Blood Colony

Due tosses together vampiric creatures [super-strong, super-fast, super-smart, obsessed with blood and immortal: yeah, they're vampires], Christian faith, feminism, fate vs. free will and superheroes. The resultant rich and spicy mixture works. I credit much of her trilogy's power to Due's lean, muscular writing. The prose is quick but compentent in book 1, but it soon improves to swift, economical status by books 2 and 3. Additionally, Due's themes of moral responsibility make this trilogy especially engrossing. While there are obvious good guys and bad guys in this series, Due's omniscient perpsective combines curiosity and compassion for all characters. She tries to realistically answer the question of how human beings would deal with immortality. The Life Brothers exclude themselves from humanity, perfecting intellectual arts, while Sanctus Cruor, the eugenics nuts, will obliterate human life in order to safeguard the Blood. Meanwhile, Dawit, Jessica and Fana, who spread the Blood as salvation, represent a generous use of immortality. In other words, Due's thesis is that immortality brings out the extremes in people, both the very best and the very worst. Her vampires are all too human, an interpretation of monsters that I find much more compelling than the monsters=aliens portrayal. Verdict: With a sympathetic cast [including assertive and realistic women, woooo hoooo!], the pacing of a suspense series and a compelling moral exploration that most fantasy trilogies can't hold a candle to, the African Immortals trilogy provides an intelligent and delicious revision of vampire lore.

There are some authors that others aspire to be like and others that we just bow down to because we know we cannot achieve that level of greatness. Ms. Due is both. Like the other reviewers I've been waiting for this book for a long time and was not disappointed. Without giving too much of the plot away, I'll just say I was never a fan of Jessica's and I wasn't a fan of Fana's, that is until this book. It is hard to know what lies ahead before the characters do, but in this book I did and it worked. I wanted to shake some of the characters and say "come on and do something." But there lies the reality of any situation: fear can immobilize you and make you second-guess yourself. There was a lot of reflection from a lot of people in this book and although it is fantasy it works on a personal level. Basically the book resonates with you; it stays with you long after you're finished the last chapter. There was always this sense of excitement and danger throughout this book and readers are in the crosshairs with the characters. I love this series and Tananarive Due remains a "writer's writer."

Upon opening the book I expected certain things. I expected darkness, horror with out equal, strong statements about race and racism, feminism, and mythology. I got all that I had asked for and more. Blood Colony takes the story of Fana, who was an infant(with power that nobody matched) in the Living Blood, and here she is coming of age. She is lonely, much as I imagine any make shift deity would be, even though she was surrounded by her family and friends. She used her blood to cure illnesses around the world through what she and her family call The Mission, but the US regards her blood as a narcotic, thus it's illegal. Fana and her good friend Caitlin set up a modern day underground railroad in order to fight AIDS and other blood diseases. Glow, the street name for Fana's mystic blood, is the center of controversy and violence around the nation. When Caitlin witnesses a horrific act of violence, she and her dad are gathered by the Immortals(Fana's family) and this causes the two girls to run. The novel is part road trip, part social commentary, and travels through many different emotions. There are scenes of heartbreaking sadness, gruesome violence, overwhelming passion and everything in between. You can't help but feel bad for poor Fana, who for all of her power, is mostly helpless and unsure of herself, as she and Caitlin try to run from the other Immortals. Things get creepy, or creepier I should say, when it turns out that Fana's family is not the only group of Immortals who are looking for her, another branch is a religious sect which wishes to kill off man kind and use the Blood to revitalize any they see as worthy and usher in the New Days of religious monarchy, with them as the monarchs. I absolutely loved The Blood Colony. It was rich, funny, well textured, dark, moody, cynical at times, optimistic at times, and well crafted. The series as a unit is my favorite of any horror series I've read(and I've read a lot). Blood Colony is the kind of book that makes reading fun. It isn't strictly horror, but travels a world between genres comparable to Neil Gaiman's American Gods. The narrative is brilliantly structured, constantly evolving, full of twists and turns and fast paced. Oh, and remember how I said it was more than I had expected? The book is hilarious. Okay, some of the humor was specialized, she introduces people who are of my particular religion, and a lot of the humor is very dark and bitter, she mocks peoples racism at points, and all of her characters are real, well thought out people, who occasionally make really stupid mistakes and often get in pretty good sarcastic remarks on the expense of others, especially Caitlin. I've been a fan of horror for as long as I can remember. Horror has been something that I seemed to grasp firmly, even as a young child. I had read R L Stine's books, sure, and the Scary Stories series, and I watched Tales From The Crypt right after I watched Are You Afraid Of The Dark on snick. By the

Excellent. I loved it. It is rare that an author can write sequels and they are just as interesting and entertaining and thought provoking as the original. I just have two complaints. First, it was too short. Before I knew it, I was at the end, and the end surprised me. Secondly, I give the art work a 1 star. There is nothing about it that would make me pick up the book if I wasn't already familar with her. The only reason I even know who Ms. Due is is becasue the artwork on the cover kept calling me. Finally, I picked the Living Blood up and I have been a fan since. I highly recommend. I would not mind reading a continuation of this story. I see many variations of this story. I want to hear more about Moses in the future. In fact, I hope Ms. Due will consider it. Ms. Due lost some of her mojo in Joplin's Ghost, but sistah gal has reclaimed her throne in "my" mind. I humbly bow.

I Have waited a very long time to read this book. I fell in love with Fana and the other characters from Living Blood and My Soul to Keep. As soon as i got this book, i was completly consumed with it.I finished it in two days. I felt as if i was with fana the whole time.This story was so intresting and kept me on my toes. I really hated to finish the book so fast because i didnt want the story to end. Fortunatly the story left off in a place that i hope Mrs.Due will pick up on in the future. To Say i look forward to the fourth book would be an understatement.