A Feast in Exile : A Novel of Saint-Germain

Rating:
Summary: Sadly Formulaic
Review: 'A Feast in Exile' doggedly follows a formulaic pattern that has been established in the last four or five books. Saint Germain is living in India in the 14th century as Tamerlane (Timur-i-link) is invading from the north and the current Raj is putting in place taxes and restrictions on foreigners (the Count among them) within the city. There are two love interests, one extent as we begin the book and one the Count meets as he flees his home ahead of the invading army. Circumstances force them together in their journey south and to hoped-for safety.

Like many of the reviewers of Ms. Yarbro's books, I have read every St. Germain book, plus the three books based on Olivia and the first Madelaine book 'Out of the House of Life'. The first five books, beginning with 'Hotel Transylvania' were seductive, fascinating reads that I eagerly devoured and reluctantly finished because I wanted more. The writing sparkled, the characters were vivid, the dialogue fresh and the plot and characters were deftly tied to the political circumstances of the time period making the first five books an exquisite, sumptuous delight. I would highly recommend new readers of the Saint Germain series start with Hotel Trans and continue on with the next four books.

By constrast, 'A Feast in Exile' took me 6 months to slog through, reading a chapter here or there then putting it aside in favor of something more engaging. I finished the book out of a sense of loyalty to the character of Saint Germain more than anything.

Ms. Yarbro's last four novels have ceased to engage the imagination. Her longtime fans know the Count survives well into the 1970's, at least, if they've read 'The Saint Germain Chronicles'. And so, where the plot would normally revolve around the predicament and survival of the hero, it now must revolve around the predicament and survival of the secondary characters and their relation to the Count. For this to work the reader must be engaged and interested in the secondary characters, identifying with them and feeling they, too, have a stake in the success, failure, survival or death of those characters. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case with this series.

Ms. Yarbro's characters fall into three categories without fail: a) noble suffering martyr, b) cunning, cruel adversary (ultimately defeated) and c) cringing or offensive 'atmosphere' character. 'Feast' is chock-a-block with all three categories and no relief in sight, from the hand-wringing, risk-adverse business partner to the offensive spies that watch Saint Germain to the cruel Raja who tries to use the Count under mistaken (and somewhat murky) circumstances. Granted only Garrison Keillor has the knack of making ordinary folks interesting but certainly the medieval world had other people not so broadly drawn as to be obviously good or obviously evil? Were medieval people everywhere so selfish, suspicious and hysterical as to immediately suspect every stranger they saw? Was simple, common charity and openness so lacking?

The secondary characters are caricatures, broadly drawn stereotypes rather than real human beings. Attempts are made, here and there, to give the characters a bit of color or interest but once you are introduced to a new character it only takes a few lines to 'categorize' he or she within the framework of the story.

Like the characters, the stories have slowly taken on a stale flavor that makes me more and more reluctant to read them. The plot opens with an oppressive, male-dominated society on the brink of persecuting Saint Germain. A tortured (either mentally, physically or both) heroine captures his interest and his heart. She is also about to be or already is oppressed by the society. There is the inevitable need of Saint Germain (and possibly the love interest) to leave his home to outrun persecution. The culmination is the ultimate loss of his lover by some tragic means. The only thing that changes is the physical location and the political landscape.

From the beginning of 'Feast' the dialogue is wooden, stilted and repetitive, whether Saint Germain is speaking with his manservant, Roger, with his business partner or with his love interests. This has been a recurring problem through several books so I doubt it is some attempt to represent the manner in which people spoke in 14th century India or any other time period.

The same questions, concerns and themes are discussed ad nauseum by the characters, e.g., his constant reassurance to his second love interest that he won't force himself on her. Given the historical preferences of the Count for strong women who know their own minds (Olivia, Madelaine, Ranegonda) what he could possibly see in the woman he travels with is beyond me. She is callow, inexperienced and weak and her behavior toward him his repellant. Perhaps the old adage 'chicks dig jerks' holds true for ancient, lonely vampires?

