a position of power in the city, the story has a great atmosphere that sucks you into this dark, corrupted society of poisons and cold cruelty and I loved that about it, it presents Kindred society's power struggles as quick and messy in a very believable way, and the reveal at the end that Jean-Claude had orchestrated the whole situation was a great touch.
Another interesting portion of the book is "The Voice of the Hummingbird", that follows an aztec vampire from the days of the height of the Empire, to it's demise and then to modern nights. The fish out of water element and first person narration from Nezahualcoyotl (yes I did have to copy and paste it from the book) makes for a very compelling tale, I specially loved the sections that took place in the past, vampires in the ancient world are an interesting combination that I dont see explored a lot personally, this particular story was my favorite out of the bunch.
I also really loved "Descent", which explores the adversarial relationship between two women who used to be friends, and is also the most heartbreaking section of the book. The torture and death of Anastasia's partner and her reaction to it felt devastating to me as a reader, even though I had only known these characters for a few pages, the screaming with the glass shattering and Ana's lack of will to live after believing she had lost her love was a great dramatic moment in this. My only problem with this story is that it felt very short, I wish I could know what happened after, since Anastasia is now on the hunt for Selena, but I don't believe there was a follow up to this story, so I guess I'll never know, but what is on the page is still beautiful to me, and I don't think I'll forget it anytime soon.
In summary, if you're already a fan of Vampire: The Masquerade and want some quick engagement with the world of darkness, this is definitely worth a read, I only talked about the stories I liked the most out of the 10 in the book, but they all have something special to them, the only one I disliked was "Undercover", and even still it's only around 5 pages long.
I wish I could give it a 3.5 stars rating since 3 feels too low and 4 feels too high, but I did really enjoy this read.
Fun bite-sized stories from the world of Vampire The Masquerade that all share the setting of San Francisco, which is painted as a beautifully gloomy and mysterious city by the writers, with conspiracies and Kindred vying for control utilizing the most underhanded methods imaginable, it's a dog eat dog world for the vampires of San Fran and the book presents this in a really thrilling way, where you as the reader never know who to trust, the characters can all be considered monsters by their actions but at the same time you do root for them, and then ask yourself if hoping for their success really is the right thing to do. A great example of this struggle for control coming from "Power", where a Kindred forensic pathologist schemes with a sleazy cult leader to take over a position of power in the city, the story has a great atmosphere that sucks you into this dark, corrupted society of poisons and cold cruelty and I loved that about it, it presents Kindred society's power struggles as quick and messy in a very believable way, and the reveal at the end that Jean-Claude had orchestrated the whole situation was a great touch.
Another interesting portion of the book is "The Voice of the Hummingbird", that follows an aztec vampire from the days of the height of the Empire, to it's demise and then to modern nights. The fish out of water element and first person narration from Nezahualcoyotl (yes I did have to copy and paste it from the book) makes for a very compelling tale, I specially loved the sections that took place in the past, vampires in the ancient world are an interesting combination that I dont see explored a lot personally, this particular story was my favorite out of the bunch.
I also really loved "Descent", which explores the adversarial relationship between two women who used to be friends, and is also the most heartbreaking section of the book. The torture and death of Anastasia's partner and her reaction to it felt devastating to me as a reader, even though I had only known these characters for a few pages, the screaming with the glass shattering and Ana's lack of will to live after believing she had lost her love was a great dramatic moment in this. My only problem with this story is that it felt very short, I wish I could know what happened after, since Anastasia is now on the hunt for Selena, but I don't believe there was a follow up to this story, so I guess I'll never know, but what is on the page is still beautiful to me, and I don't think I'll forget it anytime soon.
In summary, if you're already a fan of Vampire: The Masquerade and want some quick engagement with the world of darkness, this is definitely worth a read, I only talked about the stories I liked the most out of the 10 in the book, but they all have something special to them, the only one I disliked was "Undercover", and even still it's only around 5 pages long.
I wish I could give it a 3.5 stars rating since 3 feels too low and 4 feels too high, but I did really enjoy this read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2019
A fairly entertaining series of short stories set primarily during the reign of Vannevar Thomas (now seen in LA BY NIGHT the webseries) in San Fransisco. They're serviceable stories but only a few of them stand out in my opinion like an interview over the death of Marcus Vitel during the Clan Novels and a 5th Generation Tremere who has fallen in love with a mortal woman, only to be tempted to join the Sabbat to save her. I also felt a lot of emotion while reading about an Aztec vampire coming out of torpor in the modern era. Overall, I recommend picking up the Clan Novels before this but this is a fun read and I'm glad it exists.
7/10
7/10
July 20, 2023
Una correcta y razonable selección de relatos sobre Vampiro: La Mascarada, que tiene algunas joyas (la del vampiro azteca que despierta en un museo es espectacular) y otras que son más tópicas. Curiosamente la mayoría tienen que ver con San Francisco.
Nada que te vaya a cambiar la vida, pero si te gusta el juego probablemente te gusten los relatos.
Nada que te vaya a cambiar la vida, pero si te gusta el juego probablemente te gusten los relatos.
September 1, 2018
Love the masquerade
I just wish there were more malcavians. Did find the emphasis on Settits interesting considering there independent. All storylines enjoyable.
I just wish there were more malcavians. Did find the emphasis on Settits interesting considering there independent. All storylines enjoyable.
July 8, 2022
Nice introduction to the world building, and a fast read. I would probably have rated it higher if I had read the source materials and comic books.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews