zachswain's review against another edition
3.0
Started slow, picked up, odd ending. Not what I expected, but not bad. Not sure I'm going to continue the series.
mkean's review
4.0
Loved the parts with Dragosani and Thibor. Everything else was just getting started though. I could tell things were ramping up, but the kicker didn't actually happen yet.
throatsprockets's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very silly book. Most of its pages are devoted to endless exposition filling in the backstories of every character, major or minor. The main plot is basically a superhero origin story, and this has some genuinely cool ideas. It could have made for a first rate forty page story. The writing is dreadful and reads like it was dictated. I was flabbergasted that someone who had written thirteen previous books could come out with prose this amateurish. It’s a fun read in a lot of ways, but it’s fundamentally ridiculous and full of unintentionally hilarious moments. Recommended mostly to edgy 14 year olds with pictures of skulls on their t-shirts.
godemplove's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lanica's review
5.0
My husband has been on a [a:H.P. Lovecraft|9494|H.P. Lovecraft|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1299165714p2/9494.jpg] kick lately. He's reading everything, including stories by authors who have been influenced by 'The Master'. He reads the intro's to me for some of these short stories, especially when he sees something by an author he knows I've read. Such was the case with Brian Lumley. I have copies of my Necroscope books on my shelves, I read them when they first came out and enjoyed them so much I've kept intending to re-read them. (Yes, I was a middle and high school girl reading horror novels about vampires in the 80's.) So, one day Brad asks me, "Have you ever read Brian Lumley?" and I'm drawn irresistibly back to the series.
First off, they are dated. The Russians vs. the US and England. The Russians are EVIL, the Americans are...well, not quite saints...but the good guys nonetheless. Perhaps a first read would be best thought of as Historical Fiction and it would be easier to overlook the lack of technology and odd politics.
Second, writing styles have changed over time. We, today, are used to fast-paced. Everything is faster today than it was when Necroscope was written. So, go into it expecting it to read a little slow in the beginning. It's still damn fine writing!
Third, a great character lives on. I still love Harry Keogh today as much as I did in the 80's and 90's.
Fourth, a great plot is timeless. Good vs Evil. Vampires who are truly evil, horrible creatures. Secret societies that remain secret throughout the books. And, I love the way the dead are handled in this book. It's fascinating to think about the great masters and what they would do with infinite time.
So, I guess it's obvious that I love this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes Horror. Notice, I didn't say vampires. Today's 'vampire' lovers would probably not like this traditional depiction of the monsters. But, hey...all that shimmers is not gold.
First off, they are dated. The Russians vs. the US and England. The Russians are EVIL, the Americans are...well, not quite saints...but the good guys nonetheless. Perhaps a first read would be best thought of as Historical Fiction and it would be easier to overlook the lack of technology and odd politics.
Second, writing styles have changed over time. We, today, are used to fast-paced. Everything is faster today than it was when Necroscope was written. So, go into it expecting it to read a little slow in the beginning. It's still damn fine writing!
Third, a great character lives on. I still love Harry Keogh today as much as I did in the 80's and 90's.
Fourth, a great plot is timeless. Good vs Evil. Vampires who are truly evil, horrible creatures. Secret societies that remain secret throughout the books. And, I love the way the dead are handled in this book. It's fascinating to think about the great masters and what they would do with infinite time.
So, I guess it's obvious that I love this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes Horror. Notice, I didn't say vampires. Today's 'vampire' lovers would probably not like this traditional depiction of the monsters. But, hey...all that shimmers is not gold.
sfletcher26's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those books that's been on my TBR list for decades but never managed to get round to.
Necroscope is a strange mix of vampire horror, espionage story and speculative science fiction.
Enjoyable but not great. Would I read another in the series? Possiblely.
Necroscope is a strange mix of vampire horror, espionage story and speculative science fiction.
Enjoyable but not great. Would I read another in the series? Possiblely.
ornithopter1's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the concepts in Necroscope, but sadly what pleasure I got from it was of the guilty variety. The writing, and particularly the dialogue, was just plain bad. Nevertheless it's a plucky story and I actively wanted to like it. The almost boy's-own-adventure style of it had an appeal and, knee deep in ham as it was, I still kinda enjoyed it. It's never more than middling, frustratingly so, because I often felt a great version of the tale was hovering just out of reach.
I can image this working well as a TV series, with a tight screenplay to work from and some deeper characterisation. Only a few months ago, or so I'm told, the rights for such a series were bought up, so that may well happen in the next few years. If that ever happens I'll definitely give it a watch to see if they can excavate the quality that didn't quite manifest in the book itself.
I can image this working well as a TV series, with a tight screenplay to work from and some deeper characterisation. Only a few months ago, or so I'm told, the rights for such a series were bought up, so that may well happen in the next few years. If that ever happens I'll definitely give it a watch to see if they can excavate the quality that didn't quite manifest in the book itself.
onetrackmind77's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
furythephoenix's review against another edition
3.0
Read this for nostalgia from my teens, and for once I wasn't disappointed with the golden glow of things remembered perhaps more fondly than they ought to be. Conceptually, this still stands up as a hyper original and interesting take on the Vampire.
The writing itself is a bit cheesy at times, which I kinda expected since that's how I remembered it even back in 2003-2004, but I can't get past those little tics because I love the story and mythology Lumley creates. If memory serves, both the writing, story and mythology get better with each volume of the original quintology.
The writing itself is a bit cheesy at times, which I kinda expected since that's how I remembered it even back in 2003-2004, but I can't get past those little tics because I love the story and mythology Lumley creates. If memory serves, both the writing, story and mythology get better with each volume of the original quintology.
smiorganbaldhead's review against another edition
4.0
This is a compelling and imaginative story with lots of interesting ideas. The vampires are cool, of course, as are the ways Harry can use his ability of talking to the dead. Later in the book, there are some science fiction elements I wasn’t expecting. Harry seemed overpowered at this point, making the final confrontation felt a bit anticlimactic in how one-sided it was. However, the very cool epilogue saved the ending for me. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and plan to continue the series.