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Red Serpent: The Elemental King, Delson Armstrong, 2011, ISBN 9780982952368 This is Part 3 of a projected 10-part series about humanity dealing with an invasion of Earth by a race of humanoid vampires. Things are not going well; what is left of humanity has been pushed onto a giant space station called the Regnum. In this book, the Regnum is being evacuated. Everyone knows that a vampire attack is coming, and that the Regnum will be the first target. Humanity is moving, not without fighting amongst themselves, to the Moon where living quarters have already been constructed. A number of people resent John Howe having taken dictatorial control over humanity. He feels that the survival of humanity is more important then democracy. Alex, his nephew, is The Falsifier, the one who is destined to lead humanity to ultimate victory over the vampires. The vampires really want Alex, for a number of reasons. There are several human armies trapped on Earth, numbering over a million men each, so an agreement is reached between the two sides. In exchange for Alex, one of the human armies will be allowed safe passage off the Earth (of course, it's not that simple). They do go to war on a grand scale, with thousands of ships on both sides, and millions of men. The humans have an immense cannon on the Moon that shoots an energy beam at the Earth which laces the atmosphere with silver (vampires and silver do not mix). A person could be forgiven for thinking that the Earth itself has had enough; suddenly, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes are everywhere, killing millions more vampires. The vampires have a secret weapon of their own, called the Hydra Project. For every vampire who is turned into ashes by an energy weapon or silver sword, those ashes instantly re-constitute themselves into two fully functioning warriors. The death toll on both sides is huge. Meantime, humanity is in open revolt, with strikes and bombings happening all over the Moon. More than once, John Howe has to speak to the people and practically plead with them to stick together. Things get interesting when the planet Migra, the vampire homeworld, suddenly shows up on Earth's doorstep. Along with Migra comes Anaxagoras, the Supreme Leader of the vampires; he is also Alex's grandfather. Alex is the only one with any chance of stopping Anaxagoras. This is another really good novel. There is plenty of action, and Armstrong does a fine job from beginning to end. Paul Lappen is a freelance book reviewer whose blog, Dead Trees Review, emphasizes small press and self-published books.
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