Aeterna

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 28 May 2021 | Archive Date 22 Aug 2021

Talking about this book? Use #Aeterna #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

Vampires have conquered the living world, eradicated human society, and rule an undead empire from their underground palace of Aeterna. No longer forced to hide in the shadows, they build a luxurious metropolis of epicurean excess, savage rituals, and royal lineages, all existing in perfect eternal harmony.

Of Aeterna's byzantine rites, the Bloodlet is the greatest: a spectacular hunt held once a century to choose which royal house will ascend the throne. But for Marcus Atreidae, the last vampire to be created before the annihilation of mankind, the Bloodlet offers a chance to explore the ruins of a dead city and learn all he can about those creatures of myth and legend: humans.

Barred from participating as punishment for his curiosity, Marcus sneaks to the surface but, when catastrophe strikes, he finds himself trapped amid the dystopian ruins with an unlikely ally -- a beautiful and fearless clone named Bo. Together, they discover a web of lies that stretches all the way to Aeterna's putrid core. Will the truth of Marcus' own mysterious past set him free? Or will it destroy an empire?

In Aeterna, Kim Bannerman weaves an astonishing tale of intrigue, betrayal, mystery and adventure. From warrior kings to soothsayers, bio-engineers to slaves, ogres to phantoms, this sweeping epic is as rich and haunting as the undead who populate the city, and sure to delight fans of fantasy and dystopian fiction.

Aeterna is in development with a Hollywood production company and is soon to be a motion picture.

Vampires have conquered the living world, eradicated human society, and rule an undead empire from their underground palace of Aeterna. No longer forced to hide in the shadows, they build a luxurious...


Advance Praise

"Review #1 ""Let me start with - brilliant! What you've done is vampires meets sci-fi meets Game of Thrones meets romance. I've loved it from beginning to end. For the first time I might be at a loss of words about a novel."

Review #2 ""I don't think I've read a vampire dystopian quite like this, and I absolutely love your creativity. I'm extremely curious as to where this novel will go in the sequel."

"Review #1 ""Let me start with - brilliant! What you've done is vampires meets sci-fi meets Game of Thrones meets romance. I've loved it from beginning to end. For the first time I might be at a loss...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781999415624
PRICE $3.99 (USD)

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)
Download (EPUB)

Average rating from 39 members


Featured Reviews

3.5

I love a good vampire story and Kim Bannerman did a fantastic job creating one. While its not a book I would reread I did enjoy reading it for the first time. I think Kim did an amazing job portraying Marcus. I found his curiosity refreshing and relatable. The plot did drag a good bit and at times I was bored but overall I think many vampire fans will find this book enjoyable.

Was this review helpful?

Aeterna was an entertaining read from start to finish. I loved the premise, which was well formulated, and the action moved along at a good pace. Marcus was an instantly engaging character and I also came to like Bo as the story progressed. Their interactions were great fun to read, and you could see both characters grow through them. I had assumed this book would be a standalone story; however, from the way it ends, a sequel seems possible, if not likely. As the blurb suggests, this story plays out across several genres and therefore it's worth checking out if you like one or more of the following: vampires; dystopian; paranormal; mystery; and sci-fi. I would certainly read on if the story continues. For me, it's a 4.5-star read.

Was this review helpful?

A phenomenal book and I enjoyed reading this book. The characters and storyline were great. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Was this review helpful?

Aeterna is an excellent read for lover's of dystopia and vampires. I love everything about the world building of Aeterna and I can definitely confirm that the world itself is really dark and lush. Marcus and Bo are amazing well-written, compelling characters and you easily feel invested in their survival.

Was this review helpful?

Vampires have taken over the world and the human race is no more. They all live underground in the city of Aeterna. Marcus spends his time deep below in the Womb, where human clones are made and kept to feed the vampires. A fight for power and a coup threaten to destroy everything they have worked so hard to create.

I really enjoyed this book! This was a different take on vampires from what I have read before. I can't wait until the sequel!

Was this review helpful?

I haven’t read many vampire novels, but I really enjoyed this one. It’s quite different than the ones I’ve read before, where vampires live in the human world (either side-by-side with humans or in hiding). You may be wondering how vampires live in a world without humans— don’t they need blood to survive? Well they solved this problem by growing seemingly mindless clones. Most are kept for their blood, and a small portion are grown specifically to be released above ground for the Bloodlet. This is a hunt where the nine royal lineages chase down the clones, and whichever family kills the most is then the ruling family for the next hundred years (theoretically 😉). But when Marcus meets a clone named Bo everything changes. She is not the mindless automaton she is supposed to be. She remembers portions of her former life; she also retains language skills, which none of the others do. I thought the evolution of both characters was well done, and I recommend this book. NOTE: since vampires and blood are involved, there are definitely gruesome moments in this book to be aware of.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you, NetGalley, for letting me read this. I enjoyed it very much.

I know there's a lot of vampire/mortal romance fiction out there, and that's always going to be an enemies to friends type arc, but this book has such great world-building. The city of Aeterna is brilliantly realised, and the structure of vampire society is really well worked out. The vampire families are as dangerous as you would expect, and our hero is engagingly naive. His search for his identity is well worked out. There are plenty of twists and turns.

