What do you think?
Rate this book
Von Dred #1
Von Dred
A modern vampire tale which takes you for a journey across continents and time, following the title character. Von Dred is a refreshing twist on the vampire tale. The story follows the main character from his humble beginnings in a borough just north of London, to his days at university, his loves, triumphs, losses, and life. Once he is sired his tale continues as he searches for the answer to how and why he became the monster he is. His strong religious upbringing weighs heavy on his conscience. He resigns himself, eventually, to his fate – liar, thief, murderer…vampire. Our protagonist, no longer able to see his family, wanders around England and Europe, and eventually goes to America on his quest. He tries to figure out whether he is running away from something or to something else. All the while, his one big question goes unanswered – “Is there someone out there who will love me…forever?” Von Dred is not just a novel it is a journey full of unexpected twists and turns, love and indifference, disappointments and debauchery, blood and tears.
- GenresGayParanormal
370 pages, Paperback
First published September 8, 2009
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 17, 2013
I read the second (and last up to now) volume of this serial some time ago and it did not overwhelm me; I have recently found the first one on my kindle (do not exactly know how it came to be there) and decided to give it a try.
The main asset there is the main one here: the kind of vampirism described is really new, unglamourous, ordinary, so to say, and it works. Gone are the gorgeous, dark and brooding fiends. Life here feels almost real, in the "almost" is all the difference between a boring and an interesting book.
William is a peculiar character, fully rounded. He is not likeable though: he is stiff, self conscious, self righteous. I particularly disliked his (catholic) attitude of feeling less guilty by preying on the dregs of society, those dregs being not the criminals, which would have been almost acceptable, but also drunkards and prostitutes. He seems never concerned by the fact that one could be drunk out of sadness or selling himself out of desperation.
That said I feel he does not really evolve as a character. After the first part, where he is still alive and his life with his family is described, he no longer grows as a person. He keeps on repeating exactly the same mistakes, falling for the same kind of guys and hurting them in exactly the same way. After so many years one would think he could/should grow.
His final affair with Jacob is even worse. He repeats all the usual mistakes and add some new ones annoying me no end.
Writing is not bad. I resented the many typos, the constant use of English colloquialisms and especially the use of "me" instead of "my". The first half -I wonder whether this is the author's first literary effort- is also marred by overwriting and redundant descriptions but things get gradually better. Pace is usually slow but it does not drag.
The ending is open and dissatisfying, the second volume needed to make some sense out of it.
The main asset there is the main one here: the kind of vampirism described is really new, unglamourous, ordinary, so to say, and it works. Gone are the gorgeous, dark and brooding fiends. Life here feels almost real, in the "almost" is all the difference between a boring and an interesting book.
William is a peculiar character, fully rounded. He is not likeable though: he is stiff, self conscious, self righteous. I particularly disliked his (catholic) attitude of feeling less guilty by preying on the dregs of society, those dregs being not the criminals, which would have been almost acceptable, but also drunkards and prostitutes. He seems never concerned by the fact that one could be drunk out of sadness or selling himself out of desperation.
That said I feel he does not really evolve as a character. After the first part, where he is still alive and his life with his family is described, he no longer grows as a person. He keeps on repeating exactly the same mistakes, falling for the same kind of guys and hurting them in exactly the same way. After so many years one would think he could/should grow.
His final affair with Jacob is even worse. He repeats all the usual mistakes and add some new ones annoying me no end.
Writing is not bad. I resented the many typos, the constant use of English colloquialisms and especially the use of "me" instead of "my". The first half -I wonder whether this is the author's first literary effort- is also marred by overwriting and redundant descriptions but things get gradually better. Pace is usually slow but it does not drag.
The ending is open and dissatisfying, the second volume needed to make some sense out of it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review