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52 in 2011
Jan. 20th, 2011 12:54 pmKeeping myself busy so I don't have to think . . .
9. Blood Maidens by Barbara Hambly
This is the third book about James Asher, Oxford Don and former spy for His Majesty's government, and Don Simon Ysidro, vampire. The books are set in the early 1900s. Hambly's vampires don't sparkle. They are ruthless, cold, manipulative bastards who still inspire fear. Ysidro also retains a sense of honor, however, and the relationship he has developed with Asher is complicated and fascinating. Each knows that the safest thing to do is kill the other, yet they respect each other and work together.
The first book about these characters, Those Who Hunt the Night, was a conventional murder mystery plot. The second book involved political overtones and machinations, directly related to Asher's career as a spy. This book continues in that vein. Asher and Ysidro travel to St. Peterburg because it appears that a vampire is in league with the Germans. It is 1911 and the rumbles of the coming Great War are already sounding in the background. But, as the story develops, it becomes clear that there is something more than a political alliance going on here. As always, Hambly crafts a solid mystery based on human motivations (even when half the characters are no longer strictly human).
Hambly's vampire books are the anti-Twilight. They play up all the perils and complications of a vampire-human relationship. This book is probably the clearest refutation of the notion that a vampire-human love affair could ever be a good idea. Hambly underscores that vampirism is a state of profound selfishness -- let's face it, being willing to kill countless other people in order to live forever requires a state of selfishness most humans can't conceive of (fortunately).
9. Blood Maidens by Barbara Hambly
This is the third book about James Asher, Oxford Don and former spy for His Majesty's government, and Don Simon Ysidro, vampire. The books are set in the early 1900s. Hambly's vampires don't sparkle. They are ruthless, cold, manipulative bastards who still inspire fear. Ysidro also retains a sense of honor, however, and the relationship he has developed with Asher is complicated and fascinating. Each knows that the safest thing to do is kill the other, yet they respect each other and work together.
The first book about these characters, Those Who Hunt the Night, was a conventional murder mystery plot. The second book involved political overtones and machinations, directly related to Asher's career as a spy. This book continues in that vein. Asher and Ysidro travel to St. Peterburg because it appears that a vampire is in league with the Germans. It is 1911 and the rumbles of the coming Great War are already sounding in the background. But, as the story develops, it becomes clear that there is something more than a political alliance going on here. As always, Hambly crafts a solid mystery based on human motivations (even when half the characters are no longer strictly human).
Hambly's vampire books are the anti-Twilight. They play up all the perils and complications of a vampire-human relationship. This book is probably the clearest refutation of the notion that a vampire-human love affair could ever be a good idea. Hambly underscores that vampirism is a state of profound selfishness -- let's face it, being willing to kill countless other people in order to live forever requires a state of selfishness most humans can't conceive of (fortunately).
