Tale of the Thunderbolt
June 25th, 2010
- ISBN13: 9780451460189
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
As the Resistance attempts to overthrow their vampiric alien masters, elite Cat force member David Valentine embarks on a terrifying journey in search of a long-lost weapon that will guarantee their victory-and the end of the Kurian Order’s domination of Earth…. More >>
Posted in Books
5 Responses to “Tale of the Thunderbolt”
This installment is at times choppy and lacks the
driving hard gripping narrative that the other two
books had. All of the elements are there but
something seems to be off. For example the premise
has always been that humanity was isolated and
scattered with few allies and fewer weapons.
While we get some of that at the end does anyone else
think it was rather fortunate that Valentine liberated
the entire island of Jamaca in less then a month
practically by himself? Who the heck is he is
superman? That is not what this series has been
about.
Also am I the only one who thought the super weapon
was stupid? I don’t care what it does to the Reapers
it is still a stupid idea.
Overall-Look we all know that series tend to get
choppy around this time. Either Knight will improve
or his style of writing will just get worse. Read it
for continuities sake but don’t expect what you got in
the first two books.
Rating: 4 / 5
I could barely stand waiting for this next one in the series to come out. I so enjoyed the first two. The futuristic world created by Knight is entralling and even a bit scary. This book did not follow through on either one of those emotions.
Basically Valentine has spent a year on a secret mission as a Cat to secure a strong enough ship to obtain a secret weapon to fight the Kur. Somehow the knowledge of this “secret weapon” had only landed in the revolutionaries laps recently. The weapon is located in Haiti and Valintine doesn’t even know what it is, only that the “contact” whom never saw him before in his life would recognize him and contact him. Strange? Well, it was. This was only one of many loose strings throughout the story.
What I missed most about Knights writing was the incredible development of characters and realtionships with these characters. I didn’t see any this time. Valentine takes up a bit of a romance in Jamaca, but if I was suppose to feel sorry for him for having to move on, well, I really didn’t even know this new character well enough to even care.
Overall, I still enjoy this series and plan to continue reading them. I’m hoping the next one, Valentine’s Rising, will pick back up where the first two left off.
Happy reading!
Rating: 3 / 5
I enjoyed Way of the Wolf and Choice of the Cat, but Tale of the Thunderbolt is my favorite so far. Maybe this is because I am not a sci-fi buff. Maybe it’s because I dig dark and urban fantasy(where we like a fast moving story-line and sympathetic characters)or maybe it’s because the plot is so much deeper and more fascinating.
There were times in this story where goosebumps flashed across my skin. Other places where a lump came into my throat and still others, where I laughed out loud. What I loved most though, I think, are the supporting characters in this book. I grew very attached to some, like Ahn-Kah the ‘golden one’ and the half-drunk sailor who showed his true metal when the stakes were down. Tale of the Thunderbolt is chuck full of amazing characters. Some good, some bad and others who walk that gray line in between. That’s the sort of thing I like to have in my stories.
If you dig fast paced action, suspense and gut-wrenching emotion…you’ll dig this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
Read it in one day. Great set up for the next book thank goodness it will be published this year also. I was hoping for a little more progression in Valentine though. At times it seemed that the Hunters arts had almost left him as a normal person. I was also hoping that he would have progessed to the next level of the hunters arts as a Bear but that will hopefully occur in the next installment. All the other books in this series have dealt with a new art each time but there really is very little information on the Bear caste that I would like to see very soon.
Rating: 4 / 5
The Vampire Earth series continues in riveting fashion. Knight’s strengths of characterization and world-building haven’t lost a beat; this is the best of the novels so far. As a reader, you will come to truly believe in Knight’s depiction of what a guerilla war in America against alien invaders might be like.
The action expands to a new setting, as heroic scout and resistance fighter David Valentine is on a secret mission in the Caribbean. This part of our planet is also controlled by the alien conquerors, though, so readers will be treated to more of what makes this series so entertaining. A plausible extra-terrestrial species with complex motives and fascinating infrastructure.
Knight’s military and logistics detail are displayed with consummate skill yet again, as Valentine recruits help from various and surprising sources, in his attempts to locate a weapon which is rumored to be deadly to the aliens. One might think that descriptions of supply and troop movement would be dry material, but Knight seamlessly weaves it all together and never lets this detract from his exciting storyline.
I would start at the beginning of this series (Way of the Wolf), but if you can’t find it or can’t wait, there is a very handy glossary at the front of Tale of the Thunderbolt, which can be used as a nice synopsis of the previous plot.
Valentine is that rare breed of protagonist in speculative fiction. A genuine hero with flaws and conflicts. Your heart would have to be made of stone if you can’t root for this guy. And for humanity in general.
Bring on the next installment!!
Rating: 5 / 5