Customer Reviews

A satisfactory but less than compelling novel. - By: , 10 Nov 2001
As with most of Yarbro's vampire novels I feel compelled to continue buying them but, once read, they leave me feeling unsatisfied & emotionally 'flat'.

The story itself is interesting & the changed relationsip between the main characters has potential which I hope to see developedin later stories.

My main criticism would be that, whilst her historical research is great & full of thoughtful detail & I feel connected to her characters, her writing style is somewhat detached & her build-up's & climaxes within the plot fail to involve me. It all feels a bit cursory - you know he's a vampire; there will be a love/food interest; powerful people will try to destroy him; he will escape(probably)and start a new life.

So what, you may say? Such plotting is standardin many books & does not detract from the readers enjoyment. It does here. The pace of her writing is frequently as dead as her main character & this is a great shame as the story contains a hugh amount of potential.

As always, I wonder at the reaction from readers who have brought her novels because they are 'horror'. There is nothing remotely 'horrible' about her work, but they are a genuine, if low key, exploration of alienation from general society & effective immortality.

I will continue to buy into her universe & would recommend her books to readers of alternative histories. Enjoy the detail; consider the awful desperation underlying her main characters mechanisms for finding food & hiding thier true nature; mull on the power & futility of lovein a long, long life, just don't expect great levels of excitement, that isn't what this book is about.