Darkness on His Bones

Vampire lit is one of my favorite type of novel. And Hambly's James Asher series is at the top of my list. Not just because of the vampire story but because she really knows her history( here early twentieth century/ World War One European) but she doesn't clobber you over the head with it-- the history is just part of the story. And this is no bodice ripper either-- the story about a Parisian vampire nest at the beginning of the First World War is complex, nuanced and thrilling. A Well written historical with spies and vampires. Who could ask for more?

This book was amazing. AMAZING. Okay. It's the sixth book in the James Asher series, which are about spies and vampires in pre-WWI Europe. That might seem like a weird combination, but it actually works quite well; the vampires are repeatedly positioned as a type of weapon, an amoral killing force that various governments seek to control as part of their efforts to gain any advantage over one another. The parallel to actual weapons, both then (mustard gas, long-range guns, tanks) and now (atomic weapons) is obvious and well-handled.

However, Darkness on His Bones has now become by far my favorite book in this series. Which is quite a feat, as it's got a really weird premise. James Asher is found in Paris in a coma, having suffered serious head injuries; he remembers nothing of the previous months, not why he came to Paris nor what he'd done since arriving. Lydia, his wife, comes to Paris to help him, and she calls on Don Simon Ysidro, a vampire and their sometime-ally, to protect her and James from the Paris vampires, who probably were the ones who injured James. While the three of them attempt to figure out what James had been doing, World War I is declared and the Germans gradually come closer and closer to Paris, forcing them to race against the clock, needing to flee before Paris itself is bombed while also needing to wait until James is well enough to be moved. A great deal of the book takes place in dreams, mostly James's during his coma and in his subsequent sickness, which are full of half-remembered memories, both James's of recent events and of his childhood and early years as a spy, and Ysidro's, mostly of his experiences in Paris in the early 1600s when he was caught up in the Catholic vs Protestant wars, participation in which he believed might be able save his soul. None of the dreams are entirely trustworthy, and all have that fluid, changeable quality of real world dreams, which gives the whole book a very distinct feel.

The central mystery of what James was doing in Paris is very intriguing and well-done, but what I found even more compelling were the themes: the gradually growing horror of war as it becomes more and more clear that it won't be a short or easy fight, which is a fantastic parallel to the eventual ending of the book, which is super creepy; the possibility of impossible things, which sometimes includes redemption and trust; patriotism and idealism contrasted with the terrible things done in the name of country or God. It's just a great book in all sorts of ways: well-written, well-structured, full of compelling characters. Just, wow. I can't wait to read it again.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1342734133

Darkness on His Bones is a superb vampire fantasy set against the backdrop of late 19th century Paris.

James Asher, scholar, spy, investigator, and vampire hunter lies unconscious in a Paris hospital bed, weak with loss of blood and injured in a fall. His wife Lydia arrives at his side, not knowing why he was in Paris, but certain there are vampires that will stop at nothing to kill him. She summons their close friend, and sometimes adversary - the vampire Don Ysidro. Perhaps he can protect them and discover why James was attacked.

Meanwhile James dreams, wandering through memories that are not his own, knowing that there is something of great importance he must do. There is an artifact believed to strengthen the hold the master of the city has over the vampires in his nest. There are those who would take it, to wrest control of Paris and use it to manipulate the vampires. With war looming on the horizon, it will take all Lydia and Simon’s efforts to protect James and to stay alive.

Barbara Hambly’s vampires are first and foremost predators. Although Simon Ysidro demonstrates his nobility and loyalty repeatedly, it is easy to understand the natural fear he provokes. The vampires of Paris are visibly dangerous, even those who claim not to mean them harm. Throughout the novel there is both the tension created by the coming war and the fear of the predators who hunt the night.

Darkness on His Bones is a wonderful addition to the James Asher Vampire Series, certain to satisfy fans. While it isn’t necessary to read the books in order, I would advise reading a few of Hambly’s earlier James Asher novels before delving into Darkness on His Bones.

5/5

Darkness on His Bones is available for preorder and will be released October 1, 2015.

