Liam Reviews “Generation V”

If you’ve seen Being Human on the SyFy Channel, you can get a little glimpse of what Generation V by M.L. Brennan is all about. In both the series and Generation V, our main heroes struggle to remain human in a complicated and sometimes unsympathetic world.

Generation V follows the trials and tribulations of Fortitude Scott, a young adult who has not yet made the full transition to becoming a vampire. Fort, whose name becomes so apparent as we plunge further into the book, is bound and determined to fight against his blood-sucking fate. Girl troubles. Money troubles. Crappy car, crappy job, and crappy roommate. Poor Fort is plagued with every urban woe that a guy could experience. Son of a domineering matriarch who rules a large vampire territory, Fort is the rebel of the family with his desire to remain human.

Foreign vampire, Luca, makes his move into their territory and wanton killings begin. Fort’s family is bound by old-school hospitality to not interfere; however Fort, still being human, crusades for humanity. Threatened by Luca, Fort’s mother hires a shape-shifting fox trickster, Suzume Hollis, as a bodyguard for Fort. Suzume and Fort’s relationship shifts itself as they ferret out their feelings for each other and for tough decisions they must make as they battle Luca.

Brennan’s Fortitude Scott is a likeable, blue jeans and t-shirt guy. He is very appealing in his lack of self-confidence, his troubles, and his situation. He’s almost too nice, actually. Scott is the quintessential young adult (minus the sharp fangs, of course) and will certainly appeal to that age group. Trickster Hollis, on the other hand is a bit more refreshing, being sarcastic, cold, and sometimes indifferent to the plight of humans.

Brennan creates some interesting explanations and back story for vampire breeding and history. There are plenty of exciting fight scenes to make this a fast-paced read and some satisfying bloody gruesomeness that is so necessary for any vampire story.

Generation V was really enjoyable and had me rooting for the Fort in the end. I highly recommend this book and guarantee you will be rooting for him, too.  I can’t wait to find out how he fares in his transition to vampirehood!