The year is 1888 and a madman is terrorizing the East End of London. But Doctor Varanus Shashavani has far more pressing concerns to worry about than a lunatic in Whitechapel. Her charitable hospital is under siege by gang lords, her English cousins are threatening to steal her inheritance, and her best friend has become obsessed with Gothic novels. To make matters worse, her son Friedrich is associating with an American who talks endlessly of wellness and yoghurt, while her bodyguard is pestering her to return home to Georgia, half a world away. It seems that everyone--friends, enemies, and "Saucy Jack" alike--have conspired to interrupt her work. But Varanus did not obtain immortality just to have mad killers and distant relations get in the way of scientific progress. Though supernatural conspiracies and all-too-human monsters confront her at every turn, Varanus will stand firm against all odds. After all, she is accustomed to fighting for what is rightfully hers.
G. D. Falksen is the author of "The Secret Life of Kitty Granger" (Carolrhoda Lab, 2021), "Maiden of War" (Audible Originals, 2020), "Doctor Cthulittle" (Insight Studios, 2018), "The Transatlantic Conspiracy" (Soho Teen, 2016), and "The Ouroboros Cycle" series (Wildside Press, 2013 to present), and has been a contributor to the award-winning anthologies "Mine!" and "Cthulhu Fhtagn!". He is also Chairman of the Advisory Board of Writers and Artists Across the Country, a non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating author visits to underserved schools. Falksen’s "Ouroboros Cycle" series is currently being developed for television.
A completely spoiler-free review of The Ouroboros Cycle: A Cautionary Tale For Young Vampires!
"Chapter One/ Two”
"Froufrou, bustles, and boiled eggs."
Charity house and yoghurt.
Skeletons and crypts.
Luka.
JARS!
Iosef!
Christmas Eve.
Ekaterine and Friedrich.
Family relations.
Balcony. Late December.
END OF THE BOOK.
Waiting (im)patiently for the third one!
OBVIOUSLY there are a lot of things in between these .gif reactions, but without spoiling anything, you get the gist. The amazing and absolutely MUST read gist.
GD Falksen is now entrenched as one of my favorite authors. His writing is a seamless blend of Austinesque propriety and supernatural intrigue and bloodshed. His writing is an absolute pleasure to read, the stories highly engaging, and I find myself very invested in the characters, and cheering for a cup of tea when the bad guys get whats coming to them. i found this book every bit as entertaining as the first, and thank god I still have two in the series to read. hopefully by the time i have finished them Mr Falksen will have finished another. Thank you Mr Falksen
For a vampire novel of any sort, the vampiric tendencies of its characters were surprisingly subtle. That was definitely a nice feeling while reading. You got to know these characters as normal people because they always felt normal, except for the fact that they have more wit than the average human being.
While I've given 5 stars to both this and the first novel, I enjoyed this much more. There was a nice balance between focusing on the characters and advancing their stories and the story the book is about itself. I did appreciate the fact that while I know the books will continue, there was no sort of forced ending leading into another story. 'Tis a much nicer feeling to wait patiently for another book than to wait impatiently because you want the cliffhanger to be resolved.
The Ouroboros Cycle is easily one of my favorite series of books out there. It's an incredible edition to the modern take on a Victorian horror novel genre. The heroine is an amazing lady who manages that difficult balance between being strong and being a male character who happens to be called 'she'. I love it.
I struggled with this one a bit because it's a lot longer than book two and has a lot of things happening at once. This book is broken into different points of view from different characters that were introduced in book one. It's a bit of mess and wasn't as good as the first time reading it.
Sono stata tentata di mettergli due stelle per il semplice fatto che gli ultimi capitoli erano totalmente slegati dal resto della trama e, per me, senza il minimo senso di esistere.
Not a DNF but I wasn't as hooked on the events of this book as I was with the first. I think I'll have to leave this for now and come back to it later.
Fantastic story, save for one small point--if Korbinian could throw his sister off that balcony, why couldn't he help Varanus in the mad doctor's lab? o_O I feel like I'm missing something here...
Other than this, it was a wonderful story. ^_^
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Really loving this series! Charming, exciting, and surprisingly action packed! I liked the separate accounts of other characters, especially Luka, and found the twists to be welcome and unexpected. I can't wait for the next book! So much more has to happen!
I real-time the characters and enjoyed following their adventures. I found this an interesting continuation of the first book. Can't wait to read the next.
Some delightfully gothic elements, but still manages to be realistic (well in terms of the genre) and engaging, with a well thought out universe for the action to play out in.
I wasn't sure how the second book would turn out, but it's absolutely excellent. A great follow up to the first in the series and a good standalone book as well.