I was gung ho to read the living blood after MSTK and enjoyed them both.....I guess I needed to reread both books to really keep up with this one...it has been a while...but I barely remembered all of the players even though there were new ones and characters were getting kind of confusing in my memory bank....I'd suggest reading all three of these books back to back other than that it's like treading water....

Based on the positive reception and number of raving reviews for Tananarive Due's latest novel, Blood Colony, it is quite evident that my commentary will be in the minority based on my "3-star," middle of the road rating for the book. It is the first time I have ever applied an average rating to one of her novels, especially when I am a fan of the Immortal series. Like others, I pre-ordered my copy to ensure I would have it as soon as it dropped. While I LOVED My Soul To Keep and liked The Living Blood, I found Blood Colony to be just "OK" -- a good novel, but not of exceptional caliber.

The novel opens with an alert 17-year-old Fana fully emerged from the seemingly self-induced years-long trance finally participating in the "world" as secluded as it may be. The Wolde clan, along with selected friends and life brother supporters, have sequestered themselves within the Washington forest and secretly share the "living" blood with third world, remote countries under the guise of it being an experimental pharmaceutical drug. However, there is evidence that an underground distribution network exists in North America. With the blood as its catalyst, an illegal drug called Glow, is in demand with a high street value making it the target of governmental crackdowns with harsh penalties and punishments to those involved with its manufacture and distribution. It does not take long to figure out that Fana (without her parent's permission or knowledge) is the primary source of the blood that fuels Glow's production. Without divulging too much of the plot, Fana runs away from the safety of the complex with good guys, bad guys, and the government hot on her tail. The chase is afoot and we follow along and watch the body count increase at nearly every turn.

It is difficult for me to explain what did not quite work for me with this otherwise well-written and well-conceived novel. Perhaps it is the shift to Fana and away from one of my favorite characters, Dawit, who, in this episode, was relegated to a seemingly perfunctory role of neutered husband. It might have been the continued emphasis on Fana. I suppose it was time for her light to shine (no pun intended) and there is no doubt that everyone (including the reader) is supposed to love Fana as the enlightened one with extraordinary skills who holds the future of mankind in her veins. I "got" that this novel showed her as less monster, more human: she is a vulnerable, typical, confused, misguided teenager who throws caution to the wind and lives dangerously with no clue regarding the life-threatening consequences of her actions. In the span of one novel, she zooms through first crush, first kiss, to a ten-year engagement rooted in a questionable, antediluvian prophecy. Unfortunately, I failed to be enamored or empathetic with her in The Living Blood and still did not really connect with her or her friends (do-gooders to a fault) in this novel. Maybe it was the familiarity of themes used in other novels: the telepathic, humanitarian aspects elicited vibes from Octavia Butler's Patternmaster series, the evil Sanctus Cruor seemed akin to the misunderstood Opus Dei of The DaVinci Code fame.

Another annoyance is Jessica's (and now Fana's) overbearing, blinding insistence to share the blood (regardless of the ramifications to their friends and family) comes off as near fanaticism. Following the "like mother, like daughter" mantra, it is now both the Jessica and Fana's decisions that continue to endanger everyone around them while trying to save the innocent masses from disease, suffering, and death. I know that the light and goodness will prevail (or at least I hope so), but in order to pull it off, this hodgepodge family/team really needs to get it together because throughout this novel, it was more than apparent that they could barely save themselves let alone humanity. Last, buried in the pages, there is the banter and discussions from previous novels surrounding the social and philosophical arguments that continue to buoy the plot: Who does the blood really belong to? Who should benefit from it? Who decides who gets it? Should it be rationed? What is the cost of immortality? Is it really worth it? Where did it really come from?

Despite the shortcomings I have with the novel, I am still a fan of the author and will no doubt purchase and read anything she releases, however I am not nearly as anxious for the next installment of the Immortal Series as I was for previous releases - especially if Fana and Michel are at the center of it. YAWN! Here is hoping the trek back to Lalibela will focus more on the Life Brothers and their collective and individual histories, maybe a reappearance of Khaldun, or other supporting characters that seem to have fallen off the pages during this latest episode.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
July 26, 2008

I dont know if it was just me, i think it was, but I didnt really ENJOY this book as much as I did the first two. The one thing Due is, is descriptive, Without a doubt. she can describe a scenario, a feeling, a moment that you almost feel as if it is happening to you. But I think thats where the book lost its ability to grab attention in description and less storyline. I love Due's series but this book disappointed me. Maybe the direction is just not a direction I hoped it would go. The Life Brothers are no longer the regal elite, they are easily killed now. Its just not the same. Dawit is rarely included and he and Jessica's love doesnt seem the same. I dont think Fana and His relationship was developed much either. I wish they were closer, more nsync, in tune. But, Im no writer, just a reader. Still looking forward to the next book. I hope and wish for the best. I miss Dawit...mi vida lol i love that

Tananarive Due did not disappoint. Blood Colony is a true page-turner. Since it has been so long since she published the other two books in the series, I thought I might have difficulty recalling where things left off after book two, but she has done a great job of bringing the reader up to date. I highly recommend this book.

