Traveling with the Dead

Rating:
Summary: Explorations in the nature of Love...
Review: If the connecting thread in the previous "Those Who Hunt the Night" was the bond of friendship that can develop between extremely different people, then the underlying pattern in this sequel is the spirit of love that grows between hearts and souls. The story starts swiftly with James Asher (Oxford don and former British Intelligence agent) spotting a dangerous spymaster meeting with a known London vampire, Lord Charles, in a railway station. Immediately he's on their trail (with Anthea, the 200 year old vampire wife of the "traitor" vampire) to Paris, Vienna and onto Constantinople to prevent a disastrous alliance. Lydia, refusing to remain in London, courageously contacts the ancient vampire Don Simon Ysidro and forms an uneasy partnership with him as they, and a hastily acquired former governess, travel the same route. The story is convoluted and exciting as James narrowly escapes death by fire or vampires until he is captured by the "Deathless Lord" Master Vampire of Constantinople. Even imprisoned in the lair of the "Deathless Lord," James manages to investigate the dark reasons behind Charles' summoning to Constantinople, the power struggle between new vampires and old, and his adversary's manipulations. The draw of the story, however, is the emotional love between different characters: the unselfish/courageous love of Anthea for Charles (and James' admiration for Anthea) which drove her to choose the vampire life to remain with her husband, and then to leave the relative safety of London to follow him on his dangerous trip to Constantinople. The selfish love of the "Deathless Lord" is at the center of the mystery. Margaret's shallow, vampire-induced infatuation is ultimately selfish and hollow (on both her and Ysidro's part.) The impossible and unwanted web of love that weaves between Lydia and Ysidro is unbelievable yet undeniable to either of them. Even as Ysidro grows more vampire/alien in appearance (from a self-imposed "fast" for Lydia's sake)--their bond of reliance, protection, and a willingness to love what is impossible leads to a final heart-rending unselfish sacrifice for love.

Rating:
Summary: Explorations in the nature of Love...
Review: If the connecting thread in the previous "Those Who Hunt the Night" was the bond of friendship that can develop between extremely different people, then the underlying pattern in this sequel is the spirit of love that grows between hearts and souls. The story starts swiftly with James Asher (Oxford don and former British Intelligence agent) spotting a dangerous spymaster meeting with a known London vampire, Lord Charles, in a railway station. Immediately he's on their trail (with Anthea, the 200 year old vampire wife of the "traitor" vampire) to Paris, Vienna and onto Constantinople to prevent a disastrous alliance. Lydia, refusing to remain in London, courageously contacts the ancient vampire Don Simon Ysidro and forms an uneasy partnership with him as they, and a hastily acquired former governess, travel the same route. The story is convoluted and exciting as James narrowly escapes death by fire or vampires until he is captured by the "Deathless Lord" Master Vampire of Constantinople. Even imprisoned in the lair of the "Deathless Lord," James manages to investigate the dark reasons behind Charles' summoning to Constantinople, the power struggle between new vampires and old, and his adversary's manipulations. The draw of the story, however, is the emotional love between different characters: the unselfish/courageous love of Anthea for Charles (and James' admiration for Anthea) which drove her to choose the vampire life to remain with her husband, and then to leave the relative safety of London to follow him on his dangerous trip to Constantinople. The selfish love of the "Deathless Lord" is at the center of the mystery. Margaret's shallow, vampire-induced infatuation is ultimately selfish and hollow (on both her and Ysidro's part.) The impossible and unwanted web of love that weaves between Lydia and Ysidro is unbelievable yet undeniable to either of them. Even as Ysidro grows more vampire/alien in appearance (from a self-imposed "fast" for Lydia's sake)--their bond of reliance, protection, and a willingness to love what is impossible leads to a final heart-rending unselfish sacrifice for love.

Rating:
Summary: ...well....acceptable....
Review: The plotline of the book is well devloped, I must give her that. But what ticked me of, was the amount of german used and its misspelling. I can coupe with a word here and there, but besides the fact that it makes it hard to read, it kind of interrupts the train of thought, the editor or someone must not be able to use a german dictionary. I can live with a spelling mistake here and there, but to use words that do not exist... I really am a great fan of her work... remembering Darwarth or Antryg Windrose... this I would not count to be her greates work...

