Rating: 
Summary: Power spirals out of St-Germain's hands
Review: As always, I enjoyed the integration of history and story line in Ms. Yarbro's work. This book continues a wonderful new trend in the St-Germain chronicles. Events sometimes spiral out of the protaganists' hands and he does not know all of the forces that are in play against him. Therefore, some friends will not be saved; in some cases, he must make compromises that he does not like. This book also continues the examination of the lack of power of women over their own lives throughout history.
Rating:
Summary: Power spirals out of St-Germain's hands
Review: As always, I enjoyed the integration of history and story line in Ms. Yarbro's work. This book continues a wonderful new trend in the St-Germain chronicles. Events sometimes spiral out of the protaganists' hands and he does not know all of the forces that are in play against him. Therefore, some friends will not be saved; in some cases, he must make compromises that he does not like. This book also continues the examination of the lack of power of women over their own lives throughout history.
Rating: 
Summary: Communion Blood: A Novel of Saint-Germain
Review: As always Ms.Yarbro is a great read, but I felt she was a little less than clear on just how frighteningly powerful these People and the Church were at this time. The menace just wasn't as strong as it needed to be. Everything else was pure Saint-Germain and all we love about this vampire. I got a good sense of the histoical locale, customs and the surport cast was well drawn. Looking forward to her next novel. Brava!
Rating:
Summary: Fun book, but not one of her best
Review: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has definitely written better Saint-Germain books. _Communion Blood_ takes the vampire hero to 17th-century Rome, where he gets embroiled in a real-estate dispute, Papal politics, and the composition of an opera (with music great Alessandro Scarlatti, no less). As always, Yarbro's historical research is adequate (although not nearly as impressive as her fans always seem to insist it is). But not only is the plot tedious, the characters are absolutely cardboard and inconsistent. As for Saint-Germain, he has almost no personality at all, except to serve as a vaguely-defined fantasy version of the Perfect-In-Control-But-Sensitive-Almost-To-The-Point-of-Being-Annoying Male. Overall, this book has the feel of having been written in a terrible rush. Yarbro has a tendency to put stilted, verbose language in her characters' mouths when she means them to be elegant or clever. Even worse, whoever edited the book deserves to be fired: on average, a typo, a grammatical error, or gross misspelling occurs once every five pages ("roughian" instead of "ruffian," or "thredony" rather than "threnody," for example). Not to nitpick, but when you're reading an author whose reputation is based largely on her research skills and her intelligent use of language, it jars quite a bit to read prose that looks like it's been proofread by a middle-school student.
Rating:
Summary: bland and poorly-edited
Review: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has definitely written better Saint-Germain books. _Communion Blood_ takes the vampire hero to 17th-century Rome, where he gets embroiled in a real-estate dispute, Papal politics, and the composition of an opera (with music great Alessandro Scarlatti, no less). As always, Yarbro's historical research is adequate (although not nearly as impressive as her fans always seem to insist it is). But not only is the plot tedious, the characters are absolutely cardboard and inconsistent. As for Saint-Germain, he has almost no personality at all, except to serve as a vaguely-defined fantasy version of the Perfect-In-Control-But-Sensitive-Almost-To-The-Point-of-Being-Annoying Male. Overall, this book has the feel of having been written in a terrible rush. Yarbro has a tendency to put stilted, verbose language in her characters' mouths when she means them to be elegant or clever. Even worse, whoever edited the book deserves to be fired: on average, a typo, a grammatical error, or gross misspelling occurs once every five pages ("roughian" instead of "ruffian," or "thredony" rather than "threnody," for example). Not to nitpick, but when you're reading an author whose reputation is based largely on her research skills and her intelligent use of language, it jars quite a bit to read prose that looks like it's been proofread by a middle-school student.
Rating: 
Summary: Saint-Germain returns in another terrific book
Review: Communion Blood is Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's 12th novel featuring the vampire Count Saint-Germain. Saint-Germain is in Rome to come to Niklos' aid, whose right to keep Olivia's property is being challenged by a man with close ties to the Church and government. Saint-Germain must find a way to help Niklos and keep their own true nature a secret--the Count is a vampire; Niklos a ghoul. The story has other fascinating sub-plots and supporting characters, such as the penitent whom Saint-Germain tries to help and the musician Scarletti. Yarbro's research and writing continues to be impeccable and fascinating. Encore! Bring on # 13!
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Summary: Another great Saint-Germain novel!
Review: Even 30 years dead, no-nothing men are still trying to run Olivia Clemen's unLife and those of her associates. She wrote an iron-clad will, making Niklos her beneficiary. (He's a ghoul, not a vampire, whose been with her 1600 years, not 1300, as one of the pros said...) But some jerk affiliated with the Church just wants to take it all from her and Niklos _again._ Saint-Germain prevents this, but isn't so successful in all his endeavors. I liked particularly the opera subplot with Scarlatti. And, as always, the rich detail.
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Summary: must read for any yarbro fan!
Review: Great read, will not be dissappointed by Sanct Germain's latest adventure
Rating:
Summary: Fun book, but not one of her best
Review: I enjoyed -Communion Blood-, but not for the plot. Saint-Germain has faced off much worse villians in -Mansions of Darkness- or -Darker Jewels-, to name a couple. The book's strengh was in its secondary characters. It was great fun to see Saint-Germain as a contemporary of Scarlatti, and I liked Georgiana. The Penitent (I'm blanking on her name) was a carbon-copy of any other oppressed woman Saint-Germain tries to help, but she didn't have Xenya's depth--or strength--of personality (Darker Jewels). My favorite secondary character was Genarro; it was fun to have a secondary character as a common thread through three different novels. On the whole, I'm glad I bought the book. (There is no such thing as a "bad" Saint-Germain book) But I'm glad it wasn't the first Saint-Germain book I read; I might not have come back for more.
Rating:
Summary: darkness that is not so dark
Review: I have followed Saint-Germain now for over 15 years. I fell in love with the vampire and the historical settings and people that Yarbro placed her vampire in and around. For a while there Saint-Germain was silent, and when the novels once again started coming forth, I was extremely happy. Unfortunately, the stories and situations that were written about were so extremely dark and depressing that it still takes me a long time to build up the courage to begin a new Saint-Germain book. I am very happy to say that Communion Blood and Blood Roses were extremely wonderful to read. Not that there wasn't darkness because there is in abundance especially where the Roman Catholic Church touches. However, there is a great deal of hope that shines through in Saint-Germain and those that touch his life which was very unlike what was portrayed in Mansions of Darkness, Better in the Dark, or even Tempting Fate. I would highly recommend this book not only for the historical accuracy and removed-blinders look at the power that the Roman Catholic Church wielded, but for a real glimpse of why Saint-Germain still remains even more human than many of us today.
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