The Rise of King Matthias

Riding on the Tail of the Devil by Danielle DeVor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great fun and entertaining read. Lighthearted and of good cheer. I would call this horror light as nothing in her was remotely frightening. The main character Matthias was your typical average American teenager. At an early age his parents are killed in a car crash and he is sent to live with his abusive aunt. Not only is the aunt abusive but her children are sadistic and resort to torturing young Matthias. After a particularly brutal session Matthias decides to run away. Living out on the streets he is taken in by Lucretia. She gives him a place to stay and she teaches him thee ways of the street. Alas good things never last, she is eventually killed by her pimp.

Eventually Matthias needs money so he consults a sorcerer named Nic. Nic sends him on a mission that practically gets him killed. It is Vladimir Tepes that saves him....by turning him into a vampire. Thus Matthias is thrust into the world of vampires.

The mythology on this volume original. Lilith was supposed to be the first vampire queen and someone else was supposed to be her consort. Unfortunately Adam messed thing up. They’re two types of vampires Lilitu and Myrdin. They are pretty much unified now. Matthias in an old incarnation was king of the Myrdin while Lilith was queen of the Lilitu. In another life she killed him.

Now that Matthias has been reborn as a vampire it is off to the university for him so he can learn what he needs in order too survive the vampires world.

Some parts of the plot are reminiscent of Harry Potter. Sort of like Matthias is the chosen one whose parents die in a crash and all the sudden he is given to relatives that do not like him and are rather mean to him. The University is kind of like Hogwarts. There is no romance in the book and we do not get a glimpse into the other vampire lives at the University. That would have been nice. This book could have made for a great young adult fiction but there is mention of certain situation and the there is profanity. The elements are in place to launch this into a classic .

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