Borne in Blood: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain (St. Germain) (Paperback)

by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Author)
Key Phrases: liver sorrels, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Herr Kleinerhoff, Comte Franciscus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
If Anne Rice is the celebrity journalist of vampires, Yarbro is their domestic chronicler. The meticulous 20th entry in her Count Saint-Germain saga (after 2006's Roman Dusk) finds her 4,000-year-old hero in the Swiss countryside of 1817, helping the struggling locals recover from the Napoleonic wars and severe winters. By this period, Saint-Germain is a cultured and compassionate figure, occupied with the spread of knowledge through publishing and the child custody struggles of his lover, Hero Corvosaggio. His greatest threats come from discharged soldiers turned bandits and an abused debutante turned murderer, whose blood-obsessed guardian he lectures on the difference between heredity and destiny. Monsters are made, he knows, not born. Yarbro piles on the historical detail, giving an intimate look at the households of early 19th-century Europe and the commerce and travels of its inhabitants. Letters, with headnotes on their delivery methods and times, litter the text, adding to the period feel. Intimate, too, describes Saint-Germain and Hero, whose relationship is explored in fine-grained emotional as well as physical terms.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Saint-Germain is a compelling figure, more appealing than the modern vampires of Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton.”--Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“Saint-Germain is a cultured and compassionate figure, occupied with the spread of knowledge through publishing and the child custody struggles of his lover, Hero Corvosaggio.  [The relationship between] Saint-Germain and Hero is explored in fine-grained emotional as well as physical details.”--Publishers Weekly on Borne in Blood

“One of her finest.  Sensuous scenes are lush with language.  Meticulous attention to historic detail and vivid writing bring an ancient era to life.  Unlike most generic vampire novels that can be quaffed in a quick if entertaining gulp, this book should be savored like fine wine.”--Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Roman Dusk

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; Reprint edition (January 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765317141
• ISBN-13: 978-0765317148
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #352,468 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quiet Yet Compelling, December 28, 2007

By	Bonnie G. Papini "Gattina" (Dayton, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Borne in Blood: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain (St. Germain) (Hardcover)

I always await Yabro's next installment in the St. Germain saga with great anticipation. Some of her novels are full of big historical events that nearly overwhelm her vampire hero. The Chinese invasion of Genghis Khan and the decline of classical Rome fall into this category. Others are set in quieter times and give an impression of what normal problems a four thousand year old entity can face and how he addresses them. Of course, St. Germain has extra abilities that make his problem solving unique. This latest chapter in St. Germain's long "life" is set in a period between tumultuous events, shortly after the defeat of Napoleon. Consequently, no battle scenes interrupt Yarbro's exploration of the vampire's efforts to connect with the humanity he lost four millennia ago.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You've Read This Book Before, March 13, 2008

By	Penny Dreadful (Under Your Skin) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Borne in Blood: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain (St. Germain) (Hardcover)

You've Read This Book Before

Sure you have. Except for its setting it is exactly like all previous Saint-Germain novels. Same oppressed damsel in distress, same altruistically rescuing yet personally imperiled alchemist-vampire count, same resolution, even several lines more or less lifted from past exploits in this decades-long series. As I've said before, Ms. Yarbro definitely needs to vary her plots. (Her stories need new blood, ha-ha.)

The reason I keep reading her books is for the fact that few other fiction writers active today can match her ability to truly give the past so much multi-dimensional clarity. When you read her works you come away knowing almost everything about a time period. You know what challenges people of the age had to overcome in order to survive, you know what they were thinking, what frightened them, what they hoped to achieve, what they ate, drank, wore, believed, what was happening in the world in terms of climate. When you read a Saint-Germain book you even come away understanding what a particular time and place smelled like. All that is brilliant. It is so brilliant, in fact, that it pardons much that is less impressive about Quinn's novels, and has kept me reading for many years now when I've sometimes wondered if I shouldn't abandon the series.

I have asked before, though, why does this author have so much difficulty in varying her plots? They are all as formulaic as A+B=C. Every time! I'm not joking. In every novel it's: unjustly tormented women meets heroic vampire figure who delivers her from evil. End of story. And this book was no exception. Surely someone with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's creativity and intellect knows this about her books, so why can't she make things a little different?

I did enjoy Borne In Blood's setting, its exploration of emerging modern science, the lengths to which Napoleon Bonaparte was deservedly vilified for the ongoing disastrous impact his megalomaniacal ambitions had on Europe long after he himself was dead, and it was also nice to check in on old friends and see, well, what the heck the Count was up to in the 1810's.

I'm not emptily picking on this author. Ms. Yarbro can write. She also utilizes her exhaustive research well in weaving her stories. If only I could find some variety in her plotlines, I'd hail her as a genius, instead of a fine historian masquerading only moderately successfully as a novelist.

About 3 ½ stars, mostly because she does history so well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Borne in Blood , January 14, 2008

By	Merlin D. Bear (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Borne in Blood: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain (St. Germain) (Hardcover)

This is another in a fine series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - for those already familiar with St Germaine, it is a must have, for those unfamiliar with the character but interested in vampire romance, bear in mind it's not Anita Blake.
Written on a number of levels, historical, romance and horror, it illuminates a period of St Germaine's life previously hinted at in previous works by the author, and referencing previous works.
Definitely a must have.