Clan Novel: Ventrue covers events that happen between June 25 and August 27, 1999. It is Book 5 in the original clan novel saga, and was published in August 1999. It was written by Gherbod Fleming, who provided five of the thirteen novels in the set. It picks up just before the displacement of the Ventrue prince of Washington, D.C. and follows the second phase of the war where the Camarilla attempt to defend territory and the Sabbat consolidate and slowly advance.

This book strongly follows the meta-plot, and follows the machinations of the different factions trying to defend or take territory. The major strategic change is the withdrawal of the Camarilla from Buffalo and ceding the city to the Sabbat. However, the details of this campaign are much more effectively covered in the Lasombra novel. Oh, and the Gangrel quit the Camarilla because the Ventrue ignore Xavier’s plea to stomp the grease out of the Tortured Artist with the Artifact who mopped the floor with him in the Gangrel novel. (Continue Reading…)

Clan Novel: Gangrel covers events that happen between July 7 and July 26, 1999. It is Book 3 in the original clan novel saga and was published in June 1999. It was written by Gherbod Fleming, who provided five of the thirteen novels in the set.

Some odd choices were made in the crafting of this book. The first was to focus most of the book on a pack of Gangrel who are only vaguely aware they are vampires, let alone cognizant of how to integrate into vampire society. This book nearly stands alone, as it barely involves any major players and doesn’t follow any major events. It mostly focuses on the existential dread of immortality and what it means to be a vampire. (Continue Reading…)

Clan Novel: Setite covers events that happen between June 21 and July 31, 1999. It is Book 4 in the original clan novel saga (but third chronologically that ties up its events) and was published in July 1999. It was written by Kathleen Ryan, who also wrote the Ravnos book.

While this novel interacts with the events of the previous books, it practically stands alone. It is structured in three acts and follows a cohesive plot. The events in this book do not rely on knowing the events happening elsewhere in the world, yet they still build on them. Hesha seems unperturbed by most of the upheaval in the vampire world in the eastern United States. The events are inconveniences that require adjustments, but there are no major changes to what he does. (Continue Reading…)

Clan Novel: Tzimisce covers events that happen on and around the attack on Atlanta on the evenings of June 19 through July 7, 1999. I read Part 1: The War Council (6/19-21) before the TOREADOR book, the Part 2: The Firedance (6/22) and Part 3: The Deception (6/22-7/2) after TOREADOR. After TZIMISCE, I went to Part 1 of SETITE. TZIMISCE is Book 2 in the original clan novel saga and was published in May 1999. It was written by Eric Griffin, who also wrote the Tremere novel.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the lush cover art. The vampire depicted is monstrous in countenance and action, enjoying a meal in debauched hedonism. Surrounding the primary figure are leering faces born of nightmare with just enough detail to suggest the worst in the shadows. (Continue Reading…)