Literature / Vampire: The Masquerade Clan Novels

She won't bite.

The Vampire: The Masquerade Clan Novels are a series of thirteen novels set in the Old World of Darkness and specifically the Vampire: The Masquerade setting during the transition from 2nd Edition to Third Edition. They are written by multiple authors and each focuses on a different clan of vampires as well as a Signature Character that represents them.

The premise is that the year is 1999 and the Sabbat are about to launch a massive Crusade to take as much of the East Coast as possible from their rival sect in the Camarilla. The attack starts in Atlanta, Georgia and proceeds to spread up toward Baltimore. Unbeknownst to the Camarilla, a mysterious artifact called the Eye of Hazmiel was meant to be sold in Atlanta during this time and falls into the hands of a Neonate named Leopold who is warped horribly by its powers before becoming an existential threat to Kindred. The looming specter of Gehenna hangs over everything as the petty power games of the Kindred mean nothing to the possibility of the world's end.

The series was a great success for White Wolf publishing and inspired them to create another series of Clan Novels set in the Dark Ages. It would also eventually be republished in an unusual way as the novels were eventually assembled into a new format with all of the scenes in the books put into a chronological order rather than individual books as the authors had written them.

The books would be out of print until 2020 when Crossroad Press would republish them and 2024 when they republished the anthology.

Books in the Series

• Clan Novel 1: Toreador (1999)
• Clan Novel 2: Tzimisce (1999)
• Clan Novel 3: Gangrel (1999)
• Clan Novel 4: Setite (1999)
• Clan Novel 5: Ventrue (1999)
• Clan Novel 6: Lasombra (1999)
• Clan Novel 7: Assamite (1999)
• Clan Novel 8: Ravnos (2000)
• Clan Novel 9: Malkavian (2000)
• Clan Novel 10: Giovanni (2000)
• Clan Novel 11: Brujah (2000)
• Clan Novel 12: Tremere (2000)
• Clan Novel 13: Nosferatu (2000)
• Clan Novel Anthology (anthology; 2000)
• Clan Novel Saga 1: The Fall of Atlanta (2003)
• Clan Novel Saga 2: The Eye of Gehenna (2003)
• Clan Novel Saga 3: Bloody September (2004)
• Clan Novel Saga 4: End Games (2004)

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This series contains the following tropes:

