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Vampire Hunter D #18
Vampire Hunter D Volume 18: Fortress of the Elder God
D, the ageless, supernatural Vampire Hunter, takes charge protecting the survivors of an aircraft that has crash-landed in a deadly zone known as "the Playground." But before D can assist them, he must first battle a legion of undead warriors swarming from the fortress of the Sacred Ancestor, the oldest vampire in existence!
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 30, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 26, 2025
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading
; skaitom nakties rezimu
My Opinion: D’s impatient and snappy in this one, almost like his mood is growing darker as we proceed through all the stories where he must deal with all this shit, searching for whatever it is that he’s searching for (“just a traveler, looking for purity”). His powers are deployed far more often too, making it ever more known he’s of the Great Ancestor bloodline. This story was curious, Lovecraftian like never before, as we witness an Elder God. It’s not clear whether it really is some kind of god-like entity, or a manifestation of Nobility who, seemingly, used to worship it. But we soon learn that much like Cthulhu, this creature has the power to twist minds and draw out the very worst in people. Oh, how I wish they made more movies.
A solid 4 out of 5, but damn, humans are eternally annoying, no wonder D’s snappy.
My Opinion: D’s impatient and snappy in this one, almost like his mood is growing darker as we proceed through all the stories where he must deal with all this shit, searching for whatever it is that he’s searching for (“just a traveler, looking for purity”). His powers are deployed far more often too, making it ever more known he’s of the Great Ancestor bloodline. This story was curious, Lovecraftian like never before, as we witness an Elder God. It’s not clear whether it really is some kind of god-like entity, or a manifestation of Nobility who, seemingly, used to worship it. But we soon learn that much like Cthulhu, this creature has the power to twist minds and draw out the very worst in people. Oh, how I wish they made more movies.
A solid 4 out of 5, but damn, humans are eternally annoying, no wonder D’s snappy.
January 25, 2025
2.75/5
This was a fast-paced, streamlined adventure. If the characters weren't so shitty I would've been able to enjoy this more.
This was a fast-paced, streamlined adventure. If the characters weren't so shitty I would've been able to enjoy this more.
June 15, 2023
the recent installments of D with great two-four-part installments had this tendency to shove in quite a lot of action, characters, and lots of subplot elements in the story that added on with the usual tendencies with the series
I quite liked a return to the original form of the series with these short novel storylines
in terms of Antagonists, I feel the last few novels oversaturated itself with the Grand Noble villain with a will to dominate that has returned remarkably here we get a more esoteric and abstract antagonist force of an eldritch deity that nobles worshipped in the past and one that still lingers in a wasteland forbidden for people to enter
we get a variety of human characters tagging along with D from an old warrior and gangster to an orphan and elderly couple
we see the Lovecraftian abode slowly infect the minds of these characters preying on their past histories and weaknesses as D attempts to destroy the God
I quite liked a return to the original form of the series with these short novel storylines
in terms of Antagonists, I feel the last few novels oversaturated itself with the Grand Noble villain with a will to dominate that has returned remarkably here we get a more esoteric and abstract antagonist force of an eldritch deity that nobles worshipped in the past and one that still lingers in a wasteland forbidden for people to enter
we get a variety of human characters tagging along with D from an old warrior and gangster to an orphan and elderly couple
we see the Lovecraftian abode slowly infect the minds of these characters preying on their past histories and weaknesses as D attempts to destroy the God
September 28, 2024
While this one was way more straightforward than the previous several, it was still very esoteric and... I dunno. It never really landed with me. On the other hand, since it was so much simpler on its face, I enjoyed it more, anyway. Especially the first part before they even reached the fortress. After that, it kind of just coasted along.
Was I just let down that the showdown between D and an "elder god" never came to fruition? Maybe. While it was nice that there was a lot of focus on the hapless group of diverse citizens who end up in D's orbit, I do wish we'd gotten more of the conflict.
Was I just let down that the showdown between D and an "elder god" never came to fruition? Maybe. While it was nice that there was a lot of focus on the hapless group of diverse citizens who end up in D's orbit, I do wish we'd gotten more of the conflict.
August 7, 2020
One of the shortest D books so I managed to breeze through this one in a couple of hours.
Decent enough story, D actually spends the whole novel with a group of people which is kind of an interesting change of pace.
Some interesting twists in this one, and as usual a few things that the reader should see coming a mile away if you've read any D books before.
Decent enough story, D actually spends the whole novel with a group of people which is kind of an interesting change of pace.
Some interesting twists in this one, and as usual a few things that the reader should see coming a mile away if you've read any D books before.
September 27, 2021
Perfectly in keeping with the rest of the series, not a standout either positively or negatively.
