NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS
March 18, 2011
And Therby Hangs A Tale !!
A review of
Ellen C. Maze Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider 2nd ed. (Treasure Line Publishers, 2010)
**This $14.95 2nd Edition is an improvement on the 1st version, but story-wise, is identical.**
Reviewer: Forrest Wayne Schultz
I am quite disappointed in the reviewers of this book for their failure to realize that in it the author has radically redefined the very nature of vampires. Ellen Maze's story is not just "a brilliant and original tale"; it is not just an "original vampire novel"; it does not just deliver "a fresh new twist to vampire lore". It is far more! It challenges the most fundamental conceptions of the vampire -- both classical and modern.
Maze disagrees with the modern notions that vampires can be good or attractive. Like the classical definition, she believes that vampires are very evil, very repugnant, and very horrifying. But, unlike the classical view, she does not believe vampires are irredeemable; she contends that vampires can be converted from evil to good by means of the same salvation (through Christ) by which humans are converted. Her rationale is that vampires are actually humans -- grossly perverted humans, but humans nonetheless. Vampires are not a separate class of beings from humans; they are superdegenerate humans.
Her character Beth Rider explains this by stating that it is a lie to claim that vampires are not human. She says [addressing a group of vampires] "Your people have fed you this lie to perpeturate their life style, but they are human. Mutated and altered by unclean spiritual forces, sure, but humans just the same. ... You have a soul. And you have a choice. If you put your trust in God, He will deliver you. You'll become a new creature. And you'sll serve Him for the rest of your days. When your time is up here, you'll go to be with Him in paradise forever." (P. 137)
In the story when vampires are converted, they cease to be vampires: they no longer suck blood, and sunlight no longer harms them. The result of this conversion is not becoming "good" vampires. What happens in their conversion is that humans who were vampires are now saved from vampirism. Just as a man who was a criminal ceases to be a criminal when he is converted, so a man who is a vampire ceases to be a vampire when he is converted from vampirism.
The story centers on the attack upon Beth Rider launched by the vampire leaders when they learn of the message in the book, and how it is leading vampires to salvation. So, this is really not a vampire tale with a twist. It is a new kind of vampire tale based on a wholly new defintion of vampirism. It is, in fact, the very redefinition of vampirism which generates the tale or is the tale.
This new vampirology is an integral feature of Ellen Maze's world view. Maze is a Christian horror/fantasy writer who is seeking to write her stories in accord with her Christian world view. Since this is something so new, I am not going to be dogmatic at this point, but do wish to say that it sounds to me like her redefinition is the correct one. At the very least, it is certainly a thought-provoking notion, one of the most interesting and thought-provoking concepts in fantasy I have come across in a long time. At this point I would say that the burden of proof rests on those wishing to maintain the classical view and on those who believe in the possibility of "good" vampires.
This redefinition of the nature of the vampire is so important that it really overshadows everything else. I also have found the character of Beth Rider to overshadow the other characters and, at this point, shall only comment on her. She is the one person in the story I would really like to meet. For me, one of the criteria of an excellent novelist is the creation of a character the reader would like to meet. So, in conclusion, for me the main significance of this story is its new defintion of vampires and its introduction of a very attractive character, Beth Rider.
I shall have more to say after I have read and reviewed Maze's other novels, which I shall do shortly.
Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258
March 18, 2011
Vampires Redefined
And Therby Hangs A Tale !!
A review of
Ellen C. Maze Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider 2nd ed. (Treasure Line Publishers, 2010)
$14.95 320 pp ISBN-10: 1617520314 ISBN-13: 978-1617520310
**This $14.95 2nd Edition is an improvement on the 1st version, but story-wise, is identical.**
Reviewer: Forrest Wayne Schultz
I am quite disappointed in the reviewers of this book for their failure to realize that in it the author has radically redefined the very nature of vampires. Ellen Maze's story is not just "a brilliant and original tale"; it is not just an "original vampire novel"; it does not just deliver "a fresh new twist to vampire lore". It is far more! It challenges the most fundamental conceptions of the vampire -- both classical and modern.
Maze disagrees with the modern notions that vampires can be good or attractive. Like the classical definition, she believes that vampires are very evil, very repugnant, and very horrifying. But, unlike the classical view, she does not believe vampires are irredeemable; she contends that vampires can be converted from evil to good by means of the same salvation (through Christ) by which humans are converted. Her rationale is that vampires are actually humans -- grossly perverted humans, but humans nonetheless. Vampires are not a separate class of beings from humans; they are superdegenerate humans.
Her character Beth Rider explains this by stating that it is a lie to claim that vampires are not human. She says [addressing a group of vampires] "Your people have fed you this lie to perpeturate their life style, but they are human. Mutated and altered by unclean spiritual forces, sure, but humans just the same. ... You have a soul. And you have a choice. If you put your trust in God, He will deliver you. You'll become a new creature. And you'sll serve Him for the rest of your days. When your time is up here, you'll go to be with Him in paradise forever." (P. 137)
In the story when vampires are converted, they cease to be vampires: they no longer suck blood, and sunlight no longer harms them. The result of this conversion is not becoming "good" vampires. What happens in their conversion is that humans who were vampires are now saved from vampirism. Just as a man who was a criminal ceases to be a criminal when he is converted, so a man who is a vampire ceases to be a vampire when he is converted from vampirism.
The story centers on the attack upon Beth Rider launched by the vampire leaders when they learn of the message in the book, and how it is leading vampires to salvation. So, this is really not a vampire tale with a twist. It is a new kind of vampire tale based on a wholly new defintion of vampirism. It is, in fact, the very redefinition of vampirism which generates the tale or is the tale.
This new vampirology is an integral feature of Ellen Maze's world view. Maze is a Christian horror/fantasy writer who is seeking to write her stories in accord with her Christian world view. Since this is something so new, I am not going to be dogmatic at this point, but do wish to say that it sounds to me like her redefinition is the correct one. At the very least, it is certainly a thought-provoking notion, one of the most interesting and thought-provoking concepts in fantasy I have come across in a long time. At this point I would say that the burden of proof rests on those wishing to maintain the classical view and on those who believe in the possibility of "good" vampires.
This redefinition of the nature of the vampire is so important that it really overshadows everything else. I also have found the character of Beth Rider to overshadow the other characters and, at this point, shall only comment on her. She is the one person in the story I would really like to meet. For me, one of the criteria of an excellent novelist is the creation of a character the reader would like to meet. So, in conclusion, for me the main significance of this story is its new defintion of vampires and its introduction of a very attractive character, Beth Rider.
I shall have more to say after I have read and reviewed Maze's other novels, which I shall do shortly.
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