Clan Novels

• Action Girl: Lucita, Fatima, and Ramona are all badass female vampires.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: Hesha has this as his cover identity and is seeking the Eye of Hazmiel.
• Affably Evil:
  • Jan Pieterszoon is as pleasant a vampire as you're likely to ever meet. But he's still capable of horrific evil.
  • Victoria Ash kills an entire boat load of individuals to restore herself after being mutilated by the Tzimisce but remains otherwise quite cheery and pleasant.
• All for Nothing: Victoria Ash sells her body, dignity, and sanity at various points to get in position to become Prince of New York. Then, due to the absurd rule she set for herself to live by chance, has to pass on it.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: The Camarilla is only marginally better than the Sabbat as they repeatedly prove. They're just far more subtle in their evil.
• Always Chaotic Evil: The Sabbat are treated less like an organized sect opposed to the Camarilla with a Blue-and-Orange Morality but a Swarm of Alien Locusts. They constantly attack one another, engage in pointless violence, and are shown to be petty vindictive bullies. Played with as the rest of the vampires vary tremendously in their morality.
• Artifact of Doom: The Eye of Hazmiel can turn even a Neonate into a vampire as powerful as a Methuselah.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Jan Pieterszoon is cordial, friendly, and Affably Evil at worst. He also has a woman raped so he can feed off her.
• Big Bad Ensemble: There's multiple bad guys spread throughout the novels (not including the protagonists). Moncada, Vykos, Vitel, and Leopold for a start.
• Bittersweet Ending: Most of the East Coast has fallen to the Sabbat but New York has been reclaimed by the Camarilla. Moncada, one of the most politically powerful Lasombra alive, is slain. So is Leopold. The Gangrel have left the Camarilla.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Leopold is a Tremere antitribu who is brainwashed into believing he's a Toreador.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Marcus Vitel is 2000+ years old and one of the most powerful (awake) vampires in the world. Theo Bell, Cristof, and a handful of ghouls as well as Archons kill him. Except not.
• Dramatic Irony: Xavier the Justicar believes that Leopold is an Antediluvian after he slaughters an entire host of Gangrel warriors, including several Elders. The other leaders of the Camarilla in the United States (correctly) believe he is wrong and Leopold isn't an Antediluvian. This results in him taking the Gangrel from the Camarilla, which many people are surprised he has the influence to do. However, the Antediluvians ARE waking up.
• Evil Versus Evil: What the Camarilla vs. Sabbat conflict amounts to. Most of the other conflicts are similar.
• Faux Affably Evil: Hesha proves to be this as events tear away the pleasant facade he's cultivated for himself.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: Fatima must choose between her lover Lucita and faith as a Muslim woman or Clan.
  • Take a Third Option: She ends up persuading Haqim himself to spare her.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Ramona is about the only decent person among the undead. She's also among the youngest.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Leopold goes from being a wimpish Toreador trying to find his sire to one of the greatest threats to Kindred society.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Christof and Theo Bell along with their support staff could, in no way, defeat the 2000 year old Methusaleh Marcus Vitel in a fight. The disparity of their power level was so much that it was eventually Retconed that Marcus survived.
• Hopeless Suitor: Jan Pieterszoon has an enormous crush on Lucita. Lucita is in love with Fatima and has a centuries-long love/friendship with Anatole. She never even thinks of Jan during the books.
• Hypocritical Humor: Khalil objects to a racist comment about Romani being thieves by Liz. He points out that, yes, HE is a thief (and a murderer) but his father was an honest tinsmith. He may be displaying Even Evil Has Loved Ones.
• Last of His Kind: Technically, by the time of the novel, Leopold is the last living Tremere antitribu.
• The Man Behind the Man: Whoever wields the Eye of Hazmiel is nothing more than a puppet to Hazmiel.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The dismissive attitude of the Camarilla leadership offends Xavier the Justicar and causes the entire Gangrel clan to leave their organization. They forgot the Gangrel fight based on respect and not political ties or greed.
• Odd Friendship: Theo Bell, ex-slave Brujah, and Jan Pieterszoon, Kindred royalty.
• Only Sane Man: Talley "the Hound", one of the recurring non-Signature viewpoint characters, is this for the Sabbat. A genuinely Affably Evil Consummate Professional Lasombra knight, most of his appearances are dedicated to just trying to do his damn job in a sect dominated by Stupid Evil and Evil Is Petty where everyone else embraces their Hair-Trigger Temper. He is constantly found snarking, internally, and when he can get away with it, also externally, about the self-destructiveness, pointless sadism and antagonistic scheming of his sect-mates and the way they undermine the purpose and success of the organization. He eventually falls into a Crisis of Faith wondering why he even bothers playing underling to people he despises and who all but ignore the cause they're nominally sworn to, but, after watching Theo Bell for a while, resolves it's simply because he's decided to for himself the task is worth doing. Many years after the events of the novels, V5 would conclude this story-arc by having him be made the delegate of Clan Lasombra who facilitates their entry into the Camarilla.
• Pyrrhic Victory: The Sabbat take much of the Eastern United States, including Washington D.C. only to lose New York, their second most powerful stronghold after Mexico City.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Used to shocking effect when it is revealed that Jan Pieterszoon is only able to feed from rape victims.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Xavier believes his encounter with Leopold is a sign of Gehenna. It is, indeed, the Final Nights of vampiredom but Leopold is simply wielding a powerful Artifact of Doom that gives him the powers of a Ravnos Methuselah.
• Scary Black Man: Theo Bell is well aware he comes across as this and doesn't help his case by terrifying people who annoy him.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The Gangrel leave the Camarilla once it's discovered that the Antediluvians are real. The irony being that they only discovered a possessed Toreador.
• Self-Made Orphan: Lucita's fondest desire is to become one by killing Moncada. She finally succeeds with the help of Fatima.
• Smug Snake: Khalil Ravana is completely lacking any redeeming qualities or grandiose villain attributes. He's nothing more than a burglar that has delusions of grandeur.
• Stop Being Stereotypical: Leopold admonishes himself for being one of the most stereotypical Toreador vampires (unalive). It proves to be Foreshadowing that he's actually a brainwashed Tremere antitribu.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The Sabbat are barely able to stand in the same room together without attacking one another both physically and verbally. Even powerful elders like Vykos, Polonia, and Talley are barely able to herd the cats that form their leadership. Several assassinations of their own ranks are carried out because of this and it helps cause the defeat of the Crusade in New York.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Camarilla and Sabbat both pull this on Marcus Vitel. Later books would confirm he survived.

