Vampire Earth
Encyclopedia
Vampire Earth is a series of science fiction
/dark fantasy
novel
s written by E. E. Knight
, who is also known for writing the Age of Fire
series novels.
The story begins in 2065 in a post-apocalyptic American setting. Forty-three years ago, in 2022, an alien race known as the Kurians triggered a series of natural disasters (as well as artificial ones) that enabled them to gain control of the planet and subjugate humanity. A plague has reduced the world population to 25% of its pre-cataclysm level; nuclear explosions have created a mild form of nuclear winter
, cooling the earth, and smaller events everywhere have added to the chaos. In America, the New Madrid fault let go, destroying much of the Midwest. Major rivers such as the Mississippi have been unleashed.
, a seemingly immortal extraterrestrial race called "Kurians" has wrested control of the Earth
from its inhabitants. The Kurians derive their endless lifespans from draining the "vital aura" of other life forms. To facilitate this addiction to life energy, the Kurians employ avatars known as "Reapers".
Following the Kurian takeover, many humans made the decision to serve the new overlords. These traitors, known as Quisling
s, are set up as members of the police and supervisory government for the Kurian Order. Nearly every other human who is not a Quisling is known as a Territorial, and is either a slave scratching out a living in various trades, or fighting with rebel
organizations such as the Southern Command.
After a time, the Kurian Order reduced Earth to a technological and social Dark Age, with only the few remaining pre-2022 machines and transportation networks surviving, with most of these under Kurian control. As an incentive to good and loyal service to the Kurian Lords, Quislings are awarded bonds of various lengths of years (3, 5, 10), which protect the wearers from the Reapers. Even more sought after is the "Brass Ring". A Brass Ring ensures that one never has to fear being randomly taken by the Reapers at night, although it can be revoked and cannot be passed to one's children.
Pockets of resistance do exist, however. The main rebel group fighting the Order at the beginning of the series is known as Southern Command. A formal military
(though classified by the Order as terrorists) is charged with the defense of the Ozark Free Territory; Southern Command would be doomed were it not for the Hunters.
Strategic Air Command
's old headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base
are the home of the Twisted Cross. Now some of the great hangars have been rebuilt and SAC's old underground catacombs reoccupied. A new general has come, with men in strange uniforms. A reverse swastika
flag flies, its spider-like black-and-white design stark and forbidding against the blue of Omaha
's skies.
Chicago
Chicago
is a Kurian stronghold. Chicago is not only one of the most secure and best organized Kurian cities, it is also the most corrupt. It is the only Kurian Zone where one may buy a Brass Ring. Also, Chicago is one of the trading hubs of the Kurian empire where goods are traded for humans, which are the only commodity that the Kurians recognize.
The Citadelle
Set in walls 100 feet high and 30 feet thick at their base, gunports like shaded black eyes look out on the north coast of Haiti
. This castle-like fortress, faintly resembling a giant ship, is the home to the Kurian known as Papa Legba. While here, Valentine climbs down a well to find he has gone through a gate in the middle of the well, and is looking back at Papa Legba from Kur.
The Consular's Palace
Consular Solon is having a palace built on the north bank of the Arkansas River
. After Valentine's Rising, the Consular's Palace is taken and occupied by Valentine and his "regiment".
New Columbia
The city of Little Rock never recovered from the nuclear blast inflicted on it in the death throes of the Old World. Though the fires went out and the radiation dispersed, the only life to return permanently was nonhuman. The new rulers have a grand vision of a rail, road, and river traffic hub built on the ruins of the old. The Rocks have been renamed New Columbia with the motto "Crossroads of the Future".
Omaha
The Old World transportation hub set in the wide, wooded valley of the Missouri
is a sad shadow of its former self. Like its sister St. Louis farther down the wide Missouri River
, Omaha is now the breeding ground for assorted Grogs and human scoundrels.
The Ozark Mountains
The Free Territory had its genesis here, among the river-cut limestone, caves, sinks, and thick forests of America's oldest mountains. During his years of Cathood in the Kurian Zone, Valentine formed a theory that the Ozarks were a useful bogeyman
for the brutal regimes of the Kur. Death and deprivation could always be blamed on "terrorists" in the Ozarks, or the other enclaves scattered around what had been North America
.
The Residence
In New Columbia, formerly the city of Little Rock, stands the bone-white, 11-story Kurian Tower. It sticks there like a knife in the heart of the Free Territory. This is the home of the Kurian Lord of the area. Armored cars are parked before it, covering the cleared streets outside the beginnings of a wall.
Ryu's Hall
At the headwaters of the Buffalo River
, there is a place that is home to a cluster of Lifeweavers. Perched halfway up Mount Judea in the Ozark Mountains, a stoutly built A-frame lodge stands in a thick grove of mountain pine. It dwarfs any other building in the area. Southern Command calls this place Buffalo River Lodge, the Cats of Southern Command call this place home. This is where Valentine is invoked by Ryu and is transformed by Lifeweaver techno-magic into a Cat.
The Zoo
The Zoo is a recreational area in Chicago. It is a no holds barred Gomorrah
, where any deprivation can be obtained for a price. Although its main attractions are anything sex related, from intercourse to snuff shows, there is also the opportunity to gamble through a riverboat. The Zoo is a reward for good service. Although many Quislings find their end there it is considered an offense punishable by death to be out of money in the Zoo. One who is left without cash or barter is sent to the old financial downtown district, which is now a feeding place for Reapers.
Reapers
The Kurians created these vampiric monsters that stalk the night, selecting victims for their insatiable masters. Each Reaper is an extension of its master, and when it pierces the heart of a victim with its long, flexible tongue to drain the unfortunate's blood, its connection to the Kurian controller transfers the vital aura. The Reapers are nigh-unstoppable; not only garbed in bullet-resistant cloaks but also possessing superhuman speed, agility, strength and resilience. Their blood is a powerful coagulant when exposed to air, sealing wounds almost instantly, and the bones of a Reaper are hard enough to deflect most bullets. The most terrifying aspect of the Reaper, however, is its ability to stalk prey by sensing out "lifesign", the energy given off by a living being. The greater the emotional distress of the target, the easier it is for the Reapers to find them.
Grogs
The other non-human soldiers of the Kurians are known as Grogs and represent a variety of strange creatures apparently engineered in many cases by the Kurians to serve as shock troops
. The most common among these are war-like ape-men sometimes called Gray Ones, and smarter blond colored ones called Golden ones.
The Kurians' cousin species, the Lifeweavers, developed a means of turning human beings into weapons. These Hunters are divided into three castes: Wolf, Cat, and Bear. The Lifeweavers alter the bodies of the Hunters to grant them enhanced senses, reflexes and endurance.
Wolves
The most numerous of the Hunters, David Valentine initially belongs to this caste. Wolves are long-range patrollers, able to run almost tirelessly for hours on end, and possessing the ability to "harden" their senses to the sensory ability akin to a wolf. Wolves engage in guerrilla warfare
against the Kurian Order; killing Reapers to weaken the Kurians, smuggling out humans, destroying resources of the Order, and fighting in rapid hit-and-run
engagements with the Grog and human soldiers of the Order.
