IMMORTAL RULES
BLOOD OF EDEN #1
Julie Kagawa
Harlequin Teen April 24, 2010
Hardcover: 485 pages, Kindle edition: 512 pages, E-Book: May 1, 2012
Paperback: 512 pages May 4, 2012 by MIRA
Disclosure: Loaned by publisher via NETGALLEY.COM.
No remuneration was exchanged and, unless otherwise noted all opinions are my own.
Harlequin Teen April 24, 2010
Hardcover: 485 pages, Kindle edition: 512 pages, E-Book: May 1, 2012
Paperback: 512 pages May 4, 2012 by MIRA
Disclosure: Loaned by publisher via NETGALLEY.COM.
No remuneration was exchanged and, unless otherwise noted all opinions are my own.
In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.
Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.
Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.
Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.
But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for. (Goodreads)
from Allison:
MY VAMPIRE CREATOR TOLD ME THIS:
"Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. The question is not if it will happen, but when. Do you understand?"
I didn't then, not really.
I DO NOW.(netgalley.com)
On her blog Julie provides a slightly different blurb:
In the dark days since the insidious Red Lung virus decimated the human population, vampires have risen to rule the crumbling cities and suburbs. Uncontested Princes hold sway over diminished ranks of humans: their "pets." In exchange for their labor, loyalty and of course, their blood, these pets are registered, given food and shelter, permitted to survive.
Unregistered humans cling to fringes, scavenging for survival. Allison Sekemoto and her fellow Unregistereds are hunted, not only by vampires, but by rabids, the unholy result of Red Lung-infected vampires feeding on unwary humans. One night, Allie is attacked by a pack of rabids, saved by an unlikely hero...and turned vampire.
Uncomfortable in her undead skin, Allie falls in with a ragtag crew of humans seeking a cure, or cures: for Rabidism and for Vampirism. She's passing for human...for now. But the hunger is growing and will not be denied. Not for friendship—not even for love. (Julie Kagawa)
I can see Julie having another big success on her hands with this new series. It's vital and compelling, heartbreaking and telling. Vampires and Rabids (zombie like vampires associated with the virus that has nearly wiped out humanity) compete in a post disease apocalypse world. One is cruel tryanny the other is chaotic and deadly. Humanity, what we are here, now, today is basically destroyed and hopefully we are seeing an alternative future. I say "hopefully" because I think the Blood of Eden future is pretty bleak—a computer, electricity, plumbing, medicine, are all rare to non-existent.
Humanity is mostly ruled by vampires living in towers in walled cities who treat humanity as food, and the cities are hemmed in by rabids. Sixty or so years after the plague, nothing is advancing. Humanity is split into two groups, registered and unregistered. The registered must regularly give their blood in exchange for food. The unregistered scrounge and live in the wrecks of ruined buildings.
Humanity is mostly ruled by vampires living in towers in walled cities who treat humanity as food, and the cities are hemmed in by rabids. Sixty or so years after the plague, nothing is advancing. Humanity is split into two groups, registered and unregistered. The registered must regularly give their blood in exchange for food. The unregistered scrounge and live in the wrecks of ruined buildings.
http://youtu.be/B3mfe5dalx8
The story is stirring and the world unique and yet familiar. Julie gives her characters with a lot of emotion. They are realized beings. Julie says in her afterword that she had no intention to write a vampire story because there were already so many books about them out there and she didn't feel she had anything to add. I am glad she did. Supernatural, undead, whatever they are classified, vampires, etc. serve as foils and powerful symbols in literature. Greater minds than mine have written reams on this so I won't.
In IMMORTAL RULES I can see similarities to at least three other current series, and I am sure you will as well. I don't really have a problem with that. It's a genre so there are only so many paths within it a writer can travel and maintain readers' interest through characterization, plot and suspension of disbelief.
In this case the plot is that of the adventure epic with enough twists in the world building to make it interesting and unique. Allison is compelling as she strives to hold onto her humanity, having become one of the monsters. Her mentor/maker is fascinating. The horror is real enough that I shuddered reading some passages. There's a degree and depth of desperation that makes the characters struggle seem futile. The hierarchy of creatures is straightforward and simple enough that no "guide to the world of" is required. There is little magic and only a few "supernatural" powers."
While there is no sex, the violence and bleakness of the world lead me to think it's not for really young teens, and should be combined with discussion about the differences between our world and the one faced by Allison and her friends.
On her blog Julie asks if readers think the cover is vampy enough. While I don't find it exciting or tremendously representative, the red tear does give us an insight into the sadness Allison faces and that she is a vampire. Assuming the woman on the cover represents Allison, I don't think it really fits her description. But the publisher could have fallen prey to the current cover craze of a young woman in leather and/or black standing with hands on hips or with her weapon in hand and smoking or misty ruins in the background. Or they could have gone with the girl lying down head turned toward us.
Ultimately this is a story about survival, not survival at any cost, because the price the characters pay is high enough. It's about the decision to succumb to expectations or to be better, to accept your circumstance or to improve on it somehow, to hinder or to help. Not all humans are good and not all vampires are evil. Ultimately, Allison's choices will decide the fate of her friends and the world.
It's a good start.
In IMMORTAL RULES I can see similarities to at least three other current series, and I am sure you will as well. I don't really have a problem with that. It's a genre so there are only so many paths within it a writer can travel and maintain readers' interest through characterization, plot and suspension of disbelief.
In this case the plot is that of the adventure epic with enough twists in the world building to make it interesting and unique. Allison is compelling as she strives to hold onto her humanity, having become one of the monsters. Her mentor/maker is fascinating. The horror is real enough that I shuddered reading some passages. There's a degree and depth of desperation that makes the characters struggle seem futile. The hierarchy of creatures is straightforward and simple enough that no "guide to the world of" is required. There is little magic and only a few "supernatural" powers."
While there is no sex, the violence and bleakness of the world lead me to think it's not for really young teens, and should be combined with discussion about the differences between our world and the one faced by Allison and her friends.
On her blog Julie asks if readers think the cover is vampy enough. While I don't find it exciting or tremendously representative, the red tear does give us an insight into the sadness Allison faces and that she is a vampire. Assuming the woman on the cover represents Allison, I don't think it really fits her description. But the publisher could have fallen prey to the current cover craze of a young woman in leather and/or black standing with hands on hips or with her weapon in hand and smoking or misty ruins in the background. Or they could have gone with the girl lying down head turned toward us.
Ultimately this is a story about survival, not survival at any cost, because the price the characters pay is high enough. It's about the decision to succumb to expectations or to be better, to accept your circumstance or to improve on it somehow, to hinder or to help. Not all humans are good and not all vampires are evil. Ultimately, Allison's choices will decide the fate of her friends and the world.
It's a good start.
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