Baroness of Blood (Ravenloft)

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Summary: Ilsabet is one of the most evil caracters I have ever seen!
Review: Elaine Bergstrom knows how to describe evil! As I read this book I really could not wait for Ilsabet to die or that something bad happens to her. Fortunatly, she gets the punishment she deserves. The only thing I found a setback about the book was that the pace was somewhat slow during all the killings. The story is about a girl whose evil father, a baron, is killed when his castle is invaded. She swears revenge and plans to kill all people involved by poisoning them until she is the only one left to rule both her kingdom and that of the invader. If she ever will...

Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels I have ever read
Review: First of all, please forgive me any mistakes I make, as I am from Spain and, as you can supose, English is not my mother tonge. Anyway, Baroness of Blood has been one of the most absorving novels I have ever read. From begining to end, it really creates an incredible atmos(fear) of darkness and death. The young Baroness (sorry I can't remember her name) plays a scaring role taking vengeance over every living being on the castle. The way she plays with her old mentor, and how she does a web of intrigue and lies... Well, I don't know what to say about this novel, apart from recommending it to every body. I also recommend, from the same Ravenloft Novels Series (yes, you have guessed, I'm a fanatic of Ravenloft and I play RPG's), "I, Stradh", "Carnival of Fear" and "Scholar of Decay". I have read all of them in English, and I must say I am happy about it, because translations into Spanish are usually C.R.A.P. That's all, sorry for being so long. Have a happy and misty new year. Marcos García Sánchez (Gijón, Spain)

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Summary: Baroness of blood is the best book of all time!!
Review: I have read this book many, many, many times. This is the book that got me hooked on T.S.R. books. I am a major fan, as you can most likley tell. I think Ilsabet is one of the best portrayed charactors, Elaine Bergstrom seemed to have thought as if she were Ilasbet, because it tells all about her, from her favorite breakfast to her most primal fear. "I would take the men who served him and burn them at the stake. Let the sight of their agony be the last thing he sees before we take out his eyes. Let the pain of the same fire be the last thing his hands feel before his hands are scarred so terribly that he will never be able to lift a sword against us again. Then send him back to his people, as an example of the justice and mercy of Barron Janosk Obour." These are young Ilsabet's words of what to do with the rebel leader. She has a very creative mind. The next best charactor in the book is Jorani. I still think it strange that he could become as good at what he did, when he was of common birth, and had very little education. In conclusion I would recomend this book to who ever can get their hands on a copy of it.

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Summary: A contrived, rushed ending nearly ruins finely-crafted tale
Review: I started BoB with the same timidity I did HoM, as the reviews I had read were not all that flattering. However, unlike HoM, this book almost deserved all the flak it got. Almost.

BoB is a fine novel, with a compelling storyline and a protagonist/villain you have to feel sorry for... for about half the book. Ilsabet Janosk is a great villain, and I finished the book with the question: what is she now? Kislova is also an intriguing domain, with interesting customs, perhaps once located in the Forgotten Realms (a reference to the Shaar being my only basis for that theory), and even though it takes 99% of the book to finally enter the world for which the book bears its logo, the means justify the end: this tale could not have been told any faster without maiking the book horrible.

My only complaint? It seemed to me that the author really wanted to make Kislova a domain and not a province, and got tired of waiting near the end, when a flurry of useless deaths and a contrived ending were all we received after 300 pages of well-crafted storyline to move the tale to its conclusion.

This in itself nearly ruins the entire flavor of the book, but it couldn't have gone on much longer without growing stale. In all, BoB is a good read, but one has to take the ending with a fine grain of salt to truly appreciate it.

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Summary: One of the better Ravenloft books.
Review: Many of the books in this series are not up to the task of creating horror in such a specified area such as Ravenloft, but this one is. I liked it a lot.

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Summary: Birth of a Darklord
Review: There are two ways a reader is likely to approach this novel: as a Ravenloft fan reading that line of novels; or as an Elaine Bergstrom fan starved for the latest Austra novel. Neither should be disappointed.

As a D&D novel, this book presents us with much more than we would normally expect and consequently should be more readily accessible to one not familiar with the game or the Ravenloft setting, while at the same time satisfying fans of both.

This book is well-suited to the genre. It would be easy to imagine this as one of those 1960's black and white classic movies or TV shows. 'Baroness' tells the tale of a young noble girl who witnesses the execution of her tyrannical father after his failed conquest of a neighbouring feudal state. Baroness Ilsabet then begins a slippery descent into evil in her pursuit of revenge.

The characters are well rounded protagonists acting within a well-paced (abeit linear) plot that steadily gathers momentum towards its tragicly epic, darkly cinematic, and sadly inevitable conclusion (Ravenloft fans have the added satisfaction of seeing the birth of not only a new Darklord but an entire domain).

A definite time-honoured, easy-to-read 'page-turner' with its concise chapters and spiralling pace that should come highly recommended to all readers, including those approaching from yet a third route: fans of the good gothic-fantasy-horror novel.

Other Ravenloft books by Elaine Bergstrom include:
Tapestry of Dark Souls (and the short story 'The Weaver's Pride which serves as a prologue from the anthology 'Tales of Ravenloft')

The Dracula 'sequels':
Mina
Blood to Blood

The Austra series:
Shattered Glass
Daughter of the Night
Blood Alone
Blood Rites
Nocturne

And the stand alone novels:
Madeline
After the Fall of Usher, Leanna
Possession of a Woman
The Door Through Washington Square

Rating:
Summary: very good buy
Review: this is the best book i have ever read in my life. it captures the true spirit of the untamable, and shows us all once we taste blood how can we stop ourselves.