Day: February 16, 2018

Book Reviews: The Vampire Christ by Nicholas P. Clark

Warning: The subject of this review, The Vampire Christ by Nicholas P. Clark, depicts a version of Jesus and other Biblical figures which may be considered blasphemous by those of the Christian faith. If you would be offended by such depictions or otherwise do not wish to read them, proceed with caution.

Another day, another set of reviews. The first of the two books I’m going to bring you today is a piece of urban vampire fantasy. If you’re a fan of vampires and alternate (fantasy) reimaginings of religious figures, you’ll certainly love this book. I know that the story hooked me from the first chapter. The book I’m reviewing in this post is titled The Vampire Christ by Nicholas P. Clark.

The lives of Jesus and his disciples are heavily-debated. Some believe Jesus is the Messiah, others believe he was a prophet or a fraud, and still others think that he didn’t exist at all. Yet, for all we know, the truth could have been much wilder than we could ever imagine. That’s the angle that Clark takes in his urban vampire fantasy The Vampire Christ, and according to this book, Jesus’s story is far from over.

Fra’gal is a vampire. He lives out in the open like humans, other Pures (pure vampires), and Dregs (humans turned into vampires by a Pure). Still, he’s not just another pure: he is His right hand man, a vampire of high esteem who knows more about His agenda than the others. At least, he used to be. As soon as Fra’gal boards his flight to Tel Aviv for a meeting with the other Pures and Him, everything seems to turn topsy-turvy. From reuniting with a beloved Dreg to recovering long-lost memories and being hunted by something that he had sensed for years, Fra’gal has a lot on his plate—and the ride is only going to get bumpier.

Why have Fra’gal and Alicia been reunited? Why does Alicia seem more powerful than other Dregs, and how could Fra’gal have forgotten the girl that meant the world to him? What do a vampire named Iris and a young pregnant woman named Katie have to with all this? Most importantly, what is hunting Fra’gal, and what does He have planned?

At 366 pages, this book is a time commitment. However, it doesn’t feel like it. I was so tangled in Fra’gal and his mysterious world that I had to force myself to the book down in order to get work done. The first chapter, how Clark frames it as being a true work that no one will ever believe, especially caught my attention. I don’t know why, that’s just one of my favorite ways for an urban fantasy novel to start. The complexities of Clark’s world and plot only served to pull me in further, and his research into Biblical stories and historical discoveries seemingly-related to the Bible both captured the nerd in me and made me admire him as a researcher and an imaginative writer.

I think the best way to describe this novel would be to call it Anne Rice—especially Interview with the Vampire and Memnoch the Devil—mixed with the movie The Librarian and the Curse of the Judas Chalice. The latter is one of my favorite movies, perhaps my favorite movie in The Librarian series, so I was destined to love this novel. I’m also pretty certain that Anne Rice fans will really connect with Clark’s work as well.

Fra’gal and Alicia are, not surprisingly, my favorite characters. Their bond is so pure and beautiful, simultaneously a father/child relationship and an adult peer relationship. They clearly care for each other, and their interactions made me burning to know how they could have forgotten each other. They also complement each other quite well. Fra’gal is a bit proud and vain, whereas Alicia is compassionate and tries to find the best in situations; Fra’gal is beginning to feel old and worn-down, resigned now to how things are, but Alicia is vibrant, strong, and defiant. They bring out the best and the worst in each other. Don’t all people in close relationships/friendships?

Of course, Fra’gal grew a bit…difficult as a narrator. I wouldn’t have wanted the narration any other way, mind you. His vanity and occasional pessimism just got to me at points. Still, as the story continued, I felt myself growing close to him. When it seems as though He had forsaken him, I got mad for Fra’gal; I didn’t think I would but I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel bad for the guy. The revelation of his past—the past from over 2,000 years ago—only strengthened my connection with him, and I actually wanted him to make it out of all this unscathed.

The intertwining narratives fascinated me but were also jarring at first. The first chapter which was not narrated by Fra’gal confused me at first. It didn’t take long for me to catch on, but I’ve never really been a fan of switching between first and third person narration. That being said, Clark handles it seamlessly after the initial transition, and I have to give him props for that.

