Vaguely familiar fairy tales and other prototypical plots take on a new darkness when viewed from a vampire's perspective in this horror anthology edited by fantasy author Brite (Drawing Blood, 1993, etc). The stories present 20 different worlds, from the Old West to modern Japan to the inner city, in which vampires' desires are no longer focused solely, or even primarily, on their victims' jugulars. These predators desire not only the blood, but also the flesh. Blood serves as a metaphor for sex in several tales that show carnal knowledge of a vampire leading to loss of the soul. Prostitutes and survivors of sexual abuse figure prominently in these stories; vampires are able to recognize experienced victims. The protagonist of ``Empty Vessels'' by David B. Silva feeds as much on painful memories as on the blood and desire of his prey. Heart of Darkness meets The Silence of the Lambs in Douglas Clegg's ``White Chapel,'' whose vampire leads his quarry upriver to a strange jungle site where people are skinned alive and bless the one who flays them. Lusty young men also fall prey to the dangers of desire. ``Love Me Forever'' by Mike Baker shows a trio of college buddies being serially seduced and abandoned: Two kill themselves from love and despair; the third is not so easily thwarted. In Elizabeth Engstrom's ``Elixir,'' a young man's desire to see the world's hues causes him to drink deeply from his mate, whose body holds the elixir that cures his color blindness. Appetites are powerful here; fortunately—since everyone seems to be enjoying the bloodletting—a diverse and wondrous array of fangs and other extraction devices are standard equipment for these vampires. Sometimes literate and lyrical, sometimes crude, a celebration of the aphrodisiac qualities of blood and flesh. Not to everyone's taste.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-105312-0
Page Count: 416
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
This gorgeous novel is a must for more than just Tolkien fanatics.
Christopher Tolkien presents the final piece in a trilogy of Middle-earth stories his father, J.R.R. Tolkien, did not live to see published.
In what he assures us is the last installment, Tolkien returns to edit his father's work (Beren and Lúthien, 2017, etc.), this time with the tale of the secret city of Gondolin. Ulmo, the great sea god, visits a wanderer named Tuor and tells him his destiny: "O Tuor of the lonely heart, I will not that thou dwell for ever in fair places of birds and flowers....Now must thou seek through the lands for the city of the folk called Gondothlim or the dwellers in stone, and the Noldoli shall escort thee thither in secret for fear of the spies of Melko." Tuor makes it to Gondolin, where he marries the king's daughter and has a son, Eärendel. Meanwhile, the evil Melko, whom Ulmo was so worried about, is scheming to find the hidden city and destroy it. When the city's location is given up in "the most infamous treachery in the history of Middle-earth," a great battle ensues, and despite Tuor's valor, Gondolin falls. The history of Middle-earth is so intricately detailed and fully imagined, readers are lucky indeed that Christopher Tolkien is such an excellent editor. With a full glossary, additional notes, a family tree, and a list of names with descriptions, it is easy to keep track of who is whose son (Lord of the Rings fans will be pleased to note that Eärendel is Elrond's father) and which races of elves and orcs and goblins are which and live where. Tolkien also takes great care to explain where each version of the story comes from and pieces together its evolution, giving much-needed context. All this makes it easy to enjoy the tale itself, which is beautifully written, with lyrical descriptions of Ulmo, Gondolin, and even the dragons and Balrogs that devastate the city. Even the battle sequences are somehow lovely. The tone here is more like a fairy tale than the main Ring cycle, which is perfectly suited to its shorter length.
This gorgeous novel is a must for more than just Tolkien fanatics.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-328-61304-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Fantasy fans will love this fast-paced adventure, with its complex magic system, thoughtful hero and bold heroine.
A fast-paced fantasy adventure that takes readers into a series of interconnected worlds ruled by magic—or the lack of it.
Long ago, the doors between worlds were open, and anyone with magic could travel from one to the next. Now the doors are closed, and only a chosen few have the power to travel between Grey London, a world without magic, Red London, a world suffused with it, and White London, a world where magic is scarce, coveted and jealously guarded. As for Black London, the city consumed, no one would be so foolish as to risk a trip—not even Kell. Officially, he’s a royal messenger, carrying letters among the rulers of the three Londons. Unofficially, he’s a smuggler who collects artifacts from other worlds. It’s that habit that leads him to accept a dangerous relic, something that shouldn’t exist. And it’s when a wanted Grey London thief named Lila steals the artifact that the real trouble starts—for both of them. Schwab (Vicious, 2013, etc.) creates a memorable world—actually, three memorable worlds—and even more memorable characters. Lila in particular is a winningly unconventional heroine who, as she declares, would “rather die on an adventure than live standing still.” The brisk plot makes this a page-turner that confronts darkness but is never overwhelmed by it.
Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7653-7645-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
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