okenwillow's review against another edition
3.0
Roman initialement paru en 1988, il est réédité chez Mnémos sous la forme d’un seul gros volume rassemblant les deux premiers romans de la série, qui à ma connaissance n’en compte que deux. Un gros pavé donc, à la couverture sublime, dédicacé, s’il-vous-plait, par l’illustrateur Alain Brion lui-même (comme quoi j’ai bien fait d’aller au Salon du Livre à Paris :))).
Bref, une incursion dans l’Angleterre post-victorienne, en 1907 (et non celle de la fin du XIX ème siècle comme indiqué en quatrième de couverture), une époque où les vampires commencent à avoir du mal à rester cachés, du fait de l’urbanisation et des nouvelles technologies.
Le vampire Don Simon Ysidro enfreint les règles de sécurité vampiresque les plus élémentaires en recourant aux services d’un ancien espion reconverti. Agissant sous la menace afin de préserver sa propre vie et celle de sa jeune épouse, James Asher va mener l’enquête commanditée par le vampire.
Les relations entre les deux personnages sont pour le moins ambiguës. Asher devra changer ses plans et ses intentions vis à vis des vampires, tandis qu’Ysidro fera preuve de mansuétude à l’égard de cet humain potentiellement dangereux mais dont les services sont nécessaires.
L’histoire est agréable à suivre, même si le style est relativement lourd, et les personnages un brin stéréotypés. Le vampire Ysidro, blond et pâle, m’a paru trop romantique, surtout quand l’auteur (une femme ne l’oublions pas !) le décrit avec sa chemise ouverte sur une gorge et un torse blancs, ses manches retroussées sur des bras musculeux….et j’en passe.
Quant à Asher, héros contraint mais heureux époux d’une jeune médecin très douée et aimante, que lui, pauvre professeur d’Oxford a eu l’heur de séduire au point d’être préféré à tous les autres jeunes prétendants, son passé d’espion sans scrupules le rendrait presque moins fréquentable que le vampire.
Ceci dit, malgré quelques clichés et grosses ficelles, l’intrigue se lit bien, le suspens est maintenu. Le mythe du vampire ne m’a pas paru renouvelé, même si le personnage de Lydia, en bonne scientifique, tente d’expliquer médicalement le vampirisme.
Une très bonne histoire de vampires, qui ne vaut pas Anne Rice à mon sens, mais qui tient bien la route malgré certains aspects.
Bref, une incursion dans l’Angleterre post-victorienne, en 1907 (et non celle de la fin du XIX ème siècle comme indiqué en quatrième de couverture), une époque où les vampires commencent à avoir du mal à rester cachés, du fait de l’urbanisation et des nouvelles technologies.
Le vampire Don Simon Ysidro enfreint les règles de sécurité vampiresque les plus élémentaires en recourant aux services d’un ancien espion reconverti. Agissant sous la menace afin de préserver sa propre vie et celle de sa jeune épouse, James Asher va mener l’enquête commanditée par le vampire.
Les relations entre les deux personnages sont pour le moins ambiguës. Asher devra changer ses plans et ses intentions vis à vis des vampires, tandis qu’Ysidro fera preuve de mansuétude à l’égard de cet humain potentiellement dangereux mais dont les services sont nécessaires.
L’histoire est agréable à suivre, même si le style est relativement lourd, et les personnages un brin stéréotypés. Le vampire Ysidro, blond et pâle, m’a paru trop romantique, surtout quand l’auteur (une femme ne l’oublions pas !) le décrit avec sa chemise ouverte sur une gorge et un torse blancs, ses manches retroussées sur des bras musculeux….et j’en passe.
Quant à Asher, héros contraint mais heureux époux d’une jeune médecin très douée et aimante, que lui, pauvre professeur d’Oxford a eu l’heur de séduire au point d’être préféré à tous les autres jeunes prétendants, son passé d’espion sans scrupules le rendrait presque moins fréquentable que le vampire.
Ceci dit, malgré quelques clichés et grosses ficelles, l’intrigue se lit bien, le suspens est maintenu. Le mythe du vampire ne m’a pas paru renouvelé, même si le personnage de Lydia, en bonne scientifique, tente d’expliquer médicalement le vampirisme.
