Black Dawn: The Morganville Vampires [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

First Impressions: The Morganville Vampires series is a long-standing favorite of mine. I've read all of the previous eleven books before I began number twelve, Black Dawn. It is such a fun series and entertaining series, and I wish that someone would turn the series into a television show. Rachel Caine is a talented writer who is definitely one of my favorites. I'll pretty much read anything that she comes out with. I believe that Black Dawn was originally supposed to be the final book in this series, but from what I hear; Rachel Caine decided to write three more books after this one which makes me happy! It is hard to let go of a series that you really love!

First 50 Pages: I also seem to have a difficult time reviewing Rachel's books because I hate giving away spoilers, especially with books that are part of a series. Like always, I'll try to keep this review short and sweet without too many spoilers for all of the people who are dying to get their hands on this book. If you haven't read The Morganville Vampires series yet, you are missing out! Book eleven, Last Breath, ended with a major cliffhanger. One thing I really like about all of Rachel's books is that they seem to pick up right where the last book left off. That holds true for Black Dawn, with the continuation of the Draug's invasion of Morganville.

Characters & Plot: This poor town of Morganville has been through so much! Every time that things seem to be okay and everyone is content, something comes around that disrupts everything. Unfortunately for Morganville and its vampire occupants, there are new creatures in town and everyone needs to leave as soon as possible. The people are fearful of these creatures, called Draugs, because they want to take over the town and get rid of the vampires. Draugs are nasty creatures that come from beneath the water and they don't mix with vampires. One bite from a Draug will bring a very slow and painful death to any vampire. Poor Amelie, the town's founder/leader has been bitten by a Draug and is suffering. Her second in command is Oliver, who is trying to hold everything together. Some people have chosen to flee Morganville and others remain vowing to stop the Draugs from ruling the town.

Black Dawn also is told from varying points of view between the main cast of characters. Some people have complained about this, but I personally enjoy it much more than the way the earlier books were written. It gives each book a little bit of variety and each POV is very important to have in order to move the plot forward. I like that all of the different POV's in Black Dawn give insight into what each of the characters are feeling and experiencing. It makes for some very interesting character growth, especially the character, Shane. I always suspected he was jealous of Myrnin, or insecure about his relationship with Claire, but I didn't expect him to be as jealous as he is. Oliver's feelings about Amelie are also showcased and he cares much more about her then he lets everyone else see or know about. Rachel Caine did a fantastic job weaving everyone's different POV's together and it had a nice flow. For me, it wasn't confusing at all.

Since Black Dawn was supposed to be the last installment in The Morganville Vampires series, I expected a huge battle or showdown between the vampires and the Draugs. When things finally began to heat up and all of the big events started to happen, I have to admit that I felt a little bit let down. I don't know if Rachel went back and edited this story after she decided to write three more installments, but the way everything turned out in Black Dawn wasn't quite as powerful as I had hoped it would be.

Final Thoughts: Each of The Morganville Vampires books include so many side-plot lines that is it difficult to include everything that happens to short review. In Black Dawn, all of the varying POVs make up a great storyline and do a lot for character advancement. Even though I was a little bit disappointed with the climax of the story, the ending was unexpected and wonderful as usual. I'm such a huge fan of this series and Black Dawn I think stands out over the rest because it was interesting to see how the series might have ended (although I am sure there were changes made as per Rachel's decision to continue writing more books). Two thumbs way up!!

When I finished Black Dawn, I shut the book and said out loud to no one in particular, "Oh my God, that was crazy, y'all!" I received Black Dawn, the twelfth in The Morganville Vampire series, for review and despite having not read a single Morganville Vampire book before this, I was excited to read it. After doing a little research on the series (during which I discovered I'm the only person in the world who hadn't started it yet) I felt confident enough to jump on in.

