Kevin Andrew Murphy

There are too many villains, most of whose plots are too complex for the time each is given. And while they plot, the good guys stumble from place to place, destiny directing them. There are some gems, and the verse is more palatable, by far, than most in fantasy, but as a novel, the book doesn't quite jell.

After Jo Clayton died in 1998, she left the unfinished manuscript and her notes for the final volume in this trilogy for Kevin Murphy to finish. I had a pretty good opinion of the first two books in the trilogy, but unfortunately, as I mentioned, this was a very ambitious work. I can't say for sure that Clayton herself would have done a much better job of realizing the potential of this story – it would have been difficult, I think. But as it stands, it just sort of wound up bogged down in show more too many characters and too many complicated political schemes shoved into too few pages. Since none of the characters really got (I felt) enough "page-time," they didn't really come alive for me, for much of the book. Which is really too bad, because the characters are really colorful and interesting, and I love complex political plots. But here, more than once, I found myself going, "Hang on... who just killed who? Why?" (or something similar.) It did pick up toward the end, where all the players begin to converge on the one physical spot that will be the point of the great showdown between all the mages, sorceresses, etc, and the Hero whose existence may serve to save the worlds of Iomard and Glandair.
Not bad, overall – but I can't help wishing it had been even better. show less

This was actually a very good story for the Vampire the Masquarade. This gives an idea of what was attempted by the Tremere in the novel "Gehenna: The Final Night".

A Tremere is on a mission to find a mortal mage who is a descendant of one of the founders. She is both helped and hindered by another mage, one who has dealings with the infernal. What is going on? Who's double crossing whom? What is the ultimate goal of the Founder?

Vampires, Mages, Demons, Alister Crowley, all mixed into one show more story, what more could you want? show less

A most unexpected vampire.