Cats
A smaller and slightly more elite caste than the Wolves. They are not part of the formal military hierarchy, although they are considered captains as a courtesy. They receive agility and reflexes comparable to a feline, as well as incredible balance and cat-like night vision. Cats do not often travel in groups, working as solitary spy
-saboteurs, gathering information and destroying assets deep within the Kurian-controlled areas.
Bears
These are the near-unstoppable shock troops of the Human resistance. When modified by a Lifeweaver to become a Bear, a human soldier becomes "a walking tank", fighting like a berserker
of old and possessing tremendous strength and power. Bear physical capabilities are actually on par with the Reapers themselves, able to fight and even kill Reapers in single combat. They also possess an incredible faculty for healing, to the point of regenerating nerve damage and internal organs that have been lost. Lost & Found, a Bear introduced in Valentine's Rising, actually revives from beyond clinical and physical death. Bears induce a trance-like state called "going Red", which seems to induce the berserker rage for which the Bears are famous.
Hunters are not limited to one caste. There are mentions of a few who have obtained all three types of alteration. Valentine's own trainer (after becoming a Wolf) was a Cat, but mentions how he was "a Wolf before [Valentine was] born". Many Cats actually start out as Wolves, much like Valentine. Valentine eventually becomes part of all three castes.
Possible 4th group
Mentioned in "Winter Duty" There was a 4th group of hunters but after the process of becoming a Hunter, all of the Subjects went Insane. There is no name given to this possible 4th group of hunters.
Also known by the nickname "Ghost", Valentine is the main character and all the stories are told from his point of view.
When Valentine was eleven years old he witnessed the aftermath of a Quisling attack on his home. All his family was killed in the attack, leaving him the only survivor of the massacre. Father Max, a Catholic
priest and his father's old friend, took him in and raised him. Valentine is brought up in Father Max's library, where books work to fill the void left in his life. David learns later that his father, Lee Valentine, was a soldier in Southern Command.
Valentine possesses a sixth sense that is sometimes referred to as the "Valentingle", first as a joke and later taken seriously. This sense allows him to feel the presence of Reapers being controlled by Kurians.
Valentine suspects that the changes in Hunters created by the Lifeweavers may be hereditary.
Valentine starts off as a Wolf, but due to some events that are hinted to be caused by Alessa "Smoke" Duvalier becomes a Cat and finally becomes a Bear after an ill-fated meeting with a Lifeweaver in Pacific Command.
Valentine also has a daughter with First Lieutenant
Malia Carrasca in Jamaica
and is raising the Reaper who was born from Gail Post as his son whom he calls Blake.
Malia Carrasca
Carrasca is the acting captain of the gunboat Thunderbolt. She lives in Jamaica and meet Valentine when he comes to the island on his way to Hispaniola
, searching for an unknown weapon against Kur (later revealed as "Quickwood"). Valentine arrives on the Thunderbolt and convinces Carrasca's grandfather Commodore Jensen to let him use the powerful ship (one of the strongest still in existence) in his search. In exchange, the ship becomes the property of the Jamaican resistance, and Carrasca becomes the new commander of the Thunderbolt. Over the course of their adventure, Valentine and Carrasca fall in love. When Valentine gets back to the Ozarks, Ahn-Kha gives him a note from Carrasca, telling him he will be a father soon. Valentine looks forward to the day he can go to see his daughter. Valentine returns to North America being unable to find a home in Jamaica.
Ahn-Kha
Ahn-Kha is a Golden One who looks like a seven-foot cross between a short-haired bear and an ape with pointed, expressive ears. He is one of Valentine's most constant companions. Valentine and Ahn-Kha consider each other brothers and would die for each other.
Ahn-Kha was born on Earth, 41 years before the beginning of Choice of the Cat, one of the first of his clan to be brought to this world after his people had settled. The Golden One clans and the Gray Ones' tribes were brought to this world to do the dying while winning the victory for the Kur.
Although many people who encounter Ahn-Kha dismiss his intelligence due to his resemblance to the Gray Ones, his own species of Grog is generally as intelligent (if not more so) than humans. Ahn-Kha is a great source of wisdom, something Valentine relies on almost as much as he relies on Ahn-Kha's strength.
Valentine and Ahn-Kha are separated at the end of Valentine's Exile, Ahn-Kha drawing off pursuit to allow Valentine and the others in their group, which included Smoke and Gail Post, to escape. Valentine believes Ahn-Kha to be dead after several years without news. Valentine later hears rumours of a Golden One leading a rebellion in Appalachia
and swears to investigate the rumours hoping to find his missing "brother".
Alessa Duvalier aka Smoke
At age 16, Duvalier ran away from the Great Plains Gulag after burning a police van and then killing two policemen, after one of them attempted to rape her. Taking all their possessions she could carry, she then escaped by crawling through a swamp and heading for the mountains. She is taken in by the Duvalier family. When a raid on Leavenworth is planned, she is recruited as a scout. She becomes friends with a Cat named Rourke and later becomes his disciple.
Eight years later, she meets Valentine at the battle of Little Timber Hill where she helps him and his men escape their besieged position. After David's decision to resign from the Wolves, Duvalier recruits him to be a Cat.
Duvalier is one of the most fervent believers in the Lifeweavers, believing them to be almost godlike. She is often shown to be in awe of them, and it would seem willing to do anything for them. Although in later works she is shown to have the overall cause as foremost in mind, Duvalier is a highly divided character who is led by both extreme passion and extreme pragmatism
. She shows overt anti-social behaviour due to her traumatic childhood and has difficulty forming romantic bonds with men. Duvalier is among the zealots of the new order, who will do anything for the cause with special emphasis on the Lifeweavers.
Eveready
Valentine first meets Eveready in the Yazoo Mississippi, where Eveready was responsible for training Valentine and several other Wolves in how to mask their lifesigns and evade Reapers. He has killed at least 71 Reapers (at the time of Valentine's Exile), counted by the sets of teeth he wears as a necklace, but believes that those who actually go after Reapers without extreme advantage are fools.
He later appears in Valentine's Exile as a recluse, hunting Reapers and other Kurian operatives along a specific stretch of land he calls home. He gives Valentine and Duvalier the equipment necessary to help track down William Post's wife, Gail. Eveready is shown to have at one time been one of the most fervent believers of the cause, converting several Quislings and fomenting revolution. He lost his ardor after being betrayed by a trusted confederate and now operates a one-man war against Quislings agreeing only to train new Wolves, but not accepting any other specific assignments.
Eveready's name comes from the battery
company by the same name. He uses the batteries as a calling card for the Kurians so that they know which kills are his.
Narcisse aka Sissy
Narcisse is a woman Valentine encounters in the Caribbean
and is disfigured: two fleshy stumps are all she has left of her legs, and one arm ends in a knob at her wrist. She got these injuries from trying to run away. She helps Valentine escape and he takes her with him piggyback style.
