Carpe Corpus

You know that sinking awful feeling you got at the end of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, when it looked like Evil had triumphed and had beat back Good by making Luke go crazy and disappear? That's how I felt at the end of Lord of Misrule. There just seems to be something inherently WRONG with letting evil win at the end of a story--no matter that there's more to the series or not.

No surprise to anyone should be that Myrnin remains my favorite character. There's something deliciously wonderful about his manic moods and eccentricities. He isn't so very bad, I mean compared to what he could be like. Mr. Bishop however proves to be an even eviler dude then I thought. He's carelessly cruel most of the time and at worst he's deliberately show more malicious, turning everyone's worst nightmares into reality without even flinching.

Claire's parents still continue to annoy the living daylights out me. Claire is really becoming a little pistol--desperate, cornered and with her future looking bleaker every breath she takes, she seems to have found her inner B**ch and channeled it. Ysandere gets a good lot of that. Myrnin gets a handful of times. Monica gets it a couple times. Oh Monica. She really is a snake who can keep on living. No one should ever worry about Monica.

I don't really want to spoil how things finally settle down (book 7, from what I can understand from the synopsis at the end of the book, seems like its starting a new 'arc' of sorts.), but I guess if you are a Star Wars fan, or fan of the Great Evil Empires in Fiction, you should be able to guess. show less

The Morganville vampire series by Rachel Caine could suck the blood from the other similar YA novels on the market. This book "Carpe Corpus" feels like an ending of sorts. Things have been moving at a heartwrenching pace since the first book "Glass Houses". This book definitely fills like a conclusion to most of those plot threads and I would have been scared except for the teaser in the back for the 7th book "Fade Out". This story picks up with the town of Morganville under the rule of a big bad vampire, Bishop, who wants only to destroy the entire town and its inhabitants. He also has Claire under a powerful magic that puts her at his beck and call. Michael is also under his influence and Eve is mad at them all and feeling betrayed. show more Shane and his vampire hunting dad are locked in a cell until their fates can be decided. Can the people of Morganville fight Bishop's influences and save thier town? While this book was a little slower to start then the previous volumes, once it switched into overdrive it was a non stop journey to the end. I have come to adore some of these characters, and I have felt betrayed in the past by some as well. This is a real credit to Rachel Caine's writing that she can inspire the reader to feel so much. I will point out that my stepdaughter is thirteen and has loved the series as much as I do (I am in my thirties). There is one scene between Claire and Shane where they actually go over the line I thought Rachel established for the series as far as adult content... Its not terribly graphic and I appreciate it for what it was, but I do feel its fair to give warning because it might be fine for a 15 year old reader, but I have a decision to make on whether or not to allow my 13 year old to read it. Still, this book is an example of wonderful world- building and word building. The characters are endearing to me and there isn't enough praise I can give this book. I can just say: Read It. Start with the First. Comment | Permalink show less

A very worthy and satisfying climax novel for the current chain of events happening in Morganville.

As climax novels are supposed to do, "Carpe Corpus" brought a lot of things to a head, weaving all kinds of suspenseful and long-awaited moments into the plot. I don't want to spoil, but there are big things happening in terms of death (I was very saddened by the death at the end), relationships (finally *wink*), and struggles for the freedom of Morganville. Vampires and humans band together to oust Bishop's evil reign, but not without immense cost and a lot of moments where you're holding your breath.

I love how the author keeps us guessing; right down to the wire there are plot twists, questions about who's on which side, and outcomes show more different than what you'd expect. The characters remain one of the most enjoyable factors of the series; Caine portrays the Glass House-mates' banter and relationships extremely well. Her minor characters also shine, as I've mentioned in reviews past; Myrnin, Amelie, Hannah, and many others. And Claire is a good, strong heroine who falls into very few of the "teenage female hero" character traps; she thinks and acts for herself, stands up to both good and bad guys in awesome ways, retains a powerful sense of right and wrong as well as a core of empathy, and yet still shows realistic weaknesses, fears, and hesitancy.

This particular conflict may have ended here, but I can't wait to see what else Caine has in store for Morganville in her next novels. show less

Well when we last left Claire Danvers in Lord of Misrule, the proverbial poop had definitely hit the fan. Bishop (with Myrnin's help) had pulled the coup of coups, Amelie was defeated (well only slightly rumpled), the Morganville rebellion had been quashed and were hurting pretty bad. Shane, his dad, and the beefy motorcycle slayers had been captured or killed, and Michael had been turned to the dark side. (let's now say that in a sinister voice: The Daaaark Side)

And Monica...was Monica. Still alive and just as cranky and mean as ever. `Nuff said.

