Lycaon Bloodlines Review

Cover Art by Betty Martinez on Reedsy

Author: Adrian Lopez
Price: $9.99 Kindle, $17.99 paperback
Publication Date: October 31, 2023

Cayden is an accomplished defense attorney. Through focus, determination, and hard work, he's become an equity partner in a prestigious law firm. Despite his distinguished track record, his latest case seems destined to fail. A family was brutally murdered outside his client's apartment. Everyone holds his client responsible. Can Cayden change the jury's mind? Let's claw into Adrian Lopez's novel Lycaon Bloodlines and find out!

People have reported Mr. Ritchie running at night and howling like a wolf. Dubbed the Wolfman or the Manwolf, Mr. Ritchie has told people that he transformed and fed on runaway pets. The police have arrested him for biting people. Yet Cayden is persuasive. His final argument wins a Not Guilty verdict. His victory makes him chuckle and bark with delight. He is the alpha dog of the city!

Cayden's life changes when he learns of his uncle's death. He takes a Leave Of Absence from his firm and drives to the farming community where he grew up. As he drives, he realizes he hasn't talked with his uncle or visited Superior after being sent away. The lawyer explains that his uncle left him the farm. The farmers welcome Cayden back. Suddenly, his life in the city seems less important than running the farm and participating in the community. Yet he senses a strange disconnect between the farmers and the townspeople. And in the land of his youth, his body transforms in a way that repels and excites him.

Adrian Lopez uses description sparingly in Lycaon Bloodlines. He fleshes out crucial characters and focuses on Cayden's transformation. It's not just Cayden's body that changes. After chasing material success, he discovers how to better care for people and his place in the world. As he learns about his past, he unleashes the power locked inside him. Acts of aggression upset the balance of power and earn him enemies. As a werewolf, Cayden can kill and destroy or lead others toward a better future.

Like many self-published novels, Lycaon Bloodlines needs more copyediting. I also hungered for more detail regarding Superior, the neighboring town, and the city where Cayden defended his clients. Cayden's success and wealth make him less reliant on others and curtail interpersonal drama. Still, I enjoyed Lycaon Bloodlines from the first page to the last. I often felt as if Adrian Lopez must be reading my mind. For just as I would wonder about aspects of Cayden's past, his heritage, the werewolf community, and the spelling of the title, Adrian Lopez revealed those to me. Or rather, Cayden earned those insights through his actions.

While light on swearing and sex, Lycaon Bloodlines delivers a generous helping of violence, blood, guts, and gore. Lock and bar your doors on a moonlit night and limit your howling as you devour Adrian Lopez's fun and involving novel. My thanks to Adrian for providing a copy to review.

Find Lycaon Bloodlines at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles & wherever werewolf novels roam. Those hungering for more about Adrian Lopez will discover interviews, poetry, his other books, and links to his podcasts and Medium account at alstorytimellc.com

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro on Sedate, Cultured Society

A Roman room for entertaining visitors,
courtesy of the Museum of London, England

In Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's novel A Flame in Byzantium, one of the things that surprised me was how ordinary her protagonist Olivia seems. Becoming a vampire has granted her a long life, and she has to be careful when she visits others' homes, or attends parties, that she kindly rebuffs all attempts to offer her food or drink. So she excuses her non-indulgence with protestations as to her "delicate constitution." As a vampire, she seems to exist on blood, but this is a minor point for most of the novel. Drosos makes mention of her biting him when they make love, but as an army officer, he's stationed outside Constantinople for most of the story. She's carted boxes of her "native earth" from her villa in Rome, and she somehow draws strength from this. But really, little attention is paid to her vampirism throughout the five hundred pages of the story. More than anything, she hungers for the affection and love of Drosos, and when she realizes that the tide of public opinion is turning against her, and that she should flee Constantinope, she stays behind in the hopes of being reunited with Drosos. Aside from her affection, she regards the blood she has taken from him as a bond between them, one that she would gladly repay by sharing the rest of her life with him.

In introducing General Belisarius, and focusing on his struggle to hold Rome against the Ostrogoth invaders, I had anticipated battle scenes on the order of JRR Tolkien or Robert E Howard. Given the politics and undercurrents sweeping through Byzantine politics, I expected to find the streets of Constantinople awash in blood, as happened several times in HBO's "Rome" TV series. Yet with a few exceptions, any fighting, deaths, or tortures occurred off-the-page, and were merely remarked on later in the narrative, or by one of the characters. What Yarbro instead focuses on is the customs and protocols the characters must observe, and how people of various strata in society interact with each other. So when something terrible happens, for the most part we don't witness it. Instead of the gritty and graphic struggle-for-life I remember from False Dawn, A Flame in Byzantium gives us a sense of how these people lived out their everyday lives. We see what they eat and drink, the comforts that surround them, and those they interact with. Along the way, we witness how the actions and choices affect others, or eventually rebound against them. But aside from a few scenes, the story unfolds in a cultured and sedate manner, more like the PBS adaptation of "I Claudius" than HBO's "Rome." 

