Alliance in Blood

I was working on my “Best and Worst of 2017” post and realized I still needed to review this because it’s definitely going to end up on my “worst” list.

This is one of the Dreamspinner Press books I bought before I decided to boycott them for knowingly publishing P2P fanfic and then just sort of shrugging and doing nothing when they were called on it. I had given Tachna’s The Inventor’s Companion 3 stars when I read it back in 2011 and liked it just enough to give her books another shot. This turned out to be a mistake on my part.

I finished this a month and a half ago, so apologies if my summary has some issues. Alliance in Blood stars Orlando, a vampire, and Alain, a wizard. Vampires and wizards have been at war for a long show more time. Although wizards view vampires as dangerous monsters, they’ve decided that they need to try to form an alliance with them because the wizards are also at war with dark wizards and could use some help. The vampires agree to the alliance 1) because it would give them a chance at having the same rights as wizards and 2) because Alain and Orlando accidentally form a bond and discover that wizard blood might allow vampires to walk in the sun again.

My issues with this book started in the author’s introduction and just got worse from there. In her introduction, Tachna writes: “I can very proudly state that I've never read a vampire story. Not Anne Rice, not Laurel K. Hamilton, not Bram Stoker. The closest I've ever come was a monologue I read in seventh grade called ‘Dress of White Silk.’” (4) I’m pretty sure that Tachna intended this as evidence of just how original her vampire story was going to be. However, as someone who has read and enjoyed a lot of vampire stories, I just found it insulting. Not having read a subgenre’s foundational works isn’t something for someone writing in that subgenre to be proud of, and it also isn’t necessarily an indicator that the work is going to be original, just that the author will have absolutely no clue whether it’s original or not. I also wasn’t encouraged by Tachna’s misspelling of Laurell K. Hamilton’s name.

The introduction went on to say that Alliance in Blood was originally just the first part of one very long novel that Tachna was forced to break into separate novels in order to make it more likely that a publisher would accept it. This brings me to one of Alliance in Blood’s many problems: its poor pacing. Most of the book is devoted to Orlando and Alain testing the effects of Alain’s blood and the blood of other wizards on vampires, all while angsting and panting over each other like horny teenagers. Sometimes characters recounted events for other characters’ benefit, which readers had to suffer through even though these events had already happened on-page. I have a feeling that Tachna’s one long book could have been much stronger if she had just ruthlessly edited it and cut out any unnecessary scenes.

Well, it might have been better. Pacing wasn’t the book’s only problem. Another huge issue was the way it missed all emotional notes that weren’t directly related to Orlando and Alain wanting to have sex with each other. Relatively early on in the book, Alain’s best friend Thierry’s not-quite-ex-wife was killed by dark wizards. Hardly anyone seemed to care or remember that this had happened. I could sort of accept Thierry’s reaction as his way of trying to keep it together and continue doing his job. I was disgusted by Alain, however. Instead of worrying about his best friend, he could barely keep his hands and mind off Orlando, a guy he’d only known for maybe a day.

Orlando and Alain’s relationship moved unbelievably fast. If I remember right, the whole book took place in the space of maybe three days. In that time, Orlando and Alain declared their love for each other, Alain allowed Orlando to brand him, and they ended up with a bond that put Orlando completely at Alain’s mercy. They had one absolutely ridiculous argument where Alain was supposedly in the wrong, and all I could think was that Orlando was expecting someone who was almost a stranger to basically read his mind and know automatically how he felt.

After many chapters of almost nothing new happening, the book ended with sequel bait (a bunch of vampires and wizards pairing off, with varying degrees of willingness) and a wooden and boring big battle. I’m glad that this was the only book in the series that I purchased, because I have no desire to continue on with this series.

Additional Comments:

I have no idea if this was a formatting problem or if it was intentionally done, but there were no scene breaks - the book moved smoothly from one scene to the next in the space of a paragraph. In one instance, this had the unfortunate effect of making it look like Orlando was calmly drinking espresso at the edge of a bloody battle like it was no big deal.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

The story started with a bang. There is a war going on between good wizards and dark wizards - a war that threatens the very balance of nature. Cool. Unfortunately, the good guys are barely holding their own and need a new weapon to shift the tide in their favor. It's decided to approach the vampires as potential allies. But vampires have been discriminated against in the supernatural world; why should they fight for those that perpetuate that inequality? It is up to wizard Alain to meet with a vampire representative and persuade him or her to that it's in their best interest to intervene.

The premise of the story is strong, and Tachna offers some unique takes on the age-old vampire story. When Alain and Orlando meet, sparks fly almost show more literally. Vampires can taste truth in someone's blood. When Orlando bites Alain to see if he is lying about the alliance, he learns that wizard blood has some other very special benefits for vampires. Benefits that could go beyond incentives to join the alliance, but also help win the war. Yet, this is where the author falters. The plot suddenly falls to the wayside in favor of Alain and Orlando's love at first sight romance - in particular the sex between them. I agree with reviewer Jane on that point - suddenly the narrative becomes rushed, without being fleshed out, and so does the romance. Orlando has horrors in his past that make it difficult to trust, especially during sex. By glossing over the time the two lovers spend getting to know each other (exploring Paris) it makes their dedication to one another less believable. And, the other characters introduced are left wanting. Alain's best friend, and Orlando's mentor are both interesting and potentially dynamic characters and they become irrelevant until the very end. I expected this book to be more of an erotic romance when I bought it, but the opening tantalized with something more and that's what I want now.

