Borne in Blood
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
This is the 20th in the series of Quinn Yarbro's novels starring the
vampire Count Saint-Germaine. That is quite a long run! But it was my
first introduction to both the author and the series. I can say for
sure you do not have to have read others in the series to read this one
as a stand alone story. It was not too often that I felt I was
missing information nor did I feel the author was trying to catch me up
on too much background information (my pet peeve in many series.) It is
perfectly fine to read this one on its own although it will make you
very curious to check out the earlier ones.
Count Saint-Germaine is a vampire, that is true. But that was not
really a major influence on the plot of this book. It was more of an
aside, a little fact about the main character, background color. It is
not 'horror' at all. There was a secondary character from his past,
Madelaine, also a vampire, who appears in letters, although I am not
sure why. Madelaine is actually was the one area I felt a bit lost.
Much of the plot is contained in letters to and from various
characters. The letters are frequent and contain more information than
one would expect. Personally they annoyed me. It seemed like a trite
writing tool that took much of the 'work' out of writing. Quinn Yarbro
seems to be a much more talented writer than that. Her ability to
maintain the historical feel of the books without losing the reader in
complex rhetoric is superb. The setting of early 19th century
Switzerland is well described and fascinating.
The plot revolves around the Count and his lover Hero. It is not too
clear how she arrived there but that must be from earlier books in the
series. Her husband was killed, her father in law took her children and
she is living with the Count. The historical background is a strength
of this book. It seems impossible to the modern reader that Hero, as a
female, had no control over her life. Her personal tragedies and her
ability to cope have her dragging through the book. The Count is busy
dealing with local authorities over area thefts and fending off the
unwelcome attentions of a business acquaintance's twisted, over sexed
daughter. There is a 'big' ending but the path there is long and drawn
out.
Fans of the series must be pleased there is this addition to it and the
next three at least already ready to go.