Basically fans were left on the precipice hanging by their itty-bitty fingernails. An excruciatingly painful state of unknowing existed for all of us until the next Morganville came out. So show more we have been waiting for Carpe Corpus with bated breath, and Miss Rachel Caine has delivered us! Hallelujah!

Life has become ever more complicated in the town that vampires made. Claire's parents are now trapped in Morganville. Bishop is the vampire dictator to end them all but what is even freakier, is that he's got no interest in ruling-only destroying. It's only a matter of time before the creepy fanged town implodes. But Claire has to prevent it, save Amelie and the others, and it's kinda hard to do that when she's been enslaved by magic from the Founders book.

Caine's series is incredibly engaging and in Carpe Corpus we finally see Claire evolve from her painfully shy and timid persona to a kick butt heroine. There is a "serious girl theme" in the book involving Claire and Shane, the introduction of the rather creepy Victorian Ada and we eventually get to see the "true" Myrnin-a cured Myrnin. And work continues on the vampire serum but not without its costs. Think more edgy, darker and fleshed out than Twilight, more Melissa Marr, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Chris Wooding.

So is it "Happily Ever After" with Morganville? Uh uh, I'd hold your breath. With Morganville you never know. Think there is some life in her yet! show less

The extremely strong and powerful vampire Mr Bishop has taken complete control of Morganville. Claire is forced to do his bidding because of a magical tattoo he has put on her, Michael has been bitten by him and is now under his control, Shane is locked up in prison with his Dad, and Eve wants nothing to do with Claire. Amelie has gone into hiding, and Myrnin has sided with Bishop. Things are pretty much screwed for Claire.

That is until she finds out that Amelie is gathering those who are still loyal to her underground, and that Myrnin and Michael are playing spies. With a plan in the works, moves are made – but on both sides. Bishop is not going to hand over control of Morganville without a fight, and plans to destroy all those who show more are against him, human and vamp alike. There’s a race against the clock with predicting and outmanoeuvring the opponent to be getting on with, and Claire’s ready to get her hands dirty.

I love Rachel Caine, and I love this series. And you know what? I LOVE Carpe Corpus!

Compared to the other novels in the series, there is a lot more build up to the action and fighting at the beginning of the book, but that doesn’t make this book any less amazing. It’s like a game of chess, but with a whole lot of thinking and planning before acting done, and it’s just awesome seeing all the characters we come to love (and hate, in Oliver’s case) trying o work together to come up with a way to defeat what seems the undefeatable, when there is very little power left in their hands.

When the action does kick in, though, it’s a classic Morganville adrenalin fest! I won’t spoil it for you, but plans can always go haywire, and when it comes to having no time to think but just act, anything can go wrong. You’ll seriously be reading with bated breath trying to work out what the outcome will be! It’s as exciting as ever!

Our favourite characters are back! Michael, Shane, Claire and Eve are downtrodden, but their personalities still shine through; Michael is still charming, Shane is still acts before he thinks, Claire is still practical, and Eve is still sarcastic. They’re all just a little desperate too. And there is a development with some of these characters. I won’t spoil it, but will say, Rachel; good job!

The one issue I have with this book is that a certain plot line was resolved at the very end of the book, almost like an afterthought. I’m probably wrong, but it just read like it was added in during revisions; a bit of drama at the end added to make it personal to Claire, and a scene inserted further on in the book, so Claire we knew certain characters. It wasn’t necessarily badly written, it’s just seemed a little odd to read when the main story of the book came to its end, and then there was this extra bit at the end of the book. It’s probably the link to the next book in the series, just not as cliff-hanger-y. It was just a little weird. I still loved the book though!

As a bonus, UK readers get an short story in their copy of the book from Shane’s point of view, about him buying a car. Pretty nifty! show less

Review posted here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-carpe-corpus-morganville...

Carpe Corpus is book 6 in my new favorite series, The Morganville Vampires. It gave us some things that we have been wanting. It feels good to say I was pretty satisfied with them except one. But given how Lord of Misrule ended, I was scared to this because it seemed like the end of the world for our great group of friends. But one thing I can always count on, a town full of power-hungry (and just plain hungry) vampires would not keep these guys separated.

