Prisoner of Midnight by Barbara Hambly

Barbara Hambly's Prisoner of Midnight is the eighth book in the James Asher series.  While the series is billed as James Asher, Lydia Asher often plays an equal or larger part, as does the vampire Don Simon Ysidro.

The series begins with Those Who Hunt the Night, which I admit still remains one of my favorites in the series.

In this latest book, Don Ysidro has been drugged and taken captive and is being shipped to America.  Lydia joins the voyage to find him, and to either free him or kill him, whichever becomes necessary.

Not my favorite in the series, but an interesting twist at the end that makes me eager for the next book.

Read in January; review scheduled for April 17.

NetGalley/Severn House.

Fantasy/Vampires.  May 1, 2019.  Print length: 256 pages.

Darkness on His Bones by Barbara Hambly

Darkness on His Bones          

Set in Paris before the outbreak of WWI.  When Lydia receives notice that James Asher has been found near death in Paris, she rushes to her husband's side after sending a message to Don Simon Ysidro.  War is imminent, and the Germans are preparing to take Paris, hoping to use the Paris vampire nest as a devastating weapon.  

Lydia will need Don Simon's help in keeping James safe, but the ancient vampire discovers that events from his past threaten his ability to protect Lydia and James...and himself.

I've enjoyed most of the novels in this series and reviewed them.  However, I found this one less entertaining than previous novels because it was less coherent.  My favorites were Those Who Hunt the Night, Traveling with the Dead, and The Kindred of Darkness.  If you enjoy vampire novels, Hambly has an interesting take on the vampire genre!

James Asher, Vampire Novels

Those Who Hunt the Night (Locus Award winner for Best Horror Novel in 1989)

Traveling with the Dead (Locus Award nominee 1996, winner of the Lord Ruthven Award 1996)

Blood Maidens (2010)

Magistrates of Hell (2012)

The Kindred of Darkness (March 1, 2014)

Review scheduled for Sept. 25, 2015.

  NetGalley/Severn House

Vampire/Supernatural.  Oct. 1, 2015.  Print length:  256 pages.

The Quick by Lauren Owen

How would you complete the phrase "the quick and the _____ "?  The title is, of course, a clue to the content.  

I'm not entirely certain how I feel about this book.  The beginning is slow, giving the background of a brother and sister who are pretty much neglected after their mother's death.  They rattle around a huge mansion with little contact outside of their servants.  The siblings are close, big sister Charlotte feels responsible for her younger brother James.  The purpose of this section is to establish Charlotte's love for her brother and the existence of the priest hole.  It is rather slow, and the plot does not develop for a long time.

When James finishes university, he lives in London and has decided to become a poet.  For the most part, James is a solitary figure, but on deciding to share rooms with Christopher, James begins to open up some.  

How much or how little to say without giving too much away?  The book has some slow sections, but when the plot begins to intensify the intrigue increases as well.  The novel doesn't follow a typical chronological timeline or the typical flash-back technique.  The pov changes,  and large sections are in diary form.  The setting and style are very Victorian.

Interesting relationships:  James and Charlotte, James and Christopher, Edmund and Mould, Shadwell and Adeline, Charlotte and Halliwell.

Shadwell and Adeline have the potential to be the most dynamic of all the characters, but for the most part are (sort of) pawns to move the story forward.

The book is long and atmospheric, but there is surprisingly little real action.  The reader must focus on all of the relationships and question them--particulary the relationship between Edmund and Mould.  Edmund quickly abandons his goal of bettering society, and Mould (well, just look at his name) quickly abandons his humanity in his efforts to aid Edmund.  And why was he dismissed as a tutor?  I have an idea, but no confirmation.

Even the conclusion leaves the reader with questions.

Read in January.

NetGalley/Random House

Vampire.  June 17, 2014.

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

The Forever Song is the third and final book in the Blood of Eden series.  I reviewed the first two books (thank you, NetGalley) The Immortal Rules  and The Eternity Cure .

I loved the first two books in this series.  The characters and plot had me engrossed from the beginning.  Allie is a dynamic character that managed to be both threatening and sympathetic.

Allie, Kanin, and Jackal continue their pursuit of Sarren, who now possesses the virus that could end both vampires and humans.

While I'm happy to have had the chance to finish the series, I have to admit that this one did not hold the same appeal. I did like having more of Kanin and the development of Jackal's character, though.

NetGalley/Harlequin Teen

YA/Dystopian/Vampire.  April 15, 2012.  Print version:  416 pages.

