Aspiring Author

One of the things I like about Brian Lumley's Wamphyri are the complexity of his creatures- these aren't clichéd Dracula-style imitations or Twilight/Buffy cardboard cut-outs. The Wamphyri are often the most memorable and interesting characters in the books. As part of this, the little details are important. One of the things that fascinates me is the Wamphyri appreciation of music. They do, of course, possess enhanced hearing. We see this most clearly in the Vampire World trilogy, where the dog-lord Canker Canison becomes fascinated by a Szgany flute and asks Nestor to teach him 'the tune'- before he builds his own gigantic instrument out of bones. When discussing Canker's interest in music, one of the Wamphyri refers to Devetaki Skullguise's "Szgany troupe" which she kept in Masquemanse. Eventually though, Nestor starts to believe that Canker has warped and distorted the tune (he asks, "Do the Wamphyri corrupt everything?") It made me wonder about Szgany music and its connections to our world, and what we would recognise as Gypsy music in our reality. I tried to imagine how the alien music of the Vampire World might sound. We then see the theme of the Wamphyri appreciation of music raised again in the E-Branch trilogy, where Lord Nephran Malinari reveals his love of traditional Blues music. I wondered if this was a reflection of Brian Lumley's own musical tastes being slipped in there! There's another scene in the taverna on a Greek island where Malinari and Vavara react negatively to a heavy metal song being played at the venue. It is a minor theme, but I just like these small details about these monstrously evil characters.

Harry - his character and background have more depth than Jake or Nathan, covered in the Necroscope and Lost Year books, etc. Nathan was interesting up to the point that he fully became the Necroscope but not after. Jake to me felt like a wisecracking stereotype cardboard hero but I wasn't a big fan of the E-Branch trilogy.

Turkur Tzonov was pure human evil, and he's the worst simply for how he treated Siggi Dam. He got his just desserts in the end though!

Orlea's story, which she relates to Nathan when Maglore has ordered her to sleep with him.

I think the three most powerful have to be Shaitan the Unborn (obviously, Father of the Wamphyri); Eygor Killglance and Nephran Malinari the Mind.

This is a fantastic topic, I'm disappointed to have discovered it so late! Who would win in a physical fight? I think Wratha. Although Karen could certainly look after herself, I think Wratha would. Devetaki was a more cerebral Wamphyri Lady, and so would prefer to stand back I think (although admittedly as a thrall she defeated her egg-rival armed only with a small knife, while the other girl had a gauntlet). I think Wratha would win any physical battle with Karen or Devetaki due to her fragile sanity which would amplify her aggression, and her transformative 'wrath'. Who is hotter to you? Karen seemed the most sensual, attractive and friendly of these Wamphyri Ladies. Devetaki's intelligence is sexy but she has half a face! Wratha was certainly hot as a Szgany girl, but her experiences have left her with a damaged personality. The idea of her transforming into an evil witch-hag is also off-putting. Who is the greater Wamphyri? I think Devetaki is the most powerful of these Ladies. She's clever, devious, literally two-faced (!) and utterly unscrupulous. As you see in Bloodwars, her ambition knows no bounds. Karen may have survived in the time of Shaithis and Lesk the Glut etc, but Devetaki outwitted Maglore and Vormulac, and over forty Turgosheim Lords and Ladies. Karen was also too soft-hearted (comparatively) for a Wamphyri Lady and never had those kind of ambitions or sense of cruelty. Wratha was also ambitious but too hot-headed and consumed by her fragile sanity and powerful emotions to be truly strong. She lost control of her renegades after leading them out of Turgosheim, and did not have Devetaki's ability to continue to manipulate her peers to do what she wanted, while disguising her own motives. What would happen if Wratha's band had found Karen? I think there would have been a rivalry between Wratha and Karen, she would have immediately threatened Wratha's control over the group had they allowed her to keep her stack; however, I can't really see her forming an alliance with anyone in Wratha's band- as a non-Turgosheim Wamphyri, Karen would have been an outsider from the start. I suspect, the Wamphyri being as territorial as they are, Wratha's band would have killed Karen and her thralls to take her stack, outnumbering her as they did.

I think Nestor's attraction is that he is a much more ambiguous character. In the end, it seems to me that Nathan becomes a very stylised messianic hero, and its Nestor's flaws and character weaknesses which make him more compelling.

In my very early days as an aspiring writer, I wrote a Turgosheim prequel called "The Black Gorge" (this was back in the 1990s when I was still a teenager). Obviously I never published it but I came across it in my archives later. I contacted Brian Lumley about it a couple of years ago and asked if I could self-publish it on my blog, and although he was very kind enough to give up his time and reply to me, he was understandably not at all happy that I had written a story set in his world, using his characters. A lot of people forget about the crucial issues of Copyright and trademarks (although you may love an author, you're essentially ripping them off), and at that time I was unaware of Brian Lumley's firm stance on fan fiction devoted to his works.

A lot also depends on the will and mental strength of the human who is bitted/vampirized as to whether they can rebel against their Wamphyri master. In the Vampire World trilogy, Jason Lidesci becomes a thrall to Gorvi the Guile, but as he possesses his father Lardis' spirit and hatred of vampires, he is known as a 'surly' thrall and so is never fully bound to his master the Guile. Bloodsons are indeed powerful, and my assumption with this is that they are born Wamphyri, never know what it is like to be fully human, and directly inherit powers from their Wamphyri parents (Spiro Killglance, son of Eygor, as another example)

It's the spore...which evolved from something murky in the 'vampire' swamps in BL's vampire world.

Hello guys, I've just joined and happy to share my opinions about the books...I'll try and resurrect some threads that interest me.