Vampire Hunter D

[UltraRob]

So, Dark Horse has begun publishing translations of the original Vampire Hunter D novels in English and I picked up the second one. The first novel is the one the old movie is based on, so although I liked the movie, I passed on it. The second novel is another story unrelated to either movie, which is why I decided to try it instead.

 

Not finished it yet, but I do have a few thoughts on it:

 

Whoever translated it wasn't a very good writer: D's lines sound like they're being uttered by a 16 year old gamer and not a centuries old enigmatic Dhampir. The style is also a little clunky, I've read a large number of translated works and this guy needed a proofreader/polisher to do another pass or two, it could have been much smoother. The original writer's got a good style that you can see shining through the translation's cracks, but the translator mucked up a lot of it.

 

That said, and the reason this is posted here and not NGD, is that this book is a gaming goldmine about D's "Post-Nobility" (ie Post-Vampire Lords) world, which is quite a fascinating place. It's really interesting to get a Japanese take on the subject, with an author who obviously was more familiar with traditional vampire mythology than he was with the modern ideas. The things that the Vampire Hunter D movies gave hints of are here in full bloom, and the setting is perhaps the best part of the book.

 

While I'm not sure I'd recommend everyone run out and read it, if you get the chance, don't turn it down, if for nothing but the setting ideas alone.

 

Rob

[UltraRob]

Re: Vampire Hunter D

 

It occured to me I didn't actually explain why the setting was so interesting, so I thought I'd post more info from the publisher's site...

 

http://www.dhpressbooks.com/profile.php?prodid=10-583

 

12,090 A.D. It is a dark time for the world. Humanity is just crawling out from under three hundred years of domination by the race of vampires known as the Nobility. The war against the vampires has taken its toll; cities lie in ruin, the countryside is fragmented into small villages and fiefdoms that still struggle against nightly raids by the fallen vampires-and the remnants of their genetically manufactured demons and werewolves.

 

Every village wants a Hunter-one of the warriors who have pledged their laser guns and their swords to the eradication of the Nobility. But some Hunters are better than others, and some bring their own kind of danger with them...

 

More specific info and a novel summary can be found here: http://www.altvampyres.net/vhd/nov1.html

 

The actual world in the story comes across as RIFTS lite, or as RIFTS probably would with less technology and playing up the horrific angle of the setting.

 

Rob