The Vampire Academy

- By Richelle Mead

I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed this series, from the word GO! It is that fabulous, that I look less than three days to complete the entire series and achingly wanted more of the characters and the story.

The story is, quite obviously, about Vampires. The intrigue comes from the part that, there are good vampires, Moroi and bad vampires, Strigoi and then the almost humans who are stronger than humans, the Dhampirs, who guard and protect the good vampires from the bad vampires. This series does not have the star crossed lovers enigma of Twilight series or The Vampire Diaries, but still manages to hold the readers interest with its quick wit, easy flow and tremendous amount of emotions, sensual and dark.

The Dhampirs are called the Guardians and they are like these Ninja assassins, only much more faster, skillful and ruthless. They are the offspring of Moroi and Dhampirs and are not vampires, do not drink blood and are faster and stronger than the Moroi. The Moroi are living vampires, who drink blood, not to the extent that kills their feeders and they can work magic with the elements like air, fire, water, earth and spirit. The Strigoi are the rouge undead vampires, who are either Moroi who killed and become undead by choice or are humans, Dhampirs or Moroi, who are bitten by Strigoi and turned against their will. They are wicked, strong, fast with a longing for Moroi blood.

The Moroi study their magic and Dhampirs study their offensive and defensive battle tactics in a Vampire academy called the St Vladimirs Academy. The Moroi and the Dhampirs have the law declared by the ruling royal family that they need to abide to. And the Strigoi, aiming to create an imbalance try to pick off the royal families that form the law. And one such royal family is the Dragomir family and the last known blood of the Dragomir family, Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir studies in the academy, along with her best friend and guardian, Rosemarie Hathaway, known as Rose.

The entire series is told from Rose point of view, as she journeys from a student Dhampir to a Guardian and faces life threatening obstacles along the way. Headstrong, fiercely independent, she exhibits remarkable ability of understanding her duty towards Moroi, "they come first" being the mantra and she hardly ever fazes from that notion. This becomes more of a challenge when she falls in love with her instructor Dimitri Belikov, a respected Guardian, lethal and dangerous. Dimitri is Lissa's assigned guardian and in his own words, "I cannot fall in love with you, Roza. Because we are both Lissa's guardians and if there ever is a threat from anyone to her, I will have to put my life in front of hers and if I fall in love with you, I am afraid, I will put my life in front of yours,not hers." And so, the frowned romance tinlges its way, promising love and heartbreak.

As Rose journeys to protect her best friend Moroi, Lissa Dragomir from Strigoi and Moroi themselves, the bond that she has with Lissa proves monumental. Lissa being a spirit user and a healer, has the ability to heal people. Having brought Rose back from death using her unknown magical prowess, she bonds Rose with a curse. Rose can read and feel Lissa's mind, whereever she was. Apart from having a shadow-kissed guardian, which sometimes does not give her enough privacy in those moments of shared passion with her lover, Christian Ozera, another Moroi, Lissa has to battle her own inner demons that threaten to push her towards insanity with every usage of her spirit magic.

Rose, under the tutelage of Dimitri Belikov, progresses from a student to a lethal guardian who surpasses him in every way. She faces an uncompromising threat, as he becomes a Strigoi and promises to make her one or kill her. And her love and loyalty, are put to test. And there after are the series grittier sequences and plots.

The series portrays the relations between the characters remarkably. The love, the romance, the thrill, the gritty fights, the tests of friendships and loyalties, all are interwoven intrinsically and make this quite an intriguing read. A fiction lover can hardly put this down!