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Book Review of Better in the Dark (St. Germain, Bk 8)

Better in the Dark (St. Germain, Bk 8)
cyndij avatar reviewed on + 1031 more book reviews


"In the year 938 A.D., the Count Saint-Germain has suffered a shipwreck along the northern coast of the German lands. Nearly dead, he is taken to the Saxon fortress town of Leosan to be held for ransom. Deprived of his freedom and without his servant Roger, the vampire Count must survive on his own." I liked this episode better than a couple of the previous; Yarbro uses St. Germain as a prop to write about various historical periods, but sometimes there is so much political intrigue that I find it rather dull. This book is more personal. The trials of life in a remote fortress in the Dark Ages, with bandits, the church and the king all trying to take what you made for their own are interesting. As always you don't want to look too closely at how St. Germain manages to live - here he is, in a massively superstitious world where every event is examined for omens, but the woman he loves is blithely accepting that he's a vampire and will turn her into one. At least this time he's not beset on all sides just because he's a foreigner. I liked the depiction of the times and the pacing is quite good.