But then, we all like wise, cultured, and loving protagonists. Even if they are vampires.

Dragon Dave

Peter Crowther Lures Me Into Darkness

The World Fantasy Convention is typically held each year in late October or early November.  You know, when it’s cold outside.  This means, when it’s held in places higher up the globe from me like Canada or England, that it’s really cold outside.  (Or at least colder than I'm used to).  Yet one of the things I like about the World Fantasy Convention is that they give you free books.  When you arrive at registration, and pick up your convention badge, they also hand you a bag of free books.  That’s a bag of books that, most likely, you might never otherwise read.  That’s not to say that the authors aren’t noteworthy, or the prose isn’t well written.  It’s just a fact of life that one can never read all the books, or for that matter all the authors, that one would like to.  So when someone places a stack of books in your hands, books that the publishers feel deserve a wider audience, it’s an open invitation to discover new authors.  It's like the publishers are saying, "These stories are so great that you really need to read them." Sure, some of them may not be to your liking, but you never know.  Who’s to say you won’t discover a new favorite author?

The organizers of the 2013 World Fantasy Convention continued this great book-giving tradition, and one of the novels I took up the challenge of reading was Darkness, Darkness by Peter Crowther.  It’s a well-printed hardcover, with attractive cover art, and at 127 pages, promised to be an easy read.  It’s a horror novel set in Jesman’s Bend, “affectionately known locally as the one-horse town to end them all.”  There we meet Rick, a young man who, months ago, was involved in a fatal auto accident.  While it wasn’t his fault, he’s still haunted by the crash, and hasn’t been able to drive since.  Rick holds down the night shift at a local radio station, managed by his brother Geoff.  His sister-in-law Melanie is the DJ.   One day, around three a.m., Rick awakens from another nightmare involving the auto accident to discover that everyone else in the world seems to have disappeared.  Or at least, everyone outside the radio station. 

For a while, Melanie continues to play her music, an eclectic mix of easy listening.  But no one calls in for requests, or just to talk with her, as per usual.  Rick and Geoff make phone calls, but no one answers.  Eventually, they go into town to investigate.  They find crashed cars and half-eaten dinners, but no people.  That evening, they load up on canned goods and lock down their radio station.  They don’t know what’s happened, but they know it can’t be good.

Early the next morning, signs of life appear.  A crashed car drives away.  Those who disappeared are seen working on their cars.  And yet, everything is different too.  The vehicles drive without their lights on, even though it’s still pitch black outside.  People they know walk around with sunglasses on, and their movements are slow and wooden, as if they are no longer familiar with their bodies.  When the men go to town to investigate, their friends and neighbors attack them with slow, purposeful, and emotionless violence. 

These people may sound like zombies, but they’re not mindless.  As they pursue Rick and his brother, they gradually gain familiarity with how their limbs should move, and learn how to respond better to attack.  And some of the cars they’ve worked on are now able to fly.  When their dark glasses get knocked off, their eyes glow red, suggesting that they now see by infrared light.  However, like zombies, these people seem intent on killing the living, which means that the men must flee back to the radio station, where Melanie awaits.  Can they reach her alive, and before the townspeople arrive?  And will they be safe inside its walls?  These are the questions that drive the latter half of the novel.

Darkness, Darkness is a slim volume, and Crowther doesn’t answer all the questions he raises.  But he creates an imaginative world, and populates it with vivid characters and fantastic (if horrific) situations.  While it's too early to declare that I’ve found a new favorite author, I can say that I enjoyed reading his novel.  Crowther packs his story with such a terrific punch that I might just have to seek out the second book in the series to learn what happens next.  I’m glad I had a chance to read one of his stories.  That happy experience might never have happened had I not attended this year’s World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, and had the organizers not continued the practice of including books in the price of membership. 

Now, if only they could hold the convention earlier in the year.  You know, when it’s warmer.

Dragon Dave

Elvira’s Incredible Longevity

When approaching the Mistress of the Dark,
don't let the gargoyle bite off your toes!

I never cease to be fascinated by what captures and holds our interest.  Take police procedurals, for example.  These TV shows, featuring heroes who safeguard our neighborhoods, appeal to a large portion of the viewing audience.  They consistently score high in the rankings.  Yet, unless they are extraordinary in some way (such as “Miami Vice,” for example), they are typically forgotten.  Even the best are regarded as disposable items.  Who needs yesterday’s cop show, when you can watch the current version?

Sci-fi, Fantasy and Horror shows usually score lower, and appeal to a narrower portion of the viewership.  Yet something in them excites and inspires viewers in a way that more mainstream programming doesn’t.  You’ll find far more clubs, forums, and conventions held for these shows than you will for police procedurals, dramas, or comedies.  When was the last time you attended a “Miami Vice” convention, belonged to a Ricardo Tubbs fan club, or purchased any related merchandise?  And forget “Hunter,” the series I’ve been watching lately.  Why should anyone care about “Hunter?”  It was just another cop show, right?

