A review by kaje_harper
Blood Maidens by Barbara Hambly

5.0

Wow. Barbara Hambly writes great characters and historical settings that breathe realism without being intrusive to the story. This is the latest in her vampire series, begun in Those Who Hunt the Night. To my mind, she is the best writer of the most difficult type of vampires, neither the easy, sexy, can-live-on-blood-without-killing variety, nor the evil must-be-eliminated monsters who exist only to be hunted by our heroes. Her vampires kill, regularly, remorselessly, for survival. They are monsters and yet...and yet. As her vampire Don Ysidro says, "I have not seen more than four or five...who did not become in truth demons who live only for the kill. I have seen scholars turn from their books and artists from their easels; I have seen mothers who sought this state the better to aid their children turn from those children in boredom, once they had passed the gate..." But in the world of Europe before the Great War, men are capable of as much evil as vampires, and Don Ysidro is one who has not lost all connection to humans. Her human characters weigh the greater and lesser evils, and the costs of friendship, especially when friendship with a vampire may be the product of his mind games and completely one-sided. This is a great book, although it is even better if you have read the earlier books in the series, since the relationships that are at the heart of the story are complicated and owe much to the previous adventures. I haven't read a book by Hambly that I didn't love and reread, and this is a welcome addition to the series.