The Horn Book » vampires

Et tu, witches?

Elissa Gershowitz — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:07:29 +0000

I recently took A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness out of the library; soon after, a paperback version of it (and its sequel, Shadow of Night) magically arrived in our office. (“Coincidence? Or psychic phenomenon?” Anyone remember that TV commercial?) I’d been enjoying this smart story of Diana, a brilliant thirty-something Oxford scholar and historian — who’s also a witch trying to pass as human — and her sexy vampire lover Matthew. But now, about halfway through the book Diana is starting to go all Bella on me, mooning around and even considering giving up her witchhood to become a vampire. (Really?! Witches are so much cooler.)

Has anyone read Harkness’s All Souls books? Without any spoilers, am I going to want to throw this first one across the room?

I’m by no means a seasoned supernatural lit fan (will leave that designation to our goddess and queen, Katie Bircher), but I do love the Parasol Protectorate books by Gail Carriger. (Full disclosure: the author was my college roommate and is a good friend of mine; these books probably wouldn’t have been on my radar otherwise, so thanks, Gail!) Protagonist Alexia is a preternatural whose touch neutralizes the powers of vampires and werewolves. She’s also a chick who knows who she is and what she wants. She’s best buds with a dapper male vampire who’s also, well, a fairy (not faerie) and she’s married to a feisty Scottish werewolf. Her mixed marriage doesn’t result in any annoying dithering about changing her identity to please her man (wolf) or make life easier for either of them; she’s too busy — side by side with said man (wolf) — saving the world.

Gail’s first Parasol Protectorate book, Soulless, won a 2010 Alex Award, and her new YA series, Finishing School (set in the same universe as Parasol Protectorate but earlier in time), is beginning at the start of next year. The ARC of Etiquette & Espionage just came into the office. I know I love it, but has anyone else read it yet? (If not, I’ll ask again in six months!) Gail’s fans are a rabid group.

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The man behind the masque

Roger Sutton — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:04:53 +0000

Please join me in thanking Peter Sieruta, blogging at Collecting Children’s Books, for yesterday’s lunacy (which is about as far as my vampire puns can go, so I’m grateful to Peter for sinking his teeth into this for us). Look for Peter’s forthcoming book from Candlewick Press–written with fellow bloggers Betsy Bird and Julie Danielson, the book is about “the true untold stories behind the most-loved children’s books.” Let’s hope it doesn’t have a 4/1 pub. date, as we would be rightly suspicious!

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Team I’ll Stay Home, Thanks

Roger Sutton — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:17:34 +0000

I neither read nor saw Breaking Dawn, and The Mary Sue explains why. Thanks to David Maybury for the link.

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Thirsty?

Katie Bircher — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I’m currently appreciating Teeth: Vampire Tales (HarperCollins), an upcoming short story anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The big-name contributors such as Neil Gaiman, Ellen Kushner, Holly Black, Tanith Lee, and Garth Nix initially caught my attention, but it’s refreshing to find tales by authors I haven’t read before (Suzy McKee Charnas, Steve Berman) or haven’t read in this genre (Cecil Castellucci, Delia Sherman). With series like Twilight, House of Night, Vampire Academy, Vampire Kisses, and Vampire Diaries running at a minimum of four volumes each (often more like six or seven), sometimes vampire fiction feels as endless and unchanging as its undead protagonists. Short stories by new voices make for a nice change.

The Fledgling Handbook 101 by P.C. Cast and Kim Doner (St. Martin’s Griffin) is a “nonfiction” companion to P.C. and Kristin Cast’s “vampyre” boarding school series, House of Night. Purportedly a student handbook for incoming first-years (think J.K. Rowling’s “textbooks” Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), The Fledgling Handbook covers history of the vampyre race, what to expect during one’s vampyre transformation, school rules and traditions. Journal sections allow the student to chronicle accomplishments and adventures while at the school. Cast and Doner create lore for the pseudo-Wiccan magic-wielding vampyres from human history and mythology, recasting monarchs, gods and goddesses, and artists as vampyres. Did you know Cleopatra, Boudicca, and Hippolyta were “Nightkind”? No? What about Cicero, Sappho, and Shakespeare? Clearly you weren’t paying attention in world history.

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