Most of those things come that much more to the fore in Gales-instead of just giving us a series of disposable targets for the improbably handsome (and near-immortal, and gifted, and so on) D to tangle with, we have an actual character that is at least as interesting as he is and in some ways more so. To be honest, I never went into the D books expecting more than that, but there are elements in the series that periodically elevate it above more than just genre product. It’s a more rewarding read, even for people who open the D books not expecting anything more than a thrill ride.

If it weren’t for the fact that the first book sets up most everything we need to know-everything from the idiosyncrasies of D’s livelihood to the weird being that seems to live symbiotically inside his hand-I’d recommend that people skip directly to Gales.

In fact, I somewhat regret this not being the first book: it’s, all around, a better story than the series-opener. Are the two events connected? The villagers turn to the vampire hunter known only as D, but as he follows the children, now adults, the answers he finds may be more terrifying than anything he could ever imagine.Raiser of Gales, the second of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D novels, did two things that impressed me: It kept and renewed my interest in the series, and presented me with a story and a set of characters that are that markedly more absorbing than the original installment. Now vampires have begun to hunt in the daylight. Ten years ago four children disappeared while playing near the castle, only to mysteriously reappear a month later. vampires have ruled the Earth for almost 300 years, and it is only these weaknesses that have kept these foul monsters from totally overrunning the world.But what happens when those rules no longer apply? The village of Tsepesh sits in the eternal shadow of an abandoned castle, a onetime stronghold of the Nobility, the vampire lords who rule the devastated wasteland of the future. Seemingly immortal, they can be destroyed only by the use of a stake through the heart, severing of their heads, or exposure to sunlight. The adventures of Vampire Hunter D continue!Vampires: murderous creatures in the shape of humans, they stalk the night feeding on the blood of innocents.

Vampire hunter d raiser of gales