Une très bonne histoire de vampires, qui ne vaut pas Anne Rice à mon sens, mais qui tient bien la route malgré certains aspects.
eggp's review against another edition
2.0
Banal detective
at least his wife has a job
top horror, my ass.
at least his wife has a job
top horror, my ass.
outandabout's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
An unusual #vampire book. Someone’s killing vampires. They enlist the help of a former spy to find the murderer. The spy’s wife, a doctor when female doctors weren’t normal, helps by researching property records and medical journals. Based mostly in London, there’s a section where the spy and vampire visit the Paris vampires, including a jaunt through the catacombs to see the oldest vampire. Thoroughly entertaining October read!
greatnate008's review against another edition
4.0
This was good. I like the idea that vampires change over time and lose some of their weaknesses.
kentcryptid's review against another edition
5.0
A massively fun, pulpy page-turner, featuring Barbara Hambly's usual gift for creating fantastic characters, and a take on the vampire mythos that I really enjoyed. Also as slashy as hell, which helps.
rouge_red's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I liked the mystery and...for the other stuff, I just have to make my peace with the fact that this was published in the '80s. I didn't enjoy all the repetition surrounding how James Asher's fixation on his wife's looks, but other than that I liked the book.
bgstrong's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fun mix of murder mystery, wit, and spook. It’s 3 stars from me because the beginning was a little slow and at times the writing was just a little too dense for me.
But I thought it was a fun read and definitely one of the top vampire novels I’ve ever read.
But I thought it was a fun read and definitely one of the top vampire novels I’ve ever read.
heyt's review against another edition
3.0
I was skeptical about this one because I'm very much over traditional vampire stories (I know not the book's fault!) and historical settings are hit or miss with me but I did enjoy my time with this one. It was very slow to start for me but once it got into the thick of things I sped through this and was very invested. I realize that this is very much Asher's story but I absolutely loved Lydia and wanted to see more of her. Solid if somewhat standard mystery but fun to watch the clues build up to the reveal.
salieri2's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this youthful favorite off my shelf recently & was curious to see how well it held up some twenty-odd years later. Surprisingly well, is the answer. [b:Those Who Hunt The Night|176261|Those Who Hunt the Night|Barbara Hambly|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223642807s/176261.jpg|1229981] isn’t a great work of literature, but it’s a solid, engaging read. One of [a:Barbara Hambly|1221698|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg]’s lesser-known books, it shouldn’t be reviewed alongside trendy multivolume vampire epics like [a:Anne Rice|7577|Anne Rice|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1287842260p2/7577.jpg]’s [b:Interview With the Vampire|43763|Interview With the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)|Anne Rice|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1218672404s/43763.jpg|873132] and its successors or [a:Stephanie Meyer|35476|Jack Canfield|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1245543249p2/35476.jpg]’s [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275613536s/41865.jpg|3212258] series. What you have here is a well-constructed historical whodunit with some unusual characters: nothing more, nothing less. Hambly didn’t attempt a grand, sweeping vision or commentary on the world, or the nature of humanity, or passion--she just wrote a tight, well-plotted suspense tale that just happens to have some vampires in it.
The Edwardian setting is a great fit; England is just on the cusp of the modern era, politically, scientifically and socially, but the Victorian age, though technically over, is by no means forgotten. Horse-drawn cabs, gaslight, the romanticism of the fading Empire, and centuries of sleepy tradition are jostling up against motorcycles, electricity, the inevitable post-colonial warfare shadowed (for the reader) by the imminence of the Great War, and the upheaval of social mores in class structure and gender roles.
The clash between the traditional and the modern isn’t a theme Hambly treats overtly or heavily, but it informs both plot and characters more or less subtly--it makes the fantastic plot plausible, it gives us some helpful background and character insight. Dr James Asher, scholar-turned-spy twice over, parallels the changing times. He has a world-weariness that is believable: youthful romantic, middle-aged pragmatist, he no longer believes in great causes but in small victories. Benefiting from the post-Victorian era, Asher’s wife Lydia can plausibly study medicine and think independently without being painfully anachronistic (like [a:Anne Perry|4012|Wilkie Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192222099p2/4012.jpg]’s Charlotte Pitt, [a:Laura Joh Rowland|10987|Laura Joh Rowland|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1195100224p2/10987.jpg]’s Lady Reiko, ugh). The vampires themselves, of course, face both practical and social challenges with the change of times. Hambly’s treatment of vampirism itself both culturally and scientifically bridges the gap between the ancient and modern, and without being spoilery, key plot points depend on this juxtaposition as well.
Unlike Lestat or Edward Cullen, Hambly’s vampires aren’t romantic, poetic anti-heroes full of sexual tension (repressed or otherwise)--they’re dead-faced, attenuated, thirsty predators with glittering eyes and the ennui of centuries. Their humanity has been whittled away to empty gesture, bare habit; occasional sparks of the people they used to be surface here and there, to humorous or sad effect, but their essential alienness is always maintained. This keeps the tension level up and throws a certain kink into easy assessment of their motives, for both Asher and the reader. Keeps the mystery from being too simple.
