Gabrielle Faust's Eternal Vigilance: From Deep within the Earth was published by Immanion Press in April 2008. It was republished by Permuted Press in September 2014.
Information about Gabrielle Faust:
Acclaimed horror author, indie songwriter and artist Gabrielle Faust is best known for her vampire series Eternal Vigilance. Her previous work has also included three collections of poetry, Before Icarus After Achilles, Crossroads and The Beginning of Nights, the novella Regret, the novel The Lineage and the celebrated dark fantasy adventure novel Revenge. She was also the chief editor of the vampire anthology High Stakes and has contributed to a variety of publications and anthologies over the years. Her work has appeared in the sites SciFi Wire, Fatally Yours, Examiner, Doorways Magazine and Fear Zone, as well as various anthologies and magazines.
Faust was the Guest of Honor at the Queen of the Damned Vampire Ball in 2008. From 2009 to 2011 she was a Special Guest of the Endless Night Festival in New Orleans and was crowned "New Orleans Vampire Royalty" by the Vampire Lestat Fan Club at the Tru Blood & Gold vampire ball in 2010 alongside Charlaine Harris. Faust was the primary graphic designer for the 2011 World Horror Convention and was the co-crew chief for the International Housing Program for the SXSW Music Festival from 1994 to 2010. In 2011 Faust was awarded the Texas Social Media Award by the Austin American Statesman. She is currently a Staff Writer for Gothic Beauty Magazine and the Marketing Manager for Permuted Press.
Click here to visit the author's official website.
Information about Eternal Vigilance: From Deep within the Earth:
After a century of Sleep, Tynan Llywelyn has awoken to find the world he once knew utterly obliterated by a brutal war of epic proportions.
In a new apocalyptic society, bitterly divided by magic and technology, the Tyst Empire has found that a hundred years of global domination is not enough to sate their thirst for power. They have discovered the secret of the vampire race and have designed a plan to seize their own sinister form of immortality with the help of an ancient vampiric god.
The Phuree, a rebel uprising that has been engaged in a bloody war with the Tyst since the beginning of the new regime, have obtained the knowledge of Lord Cardone's plans and have allied themselves with the remaining Immortal clan. The powerful Phuree oracle, Nahalo, has had a vision that in Tynan alone lies the power to defeat the vampiric god and the dictatorship.
Cast into the midst of a global war between magic and technology, mortals and vampires, in a new world he is still struggling to define, Tynan must make the harrowing decision to save the world he so bitterly detests or stand and watch as humanity is destroyed by a primordial evil beyond all imagining.
A REVIEW OF GABRIELLE FAUST'S ETERNAL VIGILANCE: FROM DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH
Eternal Vigilance: From Deep within the Earth is the first book of the Eternal Vigilance series in which beauty, horror and gruesomeness meet each other with an explosive and unstoppable force. It's a powerful beginning to an excellent vampire series that will most likely be considered a classic in the near future.
I have to mention that I'm glad I had a chance to read this vampire novel, because it's something different. It was a pleasure to read this novel. I haven't read anything this good and fresh since I finished reading Freda Warrington's A Taste of Blood Wine a few months ago. I've read a few good vampire novellas, but it's been difficult to find good vampire novels to read.
Before I write more about this novel, I must mention that I'm difficult to please when it comes to vampire fiction, because I expect only the best from my vampire fiction. In my opinion too many authors have written way too many young adult vampire novels and not enough vampire novels for quality-oriented adult readers. I can honestly say that I don't enjoy reading young adult vampire fiction at all, because I dislike reading about teenaged girls who fall in love with vampires and pine after them. If I read vampire fiction, I expect to read a quality novel that has both depth and style in it. That's why it was a relief to find out that this novel turned out to be an excellent vampire novel for adults and had a good and well written story.