Narcisse claims to practice voodoo, but it's more like hoodoo, with her herbs doing "magic".
William Post
Post is a former Quisling officer who Valentine converts to the side of Free Territories. Valentine encounters Post while acting as the first officer on the Thunderbolt, a Quisling ship. Post follows Valentine acting as his lieutenant
until he becomes injured in a manner that leaves him unable to fight. Post carries guilt of leaving his former wife, Gail, and sends Valentine to look for her once he is injured.
Arsie or RC
Arsie or RC, supposedly named after the old Royal Crown cola truck she was found in as a baby, is a Blue Dome girl. The character Arsie or RC is notable because she was named for Merile (aka RC) of the Vampire Earth forum. She won a contest to have a character named for her.
Blake
Blake is Gail's Reaper son being raised secretly by Narcisse in Valentine's absence. He is having trouble fighting his natural urges to feed and is aging much faster physically than he is mentally. He is shown to possess the entire gamut of human emotions, including love and attachment, which he clearly feels for Valentine. Valentine has taken to calling Blake his son, and Blake returning the attachment calling him Poppa. Although Narcisse is the one who raises him, Blake only acknowledges Valentine as a parent.
Blake is Valentine's only motivation to rejoin "the cause" and sets out to find Lifeweavers in order to buy Blake's freedom, otherwise Blake will be sought out, captured and studied.
. This experience comes to a brutal climax as Harpies (flying creatures controlled by the Kurians) attack his posting and kill several people, including a close friend. Valentine tracks the Harpies to their lair
in an old boat and destroys it. This earns him the promotion to the Wolves.
Working as a messenger, Valentine finds himself trapped behind enemy lines after investigating a new Kurian installation near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin
. Disguising himself and an injured comrade, he takes shelter with the Carlsons, a family of Quislings, and begins to fall in love with their daughter, Molly. A Kurian operative selects Molly for his own. Molly subsequently kills the man and is captured and taken to The Zoo, a center for Kurian operations in the heart of Chicago. The Zoo is a horrific place where many women labeled as criminals meet their end. Valentine tracks down then rescues Molly. The book ends as Valentine and Molly finally reach the Ozarks again.
by Grog cavalry
. A Cat named Alessa Duvalier helps Valentine and his men retreat. Valentine is subsequently faced with a court martial, as his commanding officer attempts to obfuscate his own incompetence by sacrificing Valentine's career. Valentine is offered an alternative to the court martial: he can resign his officer's commission. While initially determined to face the court, Valentine changes his mind when Duvalier offers to take him in as a Cat. Valentine resigns and follows Duvalier to Ryu's hall, where he is again enhanced, and receives the training necessary to survive as a spy-saboteur behind enemy lines.
Following his training, Valentine and Duvalier venture into the Kurian Zone in search of a mysterious group called the Twisted Cross. The Twisted Cross is somehow connected to reports of Reapers that not only speak to one another (normally all Reapers in a given group are unified by the will of their Kurian controller) but also use firearm
s. The two Cats quickly bond on the trail, but their relationship is strained by Valentine's decision to help cattle-driving nomads, the Eagles, to fight against the Twisted Cross, rather than withdraw as a Cat would. Duvalier leaves him behind and continues her intelligence-gathering mission. Following the Eagles' victory over the Twisted Cross unit, Valentine continues his search for the Cross alone. In the ruins of Omaha, he encounters a badly wounded Grog named Ahn-Kha. Ahn-Kha reveals that he speaks English and that he is a member of a Grog tribe called "The Golden Ones". The Golden Ones helped the Kurian Order in taking over Earth, but were eventually betrayed by their former benefactors and now live as virtual slaves to the Twisted Cross.
Valentine and Ahn-Kha become extremely close friends, to the point that they regard one another as brothers. The Cat joins the Grog in beginning a revolt against the Twisted Cross overseers and their puppet Principle Elder. During the battle, Valentine stumbles upon the secret behind the new, strange Reapers: they are controlled by men, not Kurians, and relieves them of their duty.
Valentine and Ahn-Kha's quest to free the Golden Ones ends in Valentine leading a virtual one-man assault on the heart of the Twisted Cross, destroying what appears to be the majority of the human Reaper controllers. Badly wounded in the battle, he is captured and brought before the mysterious leader of the Twisted Cross, a man known only as "The General". The General relates to Valentine that he is an immortal, having been given the same ability to drain auras that fuels the eternal life of the Kurians. He offers David a choice: join him in immortality or be shot. After a moment's hesitation, Valentine defiantly chooses death, but is saved moments from execution by Duvalier and Ahn-Kha. The General is killed by Valentine's Grog brother and the Twisted Cross is finished.
The book concludes with Valentine returning to the Ozarks to recuperate.
Valentine convinces Lieutenant Post and a few other members of the Thunderbolt's crew to rebel along with Ahn-Kha and his Grogs, although it goes poorly when the captain of the ship learns of the planned mutiny before it is scheduled to occur. Valentine and his men take the weapons locker and engineering department but fail to convince the majority of the crew to rebel or take them by surprise. Valentine and his men are saved when Lieutenant Carrasca of Jamaica attacks and claims the Thunderbolt. After explaining his cause, Valentine is told that until Jamaica is free the Kurian controlling it.
Valentine kills this Kurian and is allowed to meet with Papa Legba in Haiti, the one who claimed to have the information needed to kill the Kurians, though he turns out to be a Kurian himself. Papa Legba shows him Quickwood, which can kill a Kurian or their Reapers almost instantly. Valentine then begins to transport the Quickwood back to the Ozarks, and in doing so begins a rebellion that soon envelopes all of Haiti.
The book concludes with an ambush in Texas
that destroys much of the stock of Quickwood.
Valentine and his men are unable to escape Solon's long-reaching grasp and choose instead to undertake a massive intelligence operation. They pose as a Quisling group sent to reinforce Solon's already impressive army. This leads to many tests of Valentine's faith as he is forced to make horrific decisions. He and his men are forced to work under Brigadier General
Xray Tango and work for the betterment of the Kurian Order. Soon, Valentine and his men prove themselves to Solon and are granted access to arms and munitions.
The finale of the book comes as Valentine launches a crippling attack from within Fort Scott
, taking and holding the area around it and completely halting Solon's forces and their ability to move while broadcasting a message to the scattered remnants of Southern Command, informing them that the mobility of Solon's forces was crippled and urging them to rise up and fight, which they do. Thus begins a long last stand
effort as Valentine and his forces (now dubbed the "Razorbacks") hold the area and prevent Solon's forces from effectively countering the actions of Southern Command's forces elsewhere.
Valentine leads a team of Bears (including Styachowski, now dubbed "Wildcard") into the Kurian fortress to kill the Kurian Lords within, which they are mostly successful at doing. The book ends as forces from Texas come to reinforce Valentine and break him and his men free of the trap they'd willingly allowed to set around them. When a bewildered Valentine asks why the Texans would journey from another fort they'd trapped in a siege to rescue him and his men, he is told: "That could wait. You couldn't. We remember the Alamo".
