Currently, vampires are all the rage among certain circles and a series called Vampire Earth conjures up images of Twilight or True Blood. However, the vampires in this series aren’t what you would expect. The word vampire shows up rarely outside of the series title, and no one has fangs or sparkles in the sunlight.

Set in a post-apocalyptic, late 21st century United States, the series follows the exploits of a young man named David Valentine, who was orphaned very early in his life by the apocalypse-causing Kurian Order. Cast out by their fellows and brought to Earth by their practice of stealing life-energy from living organisms, the Kurians used their ability to shape-shift to infiltrate the highest levels of governments planet-wide and brought about the destruction of life as we know it.

Valentine knows no other world than the brutal existence of resisting the new Kurian Order and all of its minions. Early on in his manhood, he is selected to become a “Wolf,’ or a highly gifted specialized soldier geared towards scouting and guerilla warfare against the Kurians. Humans are terrorized by the evil aliens’ creations, known as Reapers, who are near-indestructible conduits that kill and gorge themselves upon any living being unfortunate enough to run afoul of them. The Reapers are the “vampires” for which the series is named, and it is up to Valentine to figure out how to fight them and survive.

Valentine’s daring exploits as he ranges into Kurian Territory make for an exciting read. The moral conflicts between the humans who choose to resist and those who choose to serve provide an interesting dynamic, and Valentine’s maturation and relationships add an element of romance to the series. Far from being defined by any specific genre, Vampire Earth is a thrilling, fantasy-driven, romantic, and thought-provoking series sure to entertain almost anyone who ventures to pick up the first installment.

I would recommend this series to anyone who has both time and the ability to follow a storyline as complex and twisting as any roller-coaster. Nine books make up the series so far. The first volume is titled Way of the Wolf and will grab your attention for the whole series. Grade: A

–Thomas Adair, WNHS-TV