'Feast' attempts to use physical movement (the Count's journey south) to simulate movement in the plot. A scene where part of a caravan is swept away by a swift river is so poorly executed that I paused in the middle and did not return to finish the chapter for a week. What little movement Ms. Yarbro achieves swiftly bogs down with repetitive, wooden conversations between the Count and his traveling companions as he reassures them he is no threat. It begins to read like one weary man's apologia to the entire female gender throughout history and that I find repellant as well. A man with his supposed grace, poise and command, who has the knowledge of thousands of years of life and the compassion he has chosen to take on instead of violence is reduced to sniveling.

The only thing that sparkles and continues to sparkle is Ms. Yarbro's research. It is always meticulous and interesting and, despite an error here or there (natural when dealing with so much detail and trying to distill it into a novel) 'Feast' as well as her other novels gives one an interesting encapsulation of a moment in history. But where the historical events played such an integral and fascinating role in the older books, it is now nothing more than a mildly interesting but unengaging backdrop.

The ending of this book seemed to me a stark and disturbing encapsulation of the entire novel - why did St. Germain do any of the things he did for either woman? What did it all mean? Nothing, apparently, and I was left feeling just as empty and dissatisfied. I do not know if I will continue to purchase and read the series. Clearly it has become a somewhat lucrative franchise, thanks to the popularity of vampires, and allows Ms. Yarbro to pursue other writing projects that are less lucrative but more creative. If nothing else, her editor does Ms. Yarbro and her readers a disservice by not pointing out the 'rut' into which these novels have fallen.

Rating:
Summary: Sadly Formulaic
Review: 'A Feast in Exile' doggedly follows a formulaic pattern that has been established in the last four or five books. Saint Germain is living in India in the 14th century as Tamerlane (Timur-i-link) is invading from the north and the current Raj is putting in place taxes and restrictions on foreigners (the Count among them) within the city. There are two love interests, one extent as we begin the book and one the Count meets as he flees his home ahead of the invading army. Circumstances force them together in their journey south and to hoped-for safety.

Like many of the reviewers of Ms. Yarbro's books, I have read every St. Germain book, plus the three books based on Olivia and the first Madelaine book 'Out of the House of Life'. The first five books, beginning with 'Hotel Transylvania' were seductive, fascinating reads that I eagerly devoured and reluctantly finished because I wanted more. The writing sparkled, the characters were vivid, the dialogue fresh and the plot and characters were deftly tied to the political circumstances of the time period making the first five books an exquisite, sumptuous delight. I would highly recommend new readers of the Saint Germain series start with Hotel Trans and continue on with the next four books.

By constrast, 'A Feast in Exile' took me 6 months to slog through, reading a chapter here or there then putting it aside in favor of something more engaging. I finished the book out of a sense of loyalty to the character of Saint Germain more than anything.

Ms. Yarbro's last four novels have ceased to engage the imagination. Her longtime fans know the Count survives well into the 1970's, at least, if they've read 'The Saint Germain Chronicles'. And so, where the plot would normally revolve around the predicament and survival of the hero, it now must revolve around the predicament and survival of the secondary characters and their relation to the Count. For this to work the reader must be engaged and interested in the secondary characters, identifying with them and feeling they, too, have a stake in the success, failure, survival or death of those characters. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case with this series.

Ms. Yarbro's characters fall into three categories without fail: a) noble suffering martyr, b) cunning, cruel adversary (ultimately defeated) and c) cringing or offensive 'atmosphere' character. 'Feast' is chock-a-block with all three categories and no relief in sight, from the hand-wringing, risk-adverse business partner to the offensive spies that watch Saint Germain to the cruel Raja who tries to use the Count under mistaken (and somewhat murky) circumstances. Granted only Garrison Keillor has the knack of making ordinary folks interesting but certainly the medieval world had other people not so broadly drawn as to be obviously good or obviously evil? Were medieval people everywhere so selfish, suspicious and hysterical as to immediately suspect every stranger they saw? Was simple, common charity and openness so lacking?

