Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I hate to say it took me a year to get around to this book. It's been quietly sitting and waiting on the shelf. I am glad I finally got to it, and I see there's a sequel coming out fairly soon and I can hardly stand the suspense. I've enjoyed Barbara Hambly's fantasy books and bought this one as soon as it was out. Sometimes it's worth it for the book to sit and wait because then the sequel will be along sooner. I have recommended this to two of my friends who teach French and are both interested in New Orleans and history. I hope this is the first in a long line of the stories of Benjamin Janvier.
Rating: 
Summary: Who are these people??
Review: I have never felt so lost in a book. Ms. Hambly seemed to have dropped at least three new characters in EACH page, and that confused the heck out of me! That should have never been done in any mystery novel. Its a shame how a very promising plot was flooded by something like this. It's a total waste.
Rating:
Summary: the finest mystery series on the shelves
Review: I like mysteries, but this book (and the others that follow it) really steps above the genre (which, admittedly, contains a huge number of poorly-written books) and just stands alone as a terrific and thought-provoking work of literature. The characters are superbly drawn - Hambly avoids all sorts of cliches to give us flawed but appealing characters we want to know more about - and the plots are interesting. Best, the writing is simply beautiful. There are plenty of paragraphs I re-read just to savor the language. The books are not always easy reading, partially because Hambly avoids the was-this-written-for-fourth-graders? style so many mystery writers use, and partially because the world in the novels is a disturbing and violent one. You can't read these books without occasionally being sickened by some of the atrocities depicted and becoming enraged by the injustice of this world. Still, Hambly knows when to balance these scenes with others of startling beauty and goodness, and the final impression with which the books always leave me is one of triumph in the face of desperate circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: An Engrossing Read
Review: I love Barbara Hambly's work, and this book served to reinforce that feeling. Prior to this, I had read only her fantasy and science fiction works, and was delighted with this new direction. The characters are richly drawn, and the prose so descriptive you can almost smell the New Orleans streets. There is so much here to love.....historical fiction, murder mystery, social commentary, it's all there. Read this book, and the other Benjamin January novels! They are fantastic!
Rating:
Summary: A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. GOOD STORY BAD WRITING
Review: I PURCHASED ALL THREE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES, FREE MAN OF COLOR,FEVER SEASON, AND GRAVEYARD DUST. BOY WAS I DISAPPOINTED. THE BASICSTORIES ARE OK BUT THERE IS WAY TOO MUCH BUSY DETAILS TO TRY TO SORT THROUGH. MAINLY NAMES AND WHO THEY BELONG TO. I READ ON AVERAGE 3-4 BOOKS WEEKLY AND READ ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING BUT IT WAS ALL I COULD DO TO FINISH THESE BOOKS. I THOUGHT AFTER THE FIRST ONE THAT THE OTHERS WOULD GET BETTER. NO SUCH LUCK. SUCH A GOOD BASIC IDEA RUINED BY TOO MUCH INFORMATION.
Rating:
Summary: Something for Everyone
Review: I read some mystery and heaps of fantasy, and Hambley is one of my favourites; but I think this is one of her best for its combination of apparently well-researched historical fact, 'racy' (yes, a pun) mystery and alert writing. I was completely absorbed when I first read it quite a while ago, and not only have I re-read it since but I keep coming back to it in my mind. It's the only non-literary fiction I've read which made me taste what it must have been like to be marked forever by the irrelevance of skin as someone whose rights could be taken away in a moment. It is the stink of this fear which gives this book an edge as its black surgeon-musician hero makes his careful and tender-hearted way through the various traps of 19th C. New Orleans. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: The more detail, the better!
Review: I really enjoyed how much detail this author provided in the book. I was not knowledgeable of the 1830's/New Orleans and had a wonderful time reading about all the different levels of society and conflicts of that time. I felt Hambly gave enough information to make me feel as if I were a part of the story - a fly on the wall if you will. That to me, is the sign of an extremely talented writer.
Rating: 
Summary: A really good book, not great.
Review: I really enjoyed the book and left it feeling good about it and wanting to read the rest in the series. However, there were pages I skimmed through full of superfluous descriptions of air and dirt (to me). I had the sense the author was pandering to a minority audience to sell books. But overall I liked it. I much preferred Hambly's two vampire novels, and Dragonsbane/Dragonshadow. But I must admit when I'm done with Steven Saylor's Roman mystery series and Candace Robb's Owen Archer series, I'll return to Hambly's Benjamin January series.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing, great mystery, I want more!
Review: I'm a fan of Ms. Hambly's vampire work and picked up Free Man of Color because of its focus on New Orleans -- a city I recently visited and of which I've learned a bit through the work of Anne Rice. Hambly's characters from the hero/detective Benjamin Janvier to the bigoted Kaintuck American takes you back to a time when a city and society were being pushed back by forces beyond their control. On top of that you get a very solid mystery to solve. Hambly describes pre-Civil War practices and traditions in a rich and descriptive way. Her use of language in describing the architecture, smells, sounds, tastes, fashions and actions of the characters bring you right into this smelly, dirty, unfair, conflicted but fascinating society. I look forward to the sequel and learning more about New Orleans and America's history. And to watch the development of a relationship between Janvier and Shaw. And hopefully get more intricate mysteries to solve. My only problem is I think Hambly put in too many plot and character twists for one book. I wonder what's left for the sequel?
Rating:
Summary: A Nation Begins,,,,,,,
Review: It is an absolute delight to discover new authors that have multiple titles. I purchased this first book a few years before and someone borrowed it. When it was recommended to me by an academic (who loves historical fiction) I looked for it. It had been borrowed and returned. Dog eared though it was, I commenced to reading, and I haven't stopped. Barbara Hambly has me hooked. I love Benjamin January. I am at once transported to Old New Orleans. The clashing cultures of the French and the Americans. The complex lives of the blacks, whites and inbetweens fascinates. Hambly has done her homework. I am a traveler through her looking glass.
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