Valentine is informed he has some time off and agrees to attempt to track down Post's wife. He learns that some women were given tests while Solon's forces occupied the Ozarks, and that Post's wife Gail was one of those who tested positive and was taken. While visiting Molly Carlson in an attempt to learn more about the tests, he is detained by Southern Command and informed that he is facing a court martial for the murder of Quisling prisoners.
While in detainment, Valentine learns that some Quislings are in the process of negotiating a truce, and that many of the more recent courts martial have been a way of showing the Quislings that Southern Command doesn't encourage murder and looting. Valentine is also offered a deal that will see him in prison for several years in exchange for a confession of guilt. He learns that the deal is false and instead escapes with the help of some sympathetic guards.
Valentine, free of the prison (though knowing he will be judged guilty in absentia
), decides to continue his search for Gail Post. This takes him to meet Eveready, who helps him with some supplies, and allows Valentine to eventually infiltrate the Kurian facility where Gail Post is being held. After spending weeks in the facility, Valentine is able to escape with a pregnant Gail, though it requires Ahn-Kha to draw off their pursuit.
The child is delivered, and everyone is horrified to discover that Gail has given birth to a Reaper. The book ends as Valentine wonders whether the newborn creature has a soul, or if it's already a mindless killing machine.
The invasion starts out well. The expedition wins battles as they move through Kentucky and allies with several Legworm clans. However, when they meet up with the resistance, the meeting turns out to be a Quisling ruse and the expedition's leadership is ambushed in the middle of a feast. Southern Command is forced to retreat with supposedly elite Quisling troops (the Moondaggers) following close behind. Valentine eventually becomes second in command and continues to beat the enemy even though Southern command is always outnumbered and in a constant state of retreat. They are eventually pinned down across from Evansville, IN, on the Ohio River. A general uprising in Evansville and throughout Kentucky sparks the attacking spirit in Southern Command soldiers and the remnants of the Legworm Clans. They make a final charge at the enemy lines and win the day. For now.
And Valentine is losing allies fast. Some of the clans in the region have declared themselves in favor of the Kurians, throwing Kentucky into civil war. But the Kurian overlords have determined that the region isn't worth the effort of another conquest. Their order: extermination. By what ever means necessary...
From Penguin Group's New American Library Roc Imprint http://www.vampjac.com/vampireearth/
The national best-selling "master of deception and tension" (Black Gate) returns to the Vampire Earth.... The race is on to claim the area between the Ohio River and Tennessee. What's left of the resistance is hiding out in the tangle of central Kentucky hills - leaving the powerful, well-organized Kurian vampires the opportunity to fill the void.
Major David Valentine knows there's only one way for them to find help before the Kurians settle in: a desperate dash by hijacked rail, followed by a harrowing river journey.
Valentine unites friends old and new in the effort - but the Kurian Order won't easily yield the blood-soaked Kentucky soil.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/dark fantasy
Dark fantasy
Dark fantasy is a term used to describe a fantasy story with a pronounced horror element.-Overview:A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s written by E. E. Knight
E. E. Knight
E. E. Knight is the pen name for a science fiction and fantasy writer, born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota and now resides in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife, newborn daughter and young son....
, who is also known for writing the Age of Fire
Age of Fire
Age of Fire is a series of fantasy/adventure novels written by E. E. Knight, who is also known for writing the Vampire Earth series of novels.- Plot :The series follows the adventures of three dragon siblings...
series novels.
Background
The story begins in 2065 in a post-apocalyptic American setting. Forty-three years ago, in 2022, an alien race known as the Kurians triggered a series of natural disasters (as well as artificial ones) that enabled them to gain control of the planet and subjugate humanity. A plague has reduced the world population to 25% of its pre-cataclysm level; nuclear explosions have created a mild form of nuclear winter
Nuclear winter
Nuclear winter is a predicted climatic effect of nuclear war. It has been theorized that severely cold weather and reduced sunlight for a period of months or even years could be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapons, especially over flammable targets such as cities, where large...
, cooling the earth, and smaller events everywhere have added to the chaos. In America, the New Madrid fault let go, destroying much of the Midwest. Major rivers such as the Mississippi have been unleashed.
Plot
In the year 2022 CECommon Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
, a seemingly immortal extraterrestrial race called "Kurians" has wrested control of the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
from its inhabitants. The Kurians derive their endless lifespans from draining the "vital aura" of other life forms. To facilitate this addiction to life energy, the Kurians employ avatars known as "Reapers".
Following the Kurian takeover, many humans made the decision to serve the new overlords. These traitors, known as Quisling
Quisling
Quisling is a term used in reference to fascist and collaborationist political parties and military and paramilitary forces in occupied Allied countries which collaborated with Axis occupiers in World War II, as well as for their members and other collaborators.- Etymology :The term was coined by...
s, are set up as members of the police and supervisory government for the Kurian Order. Nearly every other human who is not a Quisling is known as a Territorial, and is either a slave scratching out a living in various trades, or fighting with rebel
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
organizations such as the Southern Command.
After a time, the Kurian Order reduced Earth to a technological and social Dark Age, with only the few remaining pre-2022 machines and transportation networks surviving, with most of these under Kurian control. As an incentive to good and loyal service to the Kurian Lords, Quislings are awarded bonds of various lengths of years (3, 5, 10), which protect the wearers from the Reapers. Even more sought after is the "Brass Ring". A Brass Ring ensures that one never has to fear being randomly taken by the Reapers at night, although it can be revoked and cannot be passed to one's children.
Pockets of resistance do exist, however. The main rebel group fighting the Order at the beginning of the series is known as Southern Command. A formal military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
(though classified by the Order as terrorists) is charged with the defense of the Ozark Free Territory; Southern Command would be doomed were it not for the Hunters.
Locations of note
The CaveStrategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
's old headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
are the home of the Twisted Cross. Now some of the great hangars have been rebuilt and SAC's old underground catacombs reoccupied. A new general has come, with men in strange uniforms. A reverse swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
flag flies, its spider-like black-and-white design stark and forbidding against the blue of Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
's skies.
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
is a Kurian stronghold. Chicago is not only one of the most secure and best organized Kurian cities, it is also the most corrupt. It is the only Kurian Zone where one may buy a Brass Ring. Also, Chicago is one of the trading hubs of the Kurian empire where goods are traded for humans, which are the only commodity that the Kurians recognize.
The Citadelle
Set in walls 100 feet high and 30 feet thick at their base, gunports like shaded black eyes look out on the north coast of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. This castle-like fortress, faintly resembling a giant ship, is the home to the Kurian known as Papa Legba. While here, Valentine climbs down a well to find he has gone through a gate in the middle of the well, and is looking back at Papa Legba from Kur.
The Consular's Palace
Consular Solon is having a palace built on the north bank of the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
. After Valentine's Rising, the Consular's Palace is taken and occupied by Valentine and his "regiment".
