1) There are the books with a panoramic point of view that advance the larger story of the struggle between the Camarilla and the Sabbat, tie up necessary loose ends, further develop complex intrigues and so on.

2) There are the books which focus tightly on a character or small group of characters.

You may not be able to move the pins on your battle map as much with Type 2 but they tend to be the better books in the series. They tend to stand alone better (because you don't have to be moving pins on a battle map to care what happens) and tend to have more of a sense of being about the title vampire clan.

CLAN NOVEL RAVNOS is type two, as is Kathleen Ryan's other book in the series CLAN NOVEL SETITE. This makes them the strongest books in the series so far. (Gherbod Fleming's GANGREL and ASSAMITE are the other two.) Here, the hero is Khalil a charming jerk of a Ravnos who keeps outsmarting himself even as he is, yet again, declaring victory. His straight man in this farce is the commanding voice of the mysterious Ravnos elder which he hears in his head. (Rather sinister, too...but Khalil, of course, doesn't seem to notice that little problem.) Ramona from GANGREL and Liz from SETITE are teamed up with Khalil here. Ryan does an especially good job of adapting Fleming's Ramona. There doesn't seem to be any big advances of the series plot but there is some helpful development of the situation of the Ravnos clan as well as glimpses of the Nosferatu and the New York Sabbat.

And then there's that Ravnos elder....


A good book, with a mysterious feel.   July 12, 1999
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is the best book so far in the clan novel series. If you have been following the series so far then you are familier with the concept. Each novel is sopposed to be a stand alone story weaved into the fabric of a larger plot. To date the first three books have been less stand alone and more like chapters in a continuing story. Setite corrects that and returns to the premis of stand alone stories in a wider framework. The novel, all though not fine liturature, is a great read that is hard to put down. I found myself captivated by the caracters, and genuanly involved in the plot. I also found that I cared about the main characters, and understood their motivations. This novel is part of a larger series, and therfor reading the earlier books help to explane the subtext, you can read this book without any preamble, and that is what makes it a good stand alone novel. A definate read for those who like the world of darkness.