Wow. Has it really been over a decade since the saga of Jessica and Dawit first began? After a too-long wait, Tananarive Due has crafted a worthy successor to MY SOUL TO KEEP and THE LIVING BLOOD.

This novel picks up with their daughter, Fana--supposedly the only child born with the magic blood--now a rebellious teenager, and going through all the trials those angst-ridden years inevitably wreak. Except, on top of the raging hormones and looming self-doubts, our fragile Fana has to cope with being treated like a Deity, and feels the crush of the world on her shoulders, literally. How can she best share her miracles with the dying and infirm?

Enter Sanctus Cruor (Catholicism's evil twin). It seems our favorite Africans aren't the only Immortals roaming loose on planet Earth. And perhaps Fana isn't so unique and all-powerful after all. When Fana and her best friend run away, they have no idea what nightmares are lurking around each corner.

So many twisted turns in this story! I won't give all the good stuff away, no spoilers here, just let me say: First love rarely ends up so gory! And few teens have to grow up in the blink of the eye, as Fana does, rising to the occasion, making a choice that will affect the entire human race.

Book 4, we're waiting!

Tananarive Due is one of my favorite writers. The vividness with which she writes brings envy from me an aspiring writer as well as joy from me as a reader. My only complaint is that Ms. Due does not get her due from mainstream media and that is a shame because those who have not heard of her will never have the opportunity to read some of the best writing I've ever read.

This book picks up where "My soul to keep" left off, we are once again drawn into the world of the immortals. Glow has become the "drug" of choice in a world dominated by AIDS. Fana and her friend Caitlin are being targeting for distributing Glow but by whom they don't know.

Taut and twisting, we ride the rollercoaster storyline until our breathing becomes as ragged as Dawit's nerves as he tries to save his daughter, wife and preserve the immortal community they've built for themselves.

Outstanding work as usual.

I had been nearly praying for a good summer read but it seemed all of my favorite authors were going to remain silent, then came DUE!!!
Great read: Thanks, Ms. Due!
I will be keeping this book. All my previous books in the sequel have been loaned out, so although it really wasn't necessary, if I had wanted to reread something from a previous book in the sequel, I was out of luck!!!
Due's books require that commercial quote, "Buy your own"!!!

I love this author and I loved this book. I was waiting for the follow-up to My Soul to Keep and the Living Blood for the longest time!! I ran out to get this book as soon as it was published and it did NOT disapoint. If you loved the first two, you will love this one also. I didn't give it five stars only because I liked the first two better, but this one is also very well written and recommended!

After all the anticipation of another great part of the Immortals' story, I was definitely not disappointed...much. The book was great, but I wanted to read more. There never seems to be enough, but I guess that's because of Tananarive Due's exceptional writing style. I can't wait for the next installment...

First of all the art work on this book really sucks!!! but don't let that discourage you. The saga continues from My Soul To Keep and The Living Blood. I am a big fan of Ms Due's work and she does not dissapoint with this novel, I will say that you should read the 2 novels that I mentioned first in order to understand this book. I will also say that it was a little slow in the beginning for me but it did pick up. Ms Due is in my opinion positioned to take over from where Octavia Butler has left off and I can't wait for the next installment of this amazing story as well as anything else that she will write.

Due tosses together vampiric creatures [super-strong, super-fast, super-smart, obsessed with blood and immortal: yeah, they're vampires], Christian faith, feminism, fate vs. free will and superheroes. The resultant rich and spicy mixture works. I credit much of her trilogy's power to Due's lean, muscular writing. The prose is quick but compentent in book 1, but it soon improves to swift, economical status by books 2 and 3.

