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The Night Eternal: Book Three of the Strain Trilogy
The Night Eternal: Book Three of the Strain Trilogy
The Night Eternal: Book Three of the Strain Trilogy
Audiobook13 hours

The Night Eternal: Book Three of the Strain Trilogy

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

“The most credible and frightening of all the vampire books of the past decade.”
San Francisco Chronicle

“Bram Stoker meets Stephen King meets Michael Crichton. It just doesn’t get much better than this.”
—Nelson DeMille

The stunning New York Times bestselling vampire saga that author Dan Simmons (Drood, The Terror) calls, “an unholy spawn of I Am Legend out of ‘Salem’s Lot,” concludes with The Night Eternal. The magnificent, if monstrously warped brainchild of cinematic horror master Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) and Chuck Hogan—whose novel Prince of Thieves, was praised as, “one of the 10 best books of the year” by Stephen King—The Night Eternal begins where The Strain and The Fall left off: with the last remnants of humankind enslaved by the vampire masters in a world forever shrouded by nuclear winter.  Still, a small band of the living fights on in the shadows, in the final book of the ingenious dark fantasy trilogy that Newsweek says is, “good enough to make us break that vow to swear off vampire stories.”

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateOct 25, 2011
ISBN9780062082725
The Night Eternal: Book Three of the Strain Trilogy
Author

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro is an Academy Award®–winning film director as well as a screenwriter, producer, and New York Times bestselling novelist. He is best known for his foreign fantasy films, especially Pan’s Labyrinth, and American mainstream movies like The Shape of Water. Del Toro has published multiple bestselling adult novels with HarperCollins, including The Strain, which was adapted into a TV series by FX, and he is the creator of Trollhunters, Netflix’s most-watched children’s series.

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Reviews for The Night Eternal

Rating: 4.181818181818182 out of 5 stars
4/5

132 ratings55 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoyed this trilogy. Nice balance of classic & new insurances of the vampire lore
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a great ending to this series. Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan have created a work of post-apocalyptic fiction that will stay with you for a good long while after reading it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Sorry to say but this series just went to worse by every volume. This last one is is a stereotyped post-apocalyptic action story, to be fair not the worst I`ve ever read. As much I`ve enjoyed the scientific explanation of vampirism in the first book, I was deeply annoyed the religious-christian origin story and ending,Unfortunately on top of everything the hungarian translation is simply awful.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I finished it on Halloween, how appropriate!

    A vampire book for guys! Not any sappy, romantic vamps from the Pacific Northwest here, del Toro tells an entirely different story.

    First off, I'll admit I didn't read the first two books of the trilogy. There were references to things that had gone on before, but it didn't affect the readability or my enjoyment of this installment at all.

    The story takes place two years after the virus that turns humans to vampires was unleashed, and the entire world now lies in near-continuous night as a nuclear winter blocks out the sun, nearly perfect for the propagation of vampires. Humanity has been purged of its best and brightest, the humans that remain are separated by according to status and usefulness... those who breed, and those who are bled. The fate of humanity is in the hands of a ragtag group, who may be the only hope of overturning this new world order.

    The action is pretty much nonstop throughout the book, with the characters seeming to be perpetually going from one bad situation to another. If you're looking for a book with a ray of sunshine, this isn't it, it's dark and pretty much stays that way. Any time there looks like there might be a ray of sunshine coming, it gets eclipsed by something bad.

    The book reads a bit like a movie storyline, which is understandable considering del Toro's history in film, but I think that also helps him to brings out the vivid imagery in the book that helped immerse me into the dark world he had created. The ending might not be what many expect (or want), but it definitely brings the story to an end.

    In reading other reviews (prior to reading the book), some consider this may be the weaker of the three installments. Considering how much I enjoyed this one, I'll definitely be looking forward to reading the others.

    This was a First-Reads giveaway!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Night Eternal was a satisfying conclusion to this hair raising series. The first half of the book starts off a bit slower than the previous two but cleverly pulls you in, showing the horrors of the world under it's new regime before kicking into full throttle that leaves the neck breaking speed of the other two combined novels well behind. I love how the fist half subtly lulls you into a sense of peace and calm with a few shadows only ever seen from the corner of your eyes and just when you think it's safe to go to sleep the true horror descends upon you keeping you well up into the night, afraid of the shadows in your room and the vampires that may be hiding within. Excellent series that ends perfectly. If you loved the other two then you're in for a real treat with this one.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had waited a looooong time for this third and final installment to the Strain trilogy to arrive. It was everything it needed to be. At first I was a little miffed. This book picks up two years after the end of the previous book. I was afraid that big of a chunk of the story would wind up being flashbacks and the like. Thankfully it wasn't. That two year hole was filled with surviving a nuclear winter (boring same old same old) and going through the grind of hacking up stirogi (could also be kinda dull). So this picks up as the Master has solidified his reign and getting a bit of an infrastructure together. The story follows all of the same characters from the previous stories as they organize their guerilla efforts against the vampires. I also enjoyed the creation story behind the Master and his horde.I'm not a big reader of vampire books, but this whole series was great as it keeps the vampires dangerous and evil, plus adds all of the fun and logic of modern day police procedurals all in the setting of a North America under siege. I have been recommending this series for a couple of years and this book has given me every reason to continue doing so. It's pure and simple fiction fun. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I can think of a lot of things that were theoretically wrong with this book, but the upshot is that I loved it. I don't usually engage with genre fiction so deeply, and this series was a rare treat. I found the ending to be a totally satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, although the epilogue was pretty lame. I actually wish there had been another book in the series to cover the two years preceding this one; I would love to see the globe-trotting adventures of Fet and Mr. Quinlan.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    *********THIS WAS A GOODREADS.COM FIRST READ!!!**********

    Since I have not read any other books in the series I can not full understand everything in the book. As to that, I still enjoyed the book. It was a very interesting read. I will admit to still being confused on somethings but I am sure that is because I started at the end of the series instead of the beginning. lol I know crazy! :-)

    *********THIS WAS A GOODREADS.COM FIRST READ!!!**********
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Without giving away the plot, the book is gar better than the TV series it spawned. For those who are not religious, it does offer an interesting take on one story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The last in a really good end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, Vampire plague series and it doesn't disappoint. Strong characters throughout, strong storyline that keeps the pages turning and a satisfying conclusion.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely love this book. A fantastic end to a beautifully written trilogy! Unexpected and heart wrenching!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was devastated when I finished the final volume of the Strain trilogy. These are my favorite vampires books, because I felt very emotionally invested in the characters. Their struggle for survival, sanity, and the care of their loved ones really rang true.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I’m afraid to say that this was a very poor last chapter in the trilogy that I was hoping for more from. The ending is unoriginal and also unsatisfying. The fights of some of the characters seems a shame whilst others progress on. Unfortunately I feel that over the trilogy, whilst it started well, It didn’t finish well.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The third and final installment of the Strain Trilogy. It kind of lost steam as the trilogy progressed.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Nearly went down to a two because of one thing that happened near the end that I absolutely hated, but I decided that I wasn't going to let one thing destroy the rest of the book for me. Especially since the rest of the book was pretty good.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Review of a book received from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review, review written 2011.Two years have passed since the fall of The Night Eternal. The Master has consolidated his control over humanity by the wholesale slaughter of the leaders, the intelligentsia, the scientists – anyone who might challenge his supremacy – and of those who are elderly or infirm or otherwise incapable of being contributing members of society. In the meantime, humans are controlled by the vampires – if humans want to eat, have clothes and be left alone, they must contribute. Payment by money no longer exists – humans are paid with vouchers for rations and clothing. And the unlucky ones are sent to camps, where they become either breeding machines or slave labor. Eph, Nora, Vasiliy, and Gus and his friends continue to fight against the Master and his regime. But things seems to be coming to a head; the vampires have discovered their hiding spots and the rebels are on the run. They need to translate the Lumen, to discover the location of the Master’s origin, and destroy it – thereby destroying the strain. But can they do it? Will they be able to stay ahead of the Master and his strain long enough to decipher the ancient text? And will they survive the treachery that raises its head amongst them?While I was bothered by a few plot holes – mostly, how is it that they’ve accomplished so little in two years, yet remained ahead of the vamps, and then suddenly everything comes down at once – overall I found this to be an eminently satisfying conclusion to The Strain Trilogy. The characters continue to be a strong aspect, and the plot continues to be fast-paced but strongly developed, and the ending seems realistic – well, as realistic as can be expected in a apocalyptic vampire novel! I thinks fans of this trilogy will be happy with the ending of the series. If you haven’t discovered The Strain yet, be sure to seek it out, starting with “The Strain,” released in 2009, then “The Fall” in 2010, and finally “The Night Eternal,” which was just released.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I liked this book less than the first two. This isn't necessarily a reflection on the writing but more a reflection of the necessary progression of the story.
    Eff, the main character has spent the last two years mourning the kidnappings of his son by The Master, the head vampire and has essentially become dysfunctional, drug addicted, unreliable, and just plain pathetic. I admired him initially as a character who was smart resourceful yet flawed but he fell to pieces, going so far as to actually consider plotting against his own friends.
    He was in fact, the entire downside to this story for me. He depressed and saddened me even while I pitied him and sympathized with him.
    This book was also slower than the previous two in that it took its time filling in the historical holes leading up to this vampire apocalypse and the implications. Some of this information was welcome some of it was unnecessary.
    I appreciate the character development and transformation and the well crafted believability of a story that is wholly unbelievable. This was no Twilightesque vampire tale. It's gritty and dirty and harsh and frightening. These were the way I imagine vampires should be.
    I really enjoyed this series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wonderful! A perfect end to a revamped campire trilogy!!!! A must read for the vampire fan.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Getting through this trilogy was a slog. I feel like it could have been shortened to two books and not lost anything -- the middle book and the first 2/3 of the third dragged on and on with a lot of repetition, and the ending felt really rushed.

    That said, I liked the premise, and I made myself finish because I wanted to see what would happen... but I'm glad I resisted the urge to buy the books, and got them from the library instead.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great ending to a great trilogy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The last installment on The Strain Trilogy. I liked it all. There is closure, without the hopes for another add on. I was interested in the making of the vampire race. The Ancients were an interesting addition. Well written, and I am looking forward for the inevitable movie versions.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Eh. Book Three. Vampires. A Master. End of the World. Oh wait, there are angels in here now, too? And the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? And how is it that Ephraim Goodweather, whom all 25 million telepathically-communicating vampires are hunting, is still alive two years after the release of the vampiric virus?

    I never thought The Strain trilogy was the best in the vampire universe to begin with, but it did feel like each iteration in the series got worse. You start with The Strain, which presents vampires as a very scientific and biological threat; an actual virus that corrupts organs and tissues and generates growths. Very much like cancer. Okay, I can get on board with this. Strip away the mysticism, the supernatural, and put vampires in a scientific context. But then Book Two comes along – The Fall – and now it is an ancient book written in a magic code that holds the key to bringing down the King Vampires. Okayyy… we’re heading back towards crosses and garlic here. Then comes Book Three – The Night Eternal – and we’re firmly back on the Holy water, wooden-stakes-through-the-heart bandwagon. In other words, what started as a relatively new approach to the vampire legend has devolved into the same ol’ same ol’.

    The Night Eternal opens two years after the vampiric virus was unleashed on New York City with the landing of the now infamous “dead plane” at JFK. Eph Goodweather is hiding from the new vampire police state, where human survivors are living in “blood camps” – concentration camps where they spend days toiling away to keep themselves alive, draining their blood for their new masters, and enduring forced procreation to keep those human babies coming. The king of them all is the Master himself, who has taken Eph’s son, Zack, hostage and has him holed up in a “castle” overlooking Central Park. The Master seeks Eph so he can get this mystical ancient book, since it does, after all, reveal how to bring said Master to destruction. But even with 25 million vampires at his disposal, all of whom are on the same wave length as the Master, he seems to have the hardest time getting his claws on Eph. Even with Eph fallen back on his old alcoholic, drug-addicted ways since his only son was dragged away by the most powerful creature on the planet.

    Enter the gang of vampire killers. Dr. Nora Martinez and the former exterminator Vassily Fett are secret lovers, hiding their newfound passion from the tumultuous and unstable Eph, and Gus Elizande, the former gang-banger and now hired assassin, is still set on destroying every “vamp” that crosses his path. The four come together, rather reluctantly, in this final stand against the Master. Can they decipher that book and determine the Master’s origin site? The clump of earth that birthed him, whose destruction will mean the destruction of the Master? If they find the origin site, can they destroy it? And can they do all of this AND save Zach from the clutches of the Master before he becomes a vampire himself?

    It’s not that The Night Eternal was mystical. And mystical it was. Let’s put it this way: the origin of vampires comes from the murder of an archangel… as in Michael, Gabriel, Raphael. You know the guys who fight God’s battles and deliver His messages. After the angel in question is murdered, his body is dismembered and each piece buried at a different location. Where each body part is laid to rest, a vampire arises, the final vampire to do so being the Master.