New Columbia
The city of Little Rock never recovered from the nuclear blast inflicted on it in the death throes of the Old World. Though the fires went out and the radiation dispersed, the only life to return permanently was nonhuman. The new rulers have a grand vision of a rail, road, and river traffic hub built on the ruins of the old. The Rocks have been renamed New Columbia with the motto "Crossroads of the Future".
Omaha
The Old World transportation hub set in the wide, wooded valley of the Missouri
Missouri River Valley
The Missouri River Valley outlines the journey of the Missouri River from its headwaters where the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin Rivers flow together in Montana to its confluence with the Mississippi River in the State of Missouri. At long the valley drains one-sixth of the United States, and is...
is a sad shadow of its former self. Like its sister St. Louis farther down the wide Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
, Omaha is now the breeding ground for assorted Grogs and human scoundrels.
The Ozark Mountains
The Free Territory had its genesis here, among the river-cut limestone, caves, sinks, and thick forests of America's oldest mountains. During his years of Cathood in the Kurian Zone, Valentine formed a theory that the Ozarks were a useful bogeyman
Bogeyman
A bogeyman is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into compliant behaviour...
for the brutal regimes of the Kur. Death and deprivation could always be blamed on "terrorists" in the Ozarks, or the other enclaves scattered around what had been North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
The Residence
In New Columbia, formerly the city of Little Rock, stands the bone-white, 11-story Kurian Tower. It sticks there like a knife in the heart of the Free Territory. This is the home of the Kurian Lord of the area. Armored cars are parked before it, covering the cleared streets outside the beginnings of a wall.
Ryu's Hall
At the headwaters of the Buffalo River
Buffalo National River
The Buffalo River, located in northern Arkansas, was the first National River to be designated in the United States. The Buffalo River is slightly more than in length, with the lower flowing within the boundaries of an area managed by the National Park Service, where it is designated the '. The...
, there is a place that is home to a cluster of Lifeweavers. Perched halfway up Mount Judea in the Ozark Mountains, a stoutly built A-frame lodge stands in a thick grove of mountain pine. It dwarfs any other building in the area. Southern Command calls this place Buffalo River Lodge, the Cats of Southern Command call this place home. This is where Valentine is invoked by Ryu and is transformed by Lifeweaver techno-magic into a Cat.
The Zoo
The Zoo is a recreational area in Chicago. It is a no holds barred Gomorrah
Gomorrah
Gomorrah or Gomorra may refer to:* Sodom and Gomorrah, infamous biblical cities* Gomorrah , by Roberto Saviano** Gomorrah , based on the book* Operation Gomorrah, the Bombing of Hamburg in World War II in July 1943...
, where any deprivation can be obtained for a price. Although its main attractions are anything sex related, from intercourse to snuff shows, there is also the opportunity to gamble through a riverboat. The Zoo is a reward for good service. Although many Quislings find their end there it is considered an offense punishable by death to be out of money in the Zoo. One who is left without cash or barter is sent to the old financial downtown district, which is now a feeding place for Reapers.
Kurians
The Kurians are a branch of an alien race known as the Lifeweavers. They naturally have very long lives of thousands of years and have learned to increase their lifespan indefinitely by absorbing vital aura from other living beings. This was discovered from the remnants of a civilization only known as the Pre-Entities. After a civil war with the other Lifeweavers, the Kurians launched a large scale invasion of earth with an engineered virus known as "ravies" and triggering several natural disasters during a time of economic breakdown known as the New Depression. National governments quickly collapsed and the Kurians set up a new form of government. This similar in ways to feudalism, with Kurian lords controlling specific areas and maintaining their status quo through fear and intimidation. Though they have some interest in culture, their main goals are survival and power. Oftentimes they are compared to drug addicts, never looking much further than the next "fix" of vital aura from their human cattle. This of course belies their tenacity and power wielded through their Reapers.Reapers
The Kurians created these vampiric monsters that stalk the night, selecting victims for their insatiable masters. Each Reaper is an extension of its master, and when it pierces the heart of a victim with its long, flexible tongue to drain the unfortunate's blood, its connection to the Kurian controller transfers the vital aura. The Reapers are nigh-unstoppable; not only garbed in bullet-resistant cloaks but also possessing superhuman speed, agility, strength and resilience. Their blood is a powerful coagulant when exposed to air, sealing wounds almost instantly, and the bones of a Reaper are hard enough to deflect most bullets. The most terrifying aspect of the Reaper, however, is its ability to stalk prey by sensing out "lifesign", the energy given off by a living being. The greater the emotional distress of the target, the easier it is for the Reapers to find them.
Grogs
The other non-human soldiers of the Kurians are known as Grogs and represent a variety of strange creatures apparently engineered in many cases by the Kurians to serve as shock troops
Shock troops
Shock troops or assault troops are formations created to lead an attack. "Shock troop" is a loose translation of the German word Stoßtrupp...
. The most common among these are war-like ape-men sometimes called Gray Ones, and smarter blond colored ones called Golden ones.
Hunters
LifeweaversThe Kurians' cousin species, the Lifeweavers, developed a means of turning human beings into weapons. These Hunters are divided into three castes: Wolf, Cat, and Bear. The Lifeweavers alter the bodies of the Hunters to grant them enhanced senses, reflexes and endurance.
Wolves
The most numerous of the Hunters, David Valentine initially belongs to this caste. Wolves are long-range patrollers, able to run almost tirelessly for hours on end, and possessing the ability to "harden" their senses to the sensory ability akin to a wolf. Wolves engage in guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
against the Kurian Order; killing Reapers to weaken the Kurians, smuggling out humans, destroying resources of the Order, and fighting in rapid hit-and-run
Hit-and-run tactics
Hit-and-run tactics is a tactical doctrine where the purpose of the combat involved is not to seize control of territory, but to inflict damage on a target and immediately exit the area to avoid the enemy's defense and/or retaliation.-History:...
engagements with the Grog and human soldiers of the Order.
Cats
A smaller and slightly more elite caste than the Wolves. They are not part of the formal military hierarchy, although they are considered captains as a courtesy. They receive agility and reflexes comparable to a feline, as well as incredible balance and cat-like night vision. Cats do not often travel in groups, working as solitary spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
-saboteurs, gathering information and destroying assets deep within the Kurian-controlled areas.
Bears
These are the near-unstoppable shock troops of the Human resistance. When modified by a Lifeweaver to become a Bear, a human soldier becomes "a walking tank", fighting like a berserker
Berserker
Berserkers were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested in numerous Old Norse sources...
of old and possessing tremendous strength and power. Bear physical capabilities are actually on par with the Reapers themselves, able to fight and even kill Reapers in single combat. They also possess an incredible faculty for healing, to the point of regenerating nerve damage and internal organs that have been lost. Lost & Found, a Bear introduced in Valentine's Rising, actually revives from beyond clinical and physical death. Bears induce a trance-like state called "going Red", which seems to induce the berserker rage for which the Bears are famous.