Additionally, Due's themes of moral responsibility make this trilogy especially engrossing. While there are obvious good guys and bad guys in this series, Due's omniscient perpsective combines curiosity and compassion for all characters. She tries to realistically answer the question of how human beings would deal with immortality. The Life Brothers exclude themselves from humanity, perfecting intellectual arts, while Sanctus Cruor, the eugenics nuts, will obliterate human life in order to safeguard the Blood. Meanwhile, Dawit, Jessica and Fana, who spread the Blood as salvation, represent a generous use of immortality. In other words, Due's thesis is that immortality brings out the extremes in people, both the very best and the very worst. Her vampires are all too human, an interpretation of monsters that I find much more compelling than the monsters=aliens portrayal.


Verdict: With a sympathetic cast [including assertive and realistic women, woooo hoooo!], the pacing of a suspense series and a compelling moral exploration that most fantasy trilogies can't hold a candle to, the African Immortals trilogy provides an intelligent and delicious revision of vampire lore.

Tananarive Due is my all time favorite author. Blood Colony is an excellent addition to the immortal series. Due revisits favorite characters from previous stories while introducing many interesting new ones. It was a pleasure reading this novel and I look forward to many more from her.

I just had the opportunity to read My Soul to Keep and The Living Blood - i fell in love with the characters the history and now the Blood Colony. Tanaraive has weaved a world of characters, sights and a feelings. You are on the road with Fana feeling like a child and a woman.....being decieved by Charlie.

I finished this book in two days and now I am sad and hoping that the next installment is coming out tomorrow..........Ms Due please hurry!!!!!!!!!!!

A devoted immortal fan now waiting in Lalibela ....

Before I read Blood Colony I went back and re-read My Soul to Keep and The Living Blood. It has been some time since I read those books and I wanted to make sure I re-acquainted myself with the various characters. I found Blood Colony to be just as satisfying to read as the first two books.

I have a teenage daughter who turns 17 at the end of this month and I could not help but wonder what course I would be on if this child of my had gifts to rival Fana's. I thought Ms. Due did an excellent job showing the rebellious nature of teenagers trying to pave their own way. Sometimes taking giant steps, making good/bad decisions, and sometimes needing to lean on the wisdom parents can provide. I just hope my husband and I have instilled enough good values, as Jessica, her mother Beatrice, her sister Alex and her husband Dawit have in Fana.

Of course I don't want to get carried away with my own thoughts, there is still room for the Shadows to get their hooks in Fana. We won't know how Fana truely handles herself until the next installment. I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!!!

This book was astounding! Tananarive Due, who is one of my favorite authors, has such a compelling writing style, the words just grab hold of you as soon as you read the first sentence. There is no need for me to rehash what others have already said. All I have to say is, I can't wait for the fourth book to come out.

There are some authors that others aspire to be like and others that we just bow down to because we know we cannot achieve that level of greatness. Ms. Due is both. Like the other reviewers I've been waiting for this book for a long time and was not disappointed.

Without giving too much of the plot away, I'll just say I was never a fan of Jessica's and I wasn't a fan of Fana's, that is until this book. It is hard to know what lies ahead before the characters do, but in this book I did and it worked. I wanted to shake some of the characters and say "come on and do something." But there lies the reality of any situation: fear can immobilize you and make you second-guess yourself. There was a lot of reflection from a lot of people in this book and although it is fantasy it works on a personal level.

Basically the book resonates with you; it stays with you long after you're finished the last chapter.

There was always this sense of excitement and danger throughout this book and readers are in the crosshairs with the characters.

I love this series and Tananarive Due remains a "writer's writer."

Upon opening the book I expected certain things. I expected darkness, horror with out equal, strong statements about race and racism, feminism, and mythology. I got all that I had asked for and more.

Blood Colony takes the story of Fana, who was an infant(with power that nobody matched) in the Living Blood, and here she is coming of age. She is lonely, much as I imagine any make shift deity would be, even though she was surrounded by her family and friends. She used her blood to cure illnesses around the world through what she and her family call The Mission, but the US regards her blood as a narcotic, thus it's illegal. Fana and her good friend Caitlin set up a modern day underground railroad in order to fight AIDS and other blood diseases. Glow, the street name for Fana's mystic blood, is the center of controversy and violence around the nation. When Caitlin witnesses a horrific act of violence, she and her dad are gathered by the Immortals(Fana's family) and this causes the two girls to run.

The novel is part road trip, part social commentary, and travels through many different emotions. There are scenes of heartbreaking sadness, gruesome violence, overwhelming passion and everything in between. You can't help but feel bad for poor Fana, who for all of her power, is mostly helpless and unsure of herself, as she and Caitlin try to run from the other Immortals.

