It astonishes me that people have not yet realized that there are no truly original ideas in the world anymore. What most writers do is try to bring a new perspective or comic slant or a culturally specific slant, etc. to ideas that have existed throughout history and into our prehistory.

Myth, which in essence is what fiction is, is a function of the human psyche in which we try to examine the concepts in our heads in the context of real world, or semi real world, settings.

When the Greeks were trying to understand the nature of the Gods, the divine, or whatever we may choose to call it, they did so through fables and stories that illustrated concepts that had been bubbling in human consciousness forever.

The vampire with a conscience is also such a myth. It is a subliminal, though not all that deeply subliminal, look at the idea that a being can reconcile his essential uniqueness with a society that demands conformity. In this case the ideas of good versus evil being thrown in to the mix.

I have not read this book, and probably never will, but I would like to see what the author would say about Angel the TV series, or the now cancelled Moonlight, which i loved, or the many number of popular shows and books (Anne Rice anyone?) that he has obviously not only not read but kept himself blissfully unaware of.

I love your reviews, Alex, and you weren't being evil. I would likely have been a rotten bastard.

The book he should have written was of the disenfranchised and beaten nerd who seeks to become the evil vampire out of rage and frustration with the world around him.

Oh, wait, that's been done too...

LOL