Money beats magic any day of the week in the wonderfully corrupt world of Corporate America, where angels hassle unsuspecting baristas while mages hustle to pay off their student debt at the Mages Society.
This is the world Vintner Enlil wakes up in. One minute he's doing his Dark-given job, tending to the human cattle and making sure the unruly Quorum of vampire lords is well supplied with only the choicest selections from his orchards. The next, a few thousand years have passed, with said cattle now working with highly-illegal technology and poisoning the priceless jewel that is a cattle world!
The worst thing has to be the cheap mockery of vampirekind bumbling all over the night. They can't even fight back with their blood when he sinks his fangs into them! What has happened to his betters?
Follow Enlil as he makes sense of this mad new world, from being inducted into the baffling structures of 'modern' vampire society to striking alliances of convenience with factions both mundane and supernatural. He even manages to make a few friends along the way, including a couple of friends-with-benefits all tangled up into an unconventional relationship. What makes this whole thing truly different is that he finds himself actually caring about these newfound friends of his, not just convenient pieces to jerk around on the board.
But that's the thing about playing games: some people don't play by the rules. Each little infraction, each little escalation, brings Enlil one step closer to the brink. And when lines are crossed, Enlil's enemies will find out exactly how the Vintner keeps his orchards all neat and tidy…
Genre: Urban Fantasy
This is the world Vintner Enlil wakes up in. One minute he's doing his Dark-given job, tending to the human cattle and making sure the unruly Quorum of vampire lords is well supplied with only the choicest selections from his orchards. The next, a few thousand years have passed, with said cattle now working with highly-illegal technology and poisoning the priceless jewel that is a cattle world!
The worst thing has to be the cheap mockery of vampirekind bumbling all over the night. They can't even fight back with their blood when he sinks his fangs into them! What has happened to his betters?
Follow Enlil as he makes sense of this mad new world, from being inducted into the baffling structures of 'modern' vampire society to striking alliances of convenience with factions both mundane and supernatural. He even manages to make a few friends along the way, including a couple of friends-with-benefits all tangled up into an unconventional relationship. What makes this whole thing truly different is that he finds himself actually caring about these newfound friends of his, not just convenient pieces to jerk around on the board.
But that's the thing about playing games: some people don't play by the rules. Each little infraction, each little escalation, brings Enlil one step closer to the brink. And when lines are crossed, Enlil's enemies will find out exactly how the Vintner keeps his orchards all neat and tidy…
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Used availability for Burt Wrenlaw's Rise of the Vintner