Traveling with the Dead by Barbara Hambly

Traveling with the Dead , the second novel in this series, picks up in 1908.  James Asher, ostensibly the mild-mannered Oxford don, but in reality a former spy, happens to glimpse an old enemy, Ignace Karolyi with vampire Charles Farren, Earl of Ernchester.  This meeting can promise no good to the Empire, especially with all of the troubles that are already boiling over in Eastern Europe. 

James follows the pair to Paris, hoping to discover what reason an enemy spy and a dangerous vampire could have for teaming up.  And there is someone else on their trail.  From Paris, the journey leads to Vienna, and finally, to Constantinople.  

Lydia, worried about James, eventually seeks the aid of Don Simon Ysidro and takes off on the trail of her husband, but she is not the first to be following James.  Danger and death always accompany a vampire, and added to that are the machinations of the world of spy craft.

As in the previous novel, the writing is excellent and the characters well-drawn.  Hambly is able to create fascinating characters and a convincing atmosphere of the years that presage WWI as she casually drops in some of the events and conflicts that are building in Europe:  German Nationalism, unrest in Slavic countries, the call for social reform.

I am grateful to NetGalley for introducing me to this series with Hambly's latest James Asher novel The Kindred of Darkness, due to be released in March.  It was this ARC that instigated my interest in the series, and I will be scheduling that review for some time in February.

Now that I've read Those Who Hunt the Night and Traveling with the Dead, I'll certainly be seeking the next in the series soon.

James Asher, Vampire Novels

Those Who Hunt the Night (Locus Award winner for Best Horror Novel in 1989)

Traveling with the Dead (Locus Award nominee 1996, winner of the Lord Ruthven Award 1996)

Blood Maidens (2010)

Magistrates of Hell (2012)

The Kindred of Darkeness (March 1, 2014)

(Only two left for me to read in this series, so maybe I will give it a short rest, then, maybe I'll try one of Hambly's other series.)


Mystery/Paranormal/Vampire.  Orig. publ. 1995; republ. by Open Road 2011.  361 pages.

A New-to-me Series

The Kindred of Darkness by Barbara Hambly is an ARC I received from NetGalley.  It won't be released until March 2014, but I liked it enough to read and review the first in the series.

Those Who Hunt the Night (James Asher, Book 1)  was the Locus Award winner for the Best Horror Novel of 1989.  Open Road Media republished it in 2011. 

 The series is named for James Asher, apparently a mild-mannered professor of Linguistics and Folk Lore at Oxford, but in reality a former spy in Her Majesty's secret service, acquainted with violence and subterfuge, a necessary skill set for the novel.  

Although the series is named for James, his wife Lydia often holds the spotlight.  An heiress, Lydia caused a family uproar when she insisted on attending Oxford and most scandously, on becoming a doctor, then risked being disinherited by marrying James, who lacked the appropriate social standing.  (After James married Lydia without the promise of the money, Lydia's father dis-disinherited her, but the entire family still disapproved.)

The vampires that Hambly imagines are neither sympathetic nor sexy; they are skilled predators who, despite their quickness and strength, are strangely vulnerable if their true identities are revealed.  The sex appeal of the vampire is only a hunting mechanism, a means of luring prey.  They survive not only by blood, but by the psychic element of swallowed death...so to speak.  No nice vampires choosing to drink cautiously, because blood alone in not enough.

When London vampires are murdered, Don Simon Ysidro (a vampire since 1588) approaches James and, with the threat to Lydia, forces James to aid in the search for the killer.  

With Lydia as James' hostage to fate, Don Simon and James pursue through the killer through the London of 1907.  

Don Simon is a fascinating character:  Old World, cultivated, intelligent, and snobbish, but he retains a little of the character of his former self, and he works well with James.  Without Don Simon's knowledge, James has enlisted Lydia's help with research while trying to keep anyone from being aware of their contact.

Although I wasn't as pleased with the revelation of the source of the evil stalking the vampires (and that evil took more human lives than vampire lives), the novel provides hours of good reading and three compelling protagonists.

I read Hambly's Renfield:  Slave of Dracula for the 2007 R.I.P. Challenge, and I liked the way Hambly expanded on Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I liked The Kindred of Darkness enough to begin reading the series, and I liked Those Who Hunt the Night enough to continue with the next in the series.

Mystery/Supernatural.  Orig. publ.  1989; republ.  2011.  350 pages.

The Society of S

Hubbard, Susan. The Society of S.

Another RIP Challenge read and another good vampire yarn. I really enjoyed the mystery of this vampire story and the bildungsroman aspect of Arielle's "apprenticeship."

Twelve-year-old Arielle Montero spends most of her life secluded from society and home schooled by her overprotective scientist father.

