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Product Description
Quill & Quire
With stories from genre veterans Kelley Armstrong and Tanya Huff, as well as a slew of newcomers, Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead is a worthy anthology for vampire lovers. Nancy Kilpatrick is no stranger to editing horror and dark fantasy anthologies – in fact, seven of the stories from Evolve were originally slated for an earlier anthology she edited, but were put aside specifically for this collection.
“I wanted to help [these writers] pave the way to the New Vampire because I felt certain that the vampire is, once again, evolving,” says Kilpatrick in the introduction, which gives a brief overview of vampire mythology from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga.
It’s difficult to say whether these 23 stories (and one poem) are truly breaking ground, although several stories feature vampires who have integrated into the population – running for public office, dealing with neighbourhood violence, and even appearing on Oprah to decry the “victimization of a misunderstood minority.” Much in the way that Charlaine Harris’s novels use the victimization of vampires as a stand-in for gay rights, Rebecca Bradley’s “The New Forty” and Bev Vincent’s “A Murder of Vampires” are well told, entertaining allegories.
However, not all the stories inspire sympathy for these creatures – this is still the horror genre, after all, and this book reminds us that not all vampires are sparkling heartthrobs. Colleen Anderson takes this to an uncomfortable extreme in “An Ember Amongst the Fallen,” a violently sexual tale about a clan that confines human beings like cattle.
There are some hits and misses throughout, but Evolve comes to a strong conclusion with Tanya Huff’s “Quid Pro Quo,” which features familiar characters for those who have read her Toronto-set Blood Books series. With such a wide range of concepts, Kilpatrick’s vision for the new undead just goes to prove that vampire mythology, no matter how old, is always evolving.
Review
"The intriguing Vampires appearing in Evolve all share a common link to the iconic character Dracula" -- Dacre Stoker
"Vampire fans-this is a must read" -- Parajunkie, Blog with Bite
"With stories from genre veterans Kelley Armstrong and Tanya Huff, as well as a slew of newcomers, EVOLVE: VAMPIRE STORIES OF THE NEW UNDEAD is a worthy anthology for vampire lovers." - Quill and Quire
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great established authors and some fabulous new ones!,
By Lisa C. (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead (Paperback)
Evolve throws the vampire legend a twist, as all of the stories deal with vampires from a new angle or perspective. There's lots of great talent in this anthology, including established author Kelley Armstrong and brilliant newcomer Kevin Nunn. If you're into vampires at all, this is a collection of stories you'll love.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Vampire novel,
By
This review is from: Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead (Paperback)
There was a time I liked vampires. Incubus, Succubus, Spike. Then it came. You know what I'm talking about. At times, I feared that I would go stark raving mad if I had to hear about or read another story with either 'sparkles' or 'Sookie' in it.I bought Evolve several months ago at a vendor's table here in town. The cover art is what struck me to pick it up. The cover is stunning, capturing the 'demon inside' part of the vampire myth. I enjoy a good anthology on occasion, as it exposes me to authors that I have never heard of, and yet write things I might enjoy. Evolve has added several authors to my 'must read' list. While the anthology is classed as 'horror and dark fantasy,' it really isn't what I'd class as horror. Don't get me wrong; there are some horror stories. In particular, I made the mistake of reading 'All You Can Eat, All The Time' by Claude Lalumiere before supper. However, most of the stories focus on the day-to-day culture of vampires in our society. A few were quite funny. Many sported 'Canadian Endings' (not happy ever after, not even happy right now; just plain acceptance of life and circumstances), which I enjoyed seeing. No surprise since nearly all of the authors are Canadian-born. I enjoyed the touches of Canadiana, such as Kevin Cockle's 'Sleepless in Calgary.' I didn't enjoy all of the stories. I'm not a fan of present tense nor second person (i.e. You walk into a room), unless it's in a choose-your-adventure novel. Still, I enjoyed plenty of the stories, with 'Learning Curve' (Kelley Armstrong) and 'The New Forty' (Rebecca Bradley) at the top of my list. It was great to see Tanya Huff contributing to the anthology as well. I highly recommend picking up this collection if you are a fan of vampires and want to see a new take on the supernatural beings.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Collection!,
By Amanda Jade - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead (Paperback)
Love! Evolve is a collection of short stories that any fan of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" would applaud. It keeps true to the traditional vampire ideals, while giving readers something completely new all at once. You won't find the same old cliché plotlines in these tales, but mesmerizing stories of the new undead with a classic touch. An anthology any vampire fan would love.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Huge fan,
By Krista - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead (Paperback)
There was a time I liked vampires. Incubus, Succubus, Spike. Then it came. You know what I'm talking about. At times, I feared that I would go stark raving mad if I had to hear about or read another story with either "sparkles" or "Sookie" in it.I bought Evolve several months ago at a vendor's table here in town. The cover art is what struck me to pick it up. The cover is stunning, capturing the "demon inside" part of the vampire myth. I enjoy a good anthology on occasion, as it exposes me to authors that I have never heard of, and yet write things I might enjoy. Evolve has added several authors to my "must read" list. While the anthology is classed as "horror and dark fantasy," it really isn't what I'd class as horror. Don't get me wrong; there are some horror stories. In particular, I made the mistake of reading "All You Can Eat, All The Time" by Claude Lalumiere before supper. However, most of the stories focus on the day-to-day culture of vampires in our society. A few were quite funny. Many sported "Canadian Endings" (not happy ever after, not even happy right now; just plain acceptance of life and circumstances), which I enjoyed seeing. No surprise since nearly all of the authors are Canadian-born. I enjoyed the touches of Canadiana, such as Kevin Cockle's "Sleepless in Calgary." I didn't enjoy all of the stories. I'm not a fan of present tense nor second person (i.e. You walk into a room), unless it's in a choose-your-adventure novel. Still, I enjoyed plenty of the stories, with "Learning Curve" (Kelley Armstrong) and "The New Forty" (Rebecca Bradley) at the top of my list. It was great to see Tanya Huff contributing to the anthology as well. I highly recommend picking up this collection if you are a fan of vampires and want to see a new take on the supernatural beings. 0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written stories and new takes on vampires.,
By writerwannabe - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead (Paperback)
Great book. I haven't read short stories in years and usually don't have an affinity for them, but I was happy to read some vampire short stories, especially since they're about evolved vampires. There's a story type for every vampire fan. There's first person, third person, and even second person. There are men and women authors. There are male, female, senior citizen, and teen protagonists. Each story offers a new take on vampires, and I love it.My favorite is "Red Blues" by Micheal Skeet. It's written in second person and as I was reading I was beginning to see myself as the protag. It's very well written. My second favorite is "Soulfinger" by Rio Youers and is also well written. I loved it. My least favorite is Sleepless in Calgary, but it does have one of my favorite vampire evolutions, unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the story itself. "Learning Curve" by Kelly Armstrong was a fun and interesting read. The stories are very well-written, except one and it because I couldn't get into the non-standard writing style; it was hard to understand what was happening or what it was about. There's also a poem, but I didn't read it since I don't like poetry. There was only one story that was a standard vampire story, but for the most part the stories are very well-written by skillful authors that bring to life a world of evolved vampires. I definitely recommend it. |
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