Rating:
Summary: Old favourite
Review: This is one of my "junk reads", the old favourites I pull out to read one more time when I've run out of everything new.
James Asher is a former spy who has retired into the sedate life of an Oxford don, but finds the habits of his old life hard to break. When he spots the vampire Earl of Ernchester in company with Ignace Karolyi, a man Asher knows full well is a spy for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his sense of responsibility leads him to chase them across Europe. For Asher knows only too well the power of vampires, and the thought of them in the service of any intelligence service is just too horrible to contemplate. Asher leaves a message with Lydia, his young doctor wife, telling her where to seek news of him in Vienna - but Lydia, following up a remembered reference in a medical journal, realises that her husband is going to seek help of a double agent. And so she sets off after her husband. She is joined in Paris by the vampire Don Simon Ysidro, to whom she had appealed for help, and Margaret Potton, a foolish ex-governess whom Ysidro has beguiled into loving him in order to have a suitable chaperone for Lydia - Ysidro being an Spanish lord of the Tudor era who is very concerned with appearances. Eventually, all roads lead to Istanbul, and we learn the reasons behind Ernchester's involvement with Karolyi, and what is really at stake in the worlds of vampires and Europe of the early twentieth century.
This is a lush book, full of description. I can't speak for the accuracy of the period detail, and I do think Hambly overdoes it sometimes, but the book is certainly atmospheric. The pace lags somewhat after it leaves Vienna, and the goings-on amongst the vampires of Istanbul were rather hollow. I did find it a pity that the resolution of the Ernchester storyline came with such a let-down, followed by bloody melodrama.
However, the characters are really what makes this story worth reading. Even those who appear only briefly are very well drawn; for example, Halliwell, the spy posted in Vienna, and the British ambassador's wife in Istanbul. There are also personal journeys for each of the three main characters: Asher, Lydia, and Ysidro. Asher finds himself caught up in a life he wanted to leave behind, recalling the terrible choices he made that led to him abandon his spying career. He has changed, but that makes the task ahead of him harder still. Lydia finds herself drawn to Ysidro, repellent though she finds his vampiric nature; and Ysidro is drawn to Lydia, despite knowing how she feels about him. The real end of this book only comes with the resolution of the situation between Ysidro, Lydia, and the jealous Margaret. Ysidro makes a hard choice that Asher applauds, recognising what Ysidro has done and why - because he once did the same thing himself. It is a moving end to the book.

Rating:
Summary: Old favourite
Review: This is one of my "junk reads", the old favourites I pull out to read one more time when I've run out of everything new.
James Asher is a former spy who has retired into the sedate life of an Oxford don, but finds the habits of his old life hard to break. When he spots the vampire Earl of Ernchester in company with Ignace Karolyi, a man Asher knows full well is a spy for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his sense of responsibility leads him to chase them across Europe. For Asher knows only too well the power of vampires, and the thought of them in the service of any intelligence service is just too horrible to contemplate. Asher leaves a message with Lydia, his young doctor wife, telling her where to seek news of him in Vienna - but Lydia, following up a remembered reference in a medical journal, realises that her husband is going to seek help of a double agent. And so she sets off after her husband. She is joined in Paris by the vampire Don Simon Ysidro, to whom she had appealed for help, and Margaret Potton, a foolish ex-governess whom Ysidro has beguiled into loving him in order to have a suitable chaperone for Lydia - Ysidro being an Spanish lord of the Tudor era who is very concerned with appearances. Eventually, all roads lead to Istanbul, and we learn the reasons behind Ernchester's involvement with Karolyi, and what is really at stake in the worlds of vampires and Europe of the early twentieth century.
This is a lush book, full of description. I can't speak for the accuracy of the period detail, and I do think Hambly overdoes it sometimes, but the book is certainly atmospheric. The pace lags somewhat after it leaves Vienna, and the goings-on amongst the vampires of Istanbul were rather hollow. I did find it a pity that the resolution of the Ernchester storyline came with such a let-down, followed by bloody melodrama.
However, the characters are really what makes this story worth reading. Even those who appear only briefly are very well drawn; for example, Halliwell, the spy posted in Vienna, and the British ambassador's wife in Istanbul. There are also personal journeys for each of the three main characters: Asher, Lydia, and Ysidro. Asher finds himself caught up in a life he wanted to leave behind, recalling the terrible choices he made that led to him abandon his spying career. He has changed, but that makes the task ahead of him harder still. Lydia finds herself drawn to Ysidro, repellent though she finds his vampiric nature; and Ysidro is drawn to Lydia, despite knowing how she feels about him. The real end of this book only comes with the resolution of the situation between Ysidro, Lydia, and the jealous Margaret. Ysidro makes a hard choice that Asher applauds, recognising what Ysidro has done and why - because he once did the same thing himself. It is a moving end to the book.

Rating:
Summary: Traveling with the dead
Review: Traveling With The Dead, by Barbara Hambly is an intriguing book that takes the reader through many different countries in search of two things, one: a vamipire who might get involved in some business that might cause trouble for the British and two: Lydias husband, James Asher, who is after the vampire Ernchester.
The book begins with James Asher, a former British intelegance agent, spotting a dangerous spymaster, Karolri, meeting with a known London vampire, Earl of Ernchester, in a railway station. Even though Asher is no longer an agent, he feels obligated to follow them in search of an answer to their mysterious appearance together. After receiving a letter which sounded very sketchy, Lydia, Ashers' knowledge seeking, young wife, enlisted the aid of the oldest and most dangerous vampire in all of London (Don Simon Yisdro) to rescue him from the trap he was stumbling into unaware. All three parties travel through Paris, Vienna and on to Constantinople. Asher and Anthea (the 200 year old vampire wife of Ernchester) after Karolyi and Ernchester who are being followed by Yisdro, Lydia and Margaret.
The book portrays the spirit of love that grows between hearts and souls. Throughout the book we see Lydia's infatuation with Yisdro although she loves her husband greatly and is trying to rescue him. We also see Yisdros' love for Lydia when he gives up killing humans for her and slowly becomes more vampirish due to the fact that that he's not drinking human blood. We also see how much Anthea loves her husband Ernchester yet she still admires something about Asher and the same goes for him. Although everyone seems to be infatuated by someone other then their own partner, they all remain loyal to one another despite their curiosity.
I really enjoyed reading this book, although it was pretty slow throughout the first section and the vocabulary was a bit difficult. It was very mysterious and enthralling, I also enjoyed the ending greatly. Id defiantly recommend this book to others.