The Beast Within

A great collection of stories set in White Wolf's world of darkness. Each tale is set to focus on a different clan of vampire, and is a great introduction to anyone interested in playing Vampire the Masquerade role-playing game.

Only ten stories, I was hoping it would have at least one per clan. If you like the role playing game Vampire, especially those tricky Tremeres, you may really like this book. I'm a storyteller for a group who does tabletop Vampire so I found the stories interesting and inspiring both. My favorites were "The voice of the hummingbird," "descent" and "expendable". The last story isn't very clear about who the main character is or why they are doing what they are doing. I'd recommend it to fans of the game but not really to those interested in vampire literature in general.

i have read this book over 5 times, have given out 3 copies as gifts. i never get tired of it.

"The Beast Within," the first anthology released by White Wolf Publishing, is an excellent collection of short stories focusing around a three day period in the San Francisco Kindred population. From small power games to the riskiest and most daring of power plays, the city's Kindred cavort and consort in a seemingly unending dance of status and political power. From the opening tale, Blood Letters, to the final page of "Prisons," Vannevar Thomas and all the rest cut a bloody swath across each other's unlives. I highly recommend it to all fans of vampire fiction and the World of Darkness.