Clan Novel Anthology

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: New York's RL one in "The Cellar" is now full of Meat Moss and other horrors due to the Tzimisce Antediluvian.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: In "Queen of the Night", Mozart is inspired to write Queen of the Night by catching a glimpse of Lucita killing some Sabbat.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Virtually every ghoul is treated this way in the book, being utterly subservient to their masters.
  • The unnamed protagonist of "Turning the Face" spends years serving his corporate master unquestionably as his blood bound servant before becoming a similarly blood bound vampire.
  • Benjamin Neil in "Self-Portrait" rapidly becomes murderously devoted to Victoria Ash after just one drink of her blood and being in her presence.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • "Sins of the Father" has Gaston hunting down every generation of a family and exterminating all but a single member of the bloodline to carry it on. This is after he ruins their lives, all because of their ancestor killing his family.
  • "Five Courses" has Isabel Giovanni tell Biagio Giovanni that the clan will kill him for his embezzlement. Which may be justified but less so is killing his entire organization.
• Femme Fatale: Daini in "Selfless" plays Khalil like a fiddle and makes him fall in love with her so she can betray him to Hazimel.
• Heel Realization: In "Angel Mine", Aisling suffers one of these when she tries to call out Nigel for murdering his mortal lover. He just repeats her own words about mortals not mattering back to her.
• Ironic Echo: In "Angel Mine", Aisling Sturbridge receives one of these when Nigel recites her own words back at her that make her suffer a Heel Realization.

  "The boy is dead. They die all the time, these mortals. It is the single defining act of their existence."

• Kick the Dog: Victoria Ash ruins Benjamin Neil's life in a single night, ghouling him and driving him into murder.
• Naïve Newcomer: In "Embarkation", Erich Vegel is a member of a Religion of Evil and has spent years training in their service but still comes across this way to Hesha.
• Now What?: In "Queen of the Night", Lucita has spent hundreds of years hating her sire but now doesn't know what to do with her life since he's dead.
• Pet the Dog: Fatima al Faqadi in "Turning the Face" uses her powers to free the protagonit from his enslavement to his sire.
• Punch-Clock Villain: "A Friendly Neighborhood Place to Drink", Talley attempts to invoke this with Theo Bell and a Commonality Connection but quickly loses any such point when he opening threatens to start massacring mortals.
• Sins of the Father: Taken literally in "Sins of the Father", Derek Joiner's family has been stalked by an insane Nosferatu for centuries due to the fact said Nosferatu's moral family were murdered by one of Derek's ancestors.
• These Hands Have Killed: In "Meet in Her Aspect and Her Eyes", Ramona struggles with the fact she killed Leopold, even though he was just a brainwashed victim of the Eye of Hazmiel.
• Victory Is Boring: In "Flesh of my Flesh", Vykos has this attitude after conquering Washington DC and the sudden death of Goratrix, ending their millennia-long rivalry.
• Was It All a Lie?: Khalil gives Daini this question after she betrays him to free herself from Hazimel. She more or less says, yes, yes it was. She does show him how to free himself, though, if he could only remember the words.

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