Frostbite (2008)

Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead, 2007, Graphic Novel

Frostbite, Richelle Mead, 2008, Graphic Novel

This review is about two graphic novels. The entry for the novel, Vampire Academy can be found here.

First off, I read the Vampire Academy graphic novel months ago, and could have sworn that I had an entry for it, but I don't see one. The school I'm currently assigned to has the graphic novels for the first two books in the series in their library. I figured that I'd "reread" the first book, just to familiarize myself with the characters and the story line. I'm glad I did. I needed to get used to the images of the characters. Rose in the comic looks nothing like the cover of the first novel, but that's okay because it's a different artist.

The other thing that struck me, and which wasn't really a surprise, was how much of the book had to be left out to make it into a comic. I was still able to follow along for two reasons: one, the essentials are there, and two, I'd read the book, so I could fill in the gaps.

After reading the first book, I was not opposed to reading the second installment. However, as I'm not the target audience for the book, I wasn't going to go out of my way to track down a copy. I have plenty of things to read that I never get around to. (Another reason for this blog: I can't write new entries unless I read new books, so it'll prod me along sometimes.)

The comic was enjoyable, but I thought it likely missing parts of the book. The teen drama parts fill up a good part of the graphic novel and then the ending comes rushing at you. Again, that might just be my perception because of my demographic. But it didn't turn me off from wanting to read the book, which is something.

Frostbite gives us more background about the mythos governing the two types of vampires. We also get to meet Rose's mother, and learn about their strained relationship. Not surprising that they can't have a normal family life -- they are both dhampirs. Rose is training to a Guardian, and her mother already is one. The vampire's they protect will always be their first priority. That's part of the reason Dmitri resisted Rose in the first novel (other than the whole icky age thing, and the fact that she's a student in the academy).

Speaking of which, the relationship between Rose and Dmitri moves along, not just as trainer and pupil. The twist here is that another vampire comes along wanting Dmitri to be her Guardian, and he considers it.

The other twist to this book is that the Strigoi have enlisted the aid of humans to attack the Moroi. This is discovered from the use of weapons, such as a silver stake, that Strigoi can't touch.

In the end, Rose grows as a Guardian, getting closer to her hopeful position being Lissa's Guardian.

Vampire Academy (Mead)

Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead, 2007

Okay, for starters: There are two types of Vampires: the Moroi, who are living, breeding vampires, and the Strigoi, who are your more traditional evil vampires. There are also Dhampirs, which are the offspring of Vampires with humans or dhampirs. Dhampirs are mules, unable to reproduce on their own, so they owe their existence to the Moroi. If you search online, you'll find that these are creatures from Romanian folklore, which is a plus for me. Mead takes something existing, which I'm at all familiar with, and makes it her own.

The Moroi aren't your typical vampires. Besides having families, and vampirism being hereditary, they also go to church every week, even if just to learn about St. Vladmir, the patron of the academy. One of the characters is even named Christian, which seems odd at first blush.

This book is the last in a pile of books I won, which included How to Be a Zombie, A Great and Terrible Beauty, and Catching Fire, which I'd previously read but don't seem to have an entry for. (I donated that one to the hotel's library by the pool.) I wish I could say that I left the best for last, but that really, I left the one that looked like I'd least enjoy for last.

First off, I'm not the target demographic for this book. I joke around about Teenage Paranormal Romance, but they are a big sub-genre. They don't have to appeal to everyone. Like Bray's Great and Terrible Beauty, there was a bit of "Mean Girls" to it, but unlike it, the fantasy elements just didn't make it worthwhile for me.

Not to compare it to Harry Potter, but as an example, we don't expect Harry to defeat Voldemort in Book 1, but we expect that he'll make an appearance. In Vampire Acadmeny, much is made about the Strigoi and while I don't expect Rose to take one down (any one, but a powerful one, or the "main" one, if there is such a creature), you might expect on to show up at some point. Basically, the book was long on Academy and short on Vampire.

So little, in fact, that halfway through it, I imagined a "What If...?" where I replaced the Moroi, Strigoi, and Dhampirs into High Elves, Dark Elves and Half Elves. I could write it -- I wouldn't, but perhaps I could.

Again, I'm not the target audience here, so if anyone found my blog and this is your genre, don't let me turn you off from the adventures of Rose and Princess Lissa as they learn how to protect vampires or just be a vampire.

Would I read farther into the series? Probably not, unless the sequel showed up in another book raffle.