A Light to Starve By / Axel Taiari

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Paranormal

Approximate word count: 8-9,000 words

Availability
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Author:

The creator and co-editor of Rotten Leaves magazine (an online literary magazine), Axel Taiari’s short fiction has appeared in many magazine and anthologies. For more, visit the author’s website.

Description:

This dark novelette imagines a time in the not too distant future when vampires and werewolves are “hunted like rabid dogs.” A vaccine, which most people have received, makes their blood poisonous. What’s a poor, starving vampire to do?

This novelette was previously published as part of Eternal Night: A Vampire Anthology.

Appraisal:

It seems vampire tales are everywhere these days. Sometimes they are almost like “one of us” (maybe even prime boyfriend or girlfriend material), while others they’re the enemy of humans. In A Light to Starve By they are the enemy, yet it is much different because the protagonist is a vampire, setting the reader up to sympathize and root for him – not because he is, or despite him being, a vampire, but due to his human qualities. Taiari does a great job in quickly acclimating the reader to his imaginary world, and ramping up the action to the story’s conclusion.

FYI:

Some adult language. Although the author grew up in Paris and I would assume English is his second language, nothing offered a clue that this was the case. His command of the language is on par with (and better than many) native English speakers.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant errors

Rating: **** Four stars