Customer Reviews

Those Who Hunt the Night (James Asher, Book 1)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first read this book years and years ago...long before the current trend we're seeing with all things vampire. My Aunt had given it to me in hard cover and insisted that I read it. It is just a wonderful book, filled with fascinating characters, from the witty and intelligent James Asher to the cool and clever vampire Don Simon Ysidro. The prose is so well done, some lines of which I have thought about or used in conversation many times over the years. I have read and re-read this one many times and it always entertains.

I was delighted to see it available for Kindle and purchased it to have it with me when the mood for a great vampire hunt story strikes my fancy.


ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR KINDLE ADDITION: This Kindle version of the book has lots of formatting errors. On every page, often several to a page, there are two words run together. It makes me stop to think what is the word? Very disruptive to my reading style. This books wasn't free, so I'm displeased with these errors!

I usually don't read vampire stories (except for the Count St. Germain series)--the classic creepy, cold-hearted and cold-fleshed hunters of the night are too "alien" to relate to...but Don Simon Ysidro grows on you...He comes to James Asher (ostensibly a mild-mannered Oxford lecturer on folk tales and language) to investigate the "murders" of a series of fellow London vampires. Asher, a bitterly disillusioned former secret agent for British Intelligence, has his own past "ghosts" to deal with--murders, betrayals and lies done in the name of "King and Country." Despite being forced into the investigation by Ysidro's threat to his wife's life, James Asher slowly comes to understand, respect and even value Ysidro's "life" and its realities. It is this delicate development of friendship and understanding that elevate this book from merely a gripping horror novel to a memorable "keeper" book to be shared with friends. The other vampires of London, the details of their "lives" and history, and the final horrifying battle with the "murderer" will keep you reading into the night, but Don Simon Ysidro is who will linger in your mind.

I am a compusive reader. I'll read anything in front of me at least--once. I've read this book 13-times! (Is that a bad omen?) This is one of the best gas-light mysteries that I've ever read or that has been written using vampires & their culture as a the back drop of a Sherlock Holmes-like mystery. Don Simon Ysidro is not only the oldest vampire in London, but he is also cold, manipulative, intense, powerful & deadly (You'll warm up to him eventually). Ysidro compells a mild mannered, poly-lingustic, world-weary retired spy, Dr. James Asher, to hunt for the person who has been methodically hunting & killing the vampires of London in exchange for his wife's life-- and his own. The plot is tight & the characters are believable. Give this book out to friends & family as gifts year around. No one-should miss out on this book.

Before I read this novel, I didn't care at all for vampire stories. Barbara Hambly managed to change that.

Dark and elegantly horrific, radiating the scent of old blood and the dust of time, _Those Who Hunt the Night_ is similar in many ways to Anita Blake's _Guilty Pleasures_, but is suited less to those who favor humor and urban fantasy than to those who are interested in darkness with feeling and depth. Hambly brings her vampires to life for you--you may not understand them, you may not empathize with them, but they will seem real. Ysidro in particular has the power to fascinate, drawing forth the interest of the reader without ever slipping into anything much like humanity.

James Asher is also an interesting character in his own right, even if he may end up playing second-fiddle to Ysidro by the story's end. Lydia Asher could be reckoned as a heroine strong in her own right--for whatever reason, though, she was one character who left me cold.

This book is well-worth reading, as is its sequel, _Traveling With the Dead_. _Those Who Hunt the Night_ is probably the better of the two; its dark and occasionally chilling atmosphere will linger with one for a long time after the final page has been turned.

Simply put, this is the BEST vampire book I've ever read. The characters are well developed and "real", the plot is entertaining. I've read Rice's vampire chronicles and enjoyed them greatly. I've read (part of) Stoker's Dracula and found it much too dry. "Golden", "The Hunger" and countless outher novels and short stories are all well and good (for the most part), but in this book, Hambly has captured my heart. I found myself concerned about Simon and his "family", fearful for Asher and truly engrossed in the story. I can't wait to find the time to read the sequel and whatever else I can find my Ms. Hambly.

Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said? I absolutely loved this book from the first few pages, and I absoluely deplore its current inavailability. Hambly crafted a thrilling tale, using stunning writing, great logic, and memorable characters.

When I rave to my friends, I always stress Hambly's genuis at writing this fine peice of literature. She weaves a beautiful tapestry of words. She strings her sentences like fantastic jewels on a priceless necklace. The setting was so realistic, the people so intriguing, the story itself so engrossing, that I'll be rereading this book till the day I die.

Hambly dealt with vampirism very intelligently. Few authors actually try to explain that state, and I think Hambly offers the best explaination, a combination of science and fantasy. Her vampires are believable, something I require when dealing with fantasy and science fiction.

Don Simon Ysidro has made his way into my personal hall of fame. He refreshingly offers no apologies for what he is, and doesn't go around biting at every other neck he sees. Forget Dracula...compared to Don Simon, he's a dead corpse. While the rest of the main characters--James and Lydia Asher-- perhapse pale against the magnetism of Don Simon, they are nevertheless well-drawn. James and Lydia both have their own voice and personalities, as do all the minor characters that populate this book.

I enjoyed Those Who Hunt the Night better than its sequel, Travelling With the Dead, but I'd abvise anyone who loves vampires and well-crafted tales to read both. I can only hope that Hambly will eventually return to the characters she created in late eighteenth century London.

Without writing a long winded review, I will keep it short. If you only read 1 book on vampires in your life, this is the one you read, nothing like it except possibly its sequel. Ms. Hambly ruined me from this genre since I have never found anything else that can compare.

I really like this book. The vampires are so "real." Much better than the vampires of Ann Rice. The story is good, the ending leaves you wishing there was more. Read Traveling With the Dead also. More about James and Lydia in it.

I picked up Barbara Hambly's vampire novels in a fit of boredom, and was unable to put them down. They are dark and rich as a Black Forest cake. The characters, human and inhuman, are enticingly complex and fascinating. Unassuming professor James Asher, erstwhile spy, makes a dogged if reluctant sleuth. His wafelike bride, Lydia, has guts, heart, and brains. And Don Simon Ysidro, who blackmails Asher into helping him hunt a murderer of vampires, shimmers with compelling menace. And between Asher and Ysidro grows a bond as strong as it is macabre.

Even tangential characters come alive under Hambly's artful pen, especially Don Simon's companions in immortality. And the killer of vampires, and the mad, fragile stranger to whom Asher and Ysidro turn for help, are perhaps the most fascinating characters of all.

All, from the Master Vampire of London to the stevedore on the quay, move against a rich tapestry of historic Europe that invites you to believe.

Try, if you can, to read each novel in one sitting -- alone.

Well I have finished the James Asher series or at least the books that have been written. The series consists of 3 books (Kindle books) Those Who Hunt the Night: A James Asher Novel - Traveling with the Dead: A James Asher Novel - and published after a 14 year wait Blood Maidens (James Asher) . While it was somewhat epic in nature it was a cross between UF and Horror with a bit of unrequited love thrown in to make it just a bit more sad. I can't recommend them for everyone because they are long detailed and compared to our usual PNR they would be boring to most, BUT I learned most of my adult reading skills with fantasy of the Lord of the Rings type which are long, detailed and boring in comparison. Holding these books up in that light makes them excellent reading for those with the patience to read in the setting of 1900-1910 mystery and while I won't sit up nights waiting to see if she writes another one I can say I feel that these were an awesome achievement of writing for those of us willing to give the time and effort (and it was effort) to read them. I hope she writes another but the ending of Blood Maidens was left in such a place that it can be final or not. As a PNR/UF reader they probably would only be 3 Stars at best but as a long time reader of trilogies in fantasy and stories stretched out over several volumes they were 4+ Stars and close to 5. I really thought I would be glad to be finished but the last half of Blood Maidens was written in such a way as to make you sad to end it there, so depending on your tastes these books could be a golden opportunity or a exercise in boring, I found them at the end to be exceptional. I do hope for at least 1 more addition to this series to give Don Simon who is such a tragic figure as this series progresses some chance for redemption and happiness.