Reviews

I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N. Elrod

mayastone's review

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 A gothic tale about a man who sacrifices everything for the woman he loves and gets more than he bargained for. An easy, engaging read, not too much world building but a lot of characters and magic besides. It was exactly what I wanted to read 

Amongst the gore, betrayals and death, this made me laugh:
I looked down at what I thought to be a mere bruise. Illya had struck hard at me in the fight, I now remembered. His special knife had not only scraped the chain mail, but had sliced right through it. Cold air blasted against the warm blood oozing from the gash there.

"A scratch, Alek, nothing more. I've had worse on the practice field." I switched the knife—carefully—to my other hand and held the bleeding one out from my body. The blood fell freely onto the bare, dead earth of the garden. "I am Strahd. I am the Land," I said, repeating the ancient epigram. "Draw near and witness. I, Strahd, am the Land."

No one moved. Except for Ivan, whose head was bowed over his dead brother, they stared at me, looking as though the breath had turned to ice in their lungs.

Alek, the most hedonistic and least pious of the lot, joined them in making the protective sign of the faith.

thewryguy's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

jeremias75's review against another edition

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5.0

This novel is the prequel to the Ravenloft series and TSR campaign. I loved reading the background of how Ravenloft's most notorious Darklord came to being. If you are a fan of Ravenloft campaign this is a must read.

saintofmercy's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

count_zero's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a really interestingly done gothic horror novel - I'll have a full review of this later.

readyourbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There is a devil in Castle Ravenloft. He rules over the valley with an iron fist and monstrous servants. He is looking for one thing, the woman he loved. When a man named Rudolph Van Richten sneaks into the castle and finds the Lord’s personal journal, the puzzle pieces start to come together.

I read this book because I was getting ready to run a Curse of Strahd DnD campaign and the general consensus in the community is that it is worthwhile to get into the head of your BBEG. And it was better than it had any right to be. I feel like there is a generally held belief that tie-in novels are a cash grab that are lazily written by freelance authors who probably don’t care about the property they are writing for. This book did not feel like that. I found the characters rich and developed, the atmosphere was palpable, and the narrative compelling. I liked this book so much, I looked up, and bought more of P.N. Elrod’s original works. 

You may be hesitant because this is a tie-in novel, but you don’t actually have to know anything about Dungeons and Dragons, or The Curse of Strahd to get a solid and compelling vampire story out of this book. 

(P.S. I have no idea why they used this art for the cover. It’s not really accurate to anything inside the book, but I mean, cool art.)

 

literaryghost's review against another edition

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5.0

This book is a fantastic description of the Strahd side of things; his history, his curse, his motivations. This provides a great perspective and gives the reader a chance to empathize with the Devil Strahd, perhaps one of the greatest villains of all time.

oddreader1's review against another edition

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4.0

It was really good.

ipacho's review against another edition

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4.0

This is one of the best Dungeons and Dragons novels I've read and a lesson of HOW VAMPIRES SHOULD BE PORTRAYED. Strahd is tragical, witty, passionate, intelligent, vile, repulsive, smart... a fantastic character. There are a few drawbacks to the tale, like the lack of depth into Stradh's fascination with Tatyana, or the lack of details like, for example, how Barovia's inhabitants look to the jailing mists. The pacing is fantastic, and some in-scene descriptions are wonderful. A must for the vampiric horror fans.

sh78196's review

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0