Bounce an Elvira check today,
and you'll pay for it for eternity.

At Stan Lee’s Comikaze, an area of the main floor was devoted to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.  Examples of the many collectibles produced over the years were on display.  Two game stations had been set up so attendees could try out the latest Elvira video game.  People waited in line to approach Elvira, on her Victorian settee, and pay for her autograph.  Fans continue to seek out her books, videos, and a plethora of licensed products. 

In the last post, I wrote about the connection Elvira forged with me.  It’s obvious I was merely one among many.  “Elvira’s Movie Macabre,” a pleasant weekend comedy-horror show, with a likeable hostess, started on a small, independent TV station in Los Angeles and became a national phenomenon.  The police procedural “Hunter,” on the other hand, started on network TV, was seen by more people, and lasted far longer in its initial series run.  But who wants more “Hunter?”  How many even remember “Hunter?”  What do people want?  Who continues to fascinate children of all ages?  Who continues to win new fans, provoke discussion, and sell related merchandise?  Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.  That’s who.

That’s the power of Sci-fi, Fantasy, and yes, even Horror.  (Now, if someone could just explain this to the TV executives who consistently cancel these popular and enduring shows)!

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries

Fantasy World-building Insights from Police Dramas

Related Internet Links

List of “Elvira’s Movie Macabre” Episodes

Stan Lee’s Comikaze page on Elvira

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

Just one example of all the Elvira merchandise
on display at Stan Lee's Comikaze.

Long before there was "Mystery Science Theater 3000," there was "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark."  Or at least there was on Channel 9 in Los Angeles, back in the 1980s.  With her big black head of hair, her Morticia Addams-style dress, her smile, and her wit, she made Sunday afternoons interesting during my teenage years.  Family life on Sundays centered on church back then, so after the morning service, and lunch, there usually wasn’t much to do until the evening service began.  I suppose some might have argued that I should have spent the afternoon hours in contemplation, reading my Bible and praying.  (Some did).  But I filled those empty hours by listening to music, reading science fiction novels, and watching bad horror movies with Elvira.

I’ve never been one to mock Sci-Fi movies and TV shows.  I might critique them afterward, noting where they deviated from scientific principles, or noting character inconsistencies and plot loopholes, but I’ve never liked it when people criticize a Sci-Fi show for bad acting or poor production values.  Nor do I enjoy hearing a running stream of mocking by my fellow viewers, who of course would have made the show so much better, if only they had acted out the parts, made the props, written the script, or filmed the movie.  Science Fiction represents the theater of dreams.  As such, it hosts visions of futures that might await us.  Some of those we might actually want to live in.  Some of them we often fear are imminent.  Many explore our potential as human beings.  But no representation of what does not currently exist can ever be perfect.  Even with the largest budgets, the most imaginative talents, and the best tools technology has to offer, many of the best visions of the future can never be captured on film.  Each Sci-Fi program is a pioneering effort to capture the spirit of an idea with the time, people, and resources available.  To mock such efforts seems rather small-minded to me.  Perhaps that's why I never connected with “Mystery Science Theater 3000” like I did with “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.”

Perhaps such arguments could be applied to horror stories.  I’m not a great lover of the genre, so I don’t know about that.  What I do know is that Elvira sat down with me in her Victorian style settee on Sunday afternoons.  Because of her presence, her dialogue, and the sense of fun she injected into the programs, I watched movies I never would have watched otherwise.  I can’t remember those movies now, nor were they important to me then.  What I remember is Elvira, talking to me as if she and I were discussing the merits, or lack thereof, of the movie we were watching.  What I remember is how she made those Sunday afternoons fun.

The strong lighting certainly did Adam West
(pictured on right) no favors. 

Cassandra Peterson, who played Elvira, was a featured guest at Stan Lee’s Comikaze.  Interviews with the featured guests took place at one end of the exhibit hall.  Strong lighting washed out the guests’ faces, and attendees had to stand during their conversations.  I was curious what Adam West, who played Batman in the old TV show, might say, but after a few minutes of “Oh yeah, keeping fit, went to the beach the other day," and so on, I decided to focus more on what was going on in the rest of the exhibit hall.  Which was a shame, because I’m sure I would have enjoyed some of what the featured guests had to say, if only organizers had devoted more consideration to attendees’ comfort. 

How about an
Elvira-o-lantern?

Perhaps I should have stood around anyway, because people like Adam West and Cassandra Peterson were a part of my life during my teen years.  But at least I’ve got my memories of Sunday afternoons with Elvira.  I never saw her as a “mistress of the dark,” but rather as a light that illuminated the darkness, and a voice of levity and interest amid the otherwise drab and dull.  Come to think of it: aren’t those the very qualities we look for in companions and friends?

Thank you, Elvira, for sharing your Sunday afternoons with me.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

Wikipedia page on Cassandra Peterson