Customer Reviews

The Saint-Germain Chronicles

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Chronicles is a wonderful collection of short stories about C.Q. Yarbro's most famous character, St. Germain. For those of you who delight in piecing together Ragoczy's past, this one is a must have. If you can find it. This book also includes the story "Spider Glass".

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, the Saint-Germain series is a series of "historical horror" fiction in which the title character and hero (yes, he is a proper hero, not an antihero as in so much vampire fiction) is a vampire who has "lived" for somewhere between 3500 and 4000 years. In the first five books of the series ("Hotel Transylvania", "The Palace", "Blood Games", "Path of the Eclipse", and "Tempting Fate") we have seen him in five novels in five different historical periods: pre-Revolutionary France, Renaissance Italy, Imperial Rome, 13th century China, India, and Persia, and Germany between the World Wars, respectively.

This book is somewhat different; it is a collection of short stories (interspersed, as always, with dated correspondence to establish the time frame) ranging chronologically from 1889-1981. Thus, if your preference is for longer stories with an overarching plot, this book may not be for you; similarly, if one of the drawing cards for the series is the earlier historical settings, this might be disappointing. Still, the stories are interesting, and provide insight into the character. Further, two of the stories, "Renewal" and "Cabin 33" are excellent, must-read stories for those fond of the series; in "Renewal", we see the initiation into vampirism of James Emmerson Tree, who we met in the fifth book of the series as the American lover of the vampire Madeline de Montalia. In that book, he was told of her nature, and warned that as her long-time lover, he would become a vampire when he died, but her refused to believe any of it, being the pragmatic modern man that he was. In this story, he is forced to come to terms with the reality of the situation. In "Cabin 33", we have the pleasure of seeing Saint Germain deal with a villain who happens to be a fellow vampire, albeit a more traditionally-minded one than himself. (Imagine the humor inherent in seeing someone attempt to impress Saint Germain with their puissance by archly informing him that they "died in 1896". This in 1980, thus making them approximately 1/40th of Saint-Germain's age, a mere puppy by comparison.)

The stories are fabulous! Ranging in time & showing glimpses of many of Yarbor's characters. If you have never read any of Ms. Yarbro's books this is the perfect start. Starting with The Spider Glass, a personal favorite, Edwardian time interspersed with letters both to and from the Count, ending with Cabin 33 and a look at the "real" Comte de Saint-Germain Essay. The stories are varying lengths none over 50 pages, easy to read, very enjoyable and not bogged down with historical background.

If I had started with this book I seriously doubt that I would have gone on to read the full series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro on Saint Germain. Maybe it's just me because I'm not the biggest fan of short stories due to the lack of space for character development. But through out the book I felt that if I hadn't already gained some knowledge of St Germain's history I would have been left in the dark. I will say that I did find the book filled with good wit and amazing turns through out.

My favorite story was "Renewal" mainly because of the depth the writer goes to to explain how a "baby" vampire has to learn all the tricks of the trade. "Cabin 33" was my least favorite story, I found it two dimensional and the characters very unbelievable. I would recommend this book to those who have already had the pleasure of reading the first two books in the series.

Some neat short stories form Chelsea Quin Yarbro about her favorite Comte. Not as much historical atmosphere, but good little plots. I like the modern one best, at the end.

Book came in good time and in great shape. The packaging was more than adequate and actually arrived early. Am very pleased.

Incredible shipment - book like new - and here in no time. Exactly as described by seller.