I’ve recently started to read E. E. Knight’s Vampire Earth series. I did not read it for the longest time for a simple reason: It had “Vampire in the title. I’m not a fan of the current trend to drive urban fantasy into the ground. I understand its hot; I understand that hard SF and military SF arent’ the sellers they once were (unless you’re on the British side of the pond). What that means for me as a consumer is that I’m extremely selective about what I read. I finally saw so many recommendations coming to me about the first book Way of the Wolf that I picked it up. I was surprised that the story wasn’t about vampires at all, but a post-apocalyptic Earth that is invaded by a aeons-old alien culture. Yes, one of the alien types does sample human blood and/or “auras,” but the difference is that they are aliens and not some supernatural, undead construct. Why does this make a difference? I don’t know. Ask your mother.

E. E. Knight (or his agents and publishers) have missed the boat by labeling this as the Vampire Earth series. The book is a great, fast-paced read. The episodic nature reminds me of Allen Steele’s Coyote series. His world building is grim and thoughtful, and his main character (no matter what the few idiot reviewers on Amazon contend) is well developed and driven. This is not to say that urban fantasy books, by and large, are not great, fast-paced reads. For me, the I miss the appeal of the conceptual framework and thus barely give them a chance. If Mr. Knight is trying to attract sci-fi traditionalists who enjoy a good alien invasion/human resistance  story, I would recommend a series label that doesn’t put off the (admitted) minority of speculative fiction readers who want good science fiction without the supernatural chaser.

I’m looking forward to reading more in the series over the next couple of months.