Vampire Hunter D Volume 19: Mercenary Road Paperback – 19 March 2013

This book really fleshes out Ds character and is an amazing addition to the series. It has lots of dialogue which is something I enjoy

This is better than Fortress of the elder god. This time D is facing off against a pair of farther and son nobles as well as an undead army. The plot is a lot less confusing than fortress of the elder and is pretty straight forward. There are two very interesting supporting characters Zenon and Beatrice (who is a guy). The dialogue between D and Beatrice is I would say the best in the book.For me the overriding theme of this book is the relationship between fathers and sons, there are three pairs of fathers and sons in this book. The two nobles Duke Dorleac and his son Drago, Beatrice and his son Franco (thought he does deny he is the boy's father but I believe he is) and of D and the Scared Ancestor who though does not appear but makes his presence felt thousands of years down the line. This book could also tie itself with Dark Road/Tyrants Star. In that its hinted that the events that lead up to this novel were occurring at the same time as the rebellion of either General Gaskell or Lawrence Valcua.For me this book has been the easiest to grasp in a while in that it doesn't go above your head during the 1st read in the same way the mysticism of Elder God or the science of Tyrants Star parts 3&4 did.

This was really wonderful. Frankly there were a few titles along the way that were a bit sparse on conversation and actual interaction between D and his compatriots, as well as some entirely unbelievable fighting scenes. Fortunately, this novel was a return to the types of stories that I fell in love with during the first few books, and I highly recommend it to anyone who liked the first few books in the series.

If you read any other novels from the series, this will be quite similar, but nowhere near as good as a few of its predecessors. this will be quite similar. We have the amazing D, improbable fighters with even more improbable skills, victims needed to be saved and an army (literally) of blood thirsty opponents. In terms of style, it is sometimes a bit annoying (maybe it's the fault of the translation), there is a lot of phrases along the lines of- 'xxx took up the weapon. It was probably made used some technology unknown to mankind' or 'the creature appeared from behind the corner, it was probably ancient and powerful'. But the biggest fault of the story is that the plot gets lost among the millions of opponents attacking D and his company. To be honest, although I used to enjoy the duels between D and vampires, this time there is just too much happening, the plot is confusing and a bit messy, hundreds of nobility servants pop out of nowhere at the same time every page. Definitely not the author's best novels.

Good series to read.