Valentine

Timmy Valentine #2

by S.P. Somtow

The sequel to Vampire Junction finds Brian, PJ, and Terry ten years after the disappearance of vampire rock star Timmy Valentine, remembering the terrible night in Junction and fighting the Gods of Chaos who believe Timmy is still alive. Reprint.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy

438 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Called by the Bangkok Post "the Thai person known by name to most people in the world," S.P. Somtow is an author, composer, filmmaker, and international media personality whose dazzling talents and acerbic wit have entertained and enlightened fans the world over.

He was Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul in Bangkok. His grandfather's sister was a Queen of Siam, his father is a well known international lawyer and vice-president of the International Academy of Human Rights. Somtow was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and his first career was in music. In the 1970s (while he was still in college) his works were being performed on four continents and he was named representative of Thailand to the Asian Composer's League and to the International Music Commission of UNESCO. His avant-garde compositions caused controversy and scandal in his native country, and a severe case of musical burnout in the late 1970s precipitated his entry into a second career - that of author.

He began writing science fiction, but soon started to invade other fields of writing, with some 40 books out now, including the clasic horror novel Vampire Junction, which defined the "rock and roll vampire" concept for the 80s, the Riverrun Trilogy ("the finest new series of the 90's" - Locus) and the semi-autobiographical memoir Jasmine Nights. He has won or been nominated for dozens of major awards including the Bram Stoker Award, the John W. Campbell Award, the Hugo Award, and the World Fantasy Award.

Somtow has also made some incursions into filmmaking, directing the cult classic The Laughing Dead and the award winning art film Ill Met by Moonlight.

Reviews

[Libby · Rating 1 out of 5]

I realised just before the halfway mark of this book that I was not going to finish it. The storyline itself was OK but I was completly put off by the gore factor, gross familial relationships and the mistreatment of certain innocent amphibians.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the destruction of Timmy Valentine’s ranch in Idaho and the town outside it, he disappeared. Ten years later when this novel begins, he’s as popular as ever. There’s a movie being made about him and they’ve cast Angel Todd as Timmy. Timmy’s been trapped, but he and Angel, who is one messed up puppy himself, communicate through mirrors. Meanwhile, a witch has come to shut down production of the movie and, oh, take over the world. This is a bloody, sexy, violent, gross novel and a very good one.

It asks: What is good? Is redemption possible?

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

below par sequel to Vampire Junction

[Elo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 damn those books are weird