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lkeipp's review against another edition
5.0
As always, her history is superb, the book reads quickly and well.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
3.0
Yarbro's Saint-Germain series is the longest running vampire series today. The Count is used, in part, to explore various historical periods and places. The books have romance, action, and horror. Yarbro is a great writer, and unlike some writers I could mention, she does her research. The Count has a huge following consisting of men and women, and I am proud to count myself as one of thier number. This addition finds the Count in the Bohemian court, serving as jewel maker.
This is not a bad book though it is not the best entry in the series, but there is something disquieting about the protrayal of the female characters. In some ways, the book is a character study of those three women, yet it doesn't quite work as one.
In part, this seems to be due to the length of the book. In some places there seems to be too much talking and not enough showing, as if the talking allows the information to be given in a much shorter scene. For instance, the Count and his man servent Roger have a conversation that relates the questioning that Roger underwent at the hands of some Court funcitionaries. This would have been far more effective if the reader had actually seen the questioning and not simply been told of it. The fear that Roger felt would have felt far stronger.
In fact, the best parts of the novel are when Yarbro focuses on the women of the Koinge's court. The book would've been far better balanced with more of such chapters. This is particulary true if one sees the book of a character study, in particular of a study of what an extremely conservative and male dominated culture can do to a woman.
The drawbacks of telling or doing the study though the Count are twofold. First, the Count is a man (how much better this book would've been if told by Olivia). The second is that he is a quasi outsider, as alaways. While this might make him see the women with a clearer gaze, it also distances him from the object of study. It, therefore, distances the reader even more.
Additionally, there is a problem that exists in some of Yarbro's weaker Count novels. The women, the Count's romantic leads, are generally seperated into good and bad. Here, there is very little difference between how the two principal women "seduce" the Count. Yet, one is good and the other bad. This distinction, in this novel, seems to based on how sexually forward they hour. This would be interesting if the Count actually thinks about and he doesn't. It could also be that the Count, perhaps, is influenced by the view of a sexually forward woman as a bad woman (seeing the Count as the object instead of the reverse was a very WELL DONE idea). If this is the case, it wasn't examined. One woman is given culture as an excuse for her behavior, the other isn't. A more in depth study would've illustrated the differences more instead of the Count telling us those differences. Why does one woman draw pity and the other not, for instance? Yarbro has used this device before and with greater success in several of her books such as [b:Better in the Dark|219290|Better in the Dark (Saint-Germain series, #8)|Chelsea Quinn Yarbro|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172802958s/219290.jpg|1225889] or [b:Writ In Blood|219278|Writ In Blood (Saint-Germain series, #10)|Chelsea Quinn Yarbro|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172802928s/219278.jpg|1150170].
A few years ago, there was a discussion on the Yahoo! Yarbro discussion list about how Yarbro's publisher had shortened the length of her novels. It was a rather interesting discussion that included book placement in the bookstore. If this restarint is still in place (and a page comparsion seems to indicate it is), it harms this book. Such a reverse Stephen King Syndrome cuts the book short. If it had just another 100 pages, the character study would've been far more successful. Yarbro is an established writer, not inexperienced one. She has a dedicated following that has lasted years. While some of her books may not be as good as other, she never, ever majorly disappoints. (In other words, she doesn't lose readers the way [a:Laurell K. Hamilton|9550|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1248112044p2/9550.jpg] does). The publisher should trust both the author and the readers more.
This is not a bad book though it is not the best entry in the series, but there is something disquieting about the protrayal of the female characters. In some ways, the book is a character study of those three women, yet it doesn't quite work as one.
In part, this seems to be due to the length of the book. In some places there seems to be too much talking and not enough showing, as if the talking allows the information to be given in a much shorter scene. For instance, the Count and his man servent Roger have a conversation that relates the questioning that Roger underwent at the hands of some Court funcitionaries. This would have been far more effective if the reader had actually seen the questioning and not simply been told of it. The fear that Roger felt would have felt far stronger.
In fact, the best parts of the novel are when Yarbro focuses on the women of the Koinge's court. The book would've been far better balanced with more of such chapters. This is particulary true if one sees the book of a character study, in particular of a study of what an extremely conservative and male dominated culture can do to a woman.
The drawbacks of telling or doing the study though the Count are twofold. First, the Count is a man (how much better this book would've been if told by Olivia). The second is that he is a quasi outsider, as alaways. While this might make him see the women with a clearer gaze, it also distances him from the object of study. It, therefore, distances the reader even more.
Additionally, there is a problem that exists in some of Yarbro's weaker Count novels. The women, the Count's romantic leads, are generally seperated into good and bad. Here, there is very little difference between how the two principal women "seduce" the Count. Yet, one is good and the other bad. This distinction, in this novel, seems to based on how sexually forward they hour. This would be interesting if the Count actually thinks about and he doesn't. It could also be that the Count, perhaps, is influenced by the view of a sexually forward woman as a bad woman (seeing the Count as the object instead of the reverse was a very WELL DONE idea). If this is the case, it wasn't examined. One woman is given culture as an excuse for her behavior, the other isn't. A more in depth study would've illustrated the differences more instead of the Count telling us those differences. Why does one woman draw pity and the other not, for instance? Yarbro has used this device before and with greater success in several of her books such as [b:Better in the Dark|219290|Better in the Dark (Saint-Germain series, #8)|Chelsea Quinn Yarbro|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172802958s/219290.jpg|1225889] or [b:Writ In Blood|219278|Writ In Blood (Saint-Germain series, #10)|Chelsea Quinn Yarbro|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172802928s/219278.jpg|1150170].
A few years ago, there was a discussion on the Yahoo! Yarbro discussion list about how Yarbro's publisher had shortened the length of her novels. It was a rather interesting discussion that included book placement in the bookstore. If this restarint is still in place (and a page comparsion seems to indicate it is), it harms this book. Such a reverse Stephen King Syndrome cuts the book short. If it had just another 100 pages, the character study would've been far more successful. Yarbro is an established writer, not inexperienced one. She has a dedicated following that has lasted years. While some of her books may not be as good as other, she never, ever majorly disappoints. (In other words, she doesn't lose readers the way [a:Laurell K. Hamilton|9550|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1248112044p2/9550.jpg] does). The publisher should trust both the author and the readers more.
woodlandsprite's review against another edition
1.0
In all fairness, I had no idea this book is #24 in a series - perhaps if I had read from #1, I may have enjoyed the book more - as it was, while vividly researched and chock full of fine detail, I found it extremely difficult to stay with it - the storyline seems to move extremely slowly - I've read close to a third of the book and don't seem to have gotten anywhere with it. I plan to read on a bit more though at this point, it is highly likely that this one will be returned to the library unfinished.
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