I received a copy of Darkness on His Bones from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

—Crittermom

In the late 1980s, I read two books by Barbara Hambly about James Asher, a professor who also doubles as an English agent; his wife Lydia; and the vampire Don Simon Ysidro. The books were fast-paced and more realistic than many vampire books of that time. These vampires were never glamorized, but they were almost more human than many of the other characters in the books. I loved Hambly’s language and her ability to describe the politics and history of the early 20th century. Imagine my surprise and joy when I discovered not one, but four more novels written about the same characters and the same period! I quickly devoured the next three and was able to finally snag an early copy of this one from NetGalley. My persistence paid off. Hambly writes just as well, if not better, than I remember in the late 80s. Her language is lyrical, almost poetic at times, and she uses unusual, sometimes archaic words, which match the century which she is describing. It is obvious that she has thoroughly researched the Paris that she describes of both pre-WWI and the 1600s. I could almost picture walking through the churchyard and down in the underground. In this novel, Lydia has been notified that her husband, supposedly at a folklore conference, has been found unconscious and drained of blood in Paris. Despite concerns about a war erupting between France and Germany, Lydia travels to Paris to care for her husband and contacts their somewhat friend, Don Simon. As Paris begins sending men and supplies to the front, Lydia and Don Simon must protect James from the Paris vampires, who appear to have splintered into at least two factions.

While Lydia and James deeply love one another, it is obvious from these novels that there is a romantic attachment between Lydia and Don Simon. In several books, he has “declared” himself at her disposal, even unto true death. The fact that a vampire, who has killed hundreds of humans to prolong his life, is capable of such deep feeling is unusual, especially among the vampires themselves. What is interesting is the fact that Lydia, in some fashion, returns such feelings, despite knowing of his horrific crimes and despite still thoroughly loving her husband. Hambly’s characters have always been truly human, with foibles and problems just like we readers have. Her descriptions are ornate and detailed, almost to the point where a reader could draw out the path that her characters follow. Not only that, she is able to set a mood for Paris herself – first jubilant as every man joins the army to defeat the Kaiser and then terrified as the wounded stream back home and the city prepares for attack. This is how I have always loved to learn about history – from stories such as these. I love Darkness on his Bones and can only recommend the entire series to everyone. Hambly was my favorite author in the 1980s, and she is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors today.

I've been a tremendous fan of Barbara Hambly since her Star Trek novels in the 80's. Her characters, whether they're someone else's creations like Spock or Catherine Chandler, or her people who appear in only one novel like Marcus or Norah, are valued friends. When they're characters who have been appearing in her novels since 1988, like the Ashers and Don Simon, they're practically family.
Darkness on His Bones starts off with one of the family, James Asher, critically wounded, and let me tell you: if as an author you want to create suspense, that's how to do it. I was tearing through the pages to find out if he was all right – because even knowing that Jamie is one of the primary characters the series centers around, still, it felt like his life was not safe. Realistically I doubt Ms. Hambly would ever kill Jamie off. In the context of the book, he might well have been dying. She sold it; I bought it. She's a marvelous writer.
In the commentaries for the late lamented Firefly, Joss Whedon talked about how everyone is the hero of his own story. At risk of being the boring repetitive fangurl, one thing I always say about her is held up in this book: every single character – whether it's one of the Ashers or one of the vampires who looms threateningly to one side but hardly says a word, or Ellen, or the woman mopping the floor, or the magnificent taximan Greuze, or Simon Xavier Christian Morado de la Cadeña-Ysidro – each and every one of them could carry a book on his own, if Ms. Hambly ever got bored and needed a different direction. (I'd love to see a Greuze spin-off.) It is so easy to see each character, named and unnamed, briefly seen or often, as the hero of his own tale, with a life of his own offscreen. I don't want to make it sound like a cluttered landscape, filled with all these heroes fighting for attention. It isn't, any more than your last trip to the grocery store was. All those other people in the aisles, the non-speaking role of the person who stole your parking space or cut in line just ahead of you, the teenager who rang up your order and the senior citizen who bagged it – they're all the heroes of their own story, and however brief their appearance in your story they're real and vivid. That's what Ms. Hambly manages to do in her worlds.
Oh, and the writing. "Dr Théodule, stooped, white-haired, and resembling nothing so much as a wizard who has attempted to transform himself into a goat and had the spell fail halfway." It's funny, and unusual, and – well, I can certainly see him. "‘If you faint from inanition I shall carry you to the curb and leave you there,’ Ysidro had told her last night". How very Ysidro. "Morning sunlight buttered the Avenue du Maine". So beautiful.
Every word pulls its weight, fits into its place as if that place had been built for it when the universe formed. The saying I usually use as a rod to beat poor writers with is, here, a paean: “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug.” Zeus's got nothing on Barbara Hambly for lightning.
All right, I'm getting a little worshipful here. I can't help it. Put it this way: given a choice between reading 99% of anything else out there and Barbara Hambly, I will, given free will, always opt for Ms. Hambly. Always.

Barbara Hambly has been writing vampire novels since the publication of THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT in 1996 A clever take on the historical vampire novel DARKNESS ON HIS BONES continues this brilliant series James Asher must again call on his friendship with vampire Simon Ysidro.
Fun, Exciting,
A treat for the ling time fan And an urge for those new to the series to give it a go.