The secondary characters are caricatures, broadly drawn stereotypes rather than real human beings. Attempts are made, here and there, to give the characters a bit of color or interest but once you are introduced to a new character it only takes a few lines to 'categorize' he or she within the framework of the story.

Like the characters, the stories have slowly taken on a stale flavor that makes me more and more reluctant to read them. The plot opens with an oppressive, male-dominated society on the brink of persecuting Saint Germain. A tortured (either mentally, physically or both) heroine captures his interest and his heart. She is also about to be or already is oppressed by the society. There is the inevitable need of Saint Germain (and possibly the love interest) to leave his home to outrun persecution. The culmination is the ultimate loss of his lover by some tragic means. The only thing that changes is the physical location and the political landscape.

From the beginning of 'Feast' the dialogue is wooden, stilted and repetitive, whether Saint Germain is speaking with his manservant, Roger, with his business partner or with his love interests. This has been a recurring problem through several books so I doubt it is some attempt to represent the manner in which people spoke in 14th century India or any other time period.

The same questions, concerns and themes are discussed ad nauseum by the characters, e.g., his constant reassurance to his second love interest that he won't force himself on her. Given the historical preferences of the Count for strong women who know their own minds (Olivia, Madelaine, Ranegonda) what he could possibly see in the woman he travels with is beyond me. She is callow, inexperienced and weak and her behavior toward him his repellant. Perhaps the old adage 'chicks dig jerks' holds true for ancient, lonely vampires?

'Feast' attempts to use physical movement (the Count's journey south) to simulate movement in the plot. A scene where part of a caravan is swept away by a swift river is so poorly executed that I paused in the middle and did not return to finish the chapter for a week. What little movement Ms. Yarbro achieves swiftly bogs down with repetitive, wooden conversations between the Count and his traveling companions as he reassures them he is no threat. It begins to read like one weary man's apologia to the entire female gender throughout history and that I find repellant as well. A man with his supposed grace, poise and command, who has the knowledge of thousands of years of life and the compassion he has chosen to take on instead of violence is reduced to sniveling.

The only thing that sparkles and continues to sparkle is Ms. Yarbro's research. It is always meticulous and interesting and, despite an error here or there (natural when dealing with so much detail and trying to distill it into a novel) 'Feast' as well as her other novels gives one an interesting encapsulation of a moment in history. But where the historical events played such an integral and fascinating role in the older books, it is now nothing more than a mildly interesting but unengaging backdrop.

The ending of this book seemed to me a stark and disturbing encapsulation of the entire novel - why did St. Germain do any of the things he did for either woman? What did it all mean? Nothing, apparently, and I was left feeling just as empty and dissatisfied. I do not know if I will continue to purchase and read the series. Clearly it has become a somewhat lucrative franchise, thanks to the popularity of vampires, and allows Ms. Yarbro to pursue other writing projects that are less lucrative but more creative. If nothing else, her editor does Ms. Yarbro and her readers a disservice by not pointing out the 'rut' into which these novels have fallen.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe I'm Hard to Please
Review: A Feast in Exile: This was one of the best books Chelsea Q. Yabro has written. The historical background was excellent reading. Ms. Yarbro always makes St. Germain so human that sometimes you forget he is a vampire. It was also one of the rare books on St. Germain that a woman he loved chose not to become a vampire like him. The funeral pyre scene in the book was really good. You were left wondering at first if he survived and what happened to the girl. I enjoyed it very much.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading!
Review: A Feast in Exile: This was one of the best books Chelsea Q. Yabro has written. The historical background was excellent reading. Ms. Yarbro always makes St. Germain so human that sometimes you forget he is a vampire. It was also one of the rare books on St. Germain that a woman he loved chose not to become a vampire like him. The funeral pyre scene in the book was really good. You were left wondering at first if he survived and what happened to the girl. I enjoyed it very much.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this one more than most in the series....
Review: For me, and I guess I'm in the minority, this book was more enjoyable than most of the others in the series of St. Germain books.

It seemed that this time St. Germain wasn't making 10 million horrible decisions that would come back and, er, bite him in the you-know-what. I was beginning to get a little sick of a man - vampire, actually - who's been around the block more than a couple of times in his 4000 years on Earth making the same stupid, stupid mistakes over and over again.

