Renfield Slave of Dracula

by Barbara Hambly 2006
ISBN 0-425-21168-1

Renfield is mad and he eats flies and spiders to maintain his strength.
This book is a "re-imagining of Bram Stoker's classic novel - told from the point of view of Renfield himself - exploring the chilling circumstances of his madness, his devotion to the Vampire Prince, and the mortal fear that feeds his need for revenge." As Dave Roy says at the start of his review, having not read the original Dracula made me wonder whether Renfield would make any sense. I suppose there are subtleties that I missed because of this lack of preparation, but I still found the book intriguing.
I loved the fly-spider theme as it developed from page 1 (20 May: 7 flies, 3 spiders) onwards.

Red herring: "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed a fly. I think she'll die!" - see a delightful animation of this children's song.

And an explanation: I am not reading these books as fast I am posting comments on them - I have a pile that I have read and not recorded that I need to process before they are overdue.

Wet Grave

By Barbara Hambly (2002)

ISBN 0-553-10935-9

This “novel of suspense” is another instalment in the life of Benjamin January. Sequentially, the first few pages precede and the bulk of the story follows A Free Man of Color. Tales of piracy and hurricanes, of love and slavery, of treasure and illness, of mosquitoes and alligators, of fire and flood – a good holiday read. Characters also sympathetically described, and relationships drawn with a fine brush. As a teacher, I enjoyed my first meeting with Rose Vitrac, who tutored Artois and encouraged his pursuit of understanding of scientific principles.

Knight of the Demon Queen

(Click here if you are looking for my blog post about blogging for teachers.)

by Barbara Hambly (2000)
ISBN 0-345-42189-2

This book is a sequel to Dragonsbane and Dragonshadow, but I did not find it as compelling to read. This may have been my state of health at the time, or may have been a function of reduced lyrical beauty and increased desperation and despair. Other reviewers have made similar comments. However I still care enough about John and Jenny, their children and their world to want to carry on.

In this book, John goes on a quest for the Demon Queen which involves him visiting different Hells, all of which have their snares. One of the aspects of the book that I did find intriguing was the hell he visited that was reminiscent of the worst of our civilized world - advertisements and drugs everywhere, no sunshine or trees.

"Day came. The rain ceased for a time, but the gray blank overhead smelled of more. Te crowds increased, unbelievably." "The noise was dizzying, the sides of the buildings plastered and patches with garish lights and flashing panels of color. Panels of pictures, too, that moved as if living: tiny as a thumbnail or towering a dozen stories up the side of a building whose uppermost floors were wreathed in low-hanging cloud. These pictures spoke, and music - if it was music - rivered from them, but because the speech was artificially produced he could not understand wast was being said."