Customer Reviews

Traveling with the Dead

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If the connecting thread in the previous "Those Who Hunt the Night" was the bond of friendship that can develop between extremely different people, then the underlying pattern in this sequel is the spirit of love that grows between hearts and souls. The story starts swiftly with James Asher (Oxford don and former British Intelligence agent) spotting a dangerous spymaster meeting with a known London vampire, Lord Charles, in a railway station. Immediately he's on their trail (with Anthea, the 200 year old vampire wife of the "traitor" vampire) to Paris, Vienna and onto Constantinople to prevent a disastrous alliance. Lydia, refusing to remain in London, courageously contacts the ancient vampire Don Simon Ysidro and forms an uneasy partnership with him as they, and a hastily acquired former governess, travel the same route. The story is convoluted and exciting as James narrowly escapes death by fire or vampires until he is captured by the "Deathless Lord" Master Vampire of Constantinople. Even imprisoned in the lair of the "Deathless Lord," James manages to investigate the dark reasons behind Charles' summoning to Constantinople, the power struggle between new vampires and old, and his adversary's manipulations. The draw of the story, however, is the emotional love between different characters: the unselfish/courageous love of Anthea for Charles (and James' admiration for Anthea) which drove her to choose the vampire life to remain with her husband, and then to leave the relative safety of London to follow him on his dangerous trip to Constantinople. The selfish love of the "Deathless Lord" is at the center of the mystery. Margaret's shallow, vampire-induced infatuation is ultimately selfish and hollow (on both her and Ysidro's part.) The impossible and unwanted web of love that weaves between Lydia and Ysidro is unbelievable yet undeniable to either of them. Even as Ysidro grows more vampire/alien in appearance (from a self-imposed "fast" for Lydia's sake)--their bond of reliance, protection, and a willingness to love what is impossible leads to a final heart-rending unselfish sacrifice for love.

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.

Once again, professor and ex-spy James Asher and his obsessively scholarly bride are swept into the intrigues of the vampires. Dark secrets unfold as Asher tracks the ruthless agent Karolyi and the world-weary vampire Earl of Ernchester -- not realizing that his wife has enlisted the aid of the oldest and most dangerous of the London vampires to rescue him from the trap into which he is stumbling unaware.

Alliances shift among the living and the dead, and through this tangle Lydia Asher and her inhuman companion must weave their way and find their peace. And as James draws closer to the secret of the Deathless Lord, he finds his only way out is through the deadliest path of all.

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

This is one of my "junk reads", the old favourites I pull out to read one more time when I've run out of everything new.
James Asher is a former spy who has retired into the sedate life of an Oxford don, but finds the habits of his old life hard to break. When he spots the vampire Earl of Ernchester in company with Ignace Karolyi, a man Asher knows full well is a spy for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his sense of responsibility leads him to chase them across Europe. For Asher knows only too well the power of vampires, and the thought of them in the service of any intelligence service is just too horrible to contemplate. Asher leaves a message with Lydia, his young doctor wife, telling her where to seek news of him in Vienna - but Lydia, following up a remembered reference in a medical journal, realises that her husband is going to seek help of a double agent. And so she sets off after her husband. She is joined in Paris by the vampire Don Simon Ysidro, to whom she had appealed for help, and Margaret Potton, a foolish ex-governess whom Ysidro has beguiled into loving him in order to have a suitable chaperone for Lydia - Ysidro being an Spanish lord of the Tudor era who is very concerned with appearances. Eventually, all roads lead to Istanbul, and we learn the reasons behind Ernchester's involvement with Karolyi, and what is really at stake in the worlds of vampires and Europe of the early twentieth century.
This is a lush book, full of description. I can't speak for the accuracy of the period detail, and I do think Hambly overdoes it sometimes, but the book is certainly atmospheric. The pace lags somewhat after it leaves Vienna, and the goings-on amongst the vampires of Istanbul were rather hollow. I did find it a pity that the resolution of the Ernchester storyline came with such a let-down, followed by bloody melodrama.
However, the characters are really what makes this story worth reading. Even those who appear only briefly are very well drawn; for example, Halliwell, the spy posted in Vienna, and the British ambassador's wife in Istanbul. There are also personal journeys for each of the three main characters: Asher, Lydia, and Ysidro. Asher finds himself caught up in a life he wanted to leave behind, recalling the terrible choices he made that led to him abandon his spying career. He has changed, but that makes the task ahead of him harder still. Lydia finds herself drawn to Ysidro, repellent though she finds his vampiric nature; and Ysidro is drawn to Lydia, despite knowing how she feels about him. The real end of this book only comes with the resolution of the situation between Ysidro, Lydia, and the jealous Margaret. Ysidro makes a hard choice that Asher applauds, recognising what Ysidro has done and why - because he once did the same thing himself. It is a moving end to the book.