More than anything, this is a fun book to read. Asher and Lydia, even some of the vampires, are engaging, interesting characters in uneasy alliance; the plot is twisty but rarely silly. Alternately spooky, funny, quaint and modern, it’s a beach read for people who don’t want to be irritated by badly-written books. There is a vastly inferior sequel, [b:Traveling With The Dead|3398625|The Lost City of Z A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon|David Grann|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255578330s/3398625.jpg|3438638], which retains some of the most interesting characters, but loses some of the credibility as it makes its vampires a little more human in action and motivation. Read this one first. Here’s a taste. First one’s free.
The Edwardian setting is a great fit; England is just on the cusp of the modern era, politically, scientifically and socially, but the Victorian age, though technically over, is by no means forgotten. Horse-drawn cabs, gaslight, the romanticism of the fading Empire, and centuries of sleepy tradition are jostling up against motorcycles, electricity, the inevitable post-colonial warfare shadowed (for the reader) by the imminence of the Great War, and the upheaval of social mores in class structure and gender roles.
The clash between the traditional and the modern isn’t a theme Hambly treats overtly or heavily, but it informs both plot and characters more or less subtly--it makes the fantastic plot plausible, it gives us some helpful background and character insight. Dr James Asher, scholar-turned-spy twice over, parallels the changing times. He has a world-weariness that is believable: youthful romantic, middle-aged pragmatist, he no longer believes in great causes but in small victories. Benefiting from the post-Victorian era, Asher’s wife Lydia can plausibly study medicine and think independently without being painfully anachronistic (like [a:Anne Perry|4012|Wilkie Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192222099p2/4012.jpg]’s Charlotte Pitt, [a:Laura Joh Rowland|10987|Laura Joh Rowland|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1195100224p2/10987.jpg]’s Lady Reiko, ugh). The vampires themselves, of course, face both practical and social challenges with the change of times. Hambly’s treatment of vampirism itself both culturally and scientifically bridges the gap between the ancient and modern, and without being spoilery, key plot points depend on this juxtaposition as well.
Unlike Lestat or Edward Cullen, Hambly’s vampires aren’t romantic, poetic anti-heroes full of sexual tension (repressed or otherwise)--they’re dead-faced, attenuated, thirsty predators with glittering eyes and the ennui of centuries. Their humanity has been whittled away to empty gesture, bare habit; occasional sparks of the people they used to be surface here and there, to humorous or sad effect, but their essential alienness is always maintained. This keeps the tension level up and throws a certain kink into easy assessment of their motives, for both Asher and the reader. Keeps the mystery from being too simple.
More than anything, this is a fun book to read. Asher and Lydia, even some of the vampires, are engaging, interesting characters in uneasy alliance; the plot is twisty but rarely silly. Alternately spooky, funny, quaint and modern, it’s a beach read for people who don’t want to be irritated by badly-written books. There is a vastly inferior sequel, [b:Traveling With The Dead|3398625|The Lost City of Z A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon|David Grann|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255578330s/3398625.jpg|3438638], which retains some of the most interesting characters, but loses some of the credibility as it makes its vampires a little more human in action and motivation. Read this one first. Here’s a taste. First one’s free.
"This is somewhat embarrassing," Ysidro remarked, studying the Ordnance Survey map on the wall with its clusterings of colored pins. "I had no idea you hunted so much to a pattern, Lionel."
" 'Tisn't I as leaves my carrion where it may be fallen over by girls out a-maying," Grippen retorted, turning the newspaper clippings over roughly. " 'Bermondsey Slasher,' forsooth!"
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
Those Who Hunt the Night (1988) by Barbara Hambly falls under quite a few categories: horror, gothic, paranormal, fantasy...and mystery. At its core, this story which features a large number of vampires is a good old fashioned mystery. Somebody is killing the vampires of the London. Vampires have been in England since Elizabeth the first was queen but now they're being killed by someone who knows the ins and outs of how to safely do away with the undead; someone who can stand the light of day in order to rip open the shutters and boarded-up windows and fling aside the coffin lids that protect the vampires from the killing light; someone who knows to decapitate them and drive stakes through their hearts. And Simon Ysidro, the oldest of the London vampires, knows that he must find someone who can operate in the sunlight to track down the killer. He must do what none of his kind have done before...take a mortal into his confidence.
So, Professor James Asher, formerly at Her Majesty's service in the Great Game of spying, comes home one evening to find his wife and servants in a strange coma and Ysidro seated at his desk. Asher has lately spent his time as a researcher in legends and languages and is soon convinced that Ysidro is what he claims. To ensure that Asher will work for him, the vampire also proves that he now holds a power over Mrs. Asher that will reach her no matter where she may go. Asher has felt similar pressures to do work that may not have been to his liking while in the espionage game, but he's always had a bit of leverage that kept him safe after the game was over. What leverage can he find that will keep him safe once he finds the vampire hunter? Why would Ysidro let him go free now that Asher knows vampires really do exist? And, of course, before that consideration, what if the vampire hunter realizes he's on the trail?
