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Rating: 
Summary: Madelaine Meets Sherman & The Civil War
Review: A couple of years ago, I read an interview with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in which she mentioned this then unpublished book. She said in the review that her publisher had declined to publish it, due the the relative unpopularity of her Olivia vampire books, as compared to her St. Germain vampire novels. I was unhappy with her publisher's decision, and so was delighted to find that the "Madelaine" book was now available as an electronic book.I am glad I got the chance to read it, but I was not thrilled with the format. Having to read the book on the computer screen was trying, and due to the Microsoft format, it was not possible to print out a chapter to read in bed, etc. I understand that printing is allowed in the Adobe electronic book format, and I would look for that in purchasing electronic books in the future. The book itself is not among Yarbo's best. Madelaine is an interesting character when she pops up in the St. Germain books, but her personality and circumstances limit the action when she is the focus of the entire book. I'll admit that my judgement may be affected by the format of the book, which forced me to read it sitting at my desk. Yuck.
Rating: 
Summary: So glad to have Madeline again
Review: A new favorite to add to the list of the St. Germain titles. Madeline is bold and steadfast in the face of Danger and Death. Her first true love since becoming Vampiric is with W. Tecumseh Sherman who she meets prior to the Civil War in San Francisco. She is taking a break in her cross country studies of the various American Indian tribes traditions and belief. She felt compelled to record this living history prior to the well meaning White influence. Her interest greatly upsets Tecumseh and their banter all through their relationship is lively. She leaves San Francisco to continue her studies in the Southwest and is eventually escorted even further Southeast. She doesn't leave in time and finds with her Indian friends refuge in an abandoned Mill. The Mill become a hospital of sorts and a home for orphan children who just show up. They are reunited when Sherman visits some of his wounded who are in the care of the "French Angel". Little did he know it was Madeline aiding both the Norther and Southern wounded. As always Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has given us an insight into history as seen through the eyes of her vamparic characters.
Thank You Quinn for another wonderful and rereadable tale.
Rating: 
Summary: A Better Way to Enjoy E-Books
Review: I was monitoring the list of Yarbro novels available, hoping for more information on the next St. Germain, when to my surprise I noticed this e-book. I had never before purchased an e-book and I spent some time deciding if I wanted to read a book on the PC. Not an attractive proposition, as the first reviewer of this book pointed out. Mentioned the problem to my husband who suggested that he download the book not to the regular PC, but to his iPAQ (a PALM size PC). He was less happy that he had to load a Microsoft product to effect the download, as he is strongly committed to Linux, but was finally persuaded by being promised a new iPAQ when the product is upgraded. I believe that e-books have a real future on iPAQ type devices. Lightweight and compact, you can take it wherever you like. Easy to read without a lamp as the device is self illuminated and will not disturb anyone sleeping nearby. Also, an e-book takes no space on my already crowded book shelf. As to the story, I found "In the Face of Death" much more enjoyable than the Olivia novels. Poor Olivia was always complaining how much better things were for the women during the Roman Empire. Madelaine gets on with her trials of body and spirit without Olivia's whining and less anguish than St. Germain would experience. For all that the main interaction was between Madelaine and General Sherman, I was happy not to be regaled with detailed descriptions of battles in the Civil War. I also enjoyed Madelaine's progression in her life as a vampire. She has obviously learned a lot since she was in Egypt and seems to have acquired much more of St. Germain's skill with medicines than Olivia managed. An interesting book and I hope to read more.
