V Wars by Jonathan Maberry

Before I begin my review I'd just like to give you all the good news about my latest hospital operation. I had to go to Sunderland Eye Infirmary last Friday to have cataracts removed from my left eye. Both eyes are affected and I have noticed my vision worsening in recent months. If you think the black lines on my miniature figures have gotten thicker, this is the reason why! Anyway, the operation was a complete success. I was in the hospital just under two hours and the operation was both painless and quite short. I noticed a huge improvement in my eyesight as soon as I entered the recovery room. As a result, I now have near perfect vision in my left eye and best of all, I no longer have to wear glasses. For 43 years I have worn glasses, so to no longer need them has taken some getting used to. I thought I'd need at least three or four days to recover but I was feeling great as soon as the operation was over. Also, I did not have to wear an eye patch or have a bandage on my left eye. I left hospital feeling like a new man. Now everything I look at seems so much sharper and brighter. It is a truly remarkable transformation. Now, I can't wait to have my right eye operated on. That should take place next month.

So, onto the review. V Wars by  Jonathan Maberry is an anthology of short stories all set in a world created by Jonathan. A sweeping, threaded narrative of the global phenomenon known as the Vampire Wars! Mankind is silently infected by a millennia-old bacteria unknowingly exhumed by a scientific expedition in Antarctica. Now, in some rare cases, a person's so-called "junk DNA" becomes activated, and depending on their racial and ethnic heritage they begin to manifest one of the many diverse forms of the "others" that are the true basis for the legends of supernatural creatures. These aren't your usual vampires and werewolves - it goes much deeper than that. Conceived by Jonathan Maberry, V Wars features stories from various "frontlines" as reported by such contributors as Nancy Holder, Yvonne Navarro, James A. Moore, Gregory Frost, John Everson, Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Scott Nicholson (as well as Maberry himself, of course). The result is a compelling series of tales that create a unique chronicle of mankind's response to this sudden, hidden threat to humanity.

You all know I am a sucker (pun intended) for vampire stories and this one certainly pushed all the right buttons for me. I found it a thoroughly fascinating and enjoyable read. Quite often with anthologies, some stories stand out more than others and you often find good tales sitting alongside bad tales. With V Wars, however, I felt that all the stories were worthy of inclusion and that there wasn't a bad one amongst them. It was also refreshing to see that not all of the stories were set in America (although most are). Jonathan, himself, contributes the most to this anthology and I have long been a fan of his work. Suffice to say, I was immensely pleased to read his take on the vampire mythology and this is a series that can run and run.

Indeed, following on from the release of this book, IDW Publishing have recently began publishing a series of comics, also called V Wars, based on this anthology. It probably won't surprise you at all that I am collecting the comics as well. It was nice to be able to put pictures to the faces of some of the characters mentioned in the anthology.

I only have one criticism to make of the novel, and that is it features a truly ghastly front cover. It has been rendered in the style of a battered old paperback, which to me, just looks and feels wrong. It is not attention grabbing and I do not like it one bit.

V Wars by Jonathan Maberry is published by IDW Publishing and has a page count of 481 pages. It costs $9.99. I picked up my copy for £7.50 from Amazon.Co.UK. A Kindle edition costs £4.37 from Amazon.Co.UK. I liked it enough to give it an 8 out of 10 rating. It lost a point for the awful front cover. I hope there will be a second volume or more.