Tale of the Dead Town (Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 4)
by Hideyuki Kikuchi
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Book Summary Information
Author: Hideyuki KikuchiIllustrator: Yoshitaka Amano
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-07
ISBN: 1595820930
Number of pages: 276
Publisher: Dark Horse Books/Digital Manga Publishing
Book Reviews of Tale of the Dead Town (Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 4)
Book Review: Floating death
Summary: 4 Stars
Vampire Hunter D is one of those vampiric characters who clings to the imagination -- a chilly, powerful dhampir with a big hat and sword.
And Hideyuki Kikuchi is still in pretty good shape in D's fourth fantasy adventure. "Vampire Hunter D Volume 4: Tale of the Dead Town" is more of a mystery than straight sci-fi horror, and while it lacks the visceral punch of Kikuchi's other work about his postapocalyptic dhampir, it's still a solid story with some solid action scenes, and a glimpse of D's life as a wandering Hunter.
As the story opens, D rescues the lone survivor of a dragon massacre -- a radiation-sick teenage girl named Lori -- and a brash biker named John M. Brasselli Pluto VIII.
With his two new companions, D arrives at a very unique town -- it floats above the ground, and constantly travels. Compared to the rest of the Frontier, it's pretty idyllic, except that the mayor's daughter has been attacked by the Nobility. At first D thinks that the place has been invaded by a lone Noble, but when he kills the vampire he finds that the man is not the only one in the floating city.
And he finds that something strange is lurking in Lori's old home, where her father was conducting some odd experiments. Using John's special talents -- possessing the minds of others -- D soon discovers just what Lori's father was trying to create all those years, and who is responsible for the vampire attacks. To make matters worse, the city is going waaaaaayyy off course toward some Noble ruins...
Hideyuki Kikuchi has explored the horrors that science can create before, even in a series with vampires, mutants, and monsters of assorted types. And "Tale of the Dead Town" straddles the line between horror and mystery -- not mystery of the Agatha Christie type with subtle clues and many suspects, but more of a Raymond Chandler dig-up-the-dirty-nasty-facts pulp variety.
With that in mind, "Tale of the Dead Town" unwinds at a relatively relaxed pace, with D poking around in dark corners and fending off the bigotry of the locals. Kikuchi's shadowy, lushly detailed descriptions lend themselves well to the eerier scenes -- such as the vampire girl's creepy multiple-personality moment -- as well as the action sequences. One particularly striking scene is D's battle against some vicious carnivorous birds to save a little girl.
There are a few bumps in the literary road, though -- Kikuchi's detailed writing sometimes goes a bit over the top ("vermillion rage" in someone's voice?), and he reminds us at least every two pages about how unspeakably gorgeous D is.
Though D claims he's "seen too much" to react to his surroundings, Kikuchi keeps his anti-hero from becoming a cardboard cutout. He spends most of the book being chilly and remote, but occasionally comes out of his shell -- his unacknowledged with the brash, talkative John M. Brasselli Pluto VIII is a particularly fun one, since the men are utter opposites. At the same time, we get a glimpse at the mindless hostility he's been hit with for centuries.
"Vampire Hunter D Volume 4: Tale of the Dead Town" is one of Kikuchi's lesser works, but it's still a solid horror/mystery tale of a hi-tech city that is rotting from the inside out.
Summary of Tale of the Dead Town (Vampire Hunter D, Vol. 4)
When a floating city becomes the target of a rash of vampire attacks, only one man can restore the oasis. "The City," a tiny metropolis of a few hundred sheltered citizens floating serenely on a seemingly random course a few feet above the ground, has long been thought safe from the predation of marauding monsters. It seemed like a paradise. A paradise shattered when an invasion of apparent vampires threatens the small haven. While the Vampire Hunter known only as "D" struggles to exterminate the scourge, a former denizen of the city, the attractive Raleigh Knight, and the brash John M. Brassalli Pluto VIII seize control of the city lurching it onto a new and deadly course. D's travails are just beginning.Fantasy Books
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