The tales do indeed shed light on some of the mysteries of the original volumes, especially the end game and the strangeness below New Your City. About a third of the stories cover the aftermath of the capture of New York, and make a bit of sense of events. All of the other stories are set elsewhere. Several cover events before the clan novels but most are also post-capture. Don't, however, expect everything to be made clear. The are still enough mysteries and opportunities for many more additions to the series.

I was surprised how much better these tales are written compared to the novels themselves. The shorter format seems more accessible for many of the writers. Don't expect true short stories, though, these are really little vignettes and pastiches and make little sense if read without the experience of the first thirteen volumes. I'm not a fan of short stories, but I found myself enjoying these. Readers of the clan novels with find that this volume brings the series into tighter focus.

I particularly enjoyed Kathleen Ryan's efforts ("Embarkation" and "Selfless") and Eric Griffen's "Flesh of my Flesh." For most readers, the final four stories, by Gherbod Fleming, Justin Achilli, and Stewart Wieck will be the gems of the collection. These are all set in and below New York City and go the furthest to explain the events in the novels.

If the original novels left you a bit unsatisfied, I think you will find the "Anthology" helps to close the gap. All Vampire: The Masquerade fans will find much to like.


A Great Beginning   June 13, 2004
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Clan Novel Toreador, the first of a thirteen novel series, provides readers with the foundations for a massive story. The novel introduces us to two main characters in the overall meta-plot, the Toreadors Victoria Ash and Leopold.

The novel, as all others of the series, is divided into three main parts. The first part of Toreador centers on one of the most important characters in the series, Leopold. Author Stewart Wieck gives is a nice starting point, a vampire filled with self-doubt, too close to his emotions to understand them in context with what he now is. Along the way, we get glimpses of other strange events...the disappeaance of a powerful Giovanni, infighting amongst the Camarilla of Atlanta (specifically the Brujah Theo Bell and Prince Bennison, a Malkavian. We are also given a substantive look at signature Toreador, Victoria Ash, a sensual beauty who is as covert in her mechanations as she is attractive. We are also introduced to a Setite named Vegel and a Nosferatu named Rolph.

The story finally goes into high gear as the Sabbat attack a place where the Camarilla of Atlanta has gathered. The violence and destruction is enormous and powerfully written. The final two pages provides the necessary bite and twist that will bring readers back for more.

By necessity, Clan Novel Toreador spends time setting up the meta-plot. Author Wieck is to be commended for his ability to give us a group of characters that are interesting and typical of their clans. A fantastic, easy and engaging read. Highly recommended.


you may not get it.   June 26, 2000
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

ok kids. this is not your everyday, run of the mill book. this is about malkavians. it is mostly from the point of view of 'em too. get that set in your mind and prepare for the ride. if you don't like Malkavians, skip this book. you won't understand it. if you understand it, you're probably certifiable. the book is fun. (that's what life is all about, ya know) and in being fun, it is very informative as to how the Malks see the world. perception is key. don't forget.


Adequate Beginning   June 6, 2000
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

An RPG tie-in novel doesn't have to be WAR AND PEACE for me to give it 5 stars. It doesn't even have to be THE LORD OF THE RINGS or INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. It just has to be a REALLY GOOD RPG novel. It should be helpful as a resource to people who play the games. (In the case of CLAN NOVELS it means that the book should have a clear, developed focus on the title clan.) At the same time, it has to be more than just an RPG resource. The story should be able to stand alone for people who don't know much about the game or who aren't reading the whole series.

So what have we here? First, it's really hard for the first book in a series to stand alone. Part of it's job is to establish the intriguing and unresolved issues that will shape the rest of the series. It's supposed to raise more questions than it answers.

However, a really good first installment should also establish interesting characters in compelling situations- characters the reader can identify with and whose concerns will move the reader to follow them through the rest of the series. For me, those kinds of characters and concerns didn't start showing up in this series until Volumes 3, 4 and 5 (GANGREL, SETITE and VENTRUE, respectively). What was I left with here was an intellectual curiosity about where it was all going to go but no real driving concern about anyone likely to have survived. OK but not great.

Then there's the title clan. All the required things are here- the Toreadors' artistic interests, their interest in high society, their fascination with humans and even a bit of the tendency of the other clans to underestimate the Toreador. What's missing, I think, is any real sense of the Toreador's preoccupation with beauty that makes them seem like something other than manipulative, self-involved caricatures. There's a whole gallery full of art here, for example, assembled by a Toreador but it's only really discussed in terms of how grotesque the subject matter is and the amount of prestige it brings. Another character does have the Toreador weakness (fixation on beauty) to the point of derangement as part of his artistic process but mostly it just seems intriguingly weird rather than a typical manifestation of the clan's attachment to beauty.

In general, though, the book has a lot to cover in order to set up for the series. It does a decent job and even has some decent individual situations. (Good because you can't really skip it.) My guess is that people will find things to enjoy and want to read further based on what's here. It's just not the strongest book in the series.


Overall, a good read.   February 22, 1999
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

It's a very interesting book. Some readers will be upset by depictions of graphic violence and the like, but that should be expected, a big part of Vampire is that their society is very violent and the Kindred risk death just by waking up every night. My biggest problem with it was the ungodly amout of typos and grammatical errors. At least one on most pages. Another slight problem is the unresolved plot threads. For "a series in which each book will stand alone, but tie into the larger story presented in all 13 novels," this left a LOT of loose ends that just wouldn't be acceptable in a stand-alone novel. So many, that my rating would be 2 stars, but I'm guessing that the plots will be resolved in future clan novels. One of the most interesting subplots in this novel involves the Toreador Primogen of Atlanta, Victoria Ash, inviting a Brujah Archon (who's black) and the Malkavian Prince of Atlanta to the same party. The catch is that the Prince was a confederate soldier in the Civil War. This could have led to some very interesting scenes, but, unfortunately, it is too underplayed.