Hunters are not limited to one caste. There are mentions of a few who have obtained all three types of alteration. Valentine's own trainer (after becoming a Wolf) was a Cat, but mentions how he was "a Wolf before [Valentine was] born". Many Cats actually start out as Wolves, much like Valentine. Valentine eventually becomes part of all three castes.
Possible 4th group
Mentioned in "Winter Duty" There was a 4th group of hunters but after the process of becoming a Hunter, all of the Subjects went Insane. There is no name given to this possible 4th group of hunters.
Vampire Earth characters
David Stuart ValentineAlso known by the nickname "Ghost", Valentine is the main character and all the stories are told from his point of view.
When Valentine was eleven years old he witnessed the aftermath of a Quisling attack on his home. All his family was killed in the attack, leaving him the only survivor of the massacre. Father Max, a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
priest and his father's old friend, took him in and raised him. Valentine is brought up in Father Max's library, where books work to fill the void left in his life. David learns later that his father, Lee Valentine, was a soldier in Southern Command.
Valentine possesses a sixth sense that is sometimes referred to as the "Valentingle", first as a joke and later taken seriously. This sense allows him to feel the presence of Reapers being controlled by Kurians.
Valentine suspects that the changes in Hunters created by the Lifeweavers may be hereditary.
Valentine starts off as a Wolf, but due to some events that are hinted to be caused by Alessa "Smoke" Duvalier becomes a Cat and finally becomes a Bear after an ill-fated meeting with a Lifeweaver in Pacific Command.
Valentine also has a daughter with First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
Malia Carrasca in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and is raising the Reaper who was born from Gail Post as his son whom he calls Blake.
Malia Carrasca
Carrasca is the acting captain of the gunboat Thunderbolt. She lives in Jamaica and meet Valentine when he comes to the island on his way to Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
, searching for an unknown weapon against Kur (later revealed as "Quickwood"). Valentine arrives on the Thunderbolt and convinces Carrasca's grandfather Commodore Jensen to let him use the powerful ship (one of the strongest still in existence) in his search. In exchange, the ship becomes the property of the Jamaican resistance, and Carrasca becomes the new commander of the Thunderbolt. Over the course of their adventure, Valentine and Carrasca fall in love. When Valentine gets back to the Ozarks, Ahn-Kha gives him a note from Carrasca, telling him he will be a father soon. Valentine looks forward to the day he can go to see his daughter. Valentine returns to North America being unable to find a home in Jamaica.
Ahn-Kha
Ahn-Kha is a Golden One who looks like a seven-foot cross between a short-haired bear and an ape with pointed, expressive ears. He is one of Valentine's most constant companions. Valentine and Ahn-Kha consider each other brothers and would die for each other.
Ahn-Kha was born on Earth, 41 years before the beginning of Choice of the Cat, one of the first of his clan to be brought to this world after his people had settled. The Golden One clans and the Gray Ones' tribes were brought to this world to do the dying while winning the victory for the Kur.
Although many people who encounter Ahn-Kha dismiss his intelligence due to his resemblance to the Gray Ones, his own species of Grog is generally as intelligent (if not more so) than humans. Ahn-Kha is a great source of wisdom, something Valentine relies on almost as much as he relies on Ahn-Kha's strength.
Valentine and Ahn-Kha are separated at the end of Valentine's Exile, Ahn-Kha drawing off pursuit to allow Valentine and the others in their group, which included Smoke and Gail Post, to escape. Valentine believes Ahn-Kha to be dead after several years without news. Valentine later hears rumours of a Golden One leading a rebellion in Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
and swears to investigate the rumours hoping to find his missing "brother".
Alessa Duvalier aka Smoke
At age 16, Duvalier ran away from the Great Plains Gulag after burning a police van and then killing two policemen, after one of them attempted to rape her. Taking all their possessions she could carry, she then escaped by crawling through a swamp and heading for the mountains. She is taken in by the Duvalier family. When a raid on Leavenworth is planned, she is recruited as a scout. She becomes friends with a Cat named Rourke and later becomes his disciple.
Eight years later, she meets Valentine at the battle of Little Timber Hill where she helps him and his men escape their besieged position. After David's decision to resign from the Wolves, Duvalier recruits him to be a Cat.
Duvalier is one of the most fervent believers in the Lifeweavers, believing them to be almost godlike. She is often shown to be in awe of them, and it would seem willing to do anything for them. Although in later works she is shown to have the overall cause as foremost in mind, Duvalier is a highly divided character who is led by both extreme passion and extreme pragmatism
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
. She shows overt anti-social behaviour due to her traumatic childhood and has difficulty forming romantic bonds with men. Duvalier is among the zealots of the new order, who will do anything for the cause with special emphasis on the Lifeweavers.
Eveready
Valentine first meets Eveready in the Yazoo Mississippi, where Eveready was responsible for training Valentine and several other Wolves in how to mask their lifesigns and evade Reapers. He has killed at least 71 Reapers (at the time of Valentine's Exile), counted by the sets of teeth he wears as a necklace, but believes that those who actually go after Reapers without extreme advantage are fools.
He later appears in Valentine's Exile as a recluse, hunting Reapers and other Kurian operatives along a specific stretch of land he calls home. He gives Valentine and Duvalier the equipment necessary to help track down William Post's wife, Gail. Eveready is shown to have at one time been one of the most fervent believers of the cause, converting several Quislings and fomenting revolution. He lost his ardor after being betrayed by a trusted confederate and now operates a one-man war against Quislings agreeing only to train new Wolves, but not accepting any other specific assignments.
Eveready's name comes from the battery
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
company by the same name. He uses the batteries as a calling card for the Kurians so that they know which kills are his.
Narcisse aka Sissy
Narcisse is a woman Valentine encounters in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and is disfigured: two fleshy stumps are all she has left of her legs, and one arm ends in a knob at her wrist. She got these injuries from trying to run away. She helps Valentine escape and he takes her with him piggyback style.
Narcisse claims to practice voodoo, but it's more like hoodoo, with her herbs doing "magic".
William Post
Post is a former Quisling officer who Valentine converts to the side of Free Territories. Valentine encounters Post while acting as the first officer on the Thunderbolt, a Quisling ship. Post follows Valentine acting as his lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
until he becomes injured in a manner that leaves him unable to fight. Post carries guilt of leaving his former wife, Gail, and sends Valentine to look for her once he is injured.
Arsie or RC
Arsie or RC, supposedly named after the old Royal Crown cola truck she was found in as a baby, is a Blue Dome girl. The character Arsie or RC is notable because she was named for Merile (aka RC) of the Vampire Earth forum. She won a contest to have a character named for her.
Blake
Blake is Gail's Reaper son being raised secretly by Narcisse in Valentine's absence. He is having trouble fighting his natural urges to feed and is aging much faster physically than he is mentally. He is shown to possess the entire gamut of human emotions, including love and attachment, which he clearly feels for Valentine. Valentine has taken to calling Blake his son, and Blake returning the attachment calling him Poppa. Although Narcisse is the one who raises him, Blake only acknowledges Valentine as a parent.
