Customer Reviews

Bride of the Rat God

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book had the wonderful combination of keeping me turning the pages to find out what was happening next and laughing hysterically. While very unlike Barbara Hambly's other books, each one of which I have loved, this book shines out as a more lighthearted version of the same gripping plot, deep characters, cohesive world view, and some creeping horror that must be fought, if only they can figure out how in time. I bought extra copies of this book and sent them to three friends who were having a hard time right then with their life. All three reported that 'Bride of the Rat God' brought immediate relief from depression!

Hollywood, 1923. A small town on the verge of greatness, filled with silent film stars, directors, producers, and an ancient Chinese Rat God hell-bent on taking his bride!! His intended is Chrysanda Flamande, aka Christine Blackstone, one of the new up-and-coming stars of the silent film era. She lives the good life with her widowed sister-in-law Norah and her Pekingese dogs in the hills of Los Angeles. With her big-time producer boyfriend, she is the toast of the town, while her dowdier sister-in-law tries to keep her from getting into too much trouble and helps her to get to work on time. This idyllic existence is interrupted by the arrival of a myserious Chinese gentleman, who tries to warn her that the Rat God is coming for her, because of the old Chinese necklace she wore in her last film. She pays him little attention until people around her begin to die or disappear and strange things start happening around her home. Suddenly Christine, Norah, and their friends are thrust into a whirlwind of danger and magic that threatens their very souls. And the only thing standing between her and a "hellish" marriage is the old Chinese man, who happens to be a wizard. But can they muster the strength of body and mind to overcome such an ancient evil?

This is another good book by Hambley. Again she dazzles us with her precise, vivid writing and heartfelt characters. She makes you worry about what will happen to them. The reader will also learn a bit about what Hollywood was like 80 years ago, before all the glitz and glamour (although Hollywood 1923 at times sounds like Hollywood today). Seeing Norah finally climb out of her pit of despair from her husbands untimely death in World War I and find love again uplifts the heart. Glimpsing the vulnerability of Christine and seeing past her confident facade makes one wonder about the stars of today and the price of fame. The story itself is a bit rough around the edges, but generally this is an enjoyable book that readers of all ages and genres should enjoy. Another great addition to anyone's library. Really, this book rates 3.5 stars, not 3.

This is a great book! Set in 1923 in a nascent Hollywood, Hambly has presented the hectic life of early movie people, and mixed it all up with an ancient evil Manchurian Rat God, and Chinatown in Los Angelas. Her totally charming heroine, "Chrysande Flamande", with 3 little pekinese dogs, which are also Fu dogs, born to fight demons is at the center of this great story. But there is also the dignified, sholarly brown haired Norah, and her new love, Alec, the short and stocky cinematography. The only problem with the book is the truly awful cover, which completely misses the feeling of the book: nostalgia; kindliness; and ugly scuttling evil out there in the dark....

The only thing wrong with Bride of the Rat God is cover illustration. It seems that the artist only read the squib on the back cover.

Christine Blackstone, aka Chrysanda Flamande, is one of the biggest stars of the silent film era. She lives with her widowed sister-in-law, Norah, and her Pekingese dogs, in the hills of Los Angeles. After wearing an ancient Chinese necklace in one of her movie costumes, she is cursed to be killed by the Rat God.

Sounds just like a pulp thriller, right? Fortunately this particular book was written by Barbara Hambly, so what you get instead is an intelligent, well researched, somewhat spoof of Hollywood in the 1920's. The characters are well rounded, the plot is interesting but not overly complicated, and the writing is superb. Now if there was only some way to get rid of that terrible cover....

Ms. Hambly portrays early Hollywood so well, you find yourself surprised to look up from the book and see the 1990's. Nora Blackstone is the person telling the story, a practical down-to-earth sort of woman, the widow of Jim, brother of silent film actress Chrysanda Flamande. Jim was killed in WWI, barely a few years after he and Nora were married, and much of the book is driven by Nora's recovery from mourning and her concern for her sister-in-law, who has been inadvertantly promised to (you guessed it) the Rat God. It is an action-packed book, with wonderfully presented and believable characters, and a joy to read. The only drawback is the cover of the book. If I hadn't already been aquainted with the author and how good she is from her vampire books (Those Who Hunt the Night, and Traveling with the Dead), that cover would've put me off for sure.

