Mostly taking place in mid 19th century Germany and Austria, the fantastical premise of Claudia Kern's Sissi, die Vampirjägerin (Sissi, the Vampire Huntress) is basically the rather strange and perhaps even silly concept that MANY of the noble dynasties of Europe (the crowned heads so to speak, including the Habsburgs of Austria and Hungary) are vampiric in nature and that therefore, most revolutions have actually been attempts by those groups, by those individuals who were aware of this sorry fact to rid Europe (and the world) of these blood sucking parasites (who according to their own words, as presented in the novel itself, have been responsible for many of the catastrophes of the past, including the Black Death, the bubonic plague and the Spanish Inquisition).
Now Sissi (aka of course Elizabeth of Bavaria) is presented by the author, is shown by Claudia Kern as being a member of a noble family which has been specifically and since time in memoriam dedicated to hunting down and destroying vampires, to rid Europe of the vampiric Habsburgs, and at this time and in particular, the current Austrian emperor Franz-Josef. Both Sissi and her older sister Helene (Néné) are thus being trained by their father Maximillian (Max) of Bavaria to be vampire huntresses and Helene is in fact being groomed to be a marriage prospect for the still bachelor Franz-Josef, in order to marry him and then smuggle a special type of bomb into the Austrian court to disintegrate both Franz-Josef and also his vampire relations once and for all. However, that plan goes awry when Sissi meets Franz-Josef in the woods with both end up falling head over heels in love.
While most of the vampiric nobles that show themselves in the pages of Sissi, die Vampirjägerin (both female and male) are indeed depicted and described by the author as being entirely and utterly despotic, parasitic with neither pity nor much love, Franz-Josef himself is actually portrayed in a much more differential and nuanced light, still as a vampire of course, but a vampire with not only bona fide and actually positive emotions as well as a sense of justice (a desire to be not only a powerful emperor but a good and decent leader to and for his subjects, his human subjects that is), and also as someone who is not really ever completely at ease with his vampire nature, who struggles with his background and would really rather not be this. And in fact, I have personally, whilst reading Sissi, die Vampirjägerin found Franz-Josef a much more sympathetic and positively depicted character than, say, some of the main vampire hunters (and that especially Max of Bavaria and Sissi's older sister Helene, with their one-sidedness and stubbornness, with their supremely negative attitudes towards ALL vampires, have certainly to and for me seemed rather akin and alike to that and those they claim to despise, to such arch vampires as Sophie, Ferdinand, Karl and Edgar to name just a few of them).
And while Sissi herself as a literary character does indeed, while likable, sweet and even much lovable, remain rather pale and unnuanced throughout much of the novel's plotline, and really rather simple in her philosophy and Weltanschauung until almost the end of Sissi, die Vampirjägerin and as such of course much less of a flesh and blood (and yes, pun intended) individual than even many of the actual vampires (but especially compared to complex and conflicted Franz-Josef), when one considers that the actual and historic Elizabeth of Bavaria (and later Austria) was generally also regarded by the public as generally no more than a pretty face and not really ever as someone who allowed her soul and innermost thoughts to be all that publicly known, I do think that Claudia Kern has in fact and indeed done an admirable and praiseworthy job keeping young vampire huntress Sissi as a bit of a pale and unfathomable enigma for much of the story (especially if one also considers that much of Sissi, die Vampirjägerin is really also to be seen as a bit of a parody of the famous Sissi film, in which the late Romy Schneider as Sissi also definitely to and for me basically and usually appears as sweet, as natural, as likeable, but also as generally pretty much a stock character, as just thing of beauty, as someone not all that enamoured of and endowed with deep philosophical ideals).
A high three star rating, and definitely rather recommended, although a decent level of fluency in German is indeed and definitely necessary (a bit creepy at times, but never overly gruesome, and yes, the humour and parodistic elements of Sissi, die Vampirjägerin, as well as the occasional kitschy scenes, do much to mitigate and lessen any scenes of potential horror). And I do have to say that that the ending of Sissi, die Vampirjägerin, where old arch vampire Ferdinand after repeatedly pontificating "na bravo" (just like the Ferdinand character tends to continuously say in the famous Sissi film) explodes and showers the entire wedding party, including Sissi and Franz-Josef, with masses of disgusting slime, just as the two are about to tie the proverbial knot, this is both hilarious and heartening, as it shows that come what may, Sissi and Franz-Josef are meant to be together as wife and husband.