The Last Vampire

This is just about perfect for a fresh take on the vampire legend. This was an excellent choice for my Halloween read-along nostalgia fest with Impy.

Sita believes herself to be The Last Vampire, so she's alarmed - and intrigued - when she learns that someone is hunting for her. Having lived for 5000 years, she's pretty much seen it all, and she has Win-like confidence in her abilities. There's only one being she can think of that wants her gone, and that is the vampire that 'made' her - the original vampire, Yaksha. This is the story of their final confrontation.

Pike incorporates a lot of Hindu mythology in this story, which is certainly different from the norm (especially in the early 90s). He packs a lot of it in a few pages, but in show more such a way that it practically builds his world for him. I certainly understand why the original series ran 6 books, and why he's written at least 1 sequel series: there is a lot of world to explore that is only hinted at in this book.

The story is adorably dated (they correspond by fax! Sita uses 3 1/2 inch "floppy" disks to erase the files that have been kept about her!), but it takes nothing away from the suspense of the Big Meeting, or the consequences of the abrupt ending. As a nostalgia read, these little details hit it out of the park.

I could easily see this being made into a mini-series, based on the events in this book alone (Sita recalls her birth as a vampire and all of the history she has personally witnessed). I hope the other books in the series hold up, because I can definitely see us reading them in the years to come! show less

People usually consider this a good childhood book or something they look back on as a sort of cute thing they read when they didn't know any better. I thought the same thing until I reread it a couple months ago. I never guessed I would enjoy it just as much as I did when I first read it.

Sure, the story might not be high literature, but it's extremely well-crafted. Sita's voice is so strong and perfect that it just blew me away, and the pacing is superb. Maybe if more vampire stories were written like this one, the genre would be taken more seriously.

Christopher Pike is an author I have loved since I was in high school. I have continued to love rereading his books during my adult years as well. I had never read any of his "Last Vampire" series though for some reason. I obviously decided to start to read them.

This book did not disappoint me because it had the usual Pike moments littered throughout it. There are moments that feel too big to be true, but that is what makes these books interesting to read. This book primarily focuses on Sita, who believes she is the last vampire on earth. It is told in the first person through SIta's eyes. This makes the book pretty easy and straightforward to read because you understand the vampire's emotions throughout the story. It also makes the show more moments where there is violence, somewhat gruesome at times, easier to swallow down.

The book doesn't feel like a twilight saga story, which made it interesting to be reading in our current age of people obsessed with vampires in literature. This book felt like it was about a girl who had a very different life than we, as humans, have had. It made it more realistic and poignant to me than it could have been for others that have read the story. It was interesting to here the story through her voice because there always seemed to be a bit of sadness when she remembered her past.

The moments of Sita's past are probably the best moments of the book because it is where you start to feel that the character is fully being fleshed out. You start to understand her better, but during the present day scenes you get that all this past has defined why she is able to do what she does. This book is written shockingly well since it was geared towards the young adult market of a different time period. I have to say overall I was pleased with the book and I liked it. It doesn't rank up there in my favorite books, but for a more fun guilty pleasure type of read this was perfect. I will be continuing this series! show less

This was actually pretty great for a YA vampire novel with a good background for how vampires came to be and how they are in the present day. A good start to a memorable series.

The Last Vampire introduces us to Alisa Perne (aka Lara Adams aka Sita). She is a very rich and very beautiful young woman who also happens to be a 5000 year-old vampire. When she finds herself blackmailed by a private detective who seems to know too much about her background, she quickly neutralizes the situation by killing him, then later realizes that she needs his password to get into his computer and find out who hired him and put him on her trail. To access the files, she uses her connections to have herself enrolled at the high school that the detective's son attends. Her plan is to seduce him, access the files, and then deal with whoever is on the other end of the threats.

Everything goes as planned except that Sita finds herself show more falling deeply in love with the detective's son, Ray. He reminds her so strongly of her husband (who she married before she was turned into a vampire and who is the only man she ever loved) that things become way more messy for Sita than they have for centuries. To add to her troubles, a dark force is on her trail and it means business.

You know, this book was actually pretty good. I like vampires, so that might have a lot to do with it, but adding the supernatural elements really enhances Pike's often goofy dialogue and overly dramatic descriptions. I particularly liked Sita's backstory -- which also happens to cover the origin of all vampires everywhere, and which has a neat twist of Hindu mythology built in.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2009/04/last-vampire-1994.html ] show less

Interesting origin story of vampires. I like that Christopher Pike tries to inject some history in his books and they're not just quick vapid reads.

This is so incredibly the best vampire book ever.

Sita (Alisa or Lara, whatever you want to call her) is a 5,000 year old vampire who is incredibly rich, incredibly beautiful, and yes, she likes blood.

Turns out, someone is trying to hunt her down. Even for someone 5,000 years old, she's got no desire to stop living!

I hearted this book when I was younger (how young, I don't quite remember...), and re-read it to see if I still thought it was worth my reminiscent praise. It is.