Ari's father has been protective for a reason, however, as she is the product of a "mixed" marriage: her father is a vampire, her mother was human before she disappeared when Ari was born. Her father has made every attempt to keep her safe and "normal" until she is old enough to learn some hard truths.

Eventually, Ari does begin learning about her parents, details that have been kept from her, but she also has a great deal to learn about herself as well. Her journey to adulthood is more complicated than most.

This is not a blood and gore or a sensual vampire story, but a story of a young woman who must learn to understand the past, her own particular heritage, more than one culture, and who must make some difficult decisions.

Gothic,mysterious, and intriguing.

Other reviews: Bookgirl's Nightstand, Bookshelves of Doom

Fiction. Supernatural/Vampire. 2007. 304 pages.

I Am Legend

Matheson, Richard. I Am Legend. A novella, I guess, rather than a novel, but a very powerful vampire story, first published in 1954.

I didn't see the movie, but I found myself completely enthralled with the book. Richard Neville has survived the plague that either killed or turned every other human being into vampires. He manages to survive the loss of his wife and child and his solitary existence, but frequently wonders if it is worth it. Each night his house is attacked by vampires; each day he leaves (if it is sunny) to kill sleeping vampires and get supplies. Not much to look forward to, eh?

This is an excellent vampire story, a modern re-creation and re-telling of vampire legends, and a moving story of a man isolated and often despairing.

Fiction. Supernatural/Vampire. 1954/1995. 170 pages.

Dark Celebration

Feehan, Christine. Dark Celebration. Feehan has written a number of Carpathian novels about different Carpathian families, but I have not read any others. Carpathians are evidently a form of vampire, but the good kind. You know, lots of powers and sensuality, but not that nasty, evil-vampire-type.

This book is a reunion of sorts and thus unites many families that have books to themselves. As a result, for a new reader, it involves Prince Mikhail visiting all of the other families to provide an introduction. Gets monotonous, even when you like the characters.

All of the Carpathians introduced have charming aspects, all couples are deeply in love, all have powers such as mind reading, shape-shifting, etc. Oh, and are highly sexually active, but only with their lifemates. Definitely not promiscuous because they are all deeply in love. Fortunate, but still too much of that kind of thing. As usual, I prefer the action to the romance/sex.

The evil characters are the real vampires and one or two mages. All kinds of other complications are also in play.

This is definitely not the book to begin this series--too many families are there for the reunion. I believe Dark Prince is the first one.

Fiction. Supernatural/Vampire. 2006. 301 pages + addendum information and some delicious recipes.

of tooth and claw

Dracula and vampire enthusiasts will enjoy this new version of the story! A graphic novel about the supernatural and...cats.

Southern Grotesque and Twisted Physics

Lisa's recent posts about Flannery O'Connor have renewed my interest. I think I'll add an O'Connor biography to my growing biography list. Here is another O'Connor quote I've had tucked away:

"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them." Pure Flannery!

Maggie's comment on the last post about O'Relatives was funny...until I started thinking about what some of my McRelatives might think of me!

I'm still reading the last of the nonfiction from January and enjoying both books.

Jennifer Oullette's The Physics of the Buffyverse is as much fun as I had hoped, and I'm about half way through. While physics has never been my strong point (that is an understatement of epic proportions), Oullette's combination of everyday language and Whedonist connections makes me pay more attention. She covers interesting aspects of science and the Buffyverse

Some of the topics she discusses include:

porphyria - symptoms of the inherited disease include sensitivity to light and "reddish" mouths. Severe cases may involve disfigurement and "the teeth and gums may become so taut the teeth protrude like fangs." I've read about this before, but interestingly, the show intended Vampirism to be a progressive disease.

invisibility gun - while this idea may not be feasible, Oullette relates "cloaking' schemes" that "rely on the camouflage principle" are an accomplished fact. Susumu Tachi, a real scientist, invented an "invisibility cloak" using computer generated images, and at the University of Pennsylvania, "researchers figured out how to use plasmon coatings as a cloaking device to render solid objects invisible--or nearly so--to an observer.''

centrifugal force - "in reality such a force doesn't exist," explains Oullette, but centripetal force is certainly useful.

Using episodes from Buffy and Angel, The Physics of the Buffyverse puts real science in an interesting format.

BTW - Cocktail Party Physics is the name of her blog.

