Generation V

Generation V (2013) M.L. Brennan

Fortitude Scott is the youngest of three children, and a vampire. But being a century and a half younger than his closest sibling, Chivalry, makes things difficult. Especially since he hasn’t fully transitioned and is trying very hard to hold onto his humanity.

First, I really liked the vampire mythology she created here. She has a very different take on how vampires are created as well as how they survive and what can kill them. And how they’ve managed to hide for so long.

Fort, as a not yet transformed vampire, is interesting. For very good reasons, he resents his vampire family, but his mother decided he should be raised as he was for reasons that slowly become clear (though not explicitly so) as the story progresses.

There was a fair amount of humor–much of it Fort’s self-depreciation.

Clearly my usual workout sessions of standing still and pouring coffee were not enough to keep pace with a fox.

But I have to say that Fort’s being a doormat got irritating rather quickly. I suppose that it made a kind of sense, but I did find it hard to believe that Fort would really not have a spine. It didn’t throw me out of the story, but he did take passivity to extremes that made me want to smack him.

Also, there are kitsune.

“Suzume, I’m not going to carry this,” I called.

“Why not? Don’t worry, it’s stolen.”

I do love tricksters.

There were a couple things that were excellent, and a couple things that bugged me. At one point, Fort goes to one of his siblings for help. I really liked how that turned out–it was not how one would have expected that meeting to go.

On the other hand, I really am not fond of the trope of a character walking away and coming back to help the protagonist at the last minute. Just once I’d love for a fully developed secondary character to walk away and NOT return just in the nick of time, forcing the protagonist to save themselves.

That wasn’t enough to make me dislike the book, it’s more a personal quirk of how I wish things were instead of how they actually were.

But it was very interesting, and I’m looking forward to the next book.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Roc

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