Vampire Wars: The Von Carstein Trilogy

I am well into the second book of this trilogy and I like it very much. It is dark gothic horror in a world where people are basically thought of as food for the vampires. It is late middle age life in Germany with its petty principalities and struggles for power both in the human world and vampire world. Very dark and moody as there doesn't seem to be much hope to conquer the vampire menace. A sort of allegory for the time of plaques that attacked humanity during history in which religion was useless and there seemed to be no end to the day to day horrors of living. If you like your stories dark this should appeal to you. Wish there was more stuff like this to read. I went into this book blindly and am glad I did.

As a big Vampire Counts fan and former addicted player of Warhammer, I am a bit biased when it comes to this type of book. But, hey, this is why we read what we read, is it not?

I found the style very interesting. The author has a way of bringing you into this dark world with confidence. There is a grim brutality to the world and I enjoyed that a great deal. I have always wanted to see in more depth the history of the von Carsteins as they are my favorite of the bloodline powers and this book delivered.

As other reviewers have noted, there is a bit of disjointed flow to the narrative but this is a huge amount of history/time to cover in a novel, even trilogy of novels. It is not a history book, it is a story. Written with this in mind, I think he did a good job of conveying what happened. I would have liked a bit more character developement(too many come and go without knowing them well enough) but I think with the time and space he had availible, he did a solid job.

Really poorly written and developed. As Fantasy goes one of the worst novels, no story line only random events.
I read the first 150 pages and still had no idea what the book was supposed to be about. Don't buy

...if it didn't kind of fall apart at the end.

Out of the gate I found myself really getting into this book. Chronicling over a span of many years the rise, fall and rise again of three oppressive Vampire Counts of the Warhammer world, the vampires Von Carstein. The first book was really good focusing on Vlad.

The second novel was also good focusing on vampire Konrad as well as a powerful dwarf named Kallad.

The third novel is where things fell apart in my opinion. Not that it was really 'bad', I just felt myself asking when it would be over. The series builds towards Mannfred, the last and mightiest of the Von Carsteins to wage his undead battle against the living. But it's a LOT of undead battles. Characters that were pivotal in the first two books play more bit parts in the last novel and characters that were never introduced in the first two books come out of nowhere and play very pivotal roles.

It honestly felt as if the last book were rushed, as if the author wanted to tell an even bigger story but had to wrap it up in a relatively small (250 or so pages) third and final novel.

The parts that focus on the reoccurring characters were good, but I could only take so much of undead siege battles and the laments of the living as they're cut down and brought back into the unlife as mindless soldiers. There was just too much focus on these been there done that wars and in turn it took away from the best parts of the novel: the characters and their fights against the vampires whether it be for retribution, revenge, or honor.

Could have been really great but a weak third act made it just okay overall.

I didn't expect to care for it, since it's about vampires & werewolves, so if people think I'm being unfairly biased, they're probably right.

But, seriously, this collection of stories is just not -- IMO -- up to the standards of Warhammer Fantasy. It's just nowhere near as good as books like the Blackhearts Omnibus, or Mathias Thalmann: Witchhunter, or Brunner the Bounty Hunter, much less true classics like Gotrek & Felix. The characters are merely average, the stories seem like standard European vampire tales transposed to Warhammer, the only heroes worth cheering for are relatively minor characters (one of which isn't even truly worth cheering for), & worst of all, there isn't even the sort of "enjoyable" evil you'd get with Skaven -- no sense of fun or joy, just dull, drab, dreary vampires.

Blecch. I was hoping for something like Mathias Thalmann: Witch Hunter.

This book is nothing short of amazing. Excellent characters, plot writing style... extremly dark and grim world, detailing a long epic struggle many heroes face against the most evil of foes. So many of the heroes are killed hopelessly, it seems through out the book that good will never triumph, I hate predictable, bland reading, this story is far from that... bloody, gruesome, oppressively dark, epic. I recommend this book to any and everyone. 5 stars.

This book is poorly written even for a genre that exemplifies poor writing. The plot is overly contrived, there is no character development, and the literary structure is non-existant. It's a novel that claims to be gothic, dark, and edgy; but all it ends up being is pathetic. No redeeming virtues what-so-ever.

The author creates multiple characters with depth and it is this complexity that makes this trilogy difficult to put down. I read "Twilight" and it was the most predictable book I've ever read (you are better off reading Nicholas Sparks). This book is not predictable, he crafts great characters and has the strength to end their lives (in not heroic ways, sometimes). This trilogy is as much character driven as it is plot driven, which is rare oftentimes in this genre.

I don't think I've read a book with more violence against women in such graphic detail. I couldn't believe how Savile reveled in describing mutilation and torture of women over and over. Barely ever were men the subjects of the vampires' cruelty. Sometimes it made me wonder what was going on in his head. It was to the point of being distracting.

I felt VampireSlayer by William King was a lot better, the vampire was just as evil and cruel, yet without all the cutting up of women.

3 stars because it was very good, dark, the characters are developed very well. There are only 2 or 3 places where he changes the time, so it's no big deal. But I don't think I'll read anything by Savile ever again. These books are a cry for help.

I bought this at an airport bookstore waiting on a long flight, this book made it longer. Poorly written, it doesn't grab you and hold your interest. The author used the aura of vampires to gain sales but then provided pure garbage, a lack of continuity and any plot to speak of. You will read pages of rambling explanation of the same situation and forth grade conversation with excessive killing, blood, and death of helpless mindless humans and dwarfs. There aren't vampire wars, the book chronicles the rise and fall of three vampires. Amazingly the clergy and deities of the old world are for the most part absent as are heroes, paladins, and other traditional adversaries to vampires. The vampires are portrayed as superior in attributes and intelligence but fail and are destroyed by their own stupidity.