My Swordhand is Singing (2006)

Peter and his father, Tomas, work in the forest surrounding the village Chust. Tomas is a haunted man, he drinks most of their earnings away and young Peter shoulders the heavy burden of making their living off selling cut wood. It's only after the village succumbs to hysteria and Peter sees the dead walking that he understands why Tomas drinks so much. And only Tomas' secret can save them now.

I didn't know if I was ready to tackle another YA vampire book. They seem to be all the rage these days and that isn't always a good thing. I had heard some good buzz about this one. It does capture the vintage vampire village lore quite well. (Say that three times fast!) I liked that flavor about it, it just didn't have enough edge for me. I wanted more from it and I think I'm expecting too much, being a YA book. I don't think I'll continue with the series. ( )

Review from Badelynge
Marcus Sedgewick takes us to a cold lonely place in the 17th Century in this YA style short horror novel. The dead haunt the snow covered forests of Transylvania. An isolated village hides from the dark and what lurks at the shadows edge, painting their windows with tar and and trusting that evil will not cross their defences. Sedgewick draws on the vampire folklore of the region to deliver a horror story that predates the more romanticised trappings of the last century. A woodcutter and his son live a solitary life on the edges of the dark woods, barely tolerated by the nearby village and running from a bloody past. It's all very well set up by Sedgewick, maintaining a quiet menace by the alchemy of dark woods mixed with snowy isolation. The characterisation though is pretty insipid. The cast are the smooth edged archetypes of fairy tales. It made it hard for this reader to make any sort of connection with them. The vampires are quietly chilling though, devious in their imitation of the people they once were and jealously hateful of the living. They're more recognisably zombie to modern readers or even Deadite to film goers. ( )

Very entertaining horror novel that gives a new twist to the vampire legend. Set in seventeenth century Europe, a woodcutter and his son set up shop in a small village only to find that certain dead villagers seem to be reappearing and causing quite alot of to-do. The woodcutter's past has made him a drunkard much to the chagrin of his kind and handsome son. Add to that the legends of the Shadow Queen and the Winter King and you have a very entertaining story.
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An interesting vampire novel that uses the old legends of Eastern Europe to wonderful effect. I've read a lot of vampire fiction - some good, some simply awful - but this stands out head and shoulders above the rest! The only vampire book other than Dracula that I'd consider a new but not-to-be-missed classic! ( )

In this gothic horror/thriller, Marcus Sedgewick explores the medieval origins of the "vampire" legends. For those who enjoy vampire stories, this is a refreshing and unique twist on the ordinary take on such mythical beings. The book is well paced, with enough suspense to make the reader eager to continue.
An excellent gothic story - Marcus Sedgewick is a genius of the genre. ( )