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Vampire of the Mists (Ravenloft, #1)

Christie Golden,

Clyde Caldwell (Illustrator)

Start date: February 1, 2021

Finish date: February 28, 2021

Discussion: Forgotten Realms Reading

Discussion leader: Raechel

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What Members Thought

May 29, 2019 Raechel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, rpg, fiction, horror, vampires, werewolves, freelance-reads, ravenloft

This was my second time reading this book and it's still great! Golden has masterful control over her descriptive language and pacing.

Jander is one of my favorite characters in the D&D universe and I love the spooky Ravenloft setting. The ending is bittersweet and perfect for a Ravenloft novel. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2021 Don Brown rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-2021, fantasy, z-2022

I am the land...

I read the 2011 Kindle version of Vampire of the Mists. This was my second reading of the novel that launched the Ravenloft book franchise originally published in 1991.

Vampire of the Mists is a medieval fantasy story about love lost, betrayal, revenge and redemption of sorts. This book assumes the reader is familiar with the places and peoples of its contents, as discussed below. For a thirty-year-old vampire novel, Vampire of the Mists is not too bad. It has its rough spots, but I am the land...

I read the 2011 Kindle version of Vampire of the Mists. This was my second reading of the novel that launched the Ravenloft book franchise originally published in 1991.

Vampire of the Mists is a medieval fantasy story about love lost, betrayal, revenge and redemption of sorts. This book assumes the reader is familiar with the places and peoples of its contents, as discussed below. For a thirty-year-old vampire novel, Vampire of the Mists is not too bad. It has its rough spots, but the novel presents endearing characters, a legendary bad guys, and has a satisfying end.

I had trouble getting into Vampire of the Mists during this read. I love the cursed land of Barovia as a setting and I love the theme of the book: the curse of Strahd and the use of mortals and vampires as the play things of the alien and unknown Dark Powers. Vampire of the Mists is full of dark themes, misfortune, and sad circumstances. Golden does a great job of intertwining the families and lives of many people and places. For how short this book is, there are many branches of people as she covers decades of time. I think that is a strength of the book. Another strong suit in the novel is the portrayal of the characters. They all have a place, a voice and a purpose. There are no throw away characters in this novel.

I felt a bit bored while reading Vampire of the Mists and often had to push my way through it. While I applaud the depictions of the people and places, the dialogue was a bit rough in many spots for me. I could not imagine the people of Barovia saying things like, "I can't let Sasha tackle Strahd himself." The word 'tackle' in this novel seemed out of place and a bit jarring to the flow of the prose. The use of modern vernacular prevented story immersion for me.

There are a lot of emotional leaps the novel makes that the reader is expected to follow along with. In an effort to avoid spoilers I do not share any, but there are a few shocks and twists without any punch behind them. This book and the Ravenloft series as a whole was written for an audience that already knew the threads of its story. I think the author and publisher relied on that foreknowledge and it took emotional impact out of the book, for me. I felt like I was told how to feel, rather than shown.

All that said, there are great pieces of writing, too. We enjoy things like, "jealousy welling up inside him like a poisoned tide..." which I love. And, the end of the book delivers an emotional touch that was missing throughout, in the lines from Jander that read, “Do you know how long it has been since anyone wept for me?”

In the end I give Vampire of the Mists three stars. I like it and I recommend it to readers and fans of the Ravenloft and Forgotten Realms settings. This book is for them. Readers unfamiliar with those fantasy settings would be lost and not recognize the novel's enormous amount of name dropping and setting specific references. For the latter, I recommend I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire as a starting place. ...more

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Jul 27, 2020 Liam rated it it was amazing

One of the best DnD novels I have ever read, and certainly the best I have read recently. Jander is great, Barovia is horrible, and I loved the connections to Forgotten realms aswell.

Full review here: https://www.forgottenrealmsreading.co... ...more

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Sep 05, 2021 Rob rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, horror-halloween, mckay-search, fantasy-forgotten-realms

An interesting cross over between the Forgotten Realms and the realm of the gothic horror setting of Ravenloft. More than a decade before Meyer’s Twilight series debuted, Golden wrote this story of a reluctant vampire - in this case an elf!

The book was quite the page-turner filled with all your usual vampiric tropes, but with enough rule-breaking to keep you guessing. Very well done.

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Jul 22, 2016 Tara marked it as to-read

Jan 31, 2018 Carrie marked it as to-read

Oct 16, 2022 ALEKSEY KOLYZHIKHIN marked it as to-read

Nov 28, 2022 Don Brown added it

Shelves: fantasy, print, owned

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