Widow's Walk

Clan Novel: Tremere Trilogy, Book 1

De: Eric Griffin

Narrado por: Cathi Colas

In the Aftermath

The Camarilla lost much ground along the East Coast in its recent war with the Sabbat. But the sect claimed one of the greatest prizes in the world control of New York City. Of course, the Camarilla was never entirely absent from the city, but in recent years no clan held so firmly there, among the enemy, as did the Tremere. Now the story of their covert activities and greatest victory is told.

New York, A City Teetering on the Brinkm

A fledgling prince restlessly pacing the battlements. A Tremere novice walking the razor wire tightrope.

In the wake of the Camarilla liberation of New York, the real battle is just beginning. A floodtide of refugees, immigrants, opportunists, prospectors, pariahs, carpetbaggers, Anarchs, pioneers and outlaws washes over the city—each of the newcomers intent on carving out his own piece of the blood-red Big Apple. Everyone has a dream, or at least a scheme.

Antigone Baines thinks of herself as the veteran of many lifetimes. There is a trick to picking your way along the Widow's Walk—the treacherous precipice between the quick and the dead—and dancing away again, unscathed. A magic of names. Among the halls of the Chantry of the Five Boroughs, Antigone is usually called Novicia in accordance with her rank in the steel-jawed hierarchy that she has come to know as the Tremere Pyramid. Sometimes, in scornful whispers, they call her Jackal, because that is her job: Pyramid security. Like Anubis, the laughing, jackal-headed, warden of the dead, Antigone keeps careful guard over the house of the undying. She cannot, however, anticipate that her job is about to become rather more complicated.

©2000 Paradox Interactive (P)2025 Paradox Interactive

interesting read. Less about vampires more about magic.

I think this was an interesting take for the author. It was less about vampires but nevertheless a nice read.

Back to the Old School World of Darkness

Vampire intrigues in pre-9/11 NYC. Following up the Clan Novels series (ebooks by Crossroad Press) the author picks up plot threads and weaves them into a new tapestry. Cathi Colas does a terrific job juggling voices. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the trilogy.

A Dilemma Worthy of Them

Immaculately read by Cathi Colas who has a grandmotherly style voice that feels like she is offering you a sandwich; her unassuming tone was the best part of the book. I am not too familiar with the Vampire the Masquerade lore (especially the Tremere stuff) and this may not have been the best jumping on point since it feels focused more on mythos and format of the franchise (rather than something like universal horrors). Antigone is a sentry figure in the vampire clan of New York but the plot is a bit diffuse, there is often no clear antagonist – like a one perspective spy thriller with changing characters and character emotional spectrums. This felt a little too confined for me, it felt more like a running monolog too much from the perspective of Antigone with a plot more magic bound in a manner that felt surprisingly small scale (‘she could neither move nor speak beneath the weight of his expectation’). This feels like a psychological reaction complete with stifling confidence, isolation; there are some building explosion level plot twists but WW too often feels focused on stuff like ‘the rune of elemental warding.’ I appreciated it was different but typically prefer stuff that feels more visceral and bigger. Stuff like explaining different color robes of the invoking of rites felt too specific and over my head. It is likely people more familiar with Vampire the Masquerade might enjoy this more than I did. It has a promising unique style but one that stifled some of the plot and WW may require a bit more knowledge of the continuity. This is part one of a 'tremere trilogy' but does not end in an obvious cliffhanger or setup for second one.