Noble V: Greylancer

Vampire Hunter D

by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Takami Nieda (Translator)

It is the year 7000 by Noble reckoning, and the vampire rulers of the world have grown complacent. When the Outer Space Beings invade, the Noble warrior Greylancer must pit his skills and magic against the technology of the OSBs, quash an anti-Noble rebellion, and, when he is critically injured, turn to mere humans for help. The Three Thousand Year War of Vampire Hunter D begins here! None

Genres: Vampires, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Novels, Light Novel

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2013

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now here's a new and interesting take on Hideyuki Kikuchi's famous world of Vampire Hunter D. Only now we have a new character just as dangerous and possibly even deadlier, the Noble Greylancer, the ferocious overseer of the Northern Frontier, in a tale that is set several thousand years before D's time, during the Nobles war against the OSB. The change of perspective is refreshing. Greylancer himself is more problematic. He maybe the protagonist, but he's no hero, at least not to humans, who he regards as little more than livestock. Kikuchi tries very hard to make the Nobles not human, and he doesn't always succeed, and some times the effort really shows. What's fun is we travel all over the place, thanks to Greylancer. We literally go from the moon to the Frontier, and a lot of places in between. We get to see the world that was,before D's time. And Greylancer has his moments. All in all, this is a fun read, with a lot of fighting, and several conspiracies.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author creates a world in which vampires are the dominant species of a distant planet that is invaded by an alien race. The aliens are determined to take this resourceful planet and make it their own. In the mean time the vampire race is hell bent on preventing the invaders from conquering their planet, while at the same time keeping their food source in line. This book does not go into much detail about the relationships between vampires and humans. It mostly focuses on the war that is taking place on the planet. Vampires are considered an elite race that are overlords to a trembling human population. One character rises to the occasion and makes it his life purpose to destroy the alien intruders. His name is Greylancer, only son of the original vampire that has not been seen in 5,000. He is a being that is cold to touch and cold in heart.

This book focuses mostly on the war efforts of the vampires and alien race. It has very little human interaction and if it does the humans are treated poorly. It is almost impossible to like the main character due to his coldness and distant attitude. However, the author did provide some history into why the main character is the way he is. I have to say that this book was a little confusing after about the third chapter. I understand that their are other stories that exist with this character and I have not had an opportunity to read them. I think this book would be good for someone who is well versed in the history of this world and can appreciate what the author is saying. The book is well written, full of action, and is fast paced. It does not disappoint there at all, but if you are not familiar with the story there is really no point in picking it up. I understand that there are some loyal fans out there and my hat is off to you. I would love to learn more about this character and his world. My true score would be a 3.5, but I cannot do that so I have to put 3.

[Michael Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I finished reading Noble V: Greylancer by Hideyuki Kikuchi. It's a spinoff prequel to VHD. It takes place in the year 7000, 5 centuries before VHD Volume 1.

I thought the book was great. I haven't consumed a book so much in a long time. I was glued to it for days. The author obviously thought what it would be like to create a hero from the Noble's side. And there's a couple of VHD references from Volume 1 and 3 in it. The character of Greylancer is no friend to the humans or the vampires, a total cold blooded anti hero. He's not bad but I wish there was more exploration with feelings towards the human characters. I love Hideyuki Kikuchi's style of storytelling, mixing horror and sci-fi. It has an interesting take with vampire militarism and how cold blooded these vampires can be to their human subjects despite the fact they are protecting them but still drink their blood.

My biggest gripe was the book cover. It's hideous. I thank goodness the artist didn't make any pictures in the book just like the VHD books. But you know what tick me off the most. The Japanese Artist for Greylancer was Ayumi Kojima, the artist behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I was like "Are you kidding me?! Her art is beyond beautiful but this artist to make this hideous US cover?! (Insert gigantic amount of swearing here)".

Anyway, I hope if there's more Greylancer books by the author, they get translated to English. And don't hire this US artist to do the cover .... EVER!!!!!!!

[Amanda]

I was eager to see what the world looked like during the height of the Nobility's power. Alas, I read this book right as my love affair with Vampire Hunter D was coming to an end, got about halfway through, and never finished it.

The translation was lacking for this one, that much was clear. The writing was very disjointed and it seemed as if the characters were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Maybe that was the point, but I found it hard to read.

You do get a fascinating glimpse of vampire society through the eyes of Greylancer, a more sympathetic Noble. I still love this universe and derived inspiration from it for my own fictional worlds.

[Damien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book from a fantastic author. Noble V: Greylancer is a refreshing look into the world of Hideyuki Kikuchi's series 'Vampire Hunter D' from the eyes of one of the nobles themselves. It's nice to read a vampire novel without these dark monsters being overly romanticised as in with other more recent books that shall not be named. It's enjoyable to read about a vampire for whom he really is.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kikuchi is bugnutz crazy.