The ending might be considered a bit cliché. I can’t say too much here because I don’t want to give anything away, but I did find myself rolling my eyes some at the last page of the novel. Regardless, I didn’t so much mind the cliché elements. Instead, it left me wanting to see more from this world, more from Fra’gal and Alicia. Clark leaves the ending open just enough to indicate a cycle and, therefore, the possibility of more stories. They would have much different plots from this book, mind you, but I think that Clark could pursue this world more if he wanted to. That doesn’t mean the book doesn’t feel complete; it does, but there are also other possible plot thread that I would love to see him take further.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Vampire Christ by Nicholas P. Clark. It’s a very engaging novel with a concept that is original but still fits the vampire and urban fantasy genres. The cast consists of a wide range of personalities and backgrounds, which is refreshing in a novel of any genre. I only noticed a couple minor proofreading errors, although it’s possible that some of the perceived “errors” are just a difference between two regional forms of English. I highly recommend this book for vampire lovers and those who love reimaginings of old stories. If you’re the double whammy Anne Rice/The Librarian fan, all the better!

For more information about Clark, his other works, and how to buy The Vampire Christ, make sure to visit his website.

Do you know of any books I should read? Want your work reviewed on this blog? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com or message me on Fiverr and we can arrange something.


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Friday Fun-day Writing Prompt: Behind Closed Eyes

TGIF, readers and writers! I want to start the weekend off with a writing prompt. I haven’t given you one in a while, so I figured it’s about time I brought that series back. Today’s writing prompt involves learning to see clearly with your eyes closed.

Last May I wrote a post titled “Images in Literature and Plato’s The Cave”. Admittedly, it’s one of my favorite posts thus far. It combines my love of reading and writing with my philosophical inclinations, and it was rather fun for me to write. I want to focus on one particular part of this post for today’s writing prompt, the quote from Charles Simic. In case you haven’t read that post or have forgotten it, here’s the quote again:

There are images made with eyes open and images made with eyes closed. One is about clear sight and the other about similitude.

–Charles Simic

Now, I could reiterate the debate my Master’s classmates and I had about which images are about clear sight and which about similitude. If you want to learn more about the argument, you can visit my “Images in Literature and Plato’s The Cave” post. For this writing prompt, I want you to assume that you make “clear sight” images with your eyes closed and “similitude” images with your eyes closed.

I want you to focus on clear sight images. Writers have a knack for these sorts of images.  Whether we’re poets or prose writers, our images rarely serve as strict similitude. That’s why it is important for us to master clear sight, the ability to create images which are beyond what the objects or people appear to be. That’s what this exercise is about.


What we see with our eyes closed is often more bizarre–and more interesting–than what we see with our eyes open.

Image retrieved from Science Line.

As usual, today’s exercise is fairly easy. Go somewhere where you can concentrate. Block out as much external distractions as you can. Once you do that, I want you to close your eyes. Don’t think about anything in particular; just close your eyes. Focus on the first image which appears when you close your eyes. Commit it to your memory, get a feel for it.

Once you have a good feel for the image, open your eyes. Now I want you to write a scene or poem in which you incorporate and describe the image you saw behind your eyes. I don’t want to just know what it looked like; I want you to convey how it made you feel, what it reminded you of, if it felt menacing or benign, etc. Capture the true image of what was behind your eyes, not just what you saw.

You might be able to create a story or full poem out of this exercise, or you might only get some good practice at writing imagery. The important thing is that you discover what it means to create a true image of something and not a similitude. Admittedly, this practice can be rather difficult. You also won’t need to use it for every image in a story. (Poetry, on the other hand, all but requires each image to be a true, clear sight image rather than a similitude.) Once you master the practice, the hard part will be deciding which image is needed when.

How did this exercise go for you? Did you find anything particularly hard about it? What sort of image popped into your head when you closed your eyes? Did you realize anything about how you typically describe images? If so, what? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. You can even leave what you wrote as a result of this exercise!

Do you know of any good writing prompts? Want to share them with your fellow writers? Leave the prompt in the comments or e-mail it to me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and I might incorporate it into a future Friday Fun-day Writing Prompt post.

 


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011