It’s 1917, but not like it’s described in the history books. Prince Felix Yusupov has just killed the mad monk Grigori Rasputin in St. Petersburg, leaving his vampire cohorts leaderless and vulnerable. As he travels to Romania, Felix and his comrade-in-arms Rurik Kozlov stumble upon yet another sinister conspiracy, this one led by the German emperor Wilhelm II. Soon enough, they find themselves battling Kaiser’s dark creatures and even darker magic. As they experience harrowing adventures, Felix and Rurik meet new enemies and old allies.
In THE NOSFERATU CONSPIRACY: Book Two, The Sommelier, author Brian James Gage has a lot of fun depicting a secret, supernatural history of World War I. Warlocks within German high command are trying to use the undead to break the stalemate on the Western Front. The infamous flying ace Manfred von Richthofen is a vampire, giving a whole new meaning to his nickname The Red Baron. The author puts a lot of effort into building a world in which classic movie monsters – and at least one fairy tale – intertwine with the history of the War to End All Wars. Unfortunately, the novel’s lore is also its chief detriment. The story stumbles as Gage frequently stops the plot to explain some aspect of his world, expounding on upirs, ustrels, vampires, warlocks, wizards, demons, demi-demons, and similar beings. The pace picks up considerably whenever the author focuses on the adventures of Felix and Rurik instead.
THE SOMMELIER also spends a lot of time following numerous powerful villains of its world. In a way, this makes sense: after all, the word conspiracy is right there in the title. However, most of these side plots revolve around antagonists scheming against each other in their castles and palaces, far from our heroes. While there is certain grim satisfactions in seeing their plots backfire, one can read about these unlikable characters for only so long before losing patience. But there are exceptions. Villainous madman Charles Vondling is a fittingly over-the-top pulp villain. The young witch prodigy Hanne Nauhaus is also great as a seemingly unstoppable killer with a tragic past. There’s some solid stuff in Brian James Gage’s THE NOSFERATU CONSPIRACY. Its premise is great, its protagonists are likable, and their adventures are exciting. There’s a tight, thrilling novel somewhere in there. Too bad it is buried under so much exposition and needless side plots.
Brian James Gage’s THE NOSFERATU CONSPIRACY: Book Two, The Sommelier is a dark, pulpy adventure featuring likable protagonists and horrifying monsters but gets bogged down by too much exposition and too many villains.
~Danijel Štriga, for IndieReader