Nod

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I did like the little bits of end of the world stuff that happened, some of the imagery sprinkled through was cool and interesting, and I think the idea of it all was fantastic, but the execution just wasn’t for me unfortunately. The destruction and breakdown of civilization is only part of the story, a necessary sacrifice to deliver a narrative rich with religious, ethic, and philosophical dichotomies, in particular, "good and evil". So in summary this is a really good book, that get's you thinking long after you have put it down, but be warned.

First, it demonstrates that Cain has not learned the lessons of his previous crime and his greed has developed to the point that he now marks off property that he has obtained so that it might not be stolen back from him.Although in fairness Barnes, unlike Anthony Ryan, actually has some understanding of how punctuation works.

Paul must watch his wife Tanya go from put-together, succesful career woman to a mean wreck with little grasp of reality. The same argument, however, may be used against this claim, as it is neither stated that Cain was married before his exile. Anyone who has gone a sleepless night or two can’t help but feel the pain of Barnes’ characters as they face their punishing departure from this life. The conventional way of solving this problem is that Adam and Eve had many other children, though their names are not mentioned, and that Cain married one of his sisters. The first half of this book does a brilliant job in recreating these events, within a limited time-frame that added tension to the piece.

Barnes tries to cram this book so full of Memorable, Quoteable Lines that absolutely nothing sticks. The lovely thing about this was the disjuncture between reading a tale told in words while being confronted by a new world in which words are becoming defunct. Some Biblical scholars believe that Nod is an actual place and have tried to establish its location. The Chronicles of Shadow details the rules and commandments set forth by Caine for Vampires in the world.

I didn't really connect with Paul that much--he's pretty detached and rarely experiences strong emotions about what is happening around him.Those ‘outside’ the group are often regarded to be less important and perhaps even less human than those ‘inside’. The afterword really sets the tone of how to relate these stories to the current climate for vampires in the modern world, which was a nice touch to end the book on. A new day dawns in Vancouver, Canada, and it soon becomes apparent that almost no one in the world has slept. Now Cain dwelt in the land of trembling, in keeping with what God had appointed for him after he killed Abel his brother. The author’s clear understanding of the epic nature of his story’s historical sweep is matched by his keen eye for descriptive detail.