February 19, 2019
This book had a little more personal drama among the group that followed D and you got a little peek into their humanity and weaknesses. I enjoyed the Nobility's god in this story being a being with tentacles as it felt very Lovecraftian to me which I also adore. I had suspected that Toto accepted the god's offer but it was still disappointing to have it revealed that he did so. However his redemption at the end was fitting. Overall I enjoyed the book.
February 24, 2015
The mysterious Man in Black returns, this time escorting a bunch of stranded passengers across a dangerous wasteland. The book as usual is filled with unnecessary sentences, bizarre weather patterns and the ever-enigmatic D wielding his flashing sword and sarcastic Lefty. The latter is chattier than ever, voicing his opinions in front of everybody. What’s even more puzzling is that nobody sees fit to mention this voice coming from D’s lower hip or even to respond to it. Is it a willing deafness or is everyone simply too polite to mention it (which doesn’t seem quite possible on the Frontier)?
There is another enemy for D to fight, the titular god, a Cthulhu-like creation so fearful even the Sacred Ancestor had trouble dealing with it. It’s unclear whether the Nobles stumbled across this god or whether they created it. Various constructions, vampires and pawns are manifested by this thing in an attempt to stop D. But the outcome really isn’t in question, is it?
However, this is not D’s story. It is the story of his fearful charges, each of whom faces his or her own challenge and gets buffeted by the terrible journey undertaken to the city. There is terrible tragedy and inescapable loss of life that presents this as one of the more tragic of the Vampire Hunter novels. We are reminded once again that the Frontier is a dire and unforgiving place, especially to travelers.
There is another enemy for D to fight, the titular god, a Cthulhu-like creation so fearful even the Sacred Ancestor had trouble dealing with it. It’s unclear whether the Nobles stumbled across this god or whether they created it. Various constructions, vampires and pawns are manifested by this thing in an attempt to stop D. But the outcome really isn’t in question, is it?
However, this is not D’s story. It is the story of his fearful charges, each of whom faces his or her own challenge and gets buffeted by the terrible journey undertaken to the city. There is terrible tragedy and inescapable loss of life that presents this as one of the more tragic of the Vampire Hunter novels. We are reminded once again that the Frontier is a dire and unforgiving place, especially to travelers.
February 8, 2013
SPOLERSSPOILERSSPOILERS:D. Showed up to a group of shipwrecked travelers including an odd child, suckling, official, sheriff, another hunter, a gangster, and a woman, in the middle of traveling to a job. The job was to kill a 'god' worshiped by a group of nobles, the shipwrecked travelers decided to hire him to protect them after he had finished his job. After a while they got to the palace/temple, and after even more time had passed he found the sealed 'god'. The god said that if he were to repel the other set of creatures attacking him then he would show himself to D. He bad gotten medicine to the group of travelers and the hunter among them volunteered to help. They then sought to destroy the ghosts.
November 3, 2016
I enjoyed this book. That it took me so long to read it was because of so much going on in my life this year. If you are a fan of the previous Hunter D books, you'll enjoy this one just as much. The reason it does not get higher ratings is because that the entire latter half of the book was somewhat depressing (with a sad though logical ending), and there was a good deal of other characters being seduced by the elder god of the title, and a lot less fighting by D. I was also hoping to learn more of the Nobility history, as there had been in previous books, but there was not much. But I have begun the next book in the series, which already is more to my liking with a lot of action :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2013
I dunno if I was the only one, but I was left wanting at the end of this book. I felt the ending area or about last quarter to fifth of the book felt rushed and not as detailed as most of the books. Now I know several books have basically just ended with D going "I'm D" and just kicking ass, but really that was mostly at some of the earlier books. Might just be me but I felt I needed about 5-10 pages more in the last quarter to help the book.
May 14, 2016
Kikuchi redeemed himself with this instalment. It is a simple and clean-cut story without pointless running around like the last time in Tyrant's Stars. It has diverse characters that get stuck together in a situation they are not prepared for, and their life's motives are revealed reasonably well.
Although the author only ever mentions in his postscrip the vampire films he's watches and the like, but I wonder if the tentacle Elder God named Clulu is actually inspired by Lovecraft's Cthulhu.
Although the author only ever mentions in his postscrip the vampire films he's watches and the like, but I wonder if the tentacle Elder God named Clulu is actually inspired by Lovecraft's Cthulhu.
November 10, 2012
An interesting twist for Vampire Hunter D series, but still good.
March 18, 2014
There is not as much purple prose, so it's not as funny. And nothing really special happens. More of the same, really.
July 9, 2015
ah, reading D is always a pleasure!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews