Bergstryker U : The Face of an Angel / W. J. Everett. Canemill Publishing, 2011 (ebook). 56 pages.

This is the first of two (to date) young adult Bergstryker U ebooks by “W.J. Everett” (Richard Parks), better known under his real name as the author of numerous fine fantasies for adults. Had I not known of the pseudonym I would not have happened on these, and I suspect my experience is not unique. Little is achieved by Parks hiding his light under the bushel of Everett, and letting it shine would undoubtedly bring more readers to this series. Who, after all, is “Everett” but a writer with but two titles to his name, not particularly well served by covers showing what appears to be a drugged-out angel/demon (actually the vampire heroine Amelia Wainwright). Yet these stories are much better than they might appear at first glance.

J.K. Rowling popularized the supernatural boarding school genre. This is Parks’s take on it. Bergstryker U’s distinction is that it’s for various kinds of supernatural beings, not magicians, with a sprinkling of ordinary students to add diversity. The purpose of the college is not just education, but to promote peaceful coexistence between species that don’t necessarily get along left to themselves--a worthy ideal. It is not entirely clear if the world in which it is set is one in which the mass of humanity is aware or not of the supernaturals in its midst; the school may or may not be a secret one. But it’s definitely an experiment, and a fragile one. This story unites two scholars, human Jeff Tolbert and vampire Amelia Wainwright, in an attempt to uncover a mystery that could well end that experiment. In the process, an unlikely friendship, perhaps even romance, is born. As Parks excels at characterization, he weaves both threads of the plot into a tale well worth the reading.

If there’s a problem with the book, it’s in its limited length and focus. It’s too short to achieve much depth; Parks doesn’t give himself enough space to make his world fully live and breathe. We learn little even of the student body beyond the two protagonists’ own species. The only prominent non-human, non-vampire character encountered is a were-squirrel, and since he’s the murder victim, he’s only on only briefly. There is much more to Bergstryker U and its denizens than is explored here, and what we do learn invites additional questions.

As an instance, Parks’s vampires, while allergic to sunlight, garlic, silver and religious symbols, aren’t your traditional undead, but a living species that just happens to be super predatory on humans. That means it propagates like any other species, and new vampires aren’t converted from victimized humans but have to be born and raised. Yet, these vampires can also interbreed with humanity, which, as a separate species, shouldn’t be possible. How? It’s anyone’s guess; Parks doesn’t explain. They have other unique wrinkles; they don’t feed on blood per se, but rather the life force in it, and they can suck nourishment from a plant as easily as a person. So they’re not obligate carnivores; there can be, and are, vegetarian vampires!

The possibilities in this series only hinted at in this initial book. Parks begins to open his world up a bit in the sequel, but even it is only a start. If continued, they could be the start of something very good indeed.

This review is an expansion of one I posted to Amazon on October 12, 2018.

Four out of five stars.

—Brian.