Dark Ages: Setite is the fourth book in the Dark Ages novel series, staring Andreas, a Setite introduced in the Dark Ages: Cappadocian novel. A loyal follower of Set, Andreas has a hand in many activities, among them the transport of fellow Kindred. After the fall of Constantinople he is hired by several fellow undead to transport them out of the war-ravaged region. Unfortunately for the smuggler the loose lips of one of his customers results in Andreas having to transport far more vampires than he ever has before, some of whom harbor some very problematic secrets, even as he has to deal with the intrigues of his own clan.
From the preceding paragraph it might sound like Dark Ages: Setite could very well be an entertaining novel. Unfortunately this is not the case for the most part, as the book is a very dry read, and feels a lot like 287 pages of filler until the next book in the series comes along. I have to admit it was very refreshing to see a Setite portrayed as something other than a religious fanatic; while the main Setite of the tale is a true worshiper of his god, he has many other facets to his character, something many Setites seem to lack in previously published books. A handful of other characters also seem very interesting, but most of them seem to be here just to establish their existence for later appearances in the novel.
One of my main problems with the novel comes from the way vampiric Disciplines are handled. One Discipline is used to do something that I have never seen it capable of in any RPG book, and since it involves a major plot point of the novel I found it nagging me as I read through the tale. There’s also an instant where the author has combined two Disciplines into one power, apparently to move the plot along, even though the situation could have been handled by mundane means, let alone the use of supernatural powers. Then there is a character who is shown to have an amazing level of power in a clan discipline, but later in the book he gets involved in a major battle, where he dies a rather pathetic death. It would seem an easy death for him to avoid, given his power level, and it appears as though the only reason he dies is so that another character can swear vengeance and have something to do in later books, since the vengeance seeker is slated to star in a future volume in the series.
The book also suffers from a lot of little bits which should have been caught in editing. Occasionally bits of text are unclear-for example, at one point two Lupine show up. From the way the text reads it seems as though they are teamed up against the vampires, and it was only several pages later as a character discusses the incident did I understand that the wolves had actually been fighting one another. Several times characters suddenly seem to know the names of one another, and while in some cases it makes sense they learned them “off-camera” as it were, in other instances it seems like they just pulled the names of others out of thin air. Things such as the rarity of vampires possessing out of clan disciplines and the Setite vulnerability to bright lights are brought up again and again, only to be forgotten in other portions of the book, as a Setite wields a lit torch with no problem and a majority of vampires seems to possess Auspex and Protean when they’re not clan disciplines. Animals have no problem dealing with the presence of vampires, but yet being around ghouls makes them near-uncontrollable. So on and so forth there are many little bits that would not be a problem to the reader individually, but together prove rather annoying.
There is also the problem of the reader being required to have a good amount of knowledge about Setites and their religious structure. I’ve been reading Vampire releases since the first edition of the game, and among the many books I’ve read is the first edition of the Setite clanbook. Despite that fact I found myself very confused in the beginning and end of the book, when the religious factions and their beliefs were discussed. The author makes no attempt to explain things to the reader in even a general way, apparently assuming the reader is very familiar with the Setites. Those lacking that knowledge may find themselves wondering exactly what the heck the characters are talking about at several points in the book.
As it is part of a series, there are points referencing previous books, and one or two items that are obvious set ups for later books, such as the character introductions I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, in a few of these instances those without knowledge of the other books will be left scratching their heads, and in the case of setups for later books there is missing information (presumably to be revealed in later books) that can be particularly jarring. One bit that bothered me is an obvious set-up for a future book, designed to prepare the reader for when the character reappears in a later novel, that has absolutely no relevance to the current novel. Literally the entire section of the book could have been cut from this book and it would not have impacted the story one bit.
If you’re a diehard Setite fan, or a completest who needs to have all the books in the Dark Ages novel series, then you can pick this book up. Otherwise I would just wait until the next book in the series to spend your money on.
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