Eternal Vigilance: From Deep within the Earth is a beautifully written novel about survival in a new kind of a world where the society has bitterly been divided by magic and technology. It's a totally different kind of a vampire novel, because the author concentrates on writing about how the survival of the vampires is severely threatened by the Tyst and their plans to become immortal.
Gabrielle Faust combines horror, fantasy and science fiction elements in a brilliant and surprisingly fluent and effortless way in this novel, and she has added plenty of depth to the story. It's actually quite amazing that it's still possible to write this kind of original and compelling vampire novels, because many authors have already created their own visions of vampires, but Gabrielle Faust has fortunately succeeded in writing something fresh.
I've read quite a few vampire novels, so I can say that this novel clearly stands out among other novels because of its depth, freshness and genre-bending nature. I personally consider this novel to be one of the best postapocalyptical vampire novels I've read to date. In my opinion this novel differs from other similar novels in terms of beautiful and skillful writing and an original story that has depth in it.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
In this novel the protagonist, Tynan Llywelyn, wakes up from deep sleep and wonders about the new and changed world around him, because he remembers a different kind of a world. He remembers a world full of sounds, but now the world has grown silent and the landscapes have changed over the years. The alien landscapes feel odd to him, but he wants to explore and understand what has happened and what's going on in the new world. Tynan meets an old acquaintance, his maker, Seafra, and discusses with him about what has happened and how humankind has split into two groups: the Tyst and the Phuree. Soon he learns what kind of a role he has to play in the world and he must make a difficult decision...
It's great that Gabrielle Faust spends enough time to build Tynan as a character. She gives him a thorough history and explains what has happened to him and why he feels the way he does about things and other characters. She doesn't rush into action, which is nice, because rushing into action would've ruined the story and its terrifying beauty.
In my opinion Gabrielle Faust does an excellent job of desribing how Tynan feels about the happenings and also about himself. The gracefully and fluently flowing prose highlights Tynan's life, his feelings, his inner struggle and his actions.
I'll briefly mention that I found it interesting that Tynan had a cat called Dune. It was interesting to read about him and Dune.
One of the best things about this novel is that Gabrielle Faust has deserted all the basic clichés associated with vampire fiction and has transported vampires to a well-realized postapocalyptical world where humans fight against each other and where vampires also have to fight for their existence.
There's a beautifully disturbing and tense gothic atmosphere in this novel that almost borders on the line of being baroque in its lushness. The foreboding atmosphere is wonderful and it immediately pulls the reader into the story.
The postapocalyptical world in this novel is delightfully familiar yet exotic enough to attract the attention of readers. The postapocalyptical landscapes, the deterioration of the city and the way the Earth reclaims itself over what man has built are described in evocative and lush details. The author has imagined a stunningly original vision of a postapocalyptical future where mankind has created cyber-organisms and uses elemental powers and spells.
There's plenty of grittiness, eroticism and style in this novel. The author's decriptions of how Tynan lures his victims to himself and feeds on them are both erotic and beautifully lyrical. The violent scenes have been written extremely well.
It's possible to say that Gabrielle Faust belongs to the same league of authors as Anne Rice and Freda Warrington, because she writes good and beautiful prose that resonates among readers who are interested in beautifully written vampire fiction. Although I compare Gabrielle Faust to Anne Rice and Freda Warrington in this review, I must point out that she's a totally different kind of an author than these authors, because she writes postapocalyptical vampire fiction and adds intriguing fantasy and science fiction elements to the story.
I give this novel full five stars on the scale from one to five stars, because it's something different and the prose is very good. Because I've always been fond of good stories, dark fantasy and well written prose, I was very impressed by this novel.
Eternal Vigilance: From Deep within the Earth is a boldly different, beautifully written and captivating vampire novel that offers entertainment for all who enjoy reading dark vampire stories that are full of originality and gothic splendour. It's a quality novel (if you've overdosed on bland and mediocre vampire fiction, this novel is perfect antidote for you, because it's pure quality from start to finish).
My final words are: This novel is excellent, original and beautifully written vampire fiction for adults!