Overall, I will say that I was caught up enough to want to read more and I do recommend it. This was a short novel, and ended quickly, but that is often the case with the first of a series. Fortunately, book two looks to be twice the size, and will hopefully dive back into the plot that was so enticing, and more of other characters. Alain and Orlando's bond is romantic, tender and steamy - it should enhance the story, and I think the author will follow through on that. show less

This is only my second read by Ariel Tachna, and I have to say I do appreciate the author's style in writing a character. There's a richness and a realness to them that I feel like I don't always see in the genre. And it shines through here.

What I didn't like about this, however, is the relationship. They move too quickly, and I had a hard time really contextualizing the relationship and understanding why. It's still an entertaining read, and I found many things I liked about it. It just didn't come together for me overall.

In an urban romance setting, a Paris in which wizards and vampires are simple citizens with more or less power, the wizards need allies.

Renegade wizards who are searching to rule the world using the dark magic are becoming more and more bolder. Marcel, the general of the army of the good wizard seeks alliance with Jean, the master of Parisian vampires. Both men agree to a meeting between a wizard and a vampire in Pere Lachaise cemetery. Alain, a wizard who lost his wife and son to the hands of the dark wizards, volunteers; on the other side the chosen is Orlando, a more than two hundreds years vampire who was turned when he was 23 years old, and so now he has the face of a blond angel, but scars which are so deeply that still marks his show more behavior. The alliance should implies only that the vampires will help the wizards in their fight, but when Orlando samples Alain's blood, to test his sincerity, the bond between them runs deeply than a simple military agreement.

Even if Orlando is older in age than Alain, he is not emotionally grown. Orlando was raped and enslaved by his sire, and now, even if free by his captivity, he is shy and restrained, with his body and with his feelings. Alain, with his gentle touch and ability to comprehend and soothe, is the right man to ensure Orlando's trust. Alain accepts to deepen their relationship beyond a simple fighting bond, Orlando and Alain become a real life couple; in an alliance that is new and fragile, a so deep relationship is more an obstacle than anything else, since the other vampires and wizards have trouble to understand that it's not necessary to have a sexual bond to tighten a vampire/wizard pair.

Orlando is very 'young'; his relationship with Alain is more like that between a master and a pupil than between two equal adults. It doesn't matter that Orlando has lived so long, he has spent two hundreds years hiding and avoiding human contacts. Alain instead has loved and lost his love; more than his wife, he regrets the lost of his son, and, in a way, he has also fatherly feeling for Orlando: he falls so fast for Orlando since the vampire arises in him also protective feelings other than sexual desires.

The story is a bit dark and gothic, but in some points it is almost funny: the scene in the Gare Lyon, when wizards and vampires meet to find the other match in the pair, reminds me one of those teens party, where boys and girls stay one on the other side of the room not having the courage to mingle, chat and dance.

Another thing that left me pretty impressed in the story, was how vampires are treated in this urban alternative reality: they are shunned and avoided as undesirables, but not as dangerous... a bit like gay in a conservative environment?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981508499/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less

Others have given this book high ratings. I give it a point for originality, but it's not worth much else, in my opinion.

At the offset, the good wizards of modern Paris are losing the battle against the bad wizards, so they decide to ally with the vampires. The vampires think wizard blood is deadly to them and the good wizards think the vampires go around killing for blood on a regular basis. Yet, the good guys are seeking them out for allies. Okay.

Not to fear; any possible concerns are only inaccurate myths, so wizards and vampires happily pair off and gain special powers, including the main characters who swear eternal love within about 24 hours of meeting. Those two have a lot of saccharine-sweet sex, too.

Finally, there's a show more ludicrously quick battle scene at the end, making me wonder why the good guys were losing. There is a huge load of background expository writing about wizards and vampires in specific and in general, but the battle was the only action in the book. I'm aware (from the lengthy fanfiction-style author's note in the front) that this book is purely set-up for the next section of the story, but I felt it was a waste of my time. show less

Regardless of what kind of a book I am reading I usually look for quality writing. The however, at least to me, felt like the level of a very bad fan fiction. I had issues following the names of the characters, and I believe there were very little in form of background presented before the writer jumped into the so called meat of things. I know this is not meant to be heavy reading, but I would at least like it to be believable reading, and something that would not make me cringe when I realize that the author is trying to just race through all the so called unimportant stuff. Either don’t write the unimportant stuff or give it enough attention so the reader did not feel like the author just raced through the least favorite spots. show more
Will not be reading anything by this author in the future. show less

A new take on the usually solitary vampire. A joining/bonding between good wizards and vampires in a war against the forces of dark wizards. A love story between a wizard,Alain and a vampire,Orlando rund through the series.