By Karen GallagherBOOKS EDITOR
I thought I was pretty up-to-date in the world of vampire novels, or maybe I simply believed I'd outgrown the genre, having read most of those shown on these two pages.
But then I received an unsolicitated, pre-press manuscript of "Blood Promise" by Richelle Mead.
I was two-thirds through it before I did a quick inquiry and learned it is fourth in her Vampire Academy series. It hits bookstore shelves Aug. 25. I'm a newbie to the series.
And I have to say I really sank my teeth into it.
The story is told by Rose (or Roza), a dhampir. Hold on! What's a dhampir? Her boyfriend, Dimitri, has been turned into a Strigoi who has taken off for Russia. And what's a Strigoi? Rose and Dimitri live amid a world full of their own kinds, as well as humans and the Moroi. What, pray tell, is a Moroi? There was a brutal battle between the factions. And now
she's torn about going after the love of her life in Russia, because she's also bound to her best friend, Lissa -- who's a Moroi who not only engages in magic but also specializes in spirit and is shadow-kissed -- and is slated to be her guardian for life.
What does a girl do in this situation? Well, THIS girl, Rose, aka Roza, drops out of school in the U.S., seemingly abandoning her promise to Lissa, and takes off without much of a plan to try to find her love so she can kill him with a silver stake, to save him from what she knows is his agony at being turned unwillingly into a Strigoi.
In the 512-page book, which includes a prologue that answers the questions raised above, you'll meet the friendliest and the most scheming bunch of¤ "people" you've met in a while. There's bickering and fighting, love and hate, happiness and fear, relief
and worry, positive forces and evil doings that stretch your imagination until you almost bleed.
"It takes a careful balance of power between the spirit user and the shadow-kissed. ... I don't think bonding to more than one person is healthy," Rose tells a friend a mere 30 pages from the end of this story, which doesn't end the way you think it will. Or does it?
"Blood Promise," by Richelle Mead, Penguin Group, 512 pages, $16.99, hardcover, available Aug. 25
OTHER BOOKS TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO
"Dracula" by Bram Stoker, published in 1897
Here's an excerpt from the 1897 London Times review for Monday, Aug. 23:
DRACULA cannot be described as a domestic novel, nor its annals as those of a quiet life. A young solicitor ... finds himself shut up in a half ruined castle with a host who is only seen at night and three beautiful females who have the misfortune of being vampires. Their intentions, which can hardly be described as honourable, are to suck his blood, in order to sustain their own vitality. Count Dracula (the host) is also a vampire but has grown tired of his compatriots, however young and beautiful, and has a great desire for what may literally be called fresh blood. He has therefore sent for the solicitor that through his means he may be introduced to London society. ... Nobody can complain that it (the book) is deficient in dramatic situations. We would not however, recommend it to nervous persons for evening reading.
"'salem's Lot" by Stephen King, published in 1975
Overview from barnesandnoble.com:
'salem's Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree-lined streets, and solid church steeples. Late that summer, Ben Mears returned to 'salem's Lot hoping to cast out his own devils and found instead a new, unspeakable horror. A stranger had also come to the Lot, a stranger with a secret as old as evil, a secret that would wreak irreparable harm on those he touched and in turn on those they loved. All would be changed forever. This is a rare novel, almost hypnotic in its unyielding suspense, which builds to a climax of classic terror. You will not forget the town of 'salem's Lot nor any of the people who used to live there.
"Interview with the Vampire" by Ann Rice, published in 1976
Publisher's synopsis:
Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force-a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.
In a remote room in a large city, a young reporter sits face-to-face with his most astonishing subject: a onetime New Orleans gentleman plantation owner who, in vividly terrifying and haunting detail, recalls his centuries of extraordinary life -- beginning with his initiation into the ranks of the living dead at the hands of the sinister, sensual vampire Lestat.
From the Chicago Tribune:
"A magnificent, compulsively readable thriller. ... Anne Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth--the education of the vampire."
"Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris, published in 2001
As of Aug. 4, with the release of "Dead and Gone," Harris is up to nine books in this series, Southern Vampire Mysteries, and recently signed a contract for three more.
Publisher's overview:
Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out ... Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.
Maybe you've heard of Sookie? If Harris has done nothing else, her tales have led us to "True Blood," the HBO phenom.
"Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer, published in 2005
Meyer has published four books in her Twilight Series, for ages 12 and older.
Publisher's overview:
Discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because -- he's a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.
Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.
"Dracula" by Bram Stoker, published in 1897
Here's an excerpt from the 1897 London Times review for Monday, Aug. 23:
DRACULA cannot be described as a domestic novel, nor its annals as those of a quiet life. A young solicitor ... finds himself shut up in a half ruined castle with a host who is only seen at night and three beautiful females who have the misfortune of being vampires. Their intentions, which can hardly be described as honourable, are to suck his blood, in order to sustain their own vitality. Count Dracula (the host) is also a vampire but has grown tired of his compatriots, however young and beautiful, and has a great desire for what may literally be called fresh blood. He has therefore sent for the solicitor that through his means he may be introduced to London society. ... Nobody can complain that it (the book) is deficient in dramatic situations. We would not however, recommend it to nervous persons for evening reading.
"'salem's Lot" by Stephen King, published in 1975
Overview from barnesandnoble.com:
'salem's Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree-lined streets, and solid church steeples. Late that summer, Ben Mears returned to 'salem's Lot hoping to cast out his own devils and found instead a new, unspeakable horror. A stranger had also come to the Lot, a stranger with a secret as old as evil, a secret that would wreak irreparable harm on those he touched and in turn on those they loved. All would be changed forever. This is a rare novel, almost hypnotic in its unyielding suspense, which builds to a climax of classic terror. You will not forget the town of 'salem's Lot nor any of the people who used to live there.
"Interview with the Vampire" by Ann Rice, published in 1976Publisher's synopsis:
Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force-a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.
In a remote room in a large city, a young reporter sits face-to-face with his most astonishing subject: a onetime New Orleans gentleman plantation owner who, in vividly terrifying and haunting detail, recalls his centuries of extraordinary life -- beginning with his initiation into the ranks of the living dead at the hands of the sinister, sensual vampire Lestat.
From the Chicago Tribune:
"A magnificent, compulsively readable thriller. ... Anne Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth--the education of the vampire."
"Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris, published in 2001As of Aug. 4, with the release of "Dead and Gone," Harris is up to nine books in this series, Southern Vampire Mysteries, and recently signed a contract for three more.
Publisher's overview:
Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out ... Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.
Maybe you've heard of Sookie? If Harris has done nothing else, her tales have led us to "True Blood," the HBO phenom.
"Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer, published in 2005Meyer has published four books in her Twilight Series, for ages 12 and older.
Publisher's overview:
Discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because -- he's a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.
Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.
this is really cool. I'll definitely try to go and find these books to read. I LOVE vampire books. I still carry a silver cross with me....only me huh!!!!!
I eat a lot of garlic