Jeff ConnerReseñas

Not bad, with some decent insider stories on the various movies made up to the end of 1986, but each movie is only given a few pages. Would have liked a little more in-depth analysis and info on each.

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Title: V-Wars
Series: V-Wars #1
Editor: Jonathan Maberry
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 405
Words: 154.5K

Synopsis:

From Vwars.fandom.com

Conceived of and edited by Bram Stoker Award-winner Jonathan Maberry, V-Wars: is an anthology series of ‘eyewitness accounts’ and ‘frontline reports’ from the vampire apocalypse. After an ancient virus that causes vampire-like symptoms is accidentally released during an Antarctic expedition, humanity must scramble to survive. In this collection of interconnected but unique tales, contributing authors Nancy Holder, Yvonne Navarro, James A. Moore, Gregory Frost, John Everson, Keith R. A. DeCandido, and Scott Nicholson offer gripping accounts of a world spinning towards war and destruction.

My Thoughts:

The “synopsis” was the best I could find without writing my own. A set of authors all write multiple short stories about a character and Maberry, the editor and one of the contributors, weaves the stories all together into one tapestry. So you'll get a chapter from Maberry about Character X, then a chapter by Navarro about Character A, etc. Most of the characters have no overlap and are written so as to give a broader view of the events happening.

Which basically is that vampires make a huge comeback and how humanity deals with it. This was what I want in a vampire story. Vamps kill humans in one way or another, bloody and violent and it's all kill or be killed. The thing is, one or two characters are perfectly slotted into the “Woke” side of things and bleat about vamps and it not being their fault and we just have to understand and try to get along with them. They were perfectly done and it took all of my mighty might to appreciate that instead of raging at a fictitional character.

The main reason this is getting only 3.5 instead of 4 is because along with the blood and violence associated with vamps, we also get the sexual side of things. There were too many near explicit scenes for me to be comfortable with. If this trend continues in the next book I'm afraid that it will be the last book in the series I read.

Right at the end there is a character who is revealed as an anti-vamp. She's a werewolf and transforms in the presence of vampires and kills them. It was awesome!

In many ways this reminded me of the Necroscope series in both good and bad ways. That was another vampire series I had to stop, so we'll see what happens with this one.

★★★✬☆½

The best way to describe this collaboration is as an anthology, but it's different to most. The stories are broken up and interwoven, painting a gradual picture of unfolding events. I felt like there was a lack of resolution at the end, but then again the nature of the narrative didn't really allow for it. Overall, it's a great read. And there are echoes of current events that give it a bit of an extra kick.

REVIEWED: This Means War - Zombies Vs. Robots anthology
EDITED BY: Jeff Conner
PUBLISHED: March, 2012

Love this anthology! Cool concept - just as the name implies - a collection of stories pitting zombies against robots. Violent and thoughtful, gruesome and funny, this collection of stories provides a wide-range of possibilities in the near-future in which technology aids our ceaseless struggle against the undead. The book itself is beautifully formatted with color illustrations to accompany each story. And what stories! The authors bring in some of the best short fiction I've read in a while. Including Steve Rasnic Tem, Joe McKinney, Lincoln Crisler, Norman Prentiss and others. Editor Jeff Conner is applauded for this highly-recommended collection.

Five out of Five stars

V Wars: A Chronicle of the Vampire Wars was released in 2010. I did not come across it until 2012. I am so glad I did not miss it. V Wars in an unique anthology. It is a collection of several stories that all have some connection. The first story “Junk” is by Jonathan Maberry. It is the jumping off point for all the stories that follow. “Junk” has six parts but they are dispersed throughout the book. All of the multi part stories are dispersed. All the different stories are threads that weave a very compelling tapestry. V Wars creates a fertile universe as illustrated by the sequels. My favorite thread was “Epiphany” by Yvonne Navarro.

The narration was fantastic. The team of narrators was first rate. It included Cassandra Campbell, Gabrielle de Cuir, Roxanne Hernadez, Arte Johnson, Stefan Rudnicki, Wil Wheaton. Each narrator handled a different thread of the overall collection. Each did a fantastic job with any accents, male vs female characteristics and conveying emotion.

I enjoyed V Wars: A Chronicle of the Vampire Wars so much that I am currently listening to V Wars: Night Terrors (2015). I will eventually get to V Wars: Blood and Fire: New Stories of the Vampire Wars (2014). I really enjoy the ensemble aspect of this audiobook, not only in the author's’ writing but in the narrator's’ also.

While this is a collection of short stories, the overall effect is reminiscent of World War Z by Max Brooks and Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson with different narration threads creating a history of the end of the world. It feels like a single story, not a collection.

The story starts just as the virus I1V1 hits the population after being released from polar ice. We watch as the virus activates dormant genes in "junk" DNA causing multiple vampire types from folklore to appear, as well as a few werewolf types. The entire world is "infected", with the stories focusing on the US and New York. Human takes on a entirely different meaning, as the apocalypse starts, and arrives, from a source we never suspected.

