Well, first of all I’d like to say that Battlelines is a very good book( not that I ever doubted of that fact) and that I’m craving for the next book.

Now the part that I prefer: views about the book and theories for the next one…

First, I’d like tosay that Seward’s treatment by Dracula is quite different from what I expected and I’m not speaking of the costumes or the toasts, I thought that Valeri would have asked one of his sevants to turn Seward so he and his master would be able to torture him for a long time without any risks of killing him. But as always you showed the tenuousness of the situation by letting him being weak (and strong at the same time). Of course I hoped we would be able to collect more information about the “sole key” of Dracula’s undoing but at least we saw that it might be possible for Seward to delay Dracula’s rising.

Now, as for Matt and Kate, I liked the way they show us different points of view about characters that we thought we knew, especially with Kate and her link to Turner but also during the interviews as we see a less friendly side of Valentine and we understand that Marie (being biten by Alexandru) will become a very powerful vampire in the future, also it appears that she doesn’t hate all vampires since she seems to enjoy Valentine’s company. AS for Matt, the fact that he is not limited to his “little genius” role is a refreshing thing.

Conserning Jamie, the changes are more subtle, he has the perfect balance between strength and fragility (especially so far away from Larissa) I still think he is the one who will defeat Dracula (What a risky bet…) but if he is going to be turned, there is just no way that he could face Dracula in a regular fight unless he is truned by the same entity that turned Tepes, because the browning theory doesn’t state that the turned will be as powerful as the “turner”.

Now, to end this with Larissa: she is one of my favourite characters but I have to say that even if I love the way she fights (dodging ten T-Bone shots at the same time), she screwed up a lot in this book because she is one of the rare anchors that prevents Jamie to become mad with all this situation he might do some stupid things if he feels betrayed (even if it is not the case) and I got the feeling that Tim might make some problems in the future. Conserning Julian, I think that she will probably find him but might not speak about him to Jamie right away (she might have the same conversations with him that Marie has with Valentine). Of course, I don’t dare describe the way Jamie will take the fact that his father was hidden from him.

Well I think this is it, I hope it is not too much and I’d like your opinions if you’ve read the book.

One thing I’m a little confused about, though, is the matter of turning Jamie. Honestly, it’s something I thought he would at least have considered even before Julian had that vision in the cave – but that’s the only time it’s been mentioned. Either for Larissa, who Jamie undoubtedly realises is struggling with the fact she doesn’t age, or his mother, or both, but he hasn’t thought about it even to himself yet.

His fight with Dempsey seemed like a perfect opportunity for it: Dempsey was an over-powered vampire; Jamie was fighting him alone; the tide turned and Jamie was moments away from either defeat or being bitten. Then Ellison arrived and ruined it. Being bitten by a Dracula-turned vampire like Dempsey would, according to the Browning Theory, conveniently allow Jamie to become very powerful very quickly, especially with Larissa training him. Even though in that situation he wouldn’t have chosen to be turned, I’ve already explained that I think it fits with his character and it would also give Blacklight another vampire soldier – something that would undoubtedly prove useful both against the Broadmoor escapees and against Dracula and Valeri.