Asher's wife Lydia is more than just an ornamental Victorian wife. She is one of the few women to go to medical school in the late Victorian era and she is eager to help her husband with his investigation. They do what they can to make themselves as safe as possible--from vampires and vampire-hunter alike--by taking separate lodgings in London. She will spend her days researching long-standing land holdings and other financial oddities that might give a clue to other vampires in the city (part of Asher's plan to gather "insurance") while her husband assists Ysidro. It is an intricate trail...but one that leads far closer to home than the Ashers would like. Ysidro and the other vampires may not be their greatest threat after all....
I'm not particularly a fan of vampire books. I do like the original Dracula and there have been a few short stories featuring vampirism that have been well done, but more recent works (Interview with the Vampire, for instance) have definitely not been my things. The greatest attraction of Those Who Hunt the Night for me was the mystery element. I found it quite intriguing to have the detective of the piece setting out to hunt down the vampire hunter. Hambly did a good job setting the ground work for Asher's motivation to find and stop the vampire killer. And once we were allowed to get to know Ysidro, I began to want Asher to find the killer for the vampires' sakes and not just to prevent harm to Asher's family.
Hambly also provides us with vampires that seem very plausible--explaining their powers and their condition more scientifically (in keeping with the late Victorian era's developments in science and medicine). Her characters are well-drawn and interesting and it seems very possible that Ysidro and the other vampires could have been alive for hundreds of years. She also examines the ideas of predation and what toll such an existence might take on a being. Some of the vampires seem to exult in their powers over mortals, but others seem to consider the effects of their actions more thoughtfully--it doesn't, of course, prevent them from preying on mortals as they must needs do; but they do seem to struggle a bit with what they must do. A comparison is made to some of the deeds Asher performed in the name of Queen and Country while a spy. He may have regretted them, but they were a necessary part of his job.
The mystery plot is a little thin--particularly in the initial actions that drive the killer to his murderous undertakings. But, overall, this historical novel does well. Good period atmosphere and background; excellent characterization; and interesting storyline beyond the mystery plot.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
So, Professor James Asher, formerly at Her Majesty's service in the Great Game of spying, comes home one evening to find his wife and servants in a strange coma and Ysidro seated at his desk. Asher has lately spent his time as a researcher in legends and languages and is soon convinced that Ysidro is what he claims. To ensure that Asher will work for him, the vampire also proves that he now holds a power over Mrs. Asher that will reach her no matter where she may go. Asher has felt similar pressures to do work that may not have been to his liking while in the espionage game, but he's always had a bit of leverage that kept him safe after the game was over. What leverage can he find that will keep him safe once he finds the vampire hunter? Why would Ysidro let him go free now that Asher knows vampires really do exist? And, of course, before that consideration, what if the vampire hunter realizes he's on the trail?
Asher's wife Lydia is more than just an ornamental Victorian wife. She is one of the few women to go to medical school in the late Victorian era and she is eager to help her husband with his investigation. They do what they can to make themselves as safe as possible--from vampires and vampire-hunter alike--by taking separate lodgings in London. She will spend her days researching long-standing land holdings and other financial oddities that might give a clue to other vampires in the city (part of Asher's plan to gather "insurance") while her husband assists Ysidro. It is an intricate trail...but one that leads far closer to home than the Ashers would like. Ysidro and the other vampires may not be their greatest threat after all....
I'm not particularly a fan of vampire books. I do like the original Dracula and there have been a few short stories featuring vampirism that have been well done, but more recent works (Interview with the Vampire, for instance) have definitely not been my things. The greatest attraction of Those Who Hunt the Night for me was the mystery element. I found it quite intriguing to have the detective of the piece setting out to hunt down the vampire hunter. Hambly did a good job setting the ground work for Asher's motivation to find and stop the vampire killer. And once we were allowed to get to know Ysidro, I began to want Asher to find the killer for the vampires' sakes and not just to prevent harm to Asher's family.
Hambly also provides us with vampires that seem very plausible--explaining their powers and their condition more scientifically (in keeping with the late Victorian era's developments in science and medicine). Her characters are well-drawn and interesting and it seems very possible that Ysidro and the other vampires could have been alive for hundreds of years. She also examines the ideas of predation and what toll such an existence might take on a being. Some of the vampires seem to exult in their powers over mortals, but others seem to consider the effects of their actions more thoughtfully--it doesn't, of course, prevent them from preying on mortals as they must needs do; but they do seem to struggle a bit with what they must do. A comparison is made to some of the deeds Asher performed in the name of Queen and Country while a spy. He may have regretted them, but they were a necessary part of his job.
The mystery plot is a little thin--particularly in the initial actions that drive the killer to his murderous undertakings. But, overall, this historical novel does well. Good period atmosphere and background; excellent characterization; and interesting storyline beyond the mystery plot.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.