Rating:
Summary: A Better Way to Enjoy E-Books
Review: I was monitoring the list of Yarbro novels available, hoping for more information on the next St. Germain, when to my surprise I noticed this e-book. I had never before purchased an e-book and I spent some time deciding if I wanted to read a book on the PC. Not an attractive proposition, as the first reviewer of this book pointed out. Mentioned the problem to my husband who suggested that he download the book not to the regular PC, but to his iPAQ (a PALM size PC). He was less happy that he had to load a Microsoft product to effect the download, as he is strongly committed to Linux, but was finally persuaded by being promised a new iPAQ when the product is upgraded. I believe that e-books have a real future on iPAQ type devices. Lightweight and compact, you can take it wherever you like. Easy to read without a lamp as the device is self illuminated and will not disturb anyone sleeping nearby. Also, an e-book takes no space on my already crowded book shelf. As to the story, I found "In the Face of Death" much more enjoyable than the Olivia novels. Poor Olivia was always complaining how much better things were for the women during the Roman Empire. Madelaine gets on with her trials of body and spirit without Olivia's whining and less anguish than St. Germain would experience. For all that the main interaction was between Madelaine and General Sherman, I was happy not to be regaled with detailed descriptions of battles in the Civil War. I also enjoyed Madelaine's progression in her life as a vampire. She has obviously learned a lot since she was in Egypt and seems to have acquired much more of St. Germain's skill with medicines than Olivia managed. An interesting book and I hope to read more.
Rating:
Summary: Yarbro in Peak Form
Review: In the Face of Death tells the story of Madeline's journey to the US, her involvement in the Civil War, and her studies of the Native Americans. A wonderful and moving story. In the St. Germain canon (he's in the book, but in a minor role.)
Rating: 
Summary: In print in April 2004...
Review: Madelaine de Montalia, vampiress lover of Yarbro's Saint Germaine, journeys to pre Civil War America to discover and record the Native American culture. This quest will bring her more than she bargained for; an adulterous love affair with a man seen by some as a hero, and by others as a villain worse than any vampire, Tecumseh Sherman. This mortal inflames a passion unknown to Madelaine, but she knows the love is doomed. He is mortal, and married. Yet, this love will haunt her, even decades later. ** Told in both first and third person, this novel stands alone. The style is not unlike that of Anne Rice's LeStat and offers an unusual perspective on the Civil War, that of the Indian. That facet alone might intrigue readers interested in history. ** Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.
Rating:
Summary: Twentieth in the "Saint Germain" series.
Review: Or second in the "Madeline" offshoot series, depending on how you look at things. In any case, this is one of the best of a very good series.
For one thing, the character of Madeline de Montalia has been underexplored in the Saint Germaine novels, only a few of which have been set in time periods after Madeline was born, much less became a vampire. And unlike "Out Of The House Of Life", this is truly a novel centering on Madeline's life; that one split its focus between her adventures in Egypt and Saint Germaine's early history there.
For another thing, the time period and place setting of this one, the American Civil War, is a fascinating focus for the story, as is the character of William T. Sherman, her lover for the story.
For a third thing, the writing in this book is better than that in "Out of the House of Life", or at least the proofreading is less sloppy. There are only about a half-dozen instances of sloppy proofreading here, as opposed to the two dozen or so in that book. ("How strange that you should call white men them to me..." for instance.) Also, in this book one of the conventions of the Saint Germaine series that I've always found moderately annoying has been adjusted in a positive manner: the correspondence that has always come before and after every chapter has been replaced by entries from Madeline's journal, and instead of getting one and only one entry right where we would expect it every time (which always struck me as rather a contrived style) we get one, or two, or several; whatever better advances the plot at that point, which seems a much better system.
For those unfamiliar with the basic concept behind Yarbro's vampires, a few quick points are in order: 1) they are not (neccessarily) ravening monsters. 2) they do need the blood of the living to survive, but very little of it, little enough that they need not kill or even injure anyone to get it. 3) although mere blood itself WILL suffice to keep them going, it would be a very unsatisfying life, like a mortal living on bread and water; to truly have a satisfying "meal", they must feed on the blood of a lover. Most of the time, they make do with lovers who they hypnotize into having amorous dreams of them, but even that is barely acceptable fare. What truly nourishes them is the blood of a willing lover who knows them for what they are. Not surprisingly, this sort of fare is very rare; they may go decades between such nourishing sustenence. 4) Other than immortality and somewhat exceptional strength, stamina, and speed, (and, of course, the hypnotic ability previously mentioned, which is a very mild power not at all useful in an offensive capacity) there is little to set them apart from mortals in a positive manner; on the other hand, they are more able to offset their vampiric drawbacks than many literary vampires; so long as they have their shoes lined with their native earth, they can move about unhindered during daylight, only slightly more susceptible to sunburn than a normal person, they can cross running water with only mild discomfort (again, as long as their soles are properly lined); the only real problems are that they do not eat normally, which consistently makes for awkward situations socially, and they do not reflect in mirrors, which can also prove awkward.
