Product Description

Ace must now spend four long years away from his vampire masters King and J...but it may as well be an eternity! Boarding school is no more than a prison if it means Ace must live without the sweet embrace of his reckless brother J. Will Ace find a substitute for J's addictive love? Or will he wait out his grueling sentence and reunite with his dearly missed family? Only in his dreams can Ace feel the sharp bite of deep-red passion devouring his flesh!

Pathos feasts upon the hearts of the innocent and lures the reader into a world of succulent sacrifice and throat-tingling ecstasy! The young boy Ace wants nothing more than to be bound by his own blood to his powerful vampire masters. But does he naively crave the thrill of everlasting life (and love) too much? Ace is only a child...and he may discover that the forbidden world he cherishes may consume everything he's ever held dear.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #714017 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Review
Ace Clayton was adopted by the handsome, bestselling author, King Clayton. Ace lived a life of leisure and luxury with his adopted brothers, King and his aloof lover, the arrogant J, who taunted Ace, using all the guile he used to seduce male lovers. King and J are also vampires. J's harassment and teasing of Ace only caused the boy confusion, so King sent Ace to a private boarding school until he turns 18.

As Pathos, Vol. 2 opens, Ace has finished school. He s also 18 and can't wait to get back to his meet his brothers. They've been asleep for four years, waiting for the day Ace returns. Now, that Ace is back, he doesn't want things to go back to being the way they were before he was sent away to boarding school. He's ready to become J's lover ...forever, and that means Ace wants to be a vampire. Will his brothers grant him his wish, and will it really mean happily ever after?

THE LOWDOWN: I find that Pathos reads almost as if it's a romance novel/historical fiction. Not only does the complete story span centuries; it also feels timeless, as love stories are want to do. Like many romance novels, Pathos story is filled with engaging characters and rich characterization; Ace, King, and J are decidedly different, but creator Mika Sadahiro makes the trio fit in a way that makes for a fine story. Also, like many special tales of romance, Pathos is marked by both searing passion and shocking tragedy, which Sadahiro presents in a way that will have readers racing through this book.

Sadahiro's visual storytelling features compositions that are practical in terms of storytelling and lean, but potent in terms of the visual language of yaoi manga. Her draftsmanship features clean, elegant line work that is sparse in toning and shadows (compared to what's found in many manga). Fancy design work and decorations (flowers and patterns) are used only when a moment in the story really needs it, which makes those moments that much more potent.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Fans of supernatural yaoi will find Pathos to be an exceptional series that is not to be missed. --Comic Book Bin

If you thought that the first volume of Pathos was hot, you ain't seen nothing yet! In the second volume of Pathos there is more blood, sex, and passion. Whew!

Ace is now eighteen and graduated from high school. He has made the decision to become a vampire to become closer to J. King is not too fond of the idea, but J wants to become one with his lover. Once Ace becomes a vampire, he goes overboard. Soon a rivalry breaks out between King and Ace for J's affection. The way the score is settled is King steps into the sunlight, and quickly burns to ashes. J and Ace are taken aback and soon J retreats into a comatose type state, leaving Ace to fend for himself. Will Ace be able to bring J back to the land of the living (metaphorically speaking of course)?

This series is a surprise for me. I love Juné with a passion. One thing I've noticed, they have the tendency to play things safe. After having read both volumes of Pathos, this is a huge step they've taken. Pathos is a dark, bloody, and lustful series. No playing it safe with this title, and I must say Bravo! I have never really been into vampires. For someone who loves classic literature I've never read Dracula by Bram Stoker. Nosferatu was one of the most hilarious pieces of film I've ever seen. I couldn't get into Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I've never read the Twilight series. Vampires just don't interest me. Yet Pathos drew me into the world of Ace, J, and King. I found it interesting that once you become a vampire your fangs now take the place for fulfilling your sexual desires. Whether that is vampire lore, or something from Sadahiro-sensei's imagination, it's pretty wild.

Not only was the story riveting but Mika Sadahiro-sensei's art is absolutely stunning. You are able to differentiate between all of the characters. Everything is so lushly drawn and you can tell that sensei has taken great care to illustrate this amazing story. My only complaint is still King's hair. It seriously looks like his hair is channeling Brian May (Queen)/Roger Daltry (the Who)/Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin). It really is quite frightening. Other than that, I have no other complaints.

Not only did Juné make an inspired choice on publishing Pathos, but this book is GORGEOUS! I just about passed out when I saw the cover. J and Ace look so exceptionally hot that I need a to take a cold shower just looking at it. Like the first volume, the second volume is wrapped in a matte dust jacket. It seems to give it a classier, more adult look. Good job Juné!

I wholeheartedly recommend this series, but be aware that this is pretty hardcore stuff. It defintely earns its M rating. Juné made a wise decision with this title. Just remember, remember, remember that this is a very risqué manga. You may not get the sex you have come to expect from yaoi manga but nonetheless it is very sexually charged. --Manic About Manga

It makes me far too happy to be able to hold a copy of a work by Sadahiro in my hot little hands. She's one of the artists that I swore up and down that we would never see in this country. Now, I'm pretty sure that we're still never going to see stuff like Rub in Love or Under Grand Hotel over here, but at this point, I will be very happy to be proved wrong!

As I stated in my review for Pathos 1, part of the beauty of this series is that it's really not graphic at all. Vampires can't get it up, so they get their sexual release from drinking blood. What makes this series unbelievably filthy is the subject matter and how Sadahiro handles it.

Come on! It's vampires! By their very nature, it's erotic. Throw in a heavy dose of melodrama, teenage angst, jealousy and you get something that's greater than the sum of its parts. Is it cheesy at times with that heavy dose of melodrama? You bet. Am I complaining? Not a chance in hell.

At the end of the first book, King made a deal with Ace. If he waits four years before coming home again, until he's eighteen, King will not stand in the way of J and Ace's affair. So, Ace returns from his exile to awaken his brothers from their sleep and to see if he can be brought over to join them. J and Ace then spend the next few days doing the vampire equivalent of screwing each other blind until their carelessness leads to J being injured.

King then rejects Ace's bid to become a vampire. Well, Ace isn't going to stand for that, so he forces King's hand and kills himself. Surprise, surprise, they end up bringing Ace over to save him. Now the question is, is there room for King in the obsessive relationship that Ace and J have forged or is their love going to destroy all three of them.

I want more quality stuff like this from June. They've shown us what they're capable of and it's not just school boys. --Boys Next Door

Customer Reviews

What do you do?
What do you do when the author does not write the book according to the way you would have liked it to go? Would I have stopped watching Gurren Lagann when Kamina was killed about one third of the way through the series? Would I have stopped reading "Death Note" when one of the main characters was murdered halfway through the series.
If you've read the synopsis at the beginning of this page you already know what is going to happen.
King "turned" J without J knowing what his new life would entail. King and J have a love-hate relationship. J even tried to kill King after J tried to "turn" King's chosen plaything unsuccessfully. (J drank poisoned wine before King fed on him.)
Now we have Ace who loves J more than King. When Ace is "turned" his resentment of King continues to escalate. He says hateful things to King. He tells King, "I'd wish you'd just disappear." Who knows what went through King's mind? J's love was now for another.
I'm giving the book four stars because it made me think. I've read both novels over again several times. This is a good sexy story with passion and angst. The characters are hot and easy on the eyes. I really enjoyed the series.

Pathos Vol 2
So sO Read. It is all right. not what you except when you get the book.