If the name Barbara Hambly isn't enough to make you expect something well above what the title might imply, let me try to convince you. The title sounds like something out of a bad scifi movie, and it's got lots of the elements of just that genre of film: an ancient cursed necklace, a demon (the Rat God itself), explosions, cryptic omens, people who refuse to die even when their skulls are cracked open, and mysterious Chinese gentlemen.

But it's also got a wealth of finely-drawn characters: the `bad' actress who's having an affair with the studio owner, the widowed sister-in-law she rescued from companion status in England, the brave photographer, the above-mentioned Chinese gentleman, a trio of charming and essential Pekingese, and a bevy of side characters equally memorable.

And also finely-detailed is the setting: Los Angeles at the height of the silent film era, when everyone worked long hours, and used a lot of illegal drugs (including alcohol). A Los Angeles just beginning to grow, still full of woods, orchards, oil derricks, Hollywood, Chinatown, bootleggers, and dockside piers with carnivals. So while our intrepid heroes are waiting for the right time to confront the Rat God and contain it so they can live on in peace, you get to meet some new friends and see an intriguing view of Hollywood during prohibition.

I've read this book at least four times. Each time I've thought: do I really want to keep this in my library? And then set it aside to decide that question later. Well, this time I've decided -- it's being kept for the next time I want something light, clever and textured. It's out of print, but worth looking for.

If you're going to title your book, "Bride of the Rat God," you must have your tongue firmly in your cheek because the very name is a parody of an entire genre. Fortunately, Barbara Hambly (who for twenty years has had success as a fantasy author, mystery author, and historical novelist -- only her books in the latter two genres seem to be in print) carries it off well.

One reason she gets away with it is that the premise is both fun and unusual. Our heroine, Norah, is recently arrived in Hollywood in 1923; she's the sister-in-law and companion of a flighty if successful movie star. This era is before the talkies arrived, a time when filming is done with a crank and Hollywood is still really a small, strange town. The book would have been interesting even without a dead body (apparently, we learn, killed by an evil Chinese spirit fed by human greed) simply because our knowledge of movie history generally is so sparse.

As is usual with Hambly's novels, the author does an outstanding job of showing the tension between communities that do not understand each other, such as the Chinese immigrants who live in 1923's Chinatown and the general population. (She demonstrated this even more effectively in her Benjamin January mysteries, beginning with A Free Man of Color, which start in 1830s New Orleans.) The characters are all appealing, even the silly actress who's having an affair with the producer. I like the love story a lot, particularly because there are no loud proclamations, just two people becoming closer over time. And any pet owner will love the Pekingese dogs who trot through the story even if, as Hambly admits in an Afterward, one friend thinks they are "one step above bunny slippers." It's all told with humor, too.

Unlike most of Hambly's books, this is completely a stand-alone novel. You aren't committing yourself to a series.

Bride of the Rat God is not high-minded deep literature, but rather good escapist entertainment. That's fine, because it's what I want after a hard week at work. I dare say you could use a bit of it, too.

Barbara Hambly has taken the idea of a great B-movie and turned it into a book - and a very readable book at that!

When sexy vamp of the silver screen Chrysanda Flamande is told that an item of jewelry she wore in her latest hit film has marked her as the bride of a Manchurian devil god, she blows it off at first. But then strange things start to happen around her. When she begins to believe, it is almost too late. Can she escape the clutches of the Rat God?

The book will keep you turning pages with suspense while simultaneously laughing at the overall sense of ridiculous fun. A great book - thumbs up!

This is a remarkable combination of historical novel, monster story, love story, and send-up of monster story. It manages to be both hilarious and suspenseful. And it's pleasant.

Bride of the Rat God is a really good story, by a really good writer, Barbara Hambly. She has taken the background of early 20s Hollywood and woven a fantastic supernatural tale around it, not losing track of her real characters during their troubles. There are references to World War I and Prohibition, all timely. Even the killing influenza of those days gets its mention. The supernatural is the supernatural and suitably frightening, although the ending seems to fade from the high drama in the beginning.