Title: A Journey of Black and Red
Author: Mecanimus
Rating: M?
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Status: In-Progress
Library Category: Original Story
Pairings:
Summary: A period piece vampire story that depicts a gritty and visceral type of vampire. (No sparkles here!). This particular story follows a fledgling sired by a very old/powerful vampire and her journey/coming to terms with her vampirism through the pre-industrial Southern United States. There is some magic here and there.
Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/26675/a-journey-of-black-and-red

This was one of the more surprisingly good things that I have read lately. I'm always hesitant when I read things on Royal Road, but this blew me away. The prose and world building are fantastic. This is seriously old-school in how vampires are depicted. The beginning can be a bit hard to follow because the main character is in an altered state of mind, but that changes as the story goes along. (Give it a couple of chapters at least)

I've enjoyed how the characters have been developed, and I've really liked the setting of the southern part of the US (From Louisiana to Georgia) in the 18th century (I think, certainly pre-industrial revolution).

If there is a flaw, it's that at times I get lost on a character's motivation to do something, or how the plot got to a certain point, but I'm not sure if that is from my skimming or something the author messed up.

This is an actively updating story, and I believe it updates every Friday.

I'd easily give this a 4/5, for entertainment value alone. If you like vampire stuff at all, give it a shot.

 

Yes actually, I read this back when it was first posted, not all of it mind you but a lot of it.

I really enjoyed it and can't think for the life of me why I didn't continue it. It blends a surprising amount of fantasy creatures into what should be a fairly mundane scenario. The Viking Dwarf dude was cool and the MC is likeable.

I'll have to give it a re-read before I can post a proper review but I'd easily put this at a 3/5 minimum from what I remember.

 

Yeah, this is solidly in 4.5-5 territory for me. Vampires would normally be a sign to stay away from a novel, but as Sildet mentioned, the treatment here is very old-school. The characters are unique and memorable, the setting and worldbuilding are detailed and well-crafted, and there's generally a good mix of long-term plot threads and short-term goals to keep things interesting.

To expand a bit on the setting, the story starts right around the turn of the 19th century, about a decade before the War of 1812, and right around the Louisiana Purchase. Some cities (New Orleans, for example) are already decent-sized cities with active ports, while the interior of the US is still sparsely settled. This creates an interesting setting to explore, as there's very much still a frontier mindset in some areas, active Native American tribes in others (with accompanying mythological creatures of their own), and then vampires jockeying for power to seize the new opportunities that the US presents. This is both an unusual setting and an interesting one, since it's a very dynamic period in American history, and the author does a good job of exploring its various facets.

One minor criticism is that a couple of the shorter story arcs drag a bit (the Bingle arc, for example). While the concept was amusing, I think that arc could have been tightened up a bit, as it spent quite a while on a sort of side story that ended up not really being relevant to the main plot. The author improves on this over time though, as the only examples that stick out are towards the beginning.

 

I would say if you want to read any vampire story it is this one.
Setting and characters are well developed in depth. The main focus of the story is the interactions between the characters and less action, even if there is some. Conflicts are not only settled with violence but also via political means.

There are some places where I lost the motivation to pick it up after a new chapter was released, but every time I did it was worth it.

At this point the first big story arc is finished so it is a good time to give it a look.

For me a 5/5.

 

Ariane, no.


Edited to add some opinion on the fic:

This is essentially a shounen manga. Power progression, adventure, plenty of little arcs, abrupt switches of mood, coarse humor that breaks the 4th wall, running gags... It's good fun, nothing that gets me invested on the cartoonish characters or the overarching plot, but I keep reading every weekly chapter for some swashbuckling vampiric shenanigans. Solid, entertaining 3/5.

 

This fic has reached its end, only a few epilogues remaining. It's satisfactorily wrapped up, so I'm bumping it up to 4/5 for being completed and for a conventional, climactic finale that doesn't drag on. Nothing groundbreaking here, but solid entertainment all around, definitely library-worthy.