Vampire of the Mists
Ratings9
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings9
Average rating3.7
Meet the masters and monsters of Ravenloft in this dark fantasy novel for fans of Gothic horror and Dungeons & Dragons!
Alone and torn by grief, a vampire accepts the hospitality of the local lord—only to question if he has placed his trust in the wrong person.
Jander Sunstar is a gold elf, a native of magical Evermeet in the Forgotten Realms. He is also a five-hundred-year-old vampire.
Torn by rage and grief, Jander is transported into the nightmare realm of Ravenloft, where he gains the attention of the demiplane’s master, Count Strahd Von Zarovich. But can Jander trust this elegant fellow vampire once he discovers that his own quest for revenge is linked to the dark heritage of the count’s domain?
Vampire of the Mists is the first in an open-ended series of Gothic horror tales dealing with the masters and monsters of the Ravenloft dark fantasy setting.
Featured Series
6 primary booksRavenloft is a 6-book series with 6 primary works first released in 1991 with contributions by Christie Golden, James Lowder, and 3 others.
Reviews with the most likes.
DNF'd
UGH. I was hopeful. I really wanted to read a book set in Ravenloft/Barovia, which is my favorite D&D setting, but when this started in Waterdeep/Forgotten Realms, I knew I was in trouble. I hate generic fantasy, and the Forgotten Realms is as generic as it comes: it lacks personality and “feel” because it takes the “kitchen sink” approach to content. On top of this, the book is just poorly written. Maybe I was expecting too much from 90s tie-in fiction, but I had my hopes. Unfortunately, at every turn this thing was cringe inducing or took the approach of tell-don't-show. But the WORST part (this is a very, very mild spoiler) is how the main character is a vampire who is more experienced as a vampire than Strahd himself.
Strahd is meant to be a dark force to be reckoned with, a Dracula-like, super-genius monster in human form, but in this book the author takes every opportunity to undermine Strahd's presence and character. It's utterly bizarre since “I am the land” is a major theme of Strahd's character. It's just a terrible book and I'll admit that I didn't finish it, but I read 1/3rd of it, which, I think, is giving more than its fair shot. Also, if you're at all familiar with the Ravenloft setting or Strahd, the twist will be visible from a thousand miles away. I'd avoid this one. One of the worst books I've ever picked up.
I expected a bad story, I got a bad story. No more, no less. In that sense, it was OK. No deal breakers, just a barely readable D&D story, set in the world of Ravenloft.
The characters are one dimensional, the prose is “flat”, the plot is linear and predictable. The protagonist is a frustratingly “good guy” that lives with a monster and does nothing about it.
the subplots and side characters and cardboard depictions of what you would expect them to be. There is a cleric and a werewolf that I remember.
So, a fantasy book about vampires. A couple months ago I wouldn't of been interested at all, but after finishing the Weis/Hickman main storyline of Dragonlance, I wanted to delve into another Dungeons & Dragons franchise, so I chose to read the first Ravenloft book. I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised.
This book was awesome, the right amount of adventure, the right amount of mystery and the right amount of horror. The main character, a elf turned vampire called Jander Sunstar, really makes you feel for him and really makes you feel how cheated and robbed of a normal life that he was.
So yeah, I'm gonna read this series because the whole idea of a realm that takes broken and evil people and offers them redemption is really cool. Forget those flipping vampire-romance novels and read Ravenloft!
