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A review by serru
Sabella, or The Blood Stone by Tanith Lee
5.0
Oct 2018, 3rd read, 5 stars: Liked it even better the third time around! Upgraded to 5 stars.
Oct 2015, 2nd read, 4 stars:
This has to be one of the strangest and most unique vampire stories I've read (though admittedly, I haven't read that many vampire stories). Sabella Quey is a reclusive young woman living on her own in Novo Mars when she receives an invitation to her aunt Cassi's funeral. Cassi has left her some money, some items, and an ominous letter stating that she found out Sabella's secret and that is where everything begins... It's really hard to talk about this story without giving away a lot of its twists and intrigue. The plotline is pretty unexpected as Tanith Lee makes a lot of unusual choices and I could not predict what would happen at the end (though it's my second time reading it, I had forgotten much of the story).
At the core, this is a story about self-discovery, acceptance, and redemption. The main character deals with a lot of emotional issues and has to come to terms with herself. I was really impressed with how Tanith Lee pulled off such an usual tale (downright bizarre at times!) about a bloodsucking creature and yet made it so relatable. Sabella herself is a very compelling character. Alluring and cynical, she has a weird sort of sinister appeal and like her victims, you can't help but be drawn in. She's essentially a predator, a killer-- her exploits are often simultaneously sensuous and horrifying-- and yet everything about her reads as incredibly emotionally true. Lee manages to make us sympathize with her and feel for her.
The setting is very unique-- it's a vampire story that's also a science fiction, taking place on a future, human-colonized Mars. The technology reflects what people in the 80s thought the future would be like-- there are self-driving cars and electric flash-guns, but there are also mailmen who deliver letters and packages. Meanwhile, wolves with champagne-coloured fur live in the Martian wilds, and the planet is not without its own long history: "There are genuine ruins (beware tourist traps) here and there. Thin pillars soaring, leveled foundations crumbling, cracked urns whispering of spilled dusts-- all the Martian dreams that old Mars denied to mankind. Though this prior race, whose wreck men inherited, left small self-evidence beyond their architecture. Maybe men find it, anyway, more romantic to guess."
I really enjoyed reading this one again and foresee myself picking it up again in the future.
Oct 2015, 2nd read, 4 stars:
This has to be one of the strangest and most unique vampire stories I've read (though admittedly, I haven't read that many vampire stories). Sabella Quey is a reclusive young woman living on her own in Novo Mars when she receives an invitation to her aunt Cassi's funeral. Cassi has left her some money, some items, and an ominous letter stating that she found out Sabella's secret and that is where everything begins... It's really hard to talk about this story without giving away a lot of its twists and intrigue. The plotline is pretty unexpected as Tanith Lee makes a lot of unusual choices and I could not predict what would happen at the end (though it's my second time reading it, I had forgotten much of the story).
At the core, this is a story about self-discovery, acceptance, and redemption. The main character deals with a lot of emotional issues and has to come to terms with herself. I was really impressed with how Tanith Lee pulled off such an usual tale (downright bizarre at times!) about a bloodsucking creature and yet made it so relatable. Sabella herself is a very compelling character. Alluring and cynical, she has a weird sort of sinister appeal and like her victims, you can't help but be drawn in. She's essentially a predator, a killer-- her exploits are often simultaneously sensuous and horrifying-- and yet everything about her reads as incredibly emotionally true. Lee manages to make us sympathize with her and feel for her.
The setting is very unique-- it's a vampire story that's also a science fiction, taking place on a future, human-colonized Mars. The technology reflects what people in the 80s thought the future would be like-- there are self-driving cars and electric flash-guns, but there are also mailmen who deliver letters and packages. Meanwhile, wolves with champagne-coloured fur live in the Martian wilds, and the planet is not without its own long history: "There are genuine ruins (beware tourist traps) here and there. Thin pillars soaring, leveled foundations crumbling, cracked urns whispering of spilled dusts-- all the Martian dreams that old Mars denied to mankind. Though this prior race, whose wreck men inherited, left small self-evidence beyond their architecture. Maybe men find it, anyway, more romantic to guess."
I really enjoyed reading this one again and foresee myself picking it up again in the future.