The Rest Falls Away

Gleason, Colleen. The Rest Falls Away. This is the novel I won in the drawing over at Carl's. The first in a series by Gleason concerning the legacy of the Gardella family and their age-old battle with vampires. It is sort of "froth and furious" (the description of our heroine's attire as she attends the parties of the ton is the meticulously frothy aspect). The furious is the battle against evil in the form of vampires. Victoria's dreams lead her to the recognition of her role in this battle, and guided by her Aunt Eustacia, she undergoes an unusual education that prepares her for her dangerous vocation. Three men. A beautiful young woman. An ancient, but lovely and seductive vampire queen. Secrets, errors in judgement, adventure. A fun read.

347 pages.

Oops! Guess I hit "save as draft" instead of "publish." I thought this was published yesterday...

More Books and more books and...

I've finished Voltaire Almighty. You see all the flags? Must go back and refresh myself on some of these points so I can write the review. Reading this biography was a rewarding experience, and I do want to read more about Voltaire and Emilie. Checked at the library yesterday, and they don't have copies of the other biographies I wanted, but they do have one called Voltaire in Exile which is listed in the bibliography of Voltaire Almighty. Unfortunately, I forgot what I was looking for while browsing, and so it will have to wait until my next visit. My time was limited, but can also look at getting copies through interlibrary loan.

Here is a stack of books that await my time. Which to choose next?

I've already gotten over half way through The Rest Falls Away - taking a desert after a full meal is always a pleasure.

My friend Beth also brought me a bag full of books that I'll need to get through as well. She waits at the door of B & N when a new book in one of her series is due--while she will wait for the next one to be published, once it is in print, there is no delay.


My library books (refrained from getting the usual number as there are so many books-in-waiting at the current time) -

Browsing led me to an old copy of one of Gladys Tabor's books of essays which I remember enjoying years ago. A biography of Anne Boleyn, another favorite topic. And more. Oh, again, all of my choices look tempting, which to choose to follow the adventures of Victoria in The Rest Falls Away...

Home Again

I'm fairly close to the end of Voltaire Almighty and must say that even though the author frequently includes (what seem to me to be) non sequiturs, causing me to back track and try to figure out where that sentence came from...he has completely drawn me into Voltaire's life. And what a life!

My book has flags sticking out everywhere! Here, because of an interesting bit of information; here, to mark a quote; here to remember a surprising incident, or fact, or person, or method of doing things. Lots and lots of flags.

My copy of The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason arrived this weekend while I was in Baton Rouge (visiting my daughter and her family), so I had that nice surprise on returning home. Today has been rather too hectic and tomorrow will be the same, but I've gotten a few things accomplished and had time to read tonight - a good thing, as I didn't have a chance to read much this weekend.

I tried to get caught up on emails and blog stuff today, but have had limited time. Received 3 Netflix movies and don't know when I'll have a chance to watch them, but that's the beauty of Netflix, I don't have to worry about fines or deadlines. The library is another story, and I must make time for that tomorrow.

And the Winner Is...

I won! Me! Carl drew my name, and I get a copy of Colleen Gleason's The Rest Falls Away! Things have been so hectic around here that computer time has been almost non-existent, but yesterday, I checked my email and received Carl's note. Cool, huh? Wasn't expecting anything but checking in on email and got a surprise gift book! Looking forward to the first in this vampire series.

Still not much time available right now, but I'm trying to update my December Reading. I realized this morning that I put it on "draft" the other day when I updated...and left it there. Now I have more to add.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Like everyone else, I enjoyed reading all the entries in Carl's G.I.F.T Challenge and now this Christmas is added to those memories.

Oh, and speaking of Carl, a while back he recommended the BBC series Mulberry with Geraldine McEwan. I watched the first disc before Christmas and have to admit that I, too, fell in love with both the series and the star. If you want a pleasant "movie" experience, you really should try this one. Thursday should bring the second disc, and I can't wait. Another set of characters as eccentric and lovable as you could hope for.

Dead as a Doornail

A while back, I discussed Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris. I enjoyed this novel and will look for more in this series. However,

I just finished Dead as a Doornail, part of Harris' Southern vampire mystery series, and found it less appealing. One thing that did amuse me was Harris' setting: north Louisiana. Bon Temps (which sounds like Cajun country, not north Louisiana), Sookie Stackhouse's hometown is Bon Temps - which sounds like Cajun country, but definitely not north Louisiana - and is located somewhere near Shreveport. In the novel, Shreveport is home to an enclave of werewolves (and other supernatural creatures as well). Ruston and Louisiana Tech are also mentioned. Harper Connelly and her brother Toliver Lang (characters in Grave Sight) even make a brief appearance in the novel.

Reading the names of familiar places in connection with all of the supernatural happenings was kind of fun, but I think I'll give the rest of this series a pass (while looking for more with Harper and Toliver).