Vampire Hunter D

Well, I’ve been a fan of Vampire Hunter D since I saw the film ages ago, and now I’ve finally gotten to read the book.
Now, it’s a translation from the Japanese, so I have no way of knowing whether this is a flaw in the translator or in the author, but damn that prose was purple! D is always being described as gorgeous or beautiful, superlatives scatter the page like ants on a sugarbowl, and the ultimate effect is near-Lovecrafting overwrought writing.
Fortunately, the story itself is awesome. The plot is well-constructed (subplots come together and merge in unexpected ways, which is nice) and the characters and the world are fascinating. I really wished there was more detail about how things work (this is a post-apocalyptic future with all sorts of mutants and weird technology), but it’s not good to slow down a suspenseful horror story with lots of exposition, so… yeah.
Anyway, I really enjoyed it, even if the purpleness did make me snicker on a semi-regular basis. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
(book 30 in 2005)