Things get creepy, or creepier I should say, when it turns out that Fana's family is not the only group of Immortals who are looking for her, another branch is a religious sect which wishes to kill off man kind and use the Blood to revitalize any they see as worthy and usher in the New Days of religious monarchy, with them as the monarchs.

I absolutely loved The Blood Colony. It was rich, funny, well textured, dark, moody, cynical at times, optimistic at times, and well crafted. The series as a unit is my favorite of any horror series I've read(and I've read a lot). Blood Colony is the kind of book that makes reading fun. It isn't strictly horror, but travels a world between genres comparable to Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

The narrative is brilliantly structured, constantly evolving, full of twists and turns and fast paced.

Oh, and remember how I said it was more than I had expected? The book is hilarious. Okay, some of the humor was specialized, she introduces people who are of my particular religion, and a lot of the humor is very dark and bitter, she mocks peoples racism at points, and all of her characters are real, well thought out people, who occasionally make really stupid mistakes and often get in pretty good sarcastic remarks on the expense of others, especially Caitlin.

I've been a fan of horror for as long as I can remember. Horror has been something that I seemed to grasp firmly, even as a young child. I had read R L Stine's books, sure, and the Scary Stories series, and I watched Tales From The Crypt right after I watched Are You Afraid Of The Dark on snick. By the time I was in the sixth grade I'd been reading Stephen King's books and by high school I thought I was done with reading. I digested horror movies and music with out flinching and since I'd thought I had mastered the horror literary world, I began to notice that horror entertainment doesn't always have much of a point. I would seek out the horror writers and artists who said something I agreed with or was unaware of and became obsessed with Horror with a Point.

One thing I was never aware of, though, was race. I grew up in an extremely mixed community but the vast majority of the horror I was watching(or reading, or listening to) was created by white people, about white people, for white people. Sure, Night Of The Living Dead features an African American actor who does a great job, but there really wasn't anything out there besides that. It never even came up in my mind, seeing as I am white. One day, a few years ago I bought My Soul To Keep by Tananarive Due and was so instantly sucked into the world of African Immortals that I couldn't believe it. The story said a lot of things, used race, American Racism, and created a darker than dark mythology. I was salivating. Then the sequel came out. The Living Blood. Tananarive due killed the hell out of that book. I was in a rush. My world had altered so completely from these exposures, from them I went on to discover other African American writers of horror, sci fi and fantasy and couldn't be happier with the results.

But then I returned to Tananarive Due's world of Immortals. When I had heard that Blood Colony was coming out, I itched for it. I ached for it. One day, it came in the mail. I finished it several days later and it was a journey to behold.

This has gone away from what I intended to be a quick and simple way of expressing my love for a good book, so forgive me please, but read Tananarive Due's Blood Colony, and all of her other books for that matter. They will touch you, make you smile, make you cry, scare you and titillate you. I promise.

Excellent. I loved it. It is rare that an author can write sequels and they are just as interesting and entertaining and thought provoking as the original.

I just have two complaints. First, it was too short. Before I knew it, I was at the end, and the end surprised me. Secondly, I give the art work a 1 star. There is nothing about it that would make me pick up the book if I wasn't already familar with her. The only reason I even know who Ms. Due is is becasue the artwork on the cover kept calling me. Finally, I picked the Living Blood up and I have been a fan since.

I highly recommend. I would not mind reading a continuation of this story. I see many variations of this story. I want to hear more about Moses in the future. In fact, I hope Ms. Due will consider it. Ms. Due lost some of her mojo in Joplin's Ghost, but sistah gal has reclaimed her throne in "my" mind. I humbly bow.

Excellent. I loved it. It is rare that an author can write sequels and they are just as interesting and entertaining and thought provoking as the original.

I highly recommend. I would not mind reading a continuation of this story. In fact, I hope Ms. Due will consider it. Ms. Due lost some of her mojo in Joplin's Ghost, but sistah gal has reclaimed her throne in "my" mind. I humbly bow.

I Have waited a very long time to read this book. I fell in love with Fana and the other characters from Living Blood and My Soul to Keep. As soon as i got this book, i was completly consumed with it.I finished it in two days. I felt as if i was with fana the whole time.This story was so intresting and kept me on my toes. I really hated to finish the book so fast because i didnt want the story to end. Fortunatly the story left off in a place that i hope Mrs.Due will pick up on in the future. To Say i look forward to the fourth book would be an understatement.