Well, 'Allies of the Night' was certainly enjoyable don't get me wrong. But overall, it may have been one of my least favorite of the series so far. I hate to say it but, practically all of my posts are basically detailed rants about how much I love this series anyway, I don't see the harm in admitting that one of them was a little less awesome.
Again, this book was not bad by any means at all! It certainly had some awesome moments and a lot of good strengths. I don't have a singular strong reason I don't like it quite as much as the others but, it just is what it is.
Darren has reunions with a lot of older characters, and that aspect of the book is quite intriguing and memorable. It's always fascinating how meeting old faces gives you a hard-to-explain feeling in your heart. In real life, when you see an old friend in public, it's like meeting an unidentified version of someone you used to know. A living, sort of ghost. The person resembles who you used to know. There's similarities, but something feels off. Not that the individual necessarily feels off, but the old connection you and the person used to have feels janky, and weak. I use the word bittersweet a lot, but this feeling is more like eerie, and confusing, and sad at times. It's really a sign we're all aging, and that the end is indeed coming for us all. In some ways, moments like those are the most unpleasant feeling someone can have.
Meeting Debbie again was fairly nice. But soon that even developed in an unfortunate, rather painful way as their connection is just not the same for obvious reasons.
Meeting Steve again was also incredibly frightening. He seemed nice initially, turns out that was far from the truth. More on that shortly.
And at the end of this book, Darren learns the individual that attacked him in the alley was actually R.V. and well, poor R.V. has lost his marbles fully and he's quite angry at Darren.
But yeah so, these last four chapters were quite good, the best of the whole book. These books always have an incredible ending. That's something that is always reliable in this series.
Steve finally reveals himself as a half-vampaneze, still wanting revenge on Darren and Mr. Crepsley.
Steve doesn't immediately reveal that he's the Lord of the Vampaneze though which definitely surprised me! The timing of all of these plot twists always surprises me. My memory has failed me for sure!
I mean besides Steve not revealing who he fully is yet I have to mention just how ballsy Steve is. Of course saying he's evil and twisted is stating the obvious here. But a formidable, entertaining bad guy always pushes a good story to the next level.
Steve is no unbeatable bad guy of course. He's rather shallow which is unsurprising, and he also is stubborn to a very stupid degree. He can be sort of scattered and like overly determined and of course Steve has a ton of other flaws and weaknesses. Again, besides his basic villain traits.
BUT his fundamental plot here, is just pretty wicked, ruthless and clever. I mean, he pulled off things Voldemort or Galbatorix would never dream of pulling off. I mean, Steve isn't necessarily like, on their level villain wise but I'm beginning to reconsider. Mr. Tiny is arguably the main villain too but, he's kind of the very essence of fate itself so, he's kinda in a whole different category of villain/character.
Steve straight up infiltrated the three very vampires that are destined to possibly literally kill him. He befriended the majority of them besides Mr. Crepsley. Earned their friggin trust, and led them into the arms of the vampaneze. Like, what?
I mean, the amount of risk and the amount of sheer recklessness displayed by Steve is truly pretty next level. For some reason, I sort of overlooked this plot when I first read the series. Like I said, I even completely forgot that Steve acted like a good guy to begin with.
I think I overlooked this because, interestingly, Darren kinda whoops Steve's butt after Steve reveals that he was a half-vampaneze. Like, seriously Darren messes him up rather good so Steve's clever plan is briefly forgotten. Also, at this point Steve hasn't revealed who he truly is yet. So he just seems to be an angry vengeful individual at this point rather than the literal Vampaneze Lord putting the entire fate of the war at risk. So Steve's full plot and it's significance wasn't really fully understood at this point.
Darren not only whoops Steve surprisingly well, Darren had multiple chances to kill Steve and man, it's just crazy to me how close victory really was. The whole fake Vampaneze Lord propped up just gives me chills to this day. I'll never forget how duped I was!
Even if a reader saw Steve's betrayal coming, the layers this story has is so impressive. The sheer misdirection is so good. First, it's like ok Steve might be good. Then, ok Steve was lying. Then, ok he's just an angry dude trying to get back at Darren and Mr. Crepsley. Then, ok he's literally The Lord of the Vampaneze. Sheesh!
You'd think the whole 'hiding in plain sight' tactic would have like, crossed everyone's minds but still, the sheer audacity of Steve's plan is bonkers. The actual implications and statement made by Steve can't be overlooked. He's proven he's willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. It's truly a creepy level of determination.
I can't remember the gang's reaction from my prior read, but like the mental turmoil and just demoralizing feeling that must be felt once Steve reveals himself as the Vampaneze Lord, has got to be just unfathomable. To be right next to Steve for that long, the very man they're supposed to eliminate like, it's actually pretty embarrassing if I'm being honest.
The fight at the end was a bit confusing since like, it's implied the vampaneze aren't really trying to truly kill the gang apparently? Gannen's excuse is odd and weak, they say that he doesn't want to lose more men since like, a fight to the death gets grimy or something? I guess they're afraid of losing Steve in the chaos as Darren literally has the chance to kill Steve, if the fight gets too ruthless and chaotic, Steve will probably die since he's unconscious?
I guess this will ultimately be revealed in the next book.
The ending of this one completely surprised me too. Steve is literally being held hostage, as is Debbie as she's captured by R.V. I really totally forgot just how much Steve is involved directly prior to him being revealed as the Lord of the Vampaneze.
I'm actually grateful at how much I've forgotten. I get to re-experience this in a semi-fresh way all over again.
I recall book nine being one of the better books even though of course it's also arguably the saddest one too...
Book nine here I come...
