fantasy/vampire books?

[sickybuaaaaa]

I've been having trouble lately, searching for good fantasy books. I've come across D&D style books, but don't seem to find any vampire novels I would enjoy. Most of them seem plain cheesy and over the top. Help, please? I've only just started to discover this genre and I'm not exactly sure what should I look for. I find Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series quite enjoyable, but would like to find something less sugar-coated and teen oriented. Your help would be much appreciated.

[Amelia G]

I'm not just saying this because she's a Blue Blood writer, but Nancy A. Collins is good, especially early stuff. Ditto Poppy Z. Brite. Charlie Huston is a new entry who is maximum brutal but excellent.

[Velvet-Tongue]

The Dresden Files are win. They're about a wizard detective living in Chicago and his experiences with the supernatural/working for the police. Lots of vampires, werewolves(and their many types), ghosts, ancient cults etc. Well written and alot of fun. All of the characters are also very likeable.

Give em a try =)

[Black Spiral Dancer]

Look for "One Foot in the Grave". Not much of a fantasy one, as it's based in modern America, but it's amusing.

Nancy A. Collins - Walking Wolf is a good werewolf one that has a vampire in it.

Can't think of anything else, unless you want to try Carpe Juggulum by Terry Pratchett.

[sickybuaaaaa]

Theenkyou. Imma try to find all these books.
Oh, and Black spiral dancer, I don't mind stories based on modern day countries, as long as they've got a good supernatural twist to them. Actually, that kind of books are among my favourites, though it takes a really good writer to write about supernatural in our world and make the characters seem believable. When I do actually find those kind of books, I get embarassingly obsessed with them

[Black Spiral Dancer]

You might like to look for a book called Tomorrow Sucks. It's an anthology of "Sci-Fi Vampire" Stories. It was a partner book for Tomorrow Bites (a Werewolf Sci-Fi anthology) It was available a few years ago, but don't know if it is still in print.
As for One Foot in the Grave, it's got everything from Vampires and Werewolves to Brownies, Dwarves, Zombies and Mummies. Along with being a sort of "Godfather" type story.

[tatum radcliffe]

Make friends with Jemiah Jefferson. Kim Harrison is great. Laurel K. Hamilton is an obvious. If you're willing to deal with full blown romance novels, read Lyndsy Sands. Oh, Charlene Harris writes a series I like. Sugary sweet, but good.

[tatum radcliffe]

oh, and Poppy z Brite is who got me started. love her still

[Black Spiral Dancer]

For a different view on the Dracula theme, you could do worse than look for a set of books by Jeanne Kalogridis. The first is called Covenant with the Vampire, the second is Children of the Vampire and the third is Lord of the Vampires. they follow the Family Dracul. (Yes, Vlad was not alone) and they explain why Abraham van Helsing was able to do certain things.

[Morning Glory]

seems right up the alley for Blue blooders.

The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, X-rated Bloodsuckers, and Undead Kama Sutra, by Mario Acevedo.

I've only read the first one. It is not anywhere near as erotica as the name suggests, and not really very serious for the hard vampire fan, but it's an entertaining enough adventure story and the originality of the genre crossings make it standout from the crowd.

[evilstonermonkey]

didnt actually like nymphos of rocky flats. got bored, honestly.

[Bacchus88]

I never have got into fantasy, most i have read was Erogon...Now historical Fiction, I really like the pale nordsmen...some others...
I read for info.. Like now I am reading the oxford history of Byzantium, Holy War the crusades and thier effect impact on today world, I believe next will be Patrick Buchanan The death of the west...

[athenahollow]

I agree, poppy z. brite is fantastic. I've read most of her books, but if you are looking for vampire, check out "Lost Souls". It's absolutely splendid.

[sickybuaaaaa]

Yeah, I've been trying to find some Poppy Z. Brite books. An incredibly difficult task here in Slovenian bookstores, it seems I'll probably have to order them on the net.

[Black Spiral Dancer]

You're probably best ordering them from Germany.

[DoomTart]

Without a doubt I am hooked on Kim Harrison's series: Dead Witch Walking, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way But dead, and A Fistful of Charms.

Also a big Laurell K Hamilton fan.

Michael Cecilione writes pretty good vampire books, my favorite Domination.

Blood Sucking Fiends and You Suck by Christopher Moore

The World on Blood by Jonathan Nasaw

Love in Vein 1 & 2 edited by Poppy Z Brite

Mary Anne Mitchell has a series--Sips of Blood, Cathedral of Vampires, Quenched--that's pretty good; it introduces the Marquis de Sade as a vampire.

[Solace_in_the_snow]

Stephanie Meyer does make Adult books... but you must be 18+ to buy and alas... I am not. Rachelle Mead is AMAZING. She rights from a succubus point of view and while it is a tad cheesey it is funny and cool.

[Black Spiral Dancer]

If you're looking for something a bit more unusual, you might want to try Fiends of the Eastern Front by David Bishop (It is published by Black Flame in the UK). The story is based on a 42 page comic book story from the 1980's in 2000ad, but the writer has expanded on the original 10 vampires in the strip, to incorporate most divisions of the armed forces of WWII, (air force, infantry, armoured cavalry or tanks, submarines, spies). There are 3 books in the first series, which can be found separately, or in one volume.

The next series is called Fiends of the Rising Sun which is by the same writer, and focuses on the war in the Pacific, linking the "Samurai Vampires" with the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the atrocities committed in Japanese PoW camps, and the reason why the A-Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Vaughn]

the bible....vampires, zombies and incest oh my.

[Magdalene]

I don't know if it's really in the vein you're looking in (no pun intended), but I recently read these two books and they were pretty good: "13 Bullets" and "99 Coffins" by David Wellington. I'm pretty sure he has them up to read for free on his site (but I also don't think I'm allowed to post URLs since I'm a newbie so I'll just trust you to google his name).

[Tinman]

came accross a few vamp books at friend of mines, by black libary, theres a vamp book set was ok, but not seen any others sorry