The Last Aerie (Necroscope, #7) by Brian Lumley

The Last Aerie (Necroscope, #7) Reviews

• 
  Héctor Rodríguez

  Esto de estar leyendo en inglés me está gustando.
• 
  Bill

  Well, it's a sad day.
  After seven outings with Lumley's one-of-a-kind vampires, I'm afraid this is where it ends for me.
  The Last Aerie is pretty much a setup for the last in the Vampire World trilogy, where a war between our world and theirs seems inevitable.
  Sadly, I've ceased to care, given that this setup spanned over 700 pages. Not to say I didn't enjoy the time spent this time, but there was something missing. I felt a complete detachment from the horrors of the aeries, and their victims/inhabitants. There's just something blase about the world as a whole now. Perhaps I've been desensitized or maybe Lumley just isn't presenting misery as well as before. Or, more likely, the saga is simply getting old with me.
  
  Whatever the reason, I feel this has gone on long enough.
  But oh, the vivid memories that have been left with me from the earlier Necroscope books; the novelty of these Wamphyri, Harry's early conversations with the dead, Ferenzcy's story. Man, what a trip. Thanks, Brian, it's been one of a kind. Really, thanks man.
• 
  Chris

  Great second novel in the Vampire World trilogy. I liked this one much better than Blood Brothers. It had a much more linear flow and primarily followed the continuing, yet vastly disparate, stories of the twin sons of Harry Keogh without wandering off as much into other tangents and histories. The story propels the reader at an ever quickening pace to what promises to be a satisfying conclusion with the final confrontations between the two brothers, the two Wamphyri factions, and the two worlds in the last book of the trilogy, Bloodwars.
• 
  Γιώργος Μπελαούρης

  one of the best books of the series
  both story lines were compelling and intriguing equally
  it waz like a blend of the first and the third book but in a fresh way with all new ingredients
  it loses one star only because it had many repetitive narratives and phrases (this way and that, there is madness and madness, etc)
• 
  Liviu

  Oh boy, where to even start with this one? I love this series, but the fact that it took me from December 2021 to July 2022 to finish it says a lot about how it flows. In short - nooot great. I agree with other reviewers saying that it's overlong; a lot, and I mean A LOT could have been left on the cutting room floor without the plot suffering. Actually, it would've been much improved.
  
  As I mentioned in my other reviews, these books are at their best when action either 1) takes place in Starside / Sunside, 2) takes place in Romania, 3) takes place in the past (ideally in Romania). Thankfully, since we're following Nathan and Nestor, the Vampire World dominates this novel, while also introducing juicy character additions (Wratha the Risen, Canker Canison, Vormulac Unsleep and many others). All nice and neat, but it's a pretty shallow layer of enjoyable character development slathered on top of a big slab of transitional material. This book is just a bridge towards the events of the next entry in the series, and a long and rickety one at that.
  
  I don't read fantasy for non-stop action and plot development, and I love it when character dialogue covers that latter aspect subtly. In The Last Aerie, however, characters talk for way, waaay too long, which would be understandable if they didn't also use these protracted paragraphs of dialogue to unceremoniously (or, in some cases, overly ceremoniously) explain what they're about to do for our benefit. Not very subtle, Mr. Lumley. To be fair, it's true that you can't help but enjoy their presence almost without exception, despite how absolutely despicable some of them are.
  
  And speaking of despicable, I'm very Ok with fantasy violence, and I get that vampirism can be a metaphor for rape, but Lumley really does take things into very literal directions throughout this series. It's shocking at first, then you sort of get used to it and understand that it's the nature of the beast. However, I feel like he's completely overdoing it in The Last Aerie. Some parts involving forced sex are very, very hard to read, and while I get having a couple of moments of this nature just to establish and remind the reader that we are dealing with horrible creatures, the sixth or seventh time it just feels like it's too much and you just feel like throwing the book against the wall in disgust.
  
  In parallel, as the series progressed, consensual sex scenes started reading less like Lumley and more like the kind of cheapo erotic literature that has airbrushed sixpack-rocking protagonists on its glossy cover. I get camp, I love camp, but this feels like something else entirely. Something I'm not a big fan of.
  
  But all in all, god damnit, even though the past couple of novels in the series have left me exhausted and promising myself I'll take a long break before jumping into the next one, I can already feel the itch to crack open Bloodwars, especially since it's the last one in the series. Well, in *this* spin-off series. How can this man be so damn productive?
  
  For me, the Necroscope series has migrated from must-read into kinda-almost guilty pleasure territory, but damn if I'm not in love with Lumley's work, no matter what dubious directions he decides to take it to.
  
  Brian, you sonuvabitch! I'm in.
• 
  Jay

  I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I got the audiobook and the narration from Joshua Saxon was spot on as always. He is amazing. Flat out, masterful. The story was good overall, but there was so much in there that I could have done without and, in my view, didn't bring anything to the table. The book would have been better with probably half the content, IMO. This is my least enjoyed book by Brian Lumley unfortunately.
  
  I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
• 
  Chris Healey

  Previous was disappointing, but glad I gave it the benefit of the doubt & carried on
  
  The Last Aerie had far more of a story to it, pretty episodic with several well staged climaxes or finales. Best of all was the return for half of the book to earth setting & E Branch, which are the characters & situations I like the most
  
  Best bit was the Nightmare Zone segment, had it’s place in the overall story but could stand on its own too. There’s several examples of that in Lumley’s writing & the series as a whole
• 
  Michelle Nakagawa

  This next in the series involves the sons of Harry Keogh, one Wamphryi and the other a man with his father's talent. It takes readers back into the worlds of E Branch as well as the vampire lords and Lady Wratha.
  Lumley never disappoints and I am starting the next book immediately.
• 
  Michael Daniel

  Outstanding - A world apart from Earth; one that abides by one rule: The vampires are the power... but they are in great danger from a lone human.
  