The story ends with what seems like the start of the next book in the series. I hope there is one, and I really hope to return to Aeterna.

Was this review helpful?

Vampires and Sci-Fi dystopia?? Count me in! The Vampires have taken over the world and eliminated humanity. Underground society broken into hierarchy level....nothing EVER goes wrong with that! It definitely keeps you attention as Marcus, the youngest vampire, decides he wants to no more of the world he does not remember before the vampire take over. Looking forward to book 2!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to the Author and to NetGalley for providing me with an eArc in exchange for an honest review!

I have been looking for a vampire book for a while and this gave me everything I needed! The pacing was good and the premise was interesting and took on a new take for a very saturated Genre. The worldbuilding was great and the structures of an all vampire society surviving off of clones is flushed out!

I instantly loved Marcus as a character and although I didn't love Bo from the start, she grow on me as the story progressed!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to the Author and to NetGalley for providing me with an eArc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fun, quick read. I enjoyed the idea behind it (an underground vampire city) and the main characters were sweet. I hoped for more development both in characters (who sometimes felt flat) and worldbuilding (just how did humanity disappear?), but overall it was a good introductory book in a series. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series!

TW: blood and death (vampires!). 3.5 stars

Was this review helpful?

In a post-apocalyptic world, vampires have ‘cleansed’ the planet of human life and established their own underground city – Aeterna – run by the nine senior families.

Every 100 years, the families compete in the Bloodlet, hunting cloned humans released onto the surface with the victor becoming First Among Firsts and leading the city for the next century.

Aeterna (the first book in a new series) follows Marcus, the youngest son of the current leader as he prepares for his first bloodlet and tries to learn more about his life before being turned into a vampire.

His world is turned upside down, however, when he finds himself in the middle of a plot to overthrow the nine families and encounters a cloned human with memories of her own.

I didn’t realise until I was a few chapters in that this was the start of a new series and it definitely helped to explain the detailed descriptiveness of the writing.

There is a lot of world building for the longer term benefit of the series, helping to explain how the characters are connected, the hierarchy of vampire life and what happened before the fall of the human race.

The story really begins to get exciting when they arrive at the surface for the Bloodlet and Bo (the cloned human) becomes a more prominent character.

A supernatural dystopian romance with a hint of mystery – I can’t wait for the next book to learn more about what’s next for both vampire and humankind!

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book! I initially picked this book up because vampires - if it says vampires I'm intrigued. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it initially, but overall I thought it was a good read! It's been some time since I picked up vampire book that wasn't straight romance, but I'm glad I did. There is some romance to this, but I wouldn't say it dominates the storyline and instead helps it to unfold as Marcus finds his way. I was intrigued by the concept of a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires, but really it was the political intrigue and deceptions that had me wanting to finish it.

I'll be interested to read the next installment in the series.

Was this review helpful?

Aeterna
By Kim Bannerman

First i'ed like to thank Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing story .
I couldn't resist this dark fantasy/end of the world vamp book.
It was so good, couldn't put it down, at times it felt like I was watching a movie, the story really sucks you in, no pun intend.
I'm really looking forward to read book two.

Highly recommend to lovers of fantasy.

Was this review helpful?

Honestly I'm a sucker for vampire novels, throw in some science-fiction to really get the party started! I recommend this one for fans Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series.

This book started off really quick and continues in a fast pace. The story gives a fresh new take on the vampire-theme in dystopian world. Sometimes the pacing got a bit to quick in the action scenes, but that didn't diminish the story. There is a clear case of instant-love. Luckily to constant changes in viewing point, it's prevented of being awkward.

Overall the worldbuilding was amazing and we got to discover an interesting new take on the vampire-theme. I really loved following Marcus and Bo and can't wait to see what the future has in store for them!

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t really read any books about vampires lately, Twilight kind of ruined them for me. But the description of this book intrigued me.

I liked the characters. It was nice seeing the development. I liked Marcus from the beginning. I liked the storyline. I liked it enough that I will definitely read the next one in the series.

Was this review helpful?

*Thank you NetGalley for a copy of Aeterna*
While reading the description, you had me at vampires. I love all things vampire. Ive read so many vampire books that it is hard to keep them separate. I struggle sometimes with all of the different liberties taken when writing a vampire novel. Not this one! I loved the premise behind this from the beginning. Aeterna still followed the basic rules of vampirism, but in a whole different way. I was absolutely enamored with the world building of this story! I enjoyed the character development. The story moved at a pretty steady pace. There were unexpected twists that came out of nowhere. While reading this book I went through most all of the emotions. I found myself smiling, laughing, gasping in shock, crying and even a few fearful shivers and cringes. All ingredients for a solid winner in my eyes. I definitely recommend this book if for no other reason, it's unique spin on the undead. I am also looking forward to the next installment(which after the open ending, there had better be one!)

Was this review helpful?