Two mistakes, to be totally accurate: 1. Falling for the wrong woman 2. Trusting the wrong people. (He does make the third usual mistake: waiting too long to leave...but heck, that's part of the story now, isn't it?)

In this one I felt I began to see another side of St. Germain - he seemed to be more than someone who always pulls off the impossible.

Can't wait until I finish the next in line....I sincerely hope the progress continues rather than backslides into the same 'dang it, don't trust her!/him!/them!' scenarios.

Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: I'm still in the process of reading this one but felt I had to
share. As with every book Ms. Yarbo thanks those who read the book for clarity, content, errors, etc. Her thanks were premature. There are at least two glaring inconsistencies of plot in this one.
Was she even paying attention as she wrote it?

Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: I'm still in the process of reading this one but felt I had to
share. As with every book Ms. Yarbo thanks those who read the book for clarity, content, errors, etc. Her thanks were premature. There are at least two glaring inconsistencies of plot in this one.
Was she even paying attention as she wrote it?

Rating:
Summary: Quite a feast
Review: In 1400 AD Timur-i leads his Mongol hordes across Asia, taking control of much of India. In Delhi, the world order changes, as the foreigners no longer have their special status. Those foreigners foolish enough to remain behind in Delhi are either insane or in desperate straits because the city is no longer safe for them.

Saint-Germain the vampire has lived in Delhi under the name of Sanat Ji Mani. He knows he must flee before the Mongol horde ends his undead life, but he cannot leave yet because his honor requires he must care for his beloved Avasa Dani. Eventually she manages to escape the city, but the Conqueror detains Sanat. Timur-i needs Sanat's medical skills, but refuses to accept night calls only. He demands twenty-four hour healing coverage, which the vampire knows means sunlight and death for him. If somehow he survives, Sanat worries about his cherished Avasa, a woman alone except for a servant in a world gone mad.

The latest Saint-Germain novel, A FEAST IN EXILE, is a virtual feast for fans of the series and historical novel buffs alike. The tale brings to life India around 1400, showcasing Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's vast research into the time and place. By installing her hero in Asia, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro refreshes him so that the audience observes Saint-German in a different scenario, which turns A FEAST IN EXILE into one of the best books in one of the superior vampire series.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Quite a feast
Review: In 1400 AD Timur-i leads his Mongol hordes across Asia, taking control of much of India. In Delhi, the world order changes, as the foreigners no longer have their special status. Those foreigners foolish enough to remain behind in Delhi are either insane or in desperate straits because the city is no longer safe for them.

Saint-Germain the vampire has lived in Delhi under the name of Sanat Ji Mani. He knows he must flee before the Mongol horde ends his undead life, but he cannot leave yet because his honor requires he must care for his beloved Avasa Dani. Eventually she manages to escape the city, but the Conqueror detains Sanat. Timur-i needs Sanat's medical skills, but refuses to accept night calls only. He demands twenty-four hour healing coverage, which the vampire knows means sunlight and death for him. If somehow he survives, Sanat worries about his cherished Avasa, a woman alone except for a servant in a world gone mad.

The latest Saint-Germain novel, A FEAST IN EXILE, is a virtual feast for fans of the series and historical novel buffs alike. The tale brings to life India around 1400, showcasing Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's vast research into the time and place. By installing her hero in Asia, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro refreshes him so that the audience observes Saint-German in a different scenario, which turns A FEAST IN EXILE into one of the best books in one of the superior vampire series.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A quick review of A Feast In Exile
Review: One of Yarbro's newest books avalible, it is a wonderful story set in the 1400's in India. Following the time-honed formula of writting, Yarbro gives her readers an inside view of life and hardships for all people-rich and poor. You follow Sanat Ji Mani as he is again seperated from the ones who know him best and must survive by placating to the whims of generals and ruling sultans. He meets a few women along the way, and you follow how they react to what he is and the life they will have to lead. An incredible novel of hope and disappointment, from every characters' point of view.