Traveling With The Dead, by Barbara Hambly is an intriguing book that takes the reader through many different countries in search of two things, one: a vamipire who might get involved in some business that might cause trouble for the British and two: Lydias husband, James Asher, who is after the vampire Ernchester.
The book begins with James Asher, a former British intelegance agent, spotting a dangerous spymaster, Karolri, meeting with a known London vampire, Earl of Ernchester, in a railway station. Even though Asher is no longer an agent, he feels obligated to follow them in search of an answer to their mysterious appearance together. After receiving a letter which sounded very sketchy, Lydia, Ashers' knowledge seeking, young wife, enlisted the aid of the oldest and most dangerous vampire in all of London (Don Simon Yisdro) to rescue him from the trap he was stumbling into unaware. All three parties travel through Paris, Vienna and on to Constantinople. Asher and Anthea (the 200 year old vampire wife of Ernchester) after Karolyi and Ernchester who are being followed by Yisdro, Lydia and Margaret.
The book portrays the spirit of love that grows between hearts and souls. Throughout the book we see Lydia's infatuation with Yisdro although she loves her husband greatly and is trying to rescue him. We also see Yisdros' love for Lydia when he gives up killing humans for her and slowly becomes more vampirish due to the fact that that he's not drinking human blood. We also see how much Anthea loves her husband Ernchester yet she still admires something about Asher and the same goes for him. Although everyone seems to be infatuated by someone other then their own partner, they all remain loyal to one another despite their curiosity.
I really enjoyed reading this book, although it was pretty slow throughout the first section and the vocabulary was a bit difficult. It was very mysterious and enthralling, I also enjoyed the ending greatly. Id defiantly recommend this book to others.

Even better than the first. I enjoyed it tremendously. This book put a glamour over me. I was as drawn to continue reading its pages as Lydia was drawn to Ysidro or James to Anthea. It was heartbreaking, terrifying, enthralling, exciting, interesting, creative. Reading this book was thoroughly satisfying. I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys vampire lore or vampire fiction. Hambly's is a class unto itself, so unique.

I haven't yet read _Those Who Hunt The Night_ , despite reccomendations, but when I found this book I snatched it up. Despite what I found to be a slow pace, which sometimes made me flip pages impatiently, I did enjoy the character development. The ending more than repays any patience you may expend. A good, deep read which I predict may get better upon a second readthrough.

"traveling with the dead" is unquestionably one of the most sober books i've read on the vampire myth (or are they real?) i especially appreciated the effort to explain in medical terms (at least those available in lydia asher's time) the physiology of vampires, why they're averse to garlic and hawthorn and silver and mirrors, and what they're not averse to. now i know better than to arm myself with only a crucifix - unless it's made of largely unalloyed silver!

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.

As soon as I read this book, I fell in love with it, fell in love with Ysirdo. And I haven't even read the one before this! It inspired me to write my own book, which also inspired me to want to write movies!

I loved this book. I would like to read it in polish language, but I had to do in italian. Now my sister Agnieszka Janusz has translated Those Who Hunt The Night and she wants to published it. Please, help her to do it. Now I try to find Traveling With the Dead but in Poland it is very hard Katarzyna Dudka