When one hears that the name of a series is The Vampire Earth, one conjures up ideas of, well, Vampires. Probably on Earth. And in actuality, one would be correct... but only to an extent and not quite the way one would imagine. The Earth in question is a post-apocalyptic future Earth, around the year 2065, and 43 years into the Kurian Order. The Vampires in question refer to both the aforementioned Kurians, aliens that have invaded, taken over, and have a tendency to feed off of the life energy of the remaining human population (I hate it when that happens!), and the pale, strong, deadly, blood-sucking Reapers who work under them.

The first book in the series, Way of the Wolf, introduces us to this world whilst following the exploits of Lt David Valentine, a member of the Southern Command, one of the organized resistance movements against the Kurians. Valentine is one of the first generation born after the Kurians took over, and we follow his journey from his harsh childhood to joining Southern Command, to meeting up with one of the mysterious Lifeweavers (cousins to the Kurians who help humans in their resistance) who turns Valentine into a Wolf, one of three types of Hunters: enhanced humans with senses/abilities similar to wolves, cats, or bears.

There are quite a few intriguing ideas in this book. I like the idea of how the Kurians and their ilk had been on Earth several thousand years previously and that invasion resulted in, among other things, the surviving legends about vampires. I’ve also always been a fan of the concept of untapped potential in the human race, brought out here in the form of the Wolves, Cats, and Bears. The book also does well in dealing with the range of human reactions to such an alien invasion (particularly one that occurred a generation or more previously), where some people can only think about fighting back (organized or not), some people just want to live their lives on their own, and some people actively work with/for their alien overlords (possibly in a very Kent Brockman-esque manner, who, for one, welcomes our new vampire overlords).

Where the book falters a bit, though, is that many aspects of the world, the plot, and some of the characters, are not as fully fleshed-out as I think they should have been. As an example, we don’t get a full picture of the range of Valentine’s new abilities as a Wolf, outside of when he was first changed, nor do we get much of an idea as to the abilities of Cats and Bears. It’s a cool idea that I wanted to know more about and was disappointed that I was denied (in this book, at least). The Kurians themselves also don’t play as large of a role (at least not directly) as it seems like they should have. These are more of minor issues than the one I had with the plot of the book, however.

It’s not that the plot of the book is bad, by any means, just not… complete. There isn’t really an overarching plot for this book in general, no central conflict that was resolved by the end. Instead, it is more of a series of events/adventures/missions in Valentine’s life. It isn’t that the book ends abruptly or anything, but overall it feels like the book doesn’t quite stand on its own as a novel and instead is just set up for the rest of the series (which is at 8 books and counting…Book 9 is due at the end of the year). Many series have this kind of filler book (see Book 6 of Harry Potter, as an example), but it is usually not the very first book.

Another thing to note is that this book uses a plot device that has become way overdone in books, movies and even on TV, where the first chapter really takes place in the middle of the book, before Chapter 2 flashes back to the beginning and then starts presenting everything that leads up to the events in Chapter 1. And the odd kicker in this instance? The book doesn’t actually connect back to Chapter 1. Apparently Chapter 1 was just another of the afore-discussed random events/adventures/missions that make up the book.

However, I did enjoy Way of the Wolf, and do recommend it. It has many good things going for it and is an enjoyable read. If it is just set up for future books, well, many of those books are available now (welcome to the future, baby!), so at least there’s no lag time in finding out just what is being set up. I certainly plan to check out the rest of the series, and I guess that’s a pretty clear endorsement. I do still think that the title of this series is a tad misleading, though. They could just as easily have gone with The Alien Earth as much as The Vampire Earth. An intriguing and different take on Vampires, or claiming “Vampires” to shamelessly pander to a whole different demographic? That’s up to you, dear reader, to decide.

  -- K. Burtt

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