Blake is Valentine's only motivation to rejoin "the cause" and sets out to find Lifeweavers in order to buy Blake's freedom, otherwise Blake will be sought out, captured and studied.
Vampire Earth books
There are nine books in the Vampire Earth series of novels. Summaries are presented in chronological order.Way of the Wolf
This book begins with Vampire Earth series protagonist David Valentine's childhood and his introduction to the Kurians and the Reapers, and continues through his experience in the Southern Command Ozark Free Territory labor battalionBattalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
. This experience comes to a brutal climax as Harpies (flying creatures controlled by the Kurians) attack his posting and kill several people, including a close friend. Valentine tracks the Harpies to their lair
Lair
Lair may refer to:*An animal's lair or home; see :Category:Shelters built or used by animals*Lair , a 2007 video game*In Scots language, lair refers to a burial-plot in a graveyard...
in an old boat and destroys it. This earns him the promotion to the Wolves.
Working as a messenger, Valentine finds himself trapped behind enemy lines after investigating a new Kurian installation near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin
Blue Mounds, Wisconsin
Blue Mounds is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 708. The population was estimated at 766 in 2009. The village is adjacent to the Town of Blue Mounds and is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Blue...
. Disguising himself and an injured comrade, he takes shelter with the Carlsons, a family of Quislings, and begins to fall in love with their daughter, Molly. A Kurian operative selects Molly for his own. Molly subsequently kills the man and is captured and taken to The Zoo, a center for Kurian operations in the heart of Chicago. The Zoo is a horrific place where many women labeled as criminals meet their end. Valentine tracks down then rescues Molly. The book ends as Valentine and Molly finally reach the Ozarks again.
Choice of the Cat
Valentine, now a lieutenant in the Wolves, is left in charge of men in an ambushAmbush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
by Grog cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
. A Cat named Alessa Duvalier helps Valentine and his men retreat. Valentine is subsequently faced with a court martial, as his commanding officer attempts to obfuscate his own incompetence by sacrificing Valentine's career. Valentine is offered an alternative to the court martial: he can resign his officer's commission. While initially determined to face the court, Valentine changes his mind when Duvalier offers to take him in as a Cat. Valentine resigns and follows Duvalier to Ryu's hall, where he is again enhanced, and receives the training necessary to survive as a spy-saboteur behind enemy lines.
Following his training, Valentine and Duvalier venture into the Kurian Zone in search of a mysterious group called the Twisted Cross. The Twisted Cross is somehow connected to reports of Reapers that not only speak to one another (normally all Reapers in a given group are unified by the will of their Kurian controller) but also use firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s. The two Cats quickly bond on the trail, but their relationship is strained by Valentine's decision to help cattle-driving nomads, the Eagles, to fight against the Twisted Cross, rather than withdraw as a Cat would. Duvalier leaves him behind and continues her intelligence-gathering mission. Following the Eagles' victory over the Twisted Cross unit, Valentine continues his search for the Cross alone. In the ruins of Omaha, he encounters a badly wounded Grog named Ahn-Kha. Ahn-Kha reveals that he speaks English and that he is a member of a Grog tribe called "The Golden Ones". The Golden Ones helped the Kurian Order in taking over Earth, but were eventually betrayed by their former benefactors and now live as virtual slaves to the Twisted Cross.
Valentine and Ahn-Kha become extremely close friends, to the point that they regard one another as brothers. The Cat joins the Grog in beginning a revolt against the Twisted Cross overseers and their puppet Principle Elder. During the battle, Valentine stumbles upon the secret behind the new, strange Reapers: they are controlled by men, not Kurians, and relieves them of their duty.
Valentine and Ahn-Kha's quest to free the Golden Ones ends in Valentine leading a virtual one-man assault on the heart of the Twisted Cross, destroying what appears to be the majority of the human Reaper controllers. Badly wounded in the battle, he is captured and brought before the mysterious leader of the Twisted Cross, a man known only as "The General". The General relates to Valentine that he is an immortal, having been given the same ability to drain auras that fuels the eternal life of the Kurians. He offers David a choice: join him in immortality or be shot. After a moment's hesitation, Valentine defiantly chooses death, but is saved moments from execution by Duvalier and Ahn-Kha. The General is killed by Valentine's Grog brother and the Twisted Cross is finished.
The book concludes with Valentine returning to the Ozarks to recuperate.
Tale of the Thunderbolt
Valentine is working undercover, deep in the Kurian Zone living as an officer in the Coastal Marines. Duvalier is supporting him and posing as his wife. Valentine's goal is to take a ship that can be sailed to the Caribbean, where Valentine is supposed to meet up with someone who has a weapon deadly to the Kurians.Valentine convinces Lieutenant Post and a few other members of the Thunderbolt's crew to rebel along with Ahn-Kha and his Grogs, although it goes poorly when the captain of the ship learns of the planned mutiny before it is scheduled to occur. Valentine and his men take the weapons locker and engineering department but fail to convince the majority of the crew to rebel or take them by surprise. Valentine and his men are saved when Lieutenant Carrasca of Jamaica attacks and claims the Thunderbolt. After explaining his cause, Valentine is told that until Jamaica is free the Kurian controlling it.
Valentine kills this Kurian and is allowed to meet with Papa Legba in Haiti, the one who claimed to have the information needed to kill the Kurians, though he turns out to be a Kurian himself. Papa Legba shows him Quickwood, which can kill a Kurian or their Reapers almost instantly. Valentine then begins to transport the Quickwood back to the Ozarks, and in doing so begins a rebellion that soon envelopes all of Haiti.
The book concludes with an ambush in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
that destroys much of the stock of Quickwood.
Valentine's Rising
The book begins with Valentine and his men learning of an invasion. Southern Command, once a bastion of freedom, has had its military strength broken and much of its territory overrun by a formidable army of soldiers borrowed from various Kurian Lords, all led by Consular Solon. Valentine encounters General Martinez, a man who has kept his own men hiding in the mountains and rules them like a mob. Martinez orders Ahn-Kha's remaining two Grogs killed, which precipitates Valentine to draw his own firearm on Martinez. A Mexican standoff occurs, which ends with Martinez being tried for a court martial by Styachowski, an officer. In the end, the court martial falls apart as the armed men outside begin to mob the court. Valentine reaches an agreement with Martinez to allow himself, Styachowski, a team of Bears and roughly half of Martinez's regular forces to leave the camp.Valentine and his men are unable to escape Solon's long-reaching grasp and choose instead to undertake a massive intelligence operation. They pose as a Quisling group sent to reinforce Solon's already impressive army. This leads to many tests of Valentine's faith as he is forced to make horrific decisions. He and his men are forced to work under Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Xray Tango and work for the betterment of the Kurian Order. Soon, Valentine and his men prove themselves to Solon and are granted access to arms and munitions.
