Blood Wars by Brenda Pandos
Genre: Supernatural
Published by: Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Pages: 96
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I didn’t actually realise that ‘Blood Wars’ was a continuation of a series that Brenda Pandos had already written called ‘The Talisman Series’, so in that respect, I can’t write a lot about this book because it wasn’t the first time readers were supposed to have met the characters or the situation.

However, the events of the series were explained throughout in bite sized chunks that didn’t make the continued series feel to laboured. I was able to grasp what was going on fairly quickly and didn’t have too many questions. Good.

The plot unfolded quickly, with motives behind each character’s actions easy to understand. The relationships between the characters, especially Julia, Phil and Nicholas were obvious, which was definitely a great thing, as I hadn’t read the series. Personalities were simple to read as well, which made this book an effective short story.

I’d definitely call this book a short story, as it was under one hundred pages, but no less enjoyable than a three hundred page book. If anything, I enjoyed it more because it was too the point. With a short story, there’s not a lot that you, as the reader, feel needs to be cut out because of irrelevance. Everything was relevant, everything was explained: the perfect package.

The book completed one of its functions in making me want to read the original series, although I’m pretty spoiled on what happens! 🙂 One of my only complaints, as an unqualified reader, was the lack of vampires. More vampires. (Of course, that was the plot for there to be no vampires in a previous vampire world, but more subtle hints of their continuous existence would have been nice!)

Overall, I’d give this book 2 stars, because it did have substance, but having not read the original series, I could not become as attached to the characters and the romances as I’d have liked to. Also props for the dramatic cover. Blood red was a nice touch.