Morganville's residents, human and vampire alike, are facing a problem: the draug. Enemies of the vampires, they are foul, odorous, moist creatures who feed off both humans and vampires, killing their victims in a cruel way. Most of Morganville's residents have fled the draug epidemic, though pockets remain. Now it's up to Claire, Shane, Michael, Eve, and a cast of other vampire leaders to fight off the draug, kill and/or drive them from town, and restore Morganville.

Despite having no knowledge of the plot threads or world Caine has built over the previous eleven novels, I didn't find it difficult to follow the plot. I found the whole plot to be fast paced and enjoyable and even though I'd never met the characters before, I felt invested in their ability to fight off the draug. Oh the draug, I've never read about anything like them before. They really are foul, disgusting creatures and Caine does a great job with their descriptions; it made my skin crawl just thinking about how they lure you in with their song despite their vileness. The post-apocalyptic-esque nature of the novel drew me in and the variety of points of view kept me reading.

Although, having never met them before, I occasionally had a hard time keeping some of the secondary characters straight, it did not hinder my reading of the book. Every character in this novel is in high-gear; they have enemies to fight and they have to do it before the town is taken over permanently. Despite the frantic pace of their mission, though, there are quiet moments and respites. I found one scene in particular between Claire and Shane very touching; they make a sweet couple. I adored the character of Claire, overall. She's a well-balanced heroine who can kick-butt, but she also has a bit of a softer side. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better as a I pursue the series.

On a side note, I thought the way Claire and her gang came up with the fight the draug was pure genius. It was just so clever!

Five stars! Black Dawn was an intense, fast paced glimpse into the Morganville Vampire world. I will definitely be continuing on with the series and I'm looking forward to going back and reading the series from book one. This world has me hooked.

I'm going to assume that most anyone who is reading Black Dawn is a fan who has read most, if not all, of the preceding eleven books in the series, so I won't waste time in backstory and in trying to explain what the draug is and why their appearance is a very, very bad thing for Morganville residents (both alive and undead). Black Dawn picks up almost immediately after the prior book leaves off, with Claire and Co. trying to figure out any way possible to fight off Magnus and his thrall. Since the draug live as part of water, that means that the storms hitting Morganville are that much more deadly, and even the drinking/washing water isn't safe. With Amelie bitten and transforming into a draug herself, Oliver is stepping up to take over with possibly disastrous results. Will Claire and Myrnin be able to come up with a successful weapon before Amelie is turned and even more hell breaks loose?

Likes/loves: Lots and lots of action happens in Black Dawn, with Shane's life in the balance after being sent to the Water Plant in order to turn off that source, and Claire being used as bait since she is the one person who can "see" Magnus. There's tragic loss, the return of good characters (hello, Theo!), and battles for power at every turn. I love the way Caine uses time to help her characters discover their feelings, making them seem so much more human (even when they aren't), and the layers peeled back during the excitement just pulls one into the essence of the story. I'm so attached to these people now, I may never be able to let them go if indeed there are only three more books to the series left. I adore Shane and Claire together; they seem to bring out the best in each other, and Caine is developing their relationship in a realistically long term way. I am even a bit hopeful for Monica in the future, but I'm equally wary of Jason. This cannot turn out well. However, I foresee very good things coming from Miranda!

Problems? A few. While I don't mind the chapters written from other' viewpoints, I'd prefer Caine keep to our Four Friends. I gained absolutely nothing from reading Hannah's point of view, and only a minimal amount from both Oliver and Naomi. There's just so much going on that there's really no need to add in extra experiences, especially those belonging to people we're not overly attached to (Hannah and Naomi again). Also, I'm kinda tired of Claire being pissed off at Myrnin so much. She knows how he is and it's very obvious he cares for her, so it's time she just realized that and got over her anger from his actions. It's part of what makes Myrnin such a special character and I wouldn't want him to change one bit.

Overall, Black Dawn is a very solid entry in this always entertaining series, and I again recommend all the Morganville Vampire books for their creativity and character development. Things are always on edge in Morganville, yet the characters are always evolving in thoroughly realistic ways. I'd actually rate Black Dawn 4.5 stars. Get on board with this series now...you won't regret it.