Review: Exceptional
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 16, 2011
I purchased After and 61 AD on the same day and read through both from start to finish.  The writing here reminded me more of Saying Goodbye to the Sun than 33Ad, and in a good way.  The story takes off from page at a breakneck pace and does not slow down.  Opening with the new character Baella we are quickly re-introduced to Taras, Theron, Ramah and High Council Herris before introducing us to Iceni Queen Boudicca and her daughters.I appreciate how compact the time span of the story is here.  The author chose an excellent time and place to put the characters and builds from a rushed pace to a nearly frantic one by the end of the book.  You will feel the clock ticking away for everyone and they react as you would expect,  changing from calm and collected to making snap decisions in order to achieve their goals as soon as possible to avoid the rising sun.In most ways the book delivers and then some.  If you wanted to see Taras adapt to his undead situation we do, if you wanted to see Theron continue his reign of terror and get a little payback of what he deserves, you certainly will see that here.  But what certainly stuck out for me here was Baella and Ramah.  Baella is certainly an interesting new character for the series which has been dominated by men.  Neither a member nor servant of the Council nor a renegade who had no choice in being a Bachiyr she represents a new paradigm and depth to this universe.  Ramah is particularly well handled here, while not fully fleshed out that is for the best... we are given just enough to start to understand him... but he is left enough in the dark to still maintain his unknown qualities.  By the end of the book you not only know there is a rich, dark history AND future to these two but you will simply demand to know it!I cannot recommend this series enough to anyone looking for a complicated vampire tale and very much look forward to future books.