    An interesting take on the vampire legend for sure. But it would have worked so much better if the whole trilogy had been mystical. And there were definitely elements of mysticism in the first books – the vampires are not fans of pure silver, for example – but there was so much more science too. These weren’t magical creatures; they were creatures of pure biology. Yet they have mystical beginnings? I don’t know. I just couldn’t buy it. Science could be called upon to explain it, and fail. Hail mysticism. But science didn’t fail here. And it’s hard to put science and mysticism in the same legend. At least it is hard to do it and make it believable. I don’t think The Strain trilogy pulled it off, to say the least.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Meh ending.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great series though I was somewhat disappointed with the ending. Very anti-climatic and predictable. Do yourself a favor and read the first two books before this one. The first book, The Strain is by far the best. This is a different twist to vampire lore. They do not sparkle and they have no interest in humans except as food. They still fit the one true definition of a vampire: require human blood to survive. All other traits are at the discretion of the lore creator: Stoker, King, Hamilton, Harris, World of Darkness even Meyers to name a few. Overall as a single book this book would not be a good read (not enough background data), but as the end of a trilogy it is a must.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The finale to del Toro and Hogan's "Strain" trilogy was simply inconsistent. I enjoyed the conclusion to the mythology of where and how the strain began, but I was disappointed in the conclusions to the various plot threads. The dark and serious mythology really drove the first two books, followed closely by development of the characters. While the myth drove my excitement to finish the trilogy, the flat characterizations made it more of a chore. Something was lost at the conclusion of "The Fall" following the death of Vampire-hunter Abraham Setrakian and the vampire-napping of Eph's son Zacharcy Goodweather. There were hints of strength throughout the book - the writing is good, the violence is heavy and believable. The apocalyptic world built in the first two books continues to build and remain authentic, but the plot threads became disjointed, and conclusions reached too conveniently.I heartily recommend this read for anyone who's read the first two books. The big 'reveal' behind The Master's creation, as well as the newly developed backstory of Mr. Quinlan make it a wholly worthwhile investment. Just keep your expectations measured.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this trilogy. It's a brand new take on the vampire phenomenon. Masterfully crafted, full of tension and suspense. I recommend it to all horror fans.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Like many of you that read this series, I was quite upset when it was over. I am not the type that reads much about extreme fantasy story lines like this one, but because of its close like and relate-ability to the real world, it quickly became one of my favorites. The entire series is extremely well written, keeping the action going at just the right times, and also exploring the humanity of us and how we fight to keep what and who we are close, in the face of adversity and annihilation. With characters from all across the globe and almost every walk of life entangled in the struggle to rid the world of strigoi, we see how everyone of us have the will and the strength to fight for our humanity. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a great story and a fascination with the fantastic! If you enjoyed Hellboy, you will absolutely love this series!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I liked the first two. This one I can’t say I’m too happy with the ending. I’d have to say at least the mood for the setting and the feeling throughout the book was pretty good. The violence and horror aspect of the book makes the setting have a post apocalyptic feeling so this part of the book was well done too.The background story of Quinlan was also good. Although I can’t help but think the whole angels and Old Testament muck is just that. Muck something much more interesting could have been thought up but no. We have to go back the same past ideas that have been rehashed and reused over and over. I wasn’t interested in that. On top of that, the romance aspects and that horrible excuse of a love triangle with Eph, Fet and Nora was just terrible and unnecessary. In fact the majority of the characters in this book just took a downturn for the not so interesting and blah. Eph becomes emo and whiny to the point where reading about him makes you want to cringe. Nora is okay but she suddenly becomes this besotted lovesick twit with Fet and they’re so bloody mismatched it wasn’t worth reading. Let’s not get started on Zack either. Oh my. Did I ever wish he would be choked to death by one of these vampiric beasts. Was he ever a waste of pages. To top it off, the ending just didn’t do it right for me. When I read that, I nearly wanted to close the book in utter disgust but kept going a little more only to find more snippets of stupid Nora and Fet. Oh for crying out loud, I raved and loved the first two books only to get a real good slap upside the face with this drivel? Most disappointing final book in a series. Ever. This one just took that award by storm.The only thing I liked? was Quinlan and the dark mood that set the setting and feeling for the book. Yet the rest of the characters just killed the story. I only finished it because it’s part of a series and a small part of me wanted to see it until the end. Disappointing, and sad to see it go a great series end this way.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The final installment in The Strain trilogy begins nearly 2 years after the nuclear meltdown of the preceding book. Eph’s own demons and his missing son interfere with his ability to lead while Fet and Nora become lovers. The group with the help of some gangsters and the Masters half-human child seek to discover and destroy the Master’s birthplace before the human race is completely enslaved.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Strain trilogy comes to its conclusion in The Night Eternal. After detonating multiple nuclear weapons, vampires now have dominion over a darkened world. The rements of humanity are carefully controlled. After all the vampires do need a stable food supply for the future. Eph Goodweather, Fet the exeterminator, Dr. Nora Martinez and Gus the gang banger race the Master in an attempt to find a lost volumn of vampire mythology which may lead to the destruction of the Master. Aided in their pursuit is a half breed vampire named Quinlan. But the Master has literally millions of eyes around the world. And Eph's son Zack, who the Master has spent two years corrupting. It's a race against the clock as the humans try to outwit an ancient master vampire for control of humanities destiny.