Immortal Blood - Anonymous

     I decided to start writing reviews of the books I recovered in the newspaper column Hassiri gave me. Considering there is only one copy of most of the books I'm trying to track down, I figure it would be courteous of me to share their content, and my opinion of said content, with the rest of Cyrodiil. Now, let's start with that little brown book I picked up.
     Immortal Blood by anonymous. A short tale, barely a few pages, but it grasps you and keeps you interested for the small time it takes to read it. It is a tale of vampires and combat, although the combat is never described in detail and usually mentioned offhand, only receiving gentle reminders that it happened at all, a scar here, a misjudged tactic there, the real descriptions are those of the vampires. But I get ahead of myself. This story unfolds in a chapel.
     A man by the name of Movarth Piquine enters this holy place on the darkest of nights. His goal is to discuss with one of the priests exactly what abilities and weaknesses the vampires of the provinces of Tamriel have, so that he may be ready to fight them. What follows are descriptions of terrible creatures spread across these lands, each clan of vampires with it's own terrifying abilities. Take for example this section where the vampires of Skyrim, the Volkihar are described.

"I told him about the most powerful tribe, the Volkihar, paranoid and cruel, whose very breath could freeze their victims' blood in the veins. I explained to him how they lived beneath the ice of remote and haunted lakes, never venturing into the world of men except to feed." 

     Several more clans are described throughout the book and it is assumed, but never stated, that our vampire hunter completely eradicates the clans of vampires from the world. However, he is presented with a challenge that he cannot complete near the end of the book. He has asked about the vampires that dwell in Cyrodiil and is told this.

"I told him what I could. There was but one tribe in Cyrodiil, a powerful clan who had ousted all other competitors, much like the Imperials themselves had done. Their true name was unknown, lost in history, but they were experts at concealment. If they kept themselves well-fed, they were indistinguishable from living persons. They were cultured, more civilized than the vampires of the provinces, preferring to feed on victims while they were asleep, unaware."

     After not being seen by the priest for a month, Movarth returns to the priest frustrated and empty handed as he was not able to locate any of the vampires of Cyrodiil. In a delightfully ironic twist, the preist procedes to reveal himself as one such vampire and feeds upon Movarth, ending the book quite nicely.
     Overall, it is a good read. It is very short, so there is little time that needs to be set aside for it, and if you like vampires, it is interesting to imagine their special abilities described.
     Now, in the interest of making it easier for you, the reader, to fully tell how much I recommend a book, I have decided to use a simple one to five star system, split into several categories. Hopefully you enjoyed my first review and will remain around to see the rest of them. If you would like to read the book, please head into the library to find a copy of it.

Immortal Blood
Length: *
Difficulty: *
Overall Enjoyment: ****