It’s no secret that I have a penchant for liking any sort of book that involves vampires – one of the most sensual mythological creatures known to man. Not that I’d actually want to run into one in the middle of a dark alley after night has fallen. I’m no Buffy, so might end up in quite a dangerous situation. But still…

This novel takes place a long, long time in the future (12,090 A.D.), after the human race has gone about practically destroying themselves and the earth with a nuclear war. Vampires have become the ruling class, where surviving humans have gone back to being farmers and such in order to survive. One particular girl has been preyed on by one of the ruling vampires (The Nobles, as they call themselves). Enter Vampire Hunter D.

Vampire Hunter D was written by Hideyuki Kikuchi in the early 80′s, but was only translated into English this year. I had heard of the anime, but had never actually watched it. After starting to read the book, I would’ve been able to tell that this was Japanese even if I hadn’t known previously. There’s just something about the narration that seems to make it so different from what we’re used to; I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but it’s there.

The few illustrations that were included in the book were absolutely beautiful. Some of them gave me complete chills.

I’ve finally found a main character that I can’t decide whether I like or not. He’s… interesting. I think the reason that I can’t decide is that he seems to be so completely devoid of all emotion most of the time; like nothing bothers him or matters to him at all. At first it was rather alluring, but as things went on and he only ever got emotional when he was telling that mysterious voice that follows him to shut up… Well.

All in all, I thought the book worked well standing alone. Very well. Didn’t feel like the first book of a series at all. In that light, I probably won’t end up reading the rest of the series, but will have no problem picking this book up again.