If you like traditional vampire stories with lots of supernatural powers, blood and gore and seductive evil, this novel and all of the related books from Yarbro may not be to your taste (although there is plenty of blood and gore in the scenes relating to the war, of course.) But if you enjoy historical romance and are intrigued (or at least not upset) at the prospect of a main character that is a somewhat untraditional vampire, you may find the Saint Germain series fascinating, and this book is one of the best of the lot.
Rating:
Summary: Not her best work, but readable
Review: This is a perfectly readable novel, if you weren't expecting anything extraordinary. If you've been following the entire St. Germain series, you'll want this for the sake of completeness. And if you are already a fan of historical vampire romance, then this is a pleasant book of that kind. Particularly if you are a fan of the American Civil War, the historical aspects of this will interest you. But if you are looking for *very* vampire, this isn't it. It isn't as clever or as detailed as the St. Germain books.
This one features Madelaine de Montalia, whom we first met in Hotel Transylvania, and who has appeared in a few of the other St. Germain books.
Let's look at it from the several different genres it might fit into. It's weakest as a vampire novel, only middling as a romance, interesting as a historical. From the vampire aspect, it follows the St. Germain pattern, of course: vampires are long-lived, can be killed by severing the spinal cord or by fire, are stronger than normal but don't have "supernatural" powers as such - no fading into smoke, turning invisible, etc. For the most part, vampires are (a) rare, and (b) good guys, in Yarbro's universe. They don't necessarily drink blood itself; they absorb a life essence from shared sexual passion, although they *can* drink blood when necessary. So Yarbro's books in general, and this one in particular, do not fall into the evil, brooding blood-sucker vampire pattern. In this book in particular, one might almost not even notice that Madelaine is a vampire - the only aspect of her vampirism that's important to the story is her age. Even when she and Sherman are making love, it's not really important that she's a vampire.
From the romance side of things, certainly an affair with William T. Sherman is a fairly novel idea. Sherman is not, however, as well drawn as we might like - we don't get nearly enough of an idea of him as a person. What we do get a lot of, more than I personally needed, is his agonizing "I can't leave my wife, but I can't resist you; woe is me!" stuff - over, and over, year in and year out. Conflicted is a character trait that can be interesting, but it isn't, particularly, here. Your tastes may vary, however.
As a historical, that's where we get some of Yarbro's best efforts in this book. Not as good as her best, but that may just be because I am less interested in recent history than in ancient history; in the novels that take place before the industrial revolution, more of the cultural aspects are strange to me, and there's more new detail to find interesting. In the 19th century USA, there's not as much new to learn. But again, your opinion may vary, particularly if you like the era. Apart from our glimpses of Sherman's maneuvering, the most important things happening here are the lives of the Native Americans, and nursing/medical practice during the war, including a lot of herbal medicine. I don't know enough about Native American history to judge the accuracy of some of these things; we don't get too much of a look in depth at any one particular culture. Madelaine bounces from tribe to tribe, and I personally would have liked to see more detail about some of them. Oh, and we do get an awful lot of details about Madelaine's clothing, which I wasn't very interested in - but some people are fans of historical costume, and certainly the romance readers should enjoy the descriptions of the gowns.
Most readers will know already how the war ends, no surprises there. That, it seems to me, is also a result of it being from a period that most of us already know something about. Novels set in 10th century Poland or other exotic locales can hold many more surprises for us; we don't know ahead of time how they end.
Overall? Lighter weight than we've come to expect from the St. Germain series, but an OK read if you set your expectations down at "ordinary 300-page historical romance."
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