This is your typical film production picture book, with plenty of full color production stills and photos from the film, interspersed with interviews and descriptions of the production. There are, however, a couple of aspects to this book that makes it a bit more of an interesting read. The first is that the book does take some time looking at the comic book origins of the film and James O'Barr's work, in both a visual and thematic sense. Then considering that Brandon Lee was killed during the filming of The Crow by an improperly prepared prop gun, part of this book goes into not just how the film was completed using digital images of Lee in key bridge scenes, but how major cuts to the full story-line, such as the loss of Skull Cowboy, Including discussions with screenwriter David J. Schow about how those changes came about and what they meant to the finished project. The attention to these aspects of the production elevate this to a status higher than film fan scrapbook, and make it a real document of a permanent entry into film-making history.

This isn’t the apocalypse, it’s genetic de-evolution?

V Wars reminded me somewhat of World War Z by Max Brooks except this was with vampires instead of zombies and V Wars was written by a handful of authors instead of one. Each chapter it switches to a different character thread.

Reading V Wars made me so curious as to how this book was plotted out. Did Maberry plot the whole thing and pitch the story or did all of the authors brainstorm together? I seriously want to know!

There were a few of the character threads that I extremely enjoyed, first of which being the one written by Jonathan Maberry called Junk . This is the first chapter written by him (and it continues in several more chapters throughout the book.) Several story threads work that way. It successfully captured my attention from page one. It was intense, comical at times and naughty in others – of course with the expected blood and gore! Above all it sets a great scene and tone for all of the stories to follow.

Roadkill by Nancy Holder was a great one with an unexpected twist ending. It is a look at how a small town might be held captive by mosters, the human kind. Another favorite is Vulpes by Gregory Frost. I love the character he created and the awesome folklore that is melded into this one.

Overall, I enjoyed V Wars but I did feel some of the stories were not as well written as others. I’d recommend it too any vampire and apocalyptic fans. Though if you aren’t the type to like a disjointed storytelling style this may not be for you.

V-Wars, edited by Jonathan Maberry, is a collection of stories set in the same world but written by a bevy of talented authors.

In the world Maberry creates in V-Wars, a prehistoric virus has been released from polar ice, awakening recessive genes in the human genome. The virus triggers changes in some humans, awakening physical changes that are varied and dramatic. Before long, vampires walk among us. Some are benign; many are not.

Maberry's collection of tales does well and more credibly what X-Men (at least the movies--I'm not familiar with the comics) tries to do: it portrays a genetic mutation that changes a portion of humanity, causing ostracization, fear, violence, and, of course, government action. I've always been dubious about what the reaction to the X-Men. After all, the powers they have seem to be magical and useful. On the other hand, the mutations in V Wars result in a change that seems to drive its mutants to, well, suck blood.

That seems a bit more against the public interest than the power to start fires, freeze objects, levitate, or any of the other number of changes that Stan Lee's X-Men undergo.

Maberry does an excellent job tying the stories together with a common story that intersperses the tales. While the majority of the stories seem to take place in and around the American northeast, especially New York City, V-Wars treats readers to a semi-global perspective, with stories from the American southern border with Mexico, in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains, and one that crisscrosses the globe, starting in Antarctica, jetting off to Romania, and stopping through France, too. Some times we read from the vampire's perspective; other times, from the humans. Maberry breaks up the stories, too, giving the collection something of novel-like feeling.

As interesting as the collection is, the stories are not all created equal, and it's part of the reason I had a hard time settling on just three stars. I wanted badly to give the book four stars--but several of the stories disappointed, even bored me.

They were few, however, and generally the stories were creative and enjoyable, if occasionally not for the faint of heart. Here are a few of my favorites:

"Stalking Anna Lei" by James A. Moore brings together legends of vampires from East Asia, as John Lei searches for his sister while navigating the dangerous world of Asian gangs amid reports of a monstrous creature that seems to be haunting his every step. Told from John's perspective, Moore has a great voice that makes his story one of the most enjoyable, and his plotting makes the final twist satisfying and unexpected.

"Vulpes" by Gregory Frost begins in Antarctica and trails Ruksana back to her home in Romania. Beware, though: when the change comes to her, the results are anything but vampiric.

Yvonne Navarro's "Epiphany" asks what happens when society's most weak go through the vampiric change, trading vulnerabilities for superhuman power. Red Moon is the orphaned daughter of Native Americans, raped, pregnant, and infected by the virus. Beset by changes she cannot explain, she finds herself on the edge of motherhood in a world that threatens to destroy her for the changes that have come over her.

V-Wars deserves a second installment. It is, in many ways, only the opening chapter in the new world that emerges as vampire and human eye each other and wonder if they will live together or in conflict.

This is for the audiobook.

In this book, vampires are people who are infected with a virus. Infected people had different physical and physiological changes depending on their race and ethnicity. I liked that there were differences among the vampires and I was emotionally involved with some characters. It was fun listening to the story, I like the pacing and I like all the narrators. I truly enjoyed this one!

V Wars
Jonathan Maberry et al

The vampires are coming and life as we know it will never be the same.

Something has caused a change in much of the world’s population. It isn’t known what, but it could be that global warming and the melting of ancient ice has triggered the transformation of human into vampire.

Maberry has brought together a number of skilled authors who each give us their version of what is happening in the new world. There are many kinds of vampires. It now seems that all the myths and legends from ancient times are based on truth. A person’s ethnicity determines what they will become.

In “Love Less” a TV host becomes a Wardulak, a Russian vampire who can only feed from loved ones. In “Stalking Anna Lei” a Jiangshi or Chinese Hopping Vampire, is searching for his younger sister. A Werewolf, or Loup Garou, is campaigning for a political post in “The Ballad of Big Charlie”; and a motorcycle gang, formerly trying to prevent Mexican border crossings, now are on the lookout for vampires in “Roadkill”. “Heartsick” was a very chilling story and “Epiphany” in which a young Native American girl is slowly changing into what appears to be a rattlesnake is quite moving.

My favourite stories were those by Jonathan Maberry himself. “Junk” provides the background story for all the others. The title “Junk” refers to the junk DNA that everyone has and which is implicated in the changes being wrought on those infected.

Often when reading an anthology, some stories stand out more than others. But in this collection each of the authors maintained a similar level of suspense, intensity and surprise, along with an unexpected touch of humour, which made reading this book a pleasure with none of the feeling of disjointedness inherent in other anthologies of this kind.

Much like Max Brooks' "World War Z," this novel combines a number of interconnected short stories to outline various perspectives of the Vampire Outbreak. Unfortunately, "V Wars" does not come close to matching the originality, intelligence, drama, or horror of WWZ. While generally entertaining, it is also entirely forgettable.

Though, on a high note, Wil Wheaton narrates part of the audiobook and does a fantastic job.½

--Full, non-spoiler review courtesy at Book & Movie Dimension a Blog--

Vampire stories are widespread but really the question is whether or not to read them. There has to be no question on their originality take and involving characters. V Wars is a vampire novel. Albeit honestly a humongously original one at that.
Michael Fayne labeled patient zero in our modern world in V Wars happens to be the first individual to contract what many politicians and doctors as well as phychiatrists call the I1VI virus-Vampire virus- and now he's known as the first vampire. We are thrown into Michael's world of while at first apparent normalcy becomes quickly discord. In blackouts, he happens to slaughter women in moments of close encounters. Letting it go on longer without knowing what is going on he also infects others from a far. That is how V Wars is built up. The changing of stories and narration of other people that have contracted the as well are feautured too. Get this though there are many types of vampires. Some of which we are repugnant fur balls and other cadaver-looking people. Vampires are based on how a peson may perceive vampires and also by the genetic origins (culture) that people come from. So we have a difference in vampire species with many much like ethnicity. V Wars premise overall is that they the vampires are hunting us. The vampires aren't the only ones waging war in hunting.Werewolves emerge too and thankfully they are not hunting us. In the end, the extermination of the human race relies perhaps on whether we can actually consent to some truce between humans and vampires considering they are much stronger than us.

V Wars had quite an intense angle because it actually had the entirety of the novel built on input from various authors who will, of course, bring a fresh take on things on vampire and werewolf characteristics. Its a mix of distinctive styles of writing which comes together seamlessly. Many readers will surely find stories or a story that they at least favor. Not only that but in general V Wars had quite an amusing tenor in its conclusion that a reader will no doubt find to their liking.

V Wars has some nods to 30 Days of Night and the prestige of being all of its own a colloboration of authors who managed to create something utterly fantastic.
Overall: Amazing read!
Genre: Vampires, Werewolves, Horror

Having had the honour of reading a pre release review copy, I picked up this book to find myself pleasantly surprised. V Wars is a gripping tale of mankind's ancient genetic past coming to life, bringing death. A tale told in a manner that makes you almost believe it is really happening, through first person viewpoints and the clever use of news and media reporting inserted in to the story.

If you enjoy tales of vampires, werewolves, ancient creatures which once haunted mankind, then this is a definite book for you. The author manages to capture the characters and their struggles in ways that make you identify with them. The conflict between sisters, as one has infected the other but each adapts to a new situation in a different sort of struggle. The very human reflex of a politician finding himself to be a man who uses his talents to protect his mother, who has turned into something different, something else, the only way he can. The story of the good doctor who once was merely a scholar on the sides of science, finding himself suddenly in a position of the dog barking in the night - even though it is his knowledge that stands between his government making the right, and the wrong choices.

V Wars is a book worth reading, it is fresh and enticing. Pick it up, you won't let go until you finish.