Customer Reviews

Writ in Blood: A Novel of Saint-Germain

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

 

 

I'm a great fan of St. Germain and am delightedly reading my way thru his history. However, this book set in the years prior to the outbreak of World War I and the Russian Revolution, took several weeks and sittings to read. The Count, as always, is a fascinating, enigmatic, lonely and compelling figure, but the convoluted political intrigue, back-stabbings (literally and figuratively) and arms control machinations slowed down the plot. For a dedicated St. Germain fan, however, the book was an interesting addition because it is set just a few years prior to the much better "Tempting Fate." Several of the peripheral characters and subjects (Russian revolution, the effect of war on children, political changes in Europe) are introduced in "Writ in Blood" and continued in the later book. All in all interesting, but slow.

What a joy! Ms. Yarbo gets better and better. This is my favorite St. Germain novel to date. The Baron Von Wolfgast is as nasty a villain as I've seen. When Anne Rice has lost her skill, Ms. Yarbro surpasses it on every outting. The Count St. Germain is a thrilling hero and when you figure in that the man was a real historical figure who it was supposed was immortal ... well ... I don't care if I ever read Lestat again as long as I always have the Count. Go buy this book and then go buy the other 13(?) sequels/prequels. Let's hope that the publisher re-releases all the out-of-print books. There's at least one that I've never read and it kills me. THESE ARE FANTASTIC!! The historical aspects, the pace, the characters, the story .... <sigh> Burn my library, but leave me these books. Writ in Blood? You bet!!

Or eleventh, if you count "Out of the House of Life", which is primarily a spinoff novel about Madeline de Montalia (former lover and vampiric "childe" of Saint-Germain), but which does include some flashback scenes to some of Saint-Germain's early history.

Or fourteenth, if you also count "A Flame In Byzantium", "Crusader's Torch", and "A Candle For d'Artagnan", the spinoff series about Atta Olivia Clemens, an earlier lover and vampiric "childe".

This book is set in the years leading up to the first world war, roughly 1910-1913. As such, it ends only a few years prior to the events in the fifth book in the series, "Tempting Fate". It is one of the most enjoyable books in the series to read; the early books (Hotel Transylvania", "The Palace", and "Blood Games") were not as well written as most of the later ones, being more historical-romance bodice rippers than serious literary efforts, but they had the advantage of being enjoyable reading, with stories in which the hero succeeds in rescuing the damsel in distress. Starting with the fourth book in the series, "Path of the Eclipse", we have had a long run of stories in which Saint Germain has had relatively little success in that regard, and the stories, while frequently very powerful, were something of a downer to read. Finally in this book, we see what Yarbro can do with the action hero plot now that she's grown as a writer; the plot is much more similar in tone to her early efforts, but far better written. For one thing, her villains are far more three dimensional and far less cardboard cutouts than they were in those books, particularly the first.

If you're a fan of traditional vampire fiction, you may or may not be disappointed in these stories; there is none of the struggle with the evil "inherent in the vampiric nature" that one finds in most vampiric fiction, notably the Anne Rice vampires. Saint-Germain is an unabashed hero, neither a sympathetic villain nor an anti-hero. He has lived 4000 years, and outgrew that silliness in the time of ancient Egypt. (Bits of this were seen in the aforementioned "Out of the House of Life".) The villains in this book (and in most of the books in this series) are mortals, and they are responsible for whatever "horror" elements that there are in the plot.

If, on the other hand, you enjoy historical romance, and don't automatically reject the concept of a vampire as the hero and main character, you should truly enjoy this entire series, and particularly this book.

If you're into the politics of Europe before World War I, you would probably like this book. I did learn that Serbia had a large influence in the start of the war from this book, but I thought too much of the book was devoted to politics. I think it highly unlikely that a vampire would involve itself in a high profile position. I would suggest reading this book to Saint Germain fans, but to would be fans, I would suggest reading the books about Saint Germain in the order they were published. I thought the book was not as good as the others, but if you are a fan, you will enjoy it anyway. I did like the way the book Dracula was woven into the story. That was a nice touch. I give this book three stars, but four stars to fans of Ms. Yarbro.

-Writ in Blood- is by far the lightest of the Saint-Germain novels. Particularly when compared to -Mansions of Darkness-. It was fun to see Saint-Germain trying to out-politic Germany and England. It was also a nice change to see Saint-Germain able to relax with a lover. Both of his women were likeable. The only bad thing about this book is that "Tempting Fate" is only a couple of years in WiB's future. So I read the entire book with the feeling that something awful was about to happen. BTW, if anyone knows what the Opus number of Chopin's "Winter Wind" is, email me. Please.

I might've given this book four stars if not for one incredibly grating mistake in Yarbro's research: Tsar Nicholas was not descended from Queen Victoria. His mother was the twin sister of Vicky's daughter-in-law, and his wife was Vicky's granddaughter, but there was no direct blood link between Nicholas and Victoria.

Other than that, I found the story pleasant, but not as gripping as some of Saint-Germain's other adventures. The tales of spy and counterspy were especially confusing. And what happened to SG's vaunted low profile for the sake of self-preservation if he's hob-nobbing with the crowned heads of Europe, even if they are about to roll? Oh well.

(Much later addendum: all right, it's not technically correct to say that there was *no* blood link between Nicholas II and Victoria, considering the inbred pedigrees of European royalty. But she certainly wasn't his grandmother, as Yarbro repeatedly claims in this novel-- they may be multiply linked as distant cousins, but they weren't in the same direct line of descent. When this book came out, I'd been following the series for ten years... but I was entirely put off by this basic mistake in researching the historical setting, and I'm still spluttering about it more than ten years later.)

I am a real Saint-Germain junkie, but this book was rather a let-down. Usually Ms. Yarbro's books are exceptionally well-researched, but this one fell flat. I thought the repeated use of certain Saint-Germain sayings (such as "my...life" and "I give you my Word on it" was a little cheesy and distracting.) The most interesting part of the book for me was the poliyical intrigue surrounding the sale of arms, and I wish it had been better developed. I miss the very detailed background nature that were in books like "Tempting Fate" and "Blood Games." All in all, an interesting book, and worth reading, but not an exceptional book.

Last time, the Inca and Peru. This time, the Czar, the Kaiser, Sidney Reilly the master spy, and a determined artist. Not as dark or tragic as Mansions of Darkness, but another of her books I couldn't put down until I'd finished. In my opinion, Lestat's got NOTHING on my favorite count - Saint Germain.

I sat down and read this one in a single sitting. Not as dark and tragic an outing as her last (Mansions of Darkness), Quinn delivers a great story set in Europe / Russia just prior to the first world war. As usual, she drops lots of hints about SG's past, including names of lady loves we have not met yet

For fans of Yarbro's "Count Germaine" series, this one is the best effort yet. Once again, Chelsea's exhaustive research pays off. Unlike other writers of her genre, Yarbro gives her Count a human quality, more in the spirit of the real man of history Germain is based on, giving him a sense of reality that leaves the reading saying,hmmm.