Fat Vampire starts off really good. The first book in the series is without a doubt the best. Anyone who’s listened to the Self Publishing Podcast or Better Off Undead/Worst Show Ever knows that Johnny B. Truant is a really witty guy, and that definitely shines through in this book. There were so many lines that had me chuckling and the scene when Reginald is running had me in stitches.
As the series goes on, the humor becomes a lot more subdued. While this is made up for in a really intriguing story and some great characterization, I did find myself missing the humor of the first book. The fourth and fifth books felt a little slow for me, but the sixth book ended the whole series on a perfect high note.
Truant’s imagination really shines through in the sixth book. It’s hard to say too much about it in this review because I don’t want to spoil it for new readers, so let’s just say that Fat Vampire 6 may as well be a textbook case study in world-building. There’s a lot of thought put into many different aspects of the world, but it’s never told in an info dump fashion and is instead dolled out in little bits just when we need it.
The humorous bent of the first book is what caught my eye, but it’s really the characters that kept me reading. Reginald is an extremely endearing character, someone that I think many, many people can relate to, and he plays wonderfully off the diverse supporting cast. There are quite a few characters in this series, but every one of them manages to have their own unique voice, something that can be difficult to pull off.
Although I missed the laughs of the first book, this was still an extremely enjoyable read and one that I recommend.