  Very good series! Imagine any knowledge that you needed at the ready for your asking. Enter Harry. Very well designed story, with a main character that is easily identified with, Harry Koegh. The imagination that came up with these characters must have experienced some truly awful things. Lumley, being an ex SAS officer, surely did.
  
  The vampires in this series are not nice. They are not warm and fuzzy. They're not cute (well, the women can be) and they know one primal rule: Anything to remain alive... so to speak. They are the epitome of ruthlessness, guile, viciousness, and outright cruelty. Lumley is good at this, and the stories get more and more gripping as the series carries on. We eventually even learn of the vampire's origins (The Source). Brutal and scary as hell at times. Always imaginative and truly entertaining.
• 
  Mike Koser

  As the Koegh saga continues I have found more and more that I prefer the portions of the story that focus on the E-Branch. The vampire plot in the Vampire world seems slow-paced and repetitive. The plot involving John Scofield seemed rushed, and merely a convenience to push the development of Nathan's character forward. Still a well written novel in most regards, and has certainly set the stage for the last book in the series.
• 
  Dollie

  I like this series, but I must admit, I'm becoming a bit tired of the Wamphyri. This is the story of Harry & Nana Kiklu's twin sons, Nathan & Nestor. They are not at all alike. Nathan is a dreamer and Nestor is ambitious. They could not end up becoming more different. And I don't know about anybody else, but Canker Canison gives me the frigging creeps.
• 
  Johnnie Howze

  The Last Aerie
  
  This is the second time around reading this series. The first time was so long ago that I had largely forgotten a lot of what transpired and this makes it just as enjoyable.
• 
  Matthew Schiller

  Every time I read these books I think to myself will I get tired of them? But I never do. While this book is on the long side, each time I get to the end I think I wish there was more. Thankfully there is in the form of the many sequels. The authors Lovecraftian vampires is uniquely his own and combine that with an action comes story it doesn’t get much better.
• 
  hotsake (André Troesch)

  Slightly better than Blood Brothers but suffering a bit from middle book syndrome. The thing with this trilogy is that while the story is good and the writing is solid, the characters aren't as interesting as in the original series.
• 
  Dennis

  Just buy it! anything from Brian Lumley is incredible. The Necroscope series and related books are his famous work, but he shows the reader his mastery of lexicon and imagination unbound in all his books and stories.
• 
  Ryan Morris

  am enjoying this series is long winded though don't know if I will start the lost years books though
• 
  Ron

  These stories of the Nercoscope and the Wamphyri are always
  So engaging. Loved this book just like the others in the series.
• 
  Damien Spencer

  This book gets great reviews. Some of it felt rehashed. I get it, they're evil. I get it, the blood is the life yadda yadda yadda seventh book in I think I get it. Maybe I didn't get it though because this is held up highly by fans of the other books. Will I read the next few in the series? Probably because I've already purchased them. Am I looking as forward to blood wars as I once was the source? Nuh uh. How much time will I feel I've been robbed by the end of that book? Who knows because the future is a devious thing. (You'll notice in this review I used some sayings from the book in a very very corny and annoying way, much the same as I feel these sayings are bein used in the books at this point.)
• 
  Edward Amato

  I really enjoyed this book. It was the second of a trilogy and I had planned on rereading the first book but was grabbed by the first chapter. I really like the theme of a secret global society of men that monitor the occult. Brian Lumley joins other authors ( Anne Rice, Charles DeLint, Sergai Lukyanenko some of my favorites) in doing this so well.
  One criticism: no map of his imaginary land is provided in this edition. Annoying!
• 
  Sarah

  The rating is more like 4 1/2 stars. Quite a riveting 2nd book in the Vampire World trilogy. It continues with the story of Nathan and Nestor with Nathan being hurled into our world and Nestor recovering from his injuries and recounting the story of his rapid rise to becoming a Wamphryi Lord. I usually like reading the Wamphryi part but it was slow going here. Didn't care much about Wratha's lustful obsession with Nestor. Love the Nightmare Zone part. Very chilling, eerie and scary.
• 
  Jim Spencer

  This is the middle chapter of the vampire world trilogy. this is kind of like 'Lord of the Rings' meets 'Necroscope'. It goes through the twin brother's journey, one in the human world and the other in the 'Source (Vampire) world. That's the easiest way I can put it without giving too much away. It is here really where Necroscope came close to its peak and this is the one where this series became a classic in it's own right.
• 
  Jeanne

  I like all of Lumley's books, but these three are my favorites. Read them several times. I have a thing for vampire books and while these aren't your traditional Stoker type suckers, it's still a cool story.
• 
  J. Scott

  Forget "Twilight" and Anne Rice's mooning, overly sentimental vampires ... the Wamphyri are the real deal! They're pure evil, and Harry Keogh is one of the most three-dimensional epic heroes in the history of horror fiction.
• 
  Tani

  Could have been about 200 pages shorter and probably would have been significantly better. So, mind-numbingly boring in some places and decent in others. Not precisely looking forward to the next book, but will probably read it regardless.
• 
  Stephanie

  I have read much of Lumleys work but enjoy the necroscope series the most. The mix of science ,metaphysics and horror are hypnotic and hard to put down once started