The Eternals by Richard Ankers – #BookReview

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For Jean, eternity should have meant forever.

The Eternals, they are a breed apart. Born to immortality, neither human nor vampire, a dying sun is to end their race where no other could. It is to this ultimatum that Jean, the last Eternal lord, is born. Jean accepts the end once preached by his deceased parents, where others won’t, their arrogance furthering his melancholy. He would fight for the future where they, the Hierarchy, would waltz into nothingness.

But everything changes for Jean when he commits the cardinal sin: his bite takes the life of Princess Chantelle of The New Europa Alliance, whose sister will come to enthrall him. It is a deed Jean thinks has passed unnoticed; it has not. When the Britannian dandy, Sir Walter Merryweather, informs him of this, Jean runs. Aided and abetted by the irksome Merryweather, Jean stumbles from manipulated mishap into age-old conspiracies and beyond.

With the sun’s clock ticking, Jean must find time where there is none to reconcile his sordid past with the promise of new love.

 

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Author Richard Ankers had me with “His bite takes the life of Princess Chantelle…”.  Though not entirely sure about reading my first vampyre novel since Bram Stoker enticed me, I dove into the pages of The Eternals with nearly as much abandon as the main character, Jean, loses himself to his ultimate intoxication:  sweet, unadulterated, human blood. Neither grotesque vampire nor human, Jean is a breed apart, from a race of Eternal beings who find themselves facing the end of time in a far distant future that holds all the marvels of Steampunk superfluity in a maudlin dystopian landscape.

The story is told in a first person voice, as Jean takes a commanding center stage to relate his tale through an unnerving combination of alluring sarcasm and caustic mirth.  His charm is undeniable and inescapable, (as any vampyre’s should be!) even in spite of the fact that he is a generally disagreeable soul who is prone to violent fits of temper that would send even “He who must not be named” running in the opposite direction; yet he is an anti-hero I connected with and found myself rooting for despite his shortcomings.

As the plot unfolded, I found myself turning the pages backward, so I might immerse myself in Danker’s mystical imagery again and again.  Intriguing characters and familiar, yet uniquely new landscapes permeate Jean’s story, such as movable cities and gothic castles of olde; masquerades and waltzes held beside the River Danube, died red simply for the sake of morbid hilarity. Throughout, Jean compelled me to travel with him as he set about discovering the mysteries of his fate; sometimes dancing, sometimes dragging me along behind him, but once he grabbed me he never let go and I, like an innocent beguiled by gaze of a beautiful monster, was utterly enthralled.

5-Stars without a second thought!  Bravo, Richard 🙂

Grab your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Eternals-Richard-M-Ankers-ebook/dp/B01FVCE7O6

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~Morgan~