Word to the wise:

This novel has a ton of great worldbuilding... as in, the grand majority of your reading pleasure may very well be in the worldbuilding going on here. My recommendation? Skip to the appendix first, give it a brief, probably delighted, gander. Then, read the timeline. Do not skip the timeline. This will give you all the proper context to go into the novel proper. :)

But wait, Bradley, is that REALLY necessary? I mean, even Peter F Hamilton can be read without that long, long, detailed timeline at the beginning of his novels.

Yes, certainly, you can, but I would caution you to be patient because the full import of all the things that happen in this Future History skipping forward 2000 years is full of scientifically created vampires in a full cyberpunk world having undergone civil wars, vastly altered political landscapes, and herds of human meat ready for the dining pleasure of the "Martyrs".

Is this vast tapestry of bloodsuckers well thought out? Hell yeah. Right down to the ongoing mystery of where the Hierophant came from, the cult that sprang up around him, the general social and socioeconomic landscape, scientific progress, and so much more.

But what about the story?

Pretty damn fun. It has a good number of twists but the core is an immortal daughter's rebellion. :)

This is NOT your standard horror or SF epic. Or UF, for that matter. This is a fully realized future history with a fully explained SF core for every horror element here. Nicely done, I might add.

This is not a light read, overall, but it isn't particularly difficult, either. It is, however, worth investing a lot of effort. Well done. ( )

**The Hierophant's Daughter** by *MF Sullivan* was an advance reading copy provided to me by NetGalley. It's … dystopian cannibal vampires? I have to confess that I aborted reading the book about a third of the way in. Its mix of unsympathetic characters, bleak dystopia, random info dumps, and random remeniscing about the past did not work for me at all. Dystopian cannibal vampire empire churches take a lot to be believable – Charlie Stross could do it, MF Sullivan couldn't. ( )

**The Hierophant's Daughter** by *MF Sullivan* was an advance reading copy provided to me by NetGalley. It's … dystopian cannibal vampires? I have to confess that I aborted reading the book about a third of the way in. Its mix of unsympathetic characters, bleak dystopia, random info dumps, and random remeniscing about the past did not work for me at all. Dystopian cannibal vampire empire churches take a lot to be believable – Charlie Stross could do it, MF Sullivan couldn't. ( )

DNF. This just isn't grabbing my attention at all, and I'd rather not waste my time. It's not bad but I can already tell that it's just not for me. ( )

More vamps

Vampires from another planet invaded Earth centuries ago and established themselves as a religion. They haven't been able to conquer the whole planet, nor are all of the vampire "children" happy in their lives, although it is a bit hard to understand exactly what it is they don't like eternal life. Living in darkness is part of it, as is sympathy for the common people who serve as food.

I imagine that many readers will enjoy the story of Dominia di Mephitoli, a vamp leader, who rebels against her "father" the Hierophant, the alien leader of the vampire cult. Although the world building is good, the murky motivations and inexplicable behavior of the characters did not fire up my imagination. I didn't find the book interesting and stopped reading.

I received a review copy of "The Hierophant's Daughter: Book I of The Disgraced Martyr Trilogy" by MF Sullivan (Painted Blind) through NetGalley.com. ( )