Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Did you play Vampire:the Masquerade? May 13, 2007
If so, read these books. I know that White Wolf quit making the game, but the books are still cool.
 Killer Killers December 17, 2004
Assamites are one of the most intriguing vampire clans. Warriors, scholars, and sorcerers, they are assassins most often used to take down other vampires. They are in a private war with the Tremere, who are vampires made by means of blood magic whom the Assamites see as an abomination. White Wolf has carefully modeled them after the legendary Muslim cult, and the spiritual and religious context of the Assamites is strongly Arabic in tone. Which adds to their mystery.
This volume expands on the Assamite role in the struggles for supremacy in the US. This is a game of elders, we discover, and intrigue is their favorite weapon. Assamites are often the means, set on both sides to carry out tasks that only seem to be chaotic. Fatima al-Faqadi, of ancient blood, is one of the Assamite's deadliest. She is called on to bring death to Cardinal Moncada and his childe Lucita to answer the coming judgment of her clan. Other Assamites dot this story as well - Parmenides (the servant of Vykos, Anwar, Walter James. Assamites have a streak of independence, which has created a large number of antitribu - rebels who fight where they will.
The story spins about Fatima and Lucita shedding bits of light on some of the unexplained mysteries of the paste six volumes, and spreading confusion elsewhere. The two are perfectly matched in deadliness, beauty, and determination. Their paths only cross a few times in the book, but the impact of their meetings will determine the future of the overall story arc.
Fleming again lays his carefully crafted characters out beautifully against the light and shadow of the Masquerade. He has never been one to romanticism vampire life and will often disillusion those who were hoping for vampire romances. Love tends to turn out badly in the world of darkness, eternal life comes at the price of an utter loss of humanity, and altruism is a lost motivation. But like moths, us readers return to it time after time.
Exciting! August 13, 2001
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's a cool novel! Exciting, thrilling, amazing! You accompany Fatima al-Faqadi to Alamut, where you get an insight in the structure and inner politics of the Eagle's Nest. You visit a Sabbat invasion in the USA and a showdown with the Lasombra Archbishop of Lisbon. You learn details about some of Fatima's Rafiq colleagues as well as about Clan Elders like Jamal, Ur-Shulgi, Thetmes and Al-Ashrad. Maybe the best VtM book I have read.
 Hell no December 12, 2000
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I thought most of this was good. What they did to Moncada though? PLEASE. He would've thrashed Lucita and Fatima. What a serious let down. It should have been no contest. Thumbs down.
Pieces of the Puzzle June 1, 2000
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
The good people at White Wolf seem to have developed a sort of fascination with the Assamites (go and look at the number of entries Assamite characters get in CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT if you don't believe me). Unfortunately, I'm one of those who has never found the Assamites all that appealing. If that isn't your problem, tho, there's a lot in this book to like. It takes you inside the Assamite headquarters of Alamut, for example, and gives you a good sense of the secret workings of the clan and their internal politics.This book is more scattered in its focus than Fleming's CLAN NOVEL: GANGREL but less so than his CLAN NOVEL: VENTRUE. There is a strong central character- the Assamite elder, Fatimah. She shares the stage with other Assamite characters but, more importantly, with the Lasombra Lucita and Lucita's sire Cardinal Moncada. My problem is that I couldn't really find anyone to like in this story. Fatimah seemed stiff and humorless. I generally like the Lasombra (which makes this book especially hard to enjoy for a number of reasons) but I've never gotten Lucita's appeal and she seems to have even fewer redeeming qualities here than usual. Moncada did have the virtue of being truly creepy but loving to hate someone can only do so much. In short, this really wasn't the book for me and I was relieved to get to CLAN NOVEL: RAVNOS after this. Still, if you click with these characters better than I did, then, yes, I would say that this book does tell a story that stands alone- although not as much as GANGREL does- and can be read apart from the rest of the series. But don't do that. First of all because Assamites are creatures of intrigue and unless you know what's been brewing some of the stuff that happens here- especially with the Assamite Parmenides- won't begin to make sense. Second, the really fun and bestest thing here is the delightful way this book fills in pieces of the puzzle created by the earlier books in the Clan Novel series- retelling incidents from other characters' points of view, for example, so that you finally have some idea of what was happening and why.
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