Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy (2014), 336 pages
Description
From a Bram Stoker Award winner, the first tale of the ancient Carpathian vampire, set in the Paris of King Louis XV . . . Le Comte de Saint‑Germain appears to be a wealthy, worldly aristocrat, envied and desired by many but fully known to none. In fact, he is a vampire, born in the Carpathian Mountains in 2119 BCE, turned in his late thirties, and destined to roam the world forever, watching and participating in history. In Hôtel Transylvania, this charismatic hero makes his first appearance in the long-running series as he battles against Satanists to preserve the young Madelaine de Montalia from ruin. It's a richly atmospheric tale of dark fantasy and gothic suspense from the first woman to be named a "Living Legend" by the International Horror Guild, an author who uses "her vampire hero as a lens to focus on the best and worst of human behavior throughout history" (Publishers Weekly).… (more)
Media reviews
just me
I've read this book literally dozens of times and I know it by heart. It is my absolute favorite book of ALL time. I've read others by Ms. Yarbro but nothing compares to this. I keep looking for the sequel and only find different stories with St. Germaine as the lead character. This book is utterly
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unforgettable and *always* leaves me hungering for more! Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member WingedWolf
The horrors created by man always eclipse those deriving from the supernatural. A marvelous romance story. A good-guy vampire, a cabal of satanists, what's not to love? Yarbro is in love with history, and pads her novels out with letters and notes focusing on the events of the times her books are
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set in. She seems to hope you will love history as well, and certainly puts it into a palatable format with this series. Saint-Germain's growth of personality over time, and his ability to adapt to his surroundings are a welcome change from the usual angst-filled vampires of late. Show Less
LibraryThing member Wednesday
A vampire soap opera, great attention to the customs and wardrobe at the time, but lacking the "meat" that some other vampire series contain.
LibraryThing member fuzzydeadthing
This book is a little ridiculous. The bad guys are satanists, which always seems a little ham fisted to me. Though they are convincing sadists, their reasons for being so never come to light in the first half of the book, which is where I got too bored and moved on. The romance is unconvincing and
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the dialogue between the love interest and hero muddled. Another reader claimed that the last fourth of the book was too sadistic for them. Keeping that in mind, I wont be reading the rest of it anytime soon. Show Less
LibraryThing member ScoLgo
I wanted to like this book. However, the characterization...
The misunderstood Saint-Germaine is too perfectly urbane, witty, and smug.
Sebastien the Satanist is simply too hissably evil for belief. The malignant drivel that passed for dialogue which spewed from his mouth made my eyes roll at an
Madeleine, for the era when the story takes place, begins as a relatively strong female character but that falls by the wayside come the denouement.
The rest of the characters are boringly rendered caricatures. Gervaise was especially irritating given his nonsensical behavior.
Needless to say, I won't be continuing the series.
The misunderstood Saint-Germaine is too perfectly urbane, witty, and smug.
Sebastien the Satanist is simply too hissably evil for belief. The malignant drivel that passed for dialogue which spewed from his mouth made my eyes roll at an
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alarming rate. Why, oh why would anyone hang around with - or even work for - someone as evil as Sebastien? Oh, right. No one would because he's a condescending prick that just might break your kneecaps for no good reason whatsoever. Bleh.Madeleine, for the era when the story takes place, begins as a relatively strong female character but that falls by the wayside come the denouement.
The rest of the characters are boringly rendered caricatures. Gervaise was especially irritating given his nonsensical behavior.
Needless to say, I won't be continuing the series.
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LibraryThing member vampyredhead
A novel of the vampire Saint Germain series. It is a wonderful vampire saga. She does historical vampire writing like no one else. It makes you want to learn the real history of the real Le Comte De Saint Germain. A very exciting, romantic noval.
LibraryThing member mpramanik
A little too sadistic for me. 4.5 stars for the first 3/4 then 2.5 stars for the remaining 1/4 of the book.