This book started off sort of depressing. Like I said, after Lord of Misrule, I was so freaked out for Claire and what would become of her. You see, Claire is possessed by the show more scariest vampire of them all, Bishop. Surprisingly though, the shock has died down (a little) and now Claire is celebrating her seventeenth birthday with her parents. Just her parents. Given all that has happened; Eve, Michael, and Shane are otherwise occupied with other things. Eve thinks Claire sold her soul, Michael is also under Bishop’s control and Shane is in a vampire-operated prison. So Claire is not in a celebrating mood.

So given all that is going on, she doesn’t know who to trust anymore. Everyone is either kissing up to her or scared to death of her and Claire doesn’t like it either way. But little does Claire know that she and Michael play a vital role in the scheme of things. Amelie and my absolute favorite character Myrnin are hard at work on a major plan and they can’t afford to get a step wrong.

Next to book 2, Dead Girls’ Dance, I think this one might be my favorite so far. The characters are always something I rave about with these books and it couldn’t be truer. The friends show that there may be trust issues between them, but they still lay their lives’ on the line for each other. I was the most surprised with Eve who thought all her friends abandoned her and move to the dark side, but she still pulled through. In this book we also got to see more of Amelie. We see she isn’t the ice queen she leads people to believe.

And Myrnin. Oh how I love Myrnin. I recently asked Ms. Caine via Twitter if Myrnin would be getting his own book. She said she loves him too, but he is best as a secondary character. Too crazy for his own book. I don’t mind crazy (which I said to her), but I understand that. But that should tell you exactly what you are dealing with. Myrnin isn’t a villain and he really proved that in this book (in case there was doubt). He is insanely charming, unpredictable, neurotic, and he is always on the right side. God I love Myrnin!

The plot was great, of course. We are given more twists and turns in this book, you don’t know who to trust and who will stab you in the back. We got a lot of action in this book. It seemed like whenever there was the supposed “downtime”, it was when things got to their creepiest really. But I loved it all. This book really grabbed me because there was a lot more going on, a lot more mystery and suspense. Don’t want to give too much of the story away, but just get prepared to start flinging curses near the end.

Don’t know what more to add here. This was just a great read (err listen). So many things going on, no way you get bored. Also must let you know, Claire finally loses the big V to Shane. I really like this scene because Caine made it very appropriate, considering. So I am really interested in seeing how much further their relationship will go. I mean, Shane isn’t a dog (use to be), but you know how it works on tv and all. After it happens, a wedge appears out of nowhere. But this book ended well (very sad), but well and I really want to see what will come of Morganville with Amelie in her current state. God it is hard not spoil this. Ok I am done. show less

These book just keep getting better and better. With book six, the series ventures into the world of steampunk with a special Morganville twist. With the very little I have actually read in the genre of Steampunk, I had a hard time visualizing what Ada looks like, but I am hoping these eventually become movies and someone creates this fascinating machine for the movies! Ada's quirkiness and creepiness fit right in with the rest of the Morganville residents, though, so I know that she/it will grow on me, too.
With this book, it is also a relief that Claire has finally turned seventeen. The build-up between her and Shane was driving me crazy. I also like how the author was much more realistic about her first time with Shane than many show more romance novelists, with much awkwardness and naivety. Her parents' response to the knowledge of this was quite humorous and charming and lent some much-needed humor to the extent of fear with which Morganville is saturated.
Even though these books have much fantasy, they still move along with a certain believability. The one major exception that I found in this book - that I simply had a hard time believing possible - was when Claire almost dies at the end. With the amount of blood loss she suffered from, there is simply no way she could stay conscious for the amount of that she did or stay alive as she did. When books are as entertaining as these are though, I don't mind a little "writer's license" to keep the main character alive and resolve the loose thread of who is responsible for the random murders of girls in the previous books. I am surprised, though, that Claire never made the connection to who Dean is, since I saw it coming quite easily.
Mynin gets more and more entertaining and fascinating from book to book - he is probably one of my favorite characters for his unpredictability. I am thrilled that the disease can no longer get the best of him - it means he could play a more central role in future books. Many of the characters are easy to like, even if their morals often verge into gray area, such as Amelie.
Even though the "book" has suffered its final demise, the bookworm in me still wonders what else was in that book, so I hope future books can tell me more about it. show less