The finale of the book comes as Valentine launches a crippling attack from within Fort Scott
Fort Scott
General Winfield Scott, former General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, was the namesake for five places named Fort Scott:*Fort Scott, Kansas, a city that grew up around a military fort of the same name**Fort Scott National Historic Site...
, taking and holding the area around it and completely halting Solon's forces and their ability to move while broadcasting a message to the scattered remnants of Southern Command, informing them that the mobility of Solon's forces was crippled and urging them to rise up and fight, which they do. Thus begins a long last stand
Last stand
Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, as happened in "Custer's Last Stand" at the Battle of Little Big HornBryan Perrett...
effort as Valentine and his forces (now dubbed the "Razorbacks") hold the area and prevent Solon's forces from effectively countering the actions of Southern Command's forces elsewhere.
Valentine leads a team of Bears (including Styachowski, now dubbed "Wildcard") into the Kurian fortress to kill the Kurian Lords within, which they are mostly successful at doing. The book ends as forces from Texas come to reinforce Valentine and break him and his men free of the trap they'd willingly allowed to set around them. When a bewildered Valentine asks why the Texans would journey from another fort they'd trapped in a siege to rescue him and his men, he is told: "That could wait. You couldn't. We remember the Alamo".
Valentine's Exile
Valentine's Exile begins with the Razorbacks as they continue to lay siege to the desperate remnants of Solon's forces. The Kurians attempt a breakout, which is stopped at great cost by the Razorbacks leaving WIlliam Post injured, but winning the day for the free territories.Valentine is informed he has some time off and agrees to attempt to track down Post's wife. He learns that some women were given tests while Solon's forces occupied the Ozarks, and that Post's wife Gail was one of those who tested positive and was taken. While visiting Molly Carlson in an attempt to learn more about the tests, he is detained by Southern Command and informed that he is facing a court martial for the murder of Quisling prisoners.
While in detainment, Valentine learns that some Quislings are in the process of negotiating a truce, and that many of the more recent courts martial have been a way of showing the Quislings that Southern Command doesn't encourage murder and looting. Valentine is also offered a deal that will see him in prison for several years in exchange for a confession of guilt. He learns that the deal is false and instead escapes with the help of some sympathetic guards.
Valentine, free of the prison (though knowing he will be judged guilty in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
), decides to continue his search for Gail Post. This takes him to meet Eveready, who helps him with some supplies, and allows Valentine to eventually infiltrate the Kurian facility where Gail Post is being held. After spending weeks in the facility, Valentine is able to escape with a pregnant Gail, though it requires Ahn-Kha to draw off their pursuit.
The child is delivered, and everyone is horrified to discover that Gail has given birth to a Reaper. The book ends as Valentine wonders whether the newborn creature has a soul, or if it's already a mindless killing machine.
Valentine's Resolve
Valentine's Resolve is set a few years after Valentine's Exile. Valentine has abandoned the cause, and is exacting revenge on the rape and murder of one of the Carlson girls who he met in Way of the Wolf. At this point, Valentine is a loner scratching out an existence in the borderlands. A group of Southern Command Cats track him down and recruit him for a special mission. Even though Southern Command has faced several victories in the years since the Counter Attack and the alliance with the Texas freehold, the lack of Lifeweavers is making the situation precarious. The Lifeweavers who were previously allied with the free territories were either all captured or killed, and have yet to return to the Ozarks. Valentine is charged with a mission to seek out remaining Lifeweavers and to entice them into coming to the Ozarks. Valentine reluctantly accepts the mission after the Cats use his "son", a Reaper born to William Post's wife Gail, Blake as leverage. He then enlists in another of the free territories, Pacific Command, where he finds out that their success is due to killing the Seattle Kurian's population (therefore denying the Kurian their auras). When he deserts and goes against Pacific Command, he ends up joining the "Quislings" and killing Pacific Command's leader, who turns out to be a Lifeweaver/Kurian. After this is completed the rest of Pacific Command joins him and he succeeds in subduing one of the biggest "Vampires" on the west coast, Seattle, as well as rescuing a number of lifeweavers.Fall With Honor
Valentine is again residing within Southern command as a teacher and laborer at a remote outpost. He is recruited by Dots Lambert (now a colonel) to start up a unit of men and women that were born and lived in the Kurian Zone. The problem is there are not enough volunteers so he enlists ex-Quislings. The unit is to be part of an expedition to start a new freehold in the Appalachian mountains, dangerously close to the Kurian strongholds on the Atlantic seaboard. Valentine, and the top brass organizing the project, are also motivated by the rumors of a resistance that is having success in the region and is led by a golden Grog.The invasion starts out well. The expedition wins battles as they move through Kentucky and allies with several Legworm clans. However, when they meet up with the resistance, the meeting turns out to be a Quisling ruse and the expedition's leadership is ambushed in the middle of a feast. Southern Command is forced to retreat with supposedly elite Quisling troops (the Moondaggers) following close behind. Valentine eventually becomes second in command and continues to beat the enemy even though Southern command is always outnumbered and in a constant state of retreat. They are eventually pinned down across from Evansville, IN, on the Ohio River. A general uprising in Evansville and throughout Kentucky sparks the attacking spirit in Southern Command soldiers and the remnants of the Legworm Clans. They make a final charge at the enemy lines and win the day. For now.
Winter Duty
Major David Valentine and his fugitive battalion are the remnants of an expeditionary force shattered in its long retreat from disaster in the Appalachians. Between a raging blizzard, bands of headhunters, and the need to recover wounded soldiers lost during the retreat, Valentine is in for the toughest winter of his life.And Valentine is losing allies fast. Some of the clans in the region have declared themselves in favor of the Kurians, throwing Kentucky into civil war. But the Kurian overlords have determined that the region isn't worth the effort of another conquest. Their order: extermination. By what ever means necessary...
From Penguin Group's New American Library Roc Imprint http://www.vampjac.com/vampireearth/
March in Country
released Jan 4th, 2011 - hardcover and AudibleThe national best-selling "master of deception and tension" (Black Gate) returns to the Vampire Earth.... The race is on to claim the area between the Ohio River and Tennessee. What's left of the resistance is hiding out in the tangle of central Kentucky hills - leaving the powerful, well-organized Kurian vampires the opportunity to fill the void.
Major David Valentine knows there's only one way for them to find help before the Kurians settle in: a desperate dash by hijacked rail, followed by a harrowing river journey.
Valentine unites friends old and new in the effort - but the Kurian Order won't easily yield the blood-soaked Kentucky soil.
Awards
Way of the Wolf- 2004 Compton Crook AwardCompton Crook AwardThe Compton Crook Award is presented to the best first novel of the year in the field of Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror by the members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc, at their annual Baltimore-area science fiction convention, Balticon, held on Memorial Day weekend in the...
(Baltimore Science Fiction SocietyBaltimore Science Fiction SocietyThe Baltimore Science Fiction Society is a literary society focusing on science fiction, fantasy and related genres. A 501c3 literary society based in Baltimore, Maryland, the BSFS sponsors Balticon, the Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention....
) - 2004 Darrell Award (Memphis Science Fiction Association)