Tengo sentimientos encontrados con Aeterna, porque por momentos me enganchaba pero por otros, como todo el principio, me perdía de lo que pasaba. Si bien es una buena novela sobre vampiros, hay momentos en los que no me gusto como fue llevado a cabo.
Empecemos por las cosas que celebro. La idea fue muy buena, un mundo en donde los humanos técnicamente no existen y los vampiros son los que gobiernan pero bajo tierra, bastante original. El crecimiento de los personajes, especialmente Bo, ella me pareció la mas intrigante de todos. EL PLOT TWIST.
Ahora, las cosas que no me gustaron. El romance que se genero entre los protagonistas, era predecible pero sucedió muy rápido, demasiado diría yo. En la pelea "final" fácil podrían haberlo matado o mismo haberla matado a ella antes pero no lo hicieron. Creo que podría haber sido un buen libro auto conclusivo pero decidieron continuarlo y no me gusta hacia donde quieren llevarlo.
Pero, después de todo, creo que es un libro que tendría en mi biblioteca.

Was this review helpful?

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4

This got off to a shaky start for me, there was far too much info dumping at the start of the book, slowing the pace for a while. I also found some of the descriptions overly detailed and unnecessary for developing the story. However once we get to Bo, the story picked up and I found myself much more engaged by what is essentially a blend of paranormal, suspense and romance. Once I'd got through that first third the plot picked up in intensity and I found myself not wanting to put the book down.


It took me a while to understand Marcus' motivation, he felt a little lacklustre at first but we really get to know him as the story progresses. There was also good character growth and I soon found myself captivated by him. Bo was a really fascinating character and I very much enjoyed seeing how the pair of them interacted together. I would rather have had more time spent on developing their relationship and less on the early over explanation. On balance, however, this was still an engaging read.

Was this review helpful?

I read plenty of vampire stories and this was one of the most original I read.
It's a mix of dystopia and fantasy, a coming of age of a vampire in a post-apocalyptic world.
It's fast paced, action packed. Good world building and character development.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Was this review helpful?

A great new take on vampires/post apocalyptic novel. Vampires have taken over and live underground (reminds me of the Dark Elves of RA Salvatore) and now romance and secrets can bring everything down.

Was this review helpful?

This was excellent. Dystopia and vampires. How can you possibly go wrong? I'll be on the lookout for more from this author in the future.

Was this review helpful?

It's vampires, how could it go wrong?
This story was great, the characters were believable and the plot had a nice pace to it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a arc in exchange for a honest review.

4 stars.

Was this review helpful?

Did someone say vampires ? Well that's what made me interested in this story and I wasn't disappointed at all. I got what I wanted, Marcus - the last vampire created, finding/navigating his way through the city of Aeterna.

There was a lot of worldbuilding and some interesting concepts such as the bloodlet mentioned but I wished this part of the story was more fleshed out.

The part with Bo and her remebering her past life was great to follow along, overall an interesting read with a great twist on the usual vampire story !

Was this review helpful?

Amazing Book! Loved every second, was everything I could ask for in a book! The detailing is immaculate and I loved the world building involved. Will for sure read more from this author!

Was this review helpful?

This book was a really pleasant surprise and a break from normal vampire romances.

I was drawn to the rather unique take on dystopia, with vampires being the ones living in the new world. They world building here is quite good. I found it easy to imagine such a place and also understand the politics of this type of world.

The characters were interesting and I found both Marcus and Bo likeable. Although you don't learn a great deal about the other families in the Glorious Nine, I found I did have an image of them all and I even found myself associating voices and a way of walking to each.

The plot is really good. For me, it's unique. So Marcus is a vampire, desperate to know his past, and Bo is a clone created for the blodlet, which is a day when all the vampires go above ground and hunt the cloned humans. This was a really clever idea as it allows the reader to like the vampires as they are not technically hurting humans. Well they shouldn't be, but Bo has sentience.

So we have Marcus with no memories and Bo with a load she doesn't want or understand.

I don't want to say too much as there is so much that happens and it is a really clever book. Not so much YA, more adult fantasy, but other than a sex scene, it's not a romance. It's much more clever than that.

Well written, engaging and mostly pacey. I will be reading the next installment.

Was this review helpful?

This was a genuinely fun vampire book. I read a lot of vampire lit as a teen, so this was a nice, more mature, vampire read. There was a lot happening here with it somehow encompassing both the paranormal genre and dystopian (and others to some extent) but I thought it was done nicely without becoming just a cacophony of words. I loved Marcus and thought his growth as a character was lovely to read.

Was this review helpful?

This is not like other vampire books.
I did not enjoy the first 20% of the book and I wa considering giving up at this point and wow! I'm so glad I didn't because this was brilliant. Vampires have eradicated humans above ground and now clone them in their labs for blood and sport. In a vampire utopia of simpering vamps and rulers underground, it takes one curious vampire who wants to know the inner workings of their underground world called Aeterna. What he discovers isn't all a bed of roses and the lower working levels are planning a revolution. Plenty of vampire deaths and gore all round! Brilliant. I would even go as far to say it's a vampire book for people who think they don't like vampire books

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: