I waited ages for this book to come out and then another age to actually
read it! It's the 10th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood (BDB) series by J R
Ward. At the time I also believed it to be the last one, but then I found out
at the end and also on line that there'll shall be another one! I'll admit
though that the size of the novel and the 572 pages did seem a bit daunting at
first. However, I then became lost in Ward's Caldwell, NY with her vampire
warriors and I forgot all about it.
The first book in the series is
Dark Lover and this sets out the
main plot in all the other books. There is a vampire member (or soon to be) of
the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Which is an elite band of warriors who serve the
vampire king and fight to defend vampire civilians against their enemies the
Lessers. The vampire meets his true love and that's either another vampire, or
a half vampire or a human. They'll try to get together but things/others get in
the way or/and they start believing that the other one doesn't actual want
them. Often there's some kind of falling out and then a resolving at the end
where they do get together. There are also a number of subplots such as the war
with the Lessers, the war with another band of warriors, random events that
happen to members of the BDB. So it falls very nicely into the supernatural
romance genre.
All the books have a third person narrative and can be split into two
different points of view (POV); that of the BDB members and that of the Lessers/rouge
vampires. The main narrative comes from the points of view of the hero and
heroine. The sub narratives switch often. The first sub followers individual
members of the BDB and creates something of a snap shot of what's happening in
their lives as a back drop to the main plot. The second sub is individual
members of their enemies and gives a good look into plans/happenings within
this area. In writing from so many characters' view points readers will worry
that they'll become lost and forget who's who, but Ward has actually pulled it
off very nicely. She's done this in a number of ways; firstly by giving each
vampire his own book. Which means that we get the full story of each vampire in
depth without having to get him mixed up with anyone else. Though the vampires
basically go through the same romantic events, Ward has made them so different
from each other that they all stand out. After I read the first three I was
able to recognise each vampire by only a few words.
Secondly, Ward uses the second sub narrtive of the enemies to balance the
novel out. Yes, it can get a bit triedsome having to read what a lesser
character is secretly ploting when all you want to do is see if the lovers are
going to make up. However, its nice to be taken out of that story sometimes and
allowed to see what else is happening in the world. Thirdly, somehow the
subplots and different POV don't distract from the actual action. The narrative
is written in such a style that the main plot doesn't become drowned out by
subplots and readers aren't easily lost amongst plots and characters.
With this being the tenth book I'm finding it hard to talk about it
individually, but I'll properly go into more depth about it later. It's easy to
talk about the books as a whole series because they have so much in common and
follow a linear larger plot. I really love this series and yes it does have
something to with the whole vampire thing and the fact that it's horror/supernatural/romance
genre. But it's also because of how Ward writes. Her use of narrative language,
description and dialogue appeals to me greatly. But before I launch into that,
let's look at Ward's vampires!
These vampires stand out because they are not your stereotypical vamps,
though they do have some connects to typical vamps. Firstly, these vamps like
to live in family groups and they can have children, though at a massive threat
to the lives of the females and the young. Secondly, they can't go out in the
sunlight and I can't actually remember if the reasoning behind this is stated
(I read the first book three years ago and have read so much since then!) They
are fine with religious symbols, garlic and stakes. They don't sleep in coffins
and they can't turn into animals. They can only feed on a vampire who's the
opposite sex to them. The blood gives them nutrition, strength and allow them
to heal faster. They can also eat and drink real food though. They have
supernatural healing abilities which means that they can come back from near
death injuries. They can also create a mist in which to hide from enemies, hide
their homes or hide fighting scenes from the public. They also embrace
technology; they have phones and computers, defensive tech, TVs, music, a range
of cars and the latest med tech. They have a large range of weapon choice, but
they all use guns and daggers.
They also
have their own language with the common words often appearing in the novels.
Ward has a glossary at the back/front of the books which appears to get longer
every time! But also you get use to these words and have to look up the
translations less. They mate for life and have marriages, though a female can
sometimes take on two males if she wants, but males get very over-protective of
their females! They also have a Goddess who they pray too. The BDB vamps are warriors
and take the description as such. They are often described as being very tall, muscular
guys, seeming to fit the Greek warrior image more than that of stereotypical vamps.
The other vampires do take on a more typical vamp image though.
The characters in the novels are all well written. My favourite happens to
be Rhage the star of the second book which I read first and so got me into the
BDB. Ward brings each character to life through their background stories- which
can often be very sad-their descriptions and dialogue. All the main characters
have a lot of depth to them and the reader gets to see them develop throughout
their individual books. Afterwards or before their books they take something of
a background check and though some things are touched upon the main develop is
left in their own stories. This works well because you get interested in each
character, you want to find out more about them and how their current behaviour
has come about. Plus they don’t just disappear once their stories have been
told.
I really like the heroines. All the women in these novels are strong, independent
and capable of controlling their males. They have interesting back stories too
and seem very realistic. Ward has also made such that they are matched up to
their perfect lovers. And this comes across well as the characters easily compliment
and complete each other. The development of the heroines mostly centres on their
discovering and coming to understand love. Whilst the males often have to
overcome their past or issues they currently have.
The other characters in the novels and yeah there’s a lot of them all feel realistic
and well developed even if they are only background characters like the
servants. This just brings the story more to life though and gives it added
depth. It does work having characters like this because the reader is aware of
them all the time without really knowing it. Plus also we don’t have to
question what a character is doing there because we understand it from the narrative.
Ward uses a language relating to the New York setting of the novels. At times
this slips into something of gangster style. Which I’ve to admit I’m not so
keen on as I don’t think it adds anything to the novels. Swear words are common
place and the vocabulary is adult, though it is a simple language that she uses
throughout. The pace and flow of the language is great and it allows fast
reading whilst soaking everything up. There’s no sudden jumping to different
scenes as everything just flows nicely on. The dialogue she gives her
characters is also very good. It feels real and you can image the characters
actually saying those words. Ward gets a lot of emotions across in her dialogue,
whilst still staying to the point. Some of the characters have accents, which
does work fine because it’s only a handful of them and not everyone single one!
So finally,
Lover Reborn is the
story of Tohrment and No’One. Tohr’s character has long been established and
readers have followed his recent tragic events. Now though he’s about to find
love again with the most unlikeliest vampire! However, it does turn out that
they are well suited for each other and they are able to rediscover love once
more. Once they’ve gone through all the trials though! The subplot to this is one
that started in the previous book that of the other band of warrior vampires.
These guys are old fashioned, shunning technology and preferring to have very
basic lives. They want to take over the BDB and plan to use the recent Lesser
attacks to swing the civilian vampires into choosing them. The other subplot is
that of an angel- Lassiter- trying to get back into Heaven by getting Tohr and
No’One together. This novel’s main theme is all about letting go of the dead
and learning to live and love again. I’m pleased to say like the other books it
does have a happy ending!
Overall, I love this series and I’m so happy that there’s another book
coming out! The novels are so well written, the characters good and entertaining,
the plots work well and also sometimes they can keep you wondering about how it’s
going to work out happy in the end, which is what I like. They work well as
modern vampires too and Ward has made them unique enough. The language and dialogue
is great and flows nicely. Ward has written some other singular books and also
another series which is about angels. I’ve those books, but haven’t read them
yet.
Next time I’m going to look at another series; The Lords Of The Underworld
by Gena Showalter.
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