Lucita of Aragorn has been a symbol of Vampire: the Masquerade since her introduction as a "signature" character somewhere around Second Edition. As a Vampiric Assassin in the La Femme Nikita mold with bisexual tendencies and eight hundred years under her belt she has always been a bit of a controversial character. Her detractors have commented that she is solely a creation for the drooling fanboys and a sort of "Lara Croft with Fangs" while her defenders have had precocious little to back up that she is much more worthwhile than sex/violence appeal. As a personal fan who felt there was something more to the Lasombra assassin I was highly pleased with Lucita's novel entry in the Vampire Clan Novel series and delighted to hear that she would be getting her own trilogy as a sequel to it.
The story itself opens with the Sabbat's High Council of Cardinals holding a trial for Lucita's fate, without her presence of course, for the murder of Cardinal Ambrois Luis Moncada. The murder itself took place in Clan Book: Assamite and for those who follow the Vampire meta-plot destroyed a key architect of the Sabbat's plans to conquer the Eastern United States. Rather unsurprisingly the Cardinals come to the conclusion Lucita needs to die for this affront. More surprisingly is the fact that Lucita's actions against Moncada (who was her sire) have apparently caused several young vampires to look at her as a role-model for a new and better Sabbat. Viva la revolution.
Meanwhile Lucita is unaware she has become the equivalent of a Bastille raider to the younger Sabbat and is undergoing the undead equivalent of a mid-life crisis. The book plays down Lucita's combat prowess and focuses much more strongly on her personal situation and mentality. Instead of an unstoppable beautiful engine of death Lucita is portrayed as a woman who was thrust suddenly into un-life and has lived her centuries of life in the shadow of one of Vampire's most monstrous villains. Finally free of that shadow she is struggling for meaning to her own existence and what she intends to make of it or whether she should just toss herself into the Sun. I was a bit surprised at Lucita's emotional vulnerability but enjoyed seeing the ins and outs of her existence including the use of flashbacks to the Dark Ages, nightmares, and night to night life as an elder Vampire. One of the most amusing scenes in the book is where she masquerades as a much younger Kindred and compares the two existences.
The book also serves as a guide to life among the Lasombra and how life has changed for the majority of them since the Dark Ages. Making a guest appearance in the book is Andrew who was the starring character of the opening fiction for the Clan Book Lasombra Revised as we get a "peek" so to speak in what he's been up to in the past ten years since his embrace. Make no mistake the Lasombra are still treacherous, sneaky, scholarly and above all beautifully stylish vampires in the Modern Day but we also get an impression just how much they have to struggle to maintain that sort of emotional vigor. A definite must for those who want to see how the Lasombra are different than the Venture and Tremere in their existences.
Another point I appreciated in this book is that unlike Clan Novel: Tzmisce and to a lesser extent Clan Novel: Lasombra it treats the Sabbat as a group of intelligent and sophiscated vampires just as much as the Camarilla with just enough occasional bits of monstrousness to seperate them from the Camarilla. After the embarrassment of watching the Sabbat meetings in the previous novels look like Skelator holding court on Snake Mountain, it was a refreshing change. Above all there is a very mature sensation to the book even if lacking in violence and sex.
Bruce Baugh I must commend in his writings, and like Justin Achilli who wrote Clan Book: Giovanni, knows the Vampire setting intimately while possessed of enough skill with the pen to articulate the world into words. This is an excellent book and I cannot hardly recommend it enough to those who enjoy the setting. It is not only a good book Lucita, it is not only a good book for Vampire, it is a good book period.
8/10
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