LibraryThing member minpinmom
This is the first of the St. Germain novels. It is not my favorite, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Finding a copy of the first book in Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint-Germain series that wasn't extravagantly priced or only available as an import took me an age, but I finally managed to swap for a paperback edition. The only trouble is that my vampire fetish seems to be on the wane now, so I wasn't
The first novel - and the sequels are actually more a series of stand-alone stories, I think, so there was really no need to hunt down the titles in order - is set in eighteenth century Paris, which also piqued my interest. Saint-Germain buys a hotel in the city and converts the building into a sort of pleasure palace, but his real motive lies in the ancient chapels and tunnels below. He also meets Madeleine, the beautiful and spirited daughter of a man who was once involved with a devil-worshipping cult of ridiculous noblemen, lead by Saint-Sebastien. As with Dracula and Lucy Westenra in Stoker's novel, Saint-Germain is drawn to Madeleine, only their union is slightly more consensual. The two Saints - the similar names can get very confusing - do battle for possession of Madeleine's body and soul, while the heroine is relegated to a Victorian damsel in distress. I don't normally complain about passive women in historical fiction, but Madeleine is fairly hopeless, I must confess.
For all the laughable melodrama of the villain and the climax, I did enjoy the formal language and beautiful descriptions of dress and decor. Saint-Germain might prefer basic black, but the other men strut their stuff in jewelled pastel silks like foppish peacocks, and Miss Yarbro does not neglect a single ensemble when painting a picture for the reader. I shall definitely hunt down more of these novels, when I am in a more suitable mood to enjoy the theme.
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particularly enthused, however, I do like Miss Yarbro's writing style - very Victorian, and with nary an anachronism - and the vampire himself, Saint-Germain, is wickedly debonair and heroic. I found him to be very much in imitation of Stoker's Dracula, but in the best possible way - a way with words (and the ladies), very learned and cynical, as befits a man who has lived for thousands of years, and a suitably macabre dress sense (Saint-Germain dresses all in black, bar a ruby pin at his throat). Also, he is ambidextrous and can dash off two letters at the same time, which makes him possibly the first photocopier too.The first novel - and the sequels are actually more a series of stand-alone stories, I think, so there was really no need to hunt down the titles in order - is set in eighteenth century Paris, which also piqued my interest. Saint-Germain buys a hotel in the city and converts the building into a sort of pleasure palace, but his real motive lies in the ancient chapels and tunnels below. He also meets Madeleine, the beautiful and spirited daughter of a man who was once involved with a devil-worshipping cult of ridiculous noblemen, lead by Saint-Sebastien. As with Dracula and Lucy Westenra in Stoker's novel, Saint-Germain is drawn to Madeleine, only their union is slightly more consensual. The two Saints - the similar names can get very confusing - do battle for possession of Madeleine's body and soul, while the heroine is relegated to a Victorian damsel in distress. I don't normally complain about passive women in historical fiction, but Madeleine is fairly hopeless, I must confess.
For all the laughable melodrama of the villain and the climax, I did enjoy the formal language and beautiful descriptions of dress and decor. Saint-Germain might prefer basic black, but the other men strut their stuff in jewelled pastel silks like foppish peacocks, and Miss Yarbro does not neglect a single ensemble when painting a picture for the reader. I shall definitely hunt down more of these novels, when I am in a more suitable mood to enjoy the theme.
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LibraryThing member juniperSun
Excellent.
Noted during my 1980's attempt to read every book in my small town library.
Noted during my 1980's attempt to read every book in my small town library.
LibraryThing member MaureenCean
Very good entertainment, relaxing to read. I will continue with this series. I much enjoy the idea of the vampire as a romantic hero, compared to evil destroyer. In my kindle version as I progressed, some of the "the"s appeared in German, randomly. For a while I thought someone was sending me a
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message hidden in the story. Someone not very fond of me, LOL. Show Less
LibraryThing member London_StJ
Yarbro's historical vampire novel just couldn't keep my interest. I read only the first chapter (111 pages), and while I may return to it one day, and tucked it away for awhile.
Awards
Italia Award (Winner — 2006)
Language
Original publication date
1978