Children of the Night (Mass Market Paperback)

by Dan Simmons (Author) "WE flew to Bucharest almost as soon as the shooting has stopped, landing at Otopeni Airport just after midnight on December 29, 1989..." (more)
Key Phrases: hemoglobin substitute, shadow organ, thousand lei, Radu Fortuna, Father O'Rourke, Voivoda Cioaba (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Count Dracula kicks off the coffin lid again in this updated vampire tale, ready to stalk through the rubble of post-Communist Europe. This time, however, the count's sanguinary tippling habits may hold the cure for both AIDS and cancer. The key lies with a Romanian orphan adopted by American hematologist Kate Neuman; the infant, Joshua, has a series of rare diseases, and can survive only because his body extracts and processes genetic material from blood transfusions. If the virus in his system responsible for this ability can be isolated, his diseases could be remedied and medical marvels would be within Kate's grasp. The drawback is that Joshua has inherited his talents from the decrepit but murderous Vlad Dracula, and this patriarch of an accursed clan of blood-drinkers is more interested in perpetuating his power than in providing miracle cures for the masses. Simmons ( Song of Kali ) makes Children 's fantastical scientific claims easy to swallow, although the medical jargon in some of the American scenes is thicker than Bela Lugosi's accent (try out "hypogammaglobulinemia"). Still, the book offers a mesmerizing tour through the ghostly, gray tatters of Romania.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
While studying diseases of the blood in present-day Romania, hematologist Kate Neuman adopts an orphaned infant with an unusual immune system. Upon her return to the States, the baby is kidnapped and returned to its homeland. Aided by an American priest and a Romanian medical student, each with his own interest in the child, Kate traces it to a mysterious group linked to the legendary Dracula. Her attempts to discover the motive behind the kidnapping and to reclaim the baby form the heart of this thrilling and wonderfully diverting novel. Simmons ( Summer of the Night , LJ 1/91) gives a chilling description of post-Ceausescu Romania and neatly ties the vampire legend into political history to create a new and clever twist to the idea of the vampire's craving for blood. The ending seems a bit too Indiana Jones-like, but the overall result is satisfying. An excellent choice for popular fiction collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/92.
- Eric W. Johnson, Teikyo Post Univ. Lib., Waterbury, Ct.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446364754
• ISBN-13: 978-0446364751
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,591 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun with science, fun with vampires, April 11, 2001

By	Michael Battaglia - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A while ago I wrote a review of "Summer of Night" and without realizing what I was doing, called this book a sequel to that book . . . I wasn't completely wrong, this is a spiritual successor to that book, one of the characters from "Summer" plays a big role in events and some of the other characters get at least one mention. The theme couldn't be any more different though. Simmons makes the book work on two levels here, trying to tell a thrilling suspense story while at the same time turning the vampire myth completely inside out. That's right, what he does here is propose a scientific mechanism (based on a recessive mutation) why they have to drink blood and what that means. This all comes about when the original Vlad Dracula decides that it's time to die and decrees that a new heir must be invested. Unfortunately the heir gets adopted by an American doctor, who tries to figure out why the baby can go from almost dead to perfectly healthy just be a blood transfusion. The science part of all of this is fascinating, some of it might be a little more science than people will want to read and if you're not well versed in biology or genetics a good part of it you're just going to have to take on faith and assume he did his research well. As far as I can tell, everything checks out so hats off to Simmons for taking the time. So all goes well until the vampires figure out where the kid went and go to get him back. At this point all the science takes a backseat for a cloak and dagger "let's sneak into a hostile foreign country where anyone could be a spy for the enemy and get the kid out before we're discovered and killed" at which point things become a little more generic but at the same time what sets this apart is Simmons' masterful gift for crafting the perfect sentence to set a mood, he's not as detailed in his descriptions as he has been in the past but he pulls out a good one when he needs to. The action is burtal and intense, the quieter moments are touching, you can't trust anyone, and it all comes to a rousing conclusion that you may or may not see coming (it didn't strike me until just before the end). Not "horror" per se, more of a dark adventure but ranks at the very least as one of his most entertaining and inventive books.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Above-average horror-thriller., January 27, 2000

By A Customer

This action packed thriller clips right along, to its well-crafted ending, keeping you guessing page after page. Simmons is the exception among horror authors, standing head and shoulders above almost all the rest: he can actually write a plot, believable characters that you care about, AND creepy, teeth-jarring scenes. I enjoyed "Summer of Night" more than this book, but this was well worth the read (and has an interesting connection to "Summer of Night" which you'll get if you've read the earlier novel). Slam bang good! If you like tense, dark horror, and a character driven story, you'll get a kick out of this one.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book, but not Simmons' best, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

Let me begin by saying that I love Dan Simmons' books and I've read all of them I can get my hands on. I loved the Hyperion and Endymion Books and I've loved most of his stuff that's closer to horror. I even enjoyed Phases of Gravity, his foray into non-action, mainstream fiction. But I only LIKED this book.

It has all of the typical Simmons strengths: strong characters, lots of action and suspense, intelligence, complexity and lots of research. In fact, it offers one of the more convincing scientific answers for vampires I've ever seen.

The thing that hurt this book for me was its ending. It rested on too many implausible coincidences. After being great all of the way through, it suddenly reminded me of one of those bad movies where the bad guy who has had perfect aim throughout suddenly starts missing when he shoots at the hero.

Still, it's not a bad read and much better than most of the tripe that's available these days.