In the Face of Death (Count Saint-Germain series) (Paperback)

by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Author) "...Spoke with the American journalist again, and he assures me that it is possible to arrange to study some of the Indians still living their..." (more)
Key Phrases: native earth, withdrawing room, San Francisco, Luke Greentree, Fox Woman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Aficionados of Yarbro's long-running Saint-Germain series (Blood Roses, etc.) will find this related novel to their liking, though its female point of view lends a different emphasis and emotional texture. French vampire Madelaine de Montalia, younger by many centuries than Saint-Germain, is not as immured to the pain of loving and losing mortals as her vampiric friend, lover and mentor. In 1845, Madelaine sets out to live with and study American Indian tribes in an effort to document their culture and knowledge before they're lost forever. (Admirably accurate research makes one wish these anthropological journals truly existed.) Arriving in 1855 San Francisco, the beautiful, charismatic Madelaine-who appears to be no more than 20 years oldâ€"and her banker, the unhappily married William Tecumseh Sherman, fall passionately in love. Madelaine eventually finds herself trapped in 1860 Alabama facing the vicissitudes of civil war. Sherman, who was actually a partner in a San Francisco bank before the Civil War, necessarily receives short shrift as a supporting character, but his role does allow Madelaine to make her points about the true meaning of undying love. Romance and history predominate in a story whose horrors, as in the Saint-Germain novels, are all of human origin.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Yarbro steps away from her St. Germaine series to follow the fortunes of one of the vampire count's many lovers, Madelaine de Montalia, whom St. Germaine fell in love with in the very first novel in the series, Hotel Transylvania (1978). Madelaine, also a vampire, leaves her home in London to travel to the U.S. to write a book about Indians in the mid-1800s. The country is inching toward civil war when Madelaine meets William Tecumseh Sherman, a senior officer at her bank in San Francisco. The two are immediately drawn to one another, despite the fact that Sherman is married and extremely devoted to his children. His wife is away visiting her parents, allowing the beginning of a passionate affair. Circumstance separates them when Madelaine heads off to study Indian tribes and Sherman is pulled back toward a military career, but they are fated to meet again. An engaging blend of historical fiction and romance. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Benbella Books (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932100296
• ISBN-13: 978-1932100297
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #653,629 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Madelaine Meets Sherman & The Civil War, April 12, 2002

By A Customer

A couple of years ago, I read an interview with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in which she mentioned this then unpublished book. She said in the review that her publisher had declined to publish it, due the the relative unpopularity of her Olivia vampire books, as compared to her St. Germain vampire novels. I was unhappy with her publisher's decision, and so was delighted to find that the "Madelaine" book was now available as an electronic book.

I am glad I got the chance to read it, but I was not thrilled with the format. Having to read the book on the computer screen was trying, and due to the Microsoft format, it was not possible to print out a chapter to read in bed, etc. I understand that printing is allowed in the Adobe electronic book format, and I would look for that in purchasing electronic books in the future.

The book itself is not among Yarbo's best. Madelaine is an interesting character when she pops up in the St. Germain books, but her personality and circumstances limit the action when she is the focus of the entire book. I'll admit that my judgement may be affected by the format of the book, which forced me to read it sitting at my desk. Yuck.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twentieth in the "Saint Germain" series., November 25, 2004

By	James Yanni (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Or second in the "Madeline" offshoot series, depending on how you look at things. In any case, this is one of the best of a very good series.

For one thing, the character of Madeline de Montalia has been underexplored in the Saint Germaine novels, only a few of which have been set in time periods after Madeline was born, much less became a vampire. And unlike "Out Of The House Of Life", this is truly a novel centering on Madeline's life; that one split its focus between her adventures in Egypt and Saint Germaine's early history there.

For another thing, the time period and place setting of this one, the American Civil War, is a fascinating focus for the story, as is the character of William T. Sherman, her lover for the story.

For a third thing, the writing in this book is better than that in "Out of the House of Life", or at least the proofreading is less sloppy. There are only about a half-dozen instances of sloppy proofreading here, as opposed to the two dozen or so in that book. ("How strange that you should call white men them to me..." for instance.) Also, in this book one of the conventions of the Saint Germaine series that I've always found moderately annoying has been adjusted in a positive manner: the correspondence that has always come before and after every chapter has been replaced by entries from Madeline's journal, and instead of getting one and only one entry right where we would expect it every time (which always struck me as rather a contrived style) we get one, or two, or several; whatever better advances the plot at that point, which seems a much better system.

For those unfamiliar with the basic concept behind Yarbro's vampires, a few quick points are in order: 1) they are not (neccessarily) ravening monsters. 2) they do need the blood of the living to survive, but very little of it, little enough that they need not kill or even injure anyone to get it. 3) although mere blood itself WILL suffice to keep them going, it would be a very unsatisfying life, like a mortal living on bread and water; to truly have a satisfying "meal", they must feed on the blood of a lover. Most of the time, they make do with lovers who they hypnotize into having amorous dreams of them, but even that is barely acceptable fare. What truly nourishes them is the blood of a willing lover who knows them for what they are. Not surprisingly, this sort of fare is very rare; they may go decades between such nourishing sustenence. 4) Other than immortality and somewhat exceptional strength, stamina, and speed, (and, of course, the hypnotic ability previously mentioned, which is a very mild power not at all useful in an offensive capacity) there is little to set them apart from mortals in a positive manner; on the other hand, they are more able to offset their vampiric drawbacks than many literary vampires; so long as they have their shoes lined with their native earth, they can move about unhindered during daylight, only slightly more susceptible to sunburn than a normal person, they can cross running water with only mild discomfort (again, as long as their soles are properly lined); the only real problems are that they do not eat normally, which consistently makes for awkward situations socially, and they do not reflect in mirrors, which can also prove awkward.

If you like traditional vampire stories with lots of supernatural powers, blood and gore and seductive evil, this novel and all of the related books from Yarbro may not be to your taste (although there is plenty of blood and gore in the scenes relating to the war, of course.) But if you enjoy historical romance and are intrigued (or at least not upset) at the prospect of a main character that is a somewhat untraditional vampire, you may find the Saint Germain series fascinating, and this book is one of the best of the lot.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Better Way to Enjoy E-Books, July 12, 2002

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

I was monitoring the list of Yarbro novels available, hoping for more information on the next St. Germain, when to my surprise I noticed this e-book. I had never before purchased an e-book and I spent some time deciding if I wanted to read a book on the PC. Not an attractive proposition, as the first reviewer of this book pointed out. Mentioned the problem to my husband who suggested that he download the book not to the regular PC, but to his iPAQ (a PALM size PC). He was less happy that he had to load a Microsoft product to effect the download, as he is strongly committed to Linux, but was finally persuaded by being promised a new iPAQ when the product is upgraded.

I believe that e-books have a real future on iPAQ type devices. Lightweight and compact, you can take it wherever you like. Easy to read without a lamp as the device is self illuminated and will not disturb anyone sleeping nearby. Also, an e-book takes no space on my already crowded book shelf.

As to the story, I found "In the Face of Death" much more enjoyable than the Olivia novels. Poor Olivia was always complaining how much better things were for the women during the Roman Empire. Madelaine gets on with her trials of body and spirit without Olivia's whining and less anguish than St. Germain would experience. For all that the main interaction was between Madelaine and General Sherman, I was happy not to be regaled with detailed descriptions of battles in the Civil War. I also enjoyed Madelaine's progression in her life as a vampire. She has obviously learned a lot since she was in Egypt and seems to have acquired much more of St. Germain's skill with medicines than Olivia managed. An interesting book and I hope to read more.