Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942–2025)

This book is utter rubbish. A short history of such a long period and large, complex region is no doubt a hard thing to write. But the difficulty should be in trying to craft something clear, readable and essentially true despite the extraordinary burdens of compression and necessary exposition. The difficulty shouldn't be in the facts, which a competent undergraduate should have been able to get from reference sources without serious error. But Hopkins (in reality the horror and fantasy show more author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro), gets facts small and large wrong time and again. I'm in serious doubt if she could pass an undergraduate pop quiz on the Successors of Alexander, Romans vs. Byzantines or the early history of Christianity her accounts are so peculiar and error-filled. (To my mind it's also boring and poorly written, but that's really beside the point.)

A non-specialist can, of course, know and say true things about history, but it comes as no surprise to find that Yarbro didn't finish college, "has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy," writes 3-4 books a year (plus short stories), and made her career writing historical vampire novels. I won't speculate how her general history of the middle east from antiquity to the early modern period got published, but for the sake of the hapless grazers of the remainder table whom it will bore and misinform, it shouldn't have been. show less

The cover/packaging of this book make it look like a historical horror novel. But the blurb on the back accidentally gives note to what this really is when mentioning it's "a skillful blend of history and fiction, given added spice by the fact that its heroine happens to be a vampire..." Because that's the crux of it: the heroine just happens to be a vampire, but aside from that fact, the book is simply historical fiction.

You might be raising your eyebrow, wondering why I'd say this is just show more a historical fiction novel when at the same time admitting it's about a vampire. Before I'd read the book, I probably would have been doing the same thing. But it's the truth. The fact is, every bit of this book's plot/story could have remained the same if the heroine hadn't been a vampire. You'd take out the few references to her being five centuries old (they don't add anything but backstory, truly), change the few bits that seem to suggest her 'true death' wouldn't be the average person's death, and presto...it would simply be a historical fiction novel.

I'm really not sure what vampirism adds to the book, in all honesty. Perhaps it makes the heroine's confidence and awareness of the world slightly more believable(?), and her friendships more long-lasting, but all of the plotting and tension in the book comes from political and social affairs. I kept waiting for it to really matter that the heroine was a vampire--and perhaps some would argue that it did matter a bit in the end, just for that scene, though I'm not one of them--but as far as I can tell, Yarbro simply wanted to write historical fiction, and because she was known for horror, the book had to be given a horror spin. And 'vampires' mean 'horror'...right? Well, at least in this case, not so much. And all that's fine, but I wish the book didn't present itself as a historical horror, as I imagine it draws in plenty of readers who get knee-deep in it before realizing that it isn't nearly what they meant to sign up for.

If you want to read a historical fiction novel full of political intrigue in the time of the Byzantine Empire, around Year 545, by all means pick up this book. If you're looking for horror or vampires, however, I'd suggest steering clear. show less

Yarbro writes vampire novels that are really excursions into historical fiction, emphasis on historical. She apparently does considerable research on the period that provides the setting for Count Saint Germain, the vampire who has more Christian and human qualities than do most of the other characters. I suppose the author would argue that he got that way by experiencing so much human tragedy over the centuries. Whatever. Yarbro always delivers a satisfying read. This one is set in show more sixteenth-century Moscow, where Saint Germain has been sent on a diplomatic mission by King Ivstan of Poland. The czar, Ivan the Terrible, close to death and virtually mad, is very difficult to deal with, and the priests accompanying Saint Germain begin to suspect Germain of satanic powers when he “miraculously” cures one of them of what appears to be pneumonia by means other than prayer (he has learned, perhaps a little conveniently of numerous drugs over the centuries). The Czar, loving the jewels that Germain alchemically creates, rewards him with a wife - - women are badly treated in sixteenth century Russia -- much to the count’s consternation. His ways must appear somewhat peculiar and he is forced to constantly explain why he doesn’t eat or drink in public, and the thick-soled shoes that allow him to walk on his “native earth” -- I know it does seem a little silly, but no worse than science fiction -- must also look odd. The result of this match is one of the better love stories. These books remain a lot better than television and seek to provide the flavor of what it must have been like to live during the time of their setting. Assuming they do so accurately, they can be informative. The Russia of this time was pervaded by xenophobia, superstition, and viciousness. Yarbro has also written a series with Germain’s centuries-long love, Olivia, another vampire. show less

The lush, detailed historical world pulled me in. It's not a masterpiece for me (although I fully recognize that it was part of the current genre's inception). But I still enjoyed it and can see why the author won the awards she did. I love Madelaine's character and am delighted there are two books focused on her! The end turned gruesome but that made the ultimate destruction of the antagonists even more satisfying.