Publishing Information: Paperback; 412 Pages
Publisher: Angry Robot; 26 October 2010
ISBN 10: 0857660675
ISBN 13: 9780857660671
Series: Book 2 of the Clockwork Vampire Chronicles
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson
Back of the Book: "They came from the North, and the city fell. Now it is time for Kell to organise the resistance. But there are vampire assassins on his trail."
Soul Stealers is the second book in the Clockwork Vampire Chronicles and is a direct sequel to Kell's Legend. It takes place mere minutes after the events in the first book. Admittedly, it took me a chapter or two to recall everything that had happened in the previous installment. But once I remembered where the book left off, I was back in the swing of things (pun intended).
As I mentioned in my review of Kell's Legend, Remic has a style that is reminiscent of David Gemmell. However, with Kell he has all the aging hero of Druss but it is definitely his own character. The problem that I have with Kell is that he is cantankerous at the best of times. Admittedly, I read Kell's Legend many months ago so perhaps I just do not recall him being so cranky. But in this installment it is what I noticed the most.
Kell is joined by a popinjay, or womanizer who is handy with a rapier. Saark provides the light-hearted portions of the story. After several decapitations and other grisly acts, Saark will switch gears and take your mind off of the scenes depicted. His discussions with Kell are at times humorous. My biggest problem with Saark is that after the first few incidents where it is fight or die he never changes his need for carnal pleasures. With legendary vampire assassins on your tail, staying sober and refusing the pleasure of a woman would take a step back but not with Saark. He can only think about those two things.
For all the hype about the twin vampire sisters being famed and deadly assassins, they failed to impress me. They spend more time hunting Kell and his companions down and then when they finally catch up to them they dodge and spin around but really fail to show me that they should be feared. For all the hype and concern, the characters seemed rather tame and inept. Considering Remic's ability to tell brutal battles and fight scenes, I expected more from this duo.
Soul Stealers is a steam punk/clock punk series. The vampires are a combination of clock parts and flesh. Their deadly fangs are actually copper funnels. Somehow when you mix the two, you come out with a powerful creature that hunts humankind. The big difference between the legendary vampires and Remic's vampires is that they need blood-oil to continue to exist. Through a magical creation the vampires take blood and transfuse it with oil to create the elixir of life. While the process has yet to be fully explained, I have to admit it is rather ingenious. The mystery surrounding it is interesting.
While Soul Stealers is a great follow up, it failed to enthrall me the way that Kell's Legend did. The ending left me scratching my head as I felt I had missed something very important and I ended up re-reading the entire chapter in order to double check. I did not miss anything but it was rather muddled and many readers may have a hard time following all that takes place. Some clarification is definitely needed as it felt like a page or two was missing from the scene. Muddled ending aside, Soul Stealers is a fast paced, gory tale with some great moments. Some of the characters are bigger than life. While others are hit and miss. The third book in the series Vampire Warlords is planned to be released in sometime in 2011.
Plot 7
Characters 6.5
Style 7
Overall 6.5/10
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