A Guardiã da Meia-Noite

Millennial #1

by Sarah-Jane Stratford, Carolina Caires Coelho (Translator)

Mesclando realidade histórica e ficção, Sarah Jane Stratford narra, em seu primeiro romance, uma aventura que se passa durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial e tem como protagonista a bela vampira Brigit. O Terceiro Reich declara guerra à Europa querendo livrar o continente de todas as linhagens que considera impura. Os vampiros serão mais um de seus alvos. Com o objetivo de combater esta ação nazista, Brigit e mais quatro de seus companheiros são enviados a Berlim pelo tribunal londrino de vampiros. A milenar Brigit, longe de seu amado Eamon, enfrentará o desafio mais difícil de sua vida: uma fuga ousada do continente guardando uma preciosa carga que é a única esperança de triunfo em sua missão.

Genres: Vampires, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2009

About the author

Sarah-Jane Stratford is the author of Radio Girls. Her work has also appeared in the Guardian, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Review of Books, Marie Claire, Bustle, Guernica, and many others. She is inordinately pleased to have written for knitting magazines as well.

In 2017, Sarah-Jane was awarded a Tier One Highly Talented Visa from the Arts Council in Britain. Formerly a resident of both American coasts (not at the same time), she's now living the expat life in London. When she isn’t working, she’s exploring and seriously considering learning how to garden.
Sarah-Jane is happy to Skype/FaceTime/ Messenger with book clubs worldwide. Please get in touch via www.sarahjanestratford.com or this page: https://www.facebook.com/SarahJaneStr...

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Buenas acciones sin tener buenas intenciones.-

Género. Narrativa fantástica.

Lo que nos cuenta. Durante los años treinta, el ascenso de Hitler al poder implicó la eliminación de muchas personas, y también de vampiros. No ha sido hasta el estallido de la guerra que los vampiros han sido realmente conscientes de que deben hacer algo para detener la amenaza que viene de Alemania, por lo que a Berlín va un grupo de vampiros muy antiguos, con Brigit a la cabeza, para tratar de encargarse del asunto. Primer libro de la saga Milenarios.

¿Quiere saber más del libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://www.librosdeolethros.blogspot....

[D]

Good lord that's a long blurb. Blurbal diarrhea. Anyway, DNF. The concept seems interesting enough. Anything about the European theater during World War II will catch my attention. Throw in vampires and I'm there. But the execution left much to be desired. It was just exceptionally slow-moving, a lot of contemplating on a train ride, talking at parties, and not much else. Frankly, I was bored. I don't like being bored reading a vampire book. Vampires aren't supposed to be boring. Yet authors continue proving me wrong on that front. I mean, this book had all the elements of being totally awesome: vampires, Nazis, plot to overthrow the Third Reich, the potential for slaughter. Sounds like a fanged up Quentin Tarantino movie.

But the plot took itself far too seriously and the vampires were insanely TSTL. I'm not sure how one can live past 1,000 years and complain that their species nearly ran out of food during something like The Great War or the Black Death. For serious? Ever hear of a boat? You're effing vampires and you fail to grasp the concept of hunting and gathering? I was really taken aback by that, that the purpose of stopping the Reich from succeeding was to keep their food supply up. Does only Europe exist in this world? Really?

That was a big hurdle for me. The other was the talking heads. All they did was talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Good mother's ass DO SOMETHING. You're effing vampires and you have to infiltrate the Third Reich like the other dissenting humans do? How about just laying the vampire smack down and ripping Hitler's throat out of his neck? Problem solved. Blame it on a rogue lawn mower to hide your identities, done. But nooooooooo. They have to go all Valkyrie and take it down like humans would. Lame. Why make them vampires to begin with if they're not actually going to act like vampires for something like this?

To their credit, they were vampires when it came to feeding. Merciless, brutal and without a concern for their victims. I applaud that in a land where vampires have all but been neutered. I only wish they applied this side of themselves more to the overall plot instead of just talking their way through things.

I don't know if this is an alternate historical fiction. It would make sense if it were, otherwise I already know the ending and the vampires are going to lose since their mission is to prevent the war from happening. Really, it's kind of like watching Titanic and not knowing the ship sinks at the end. But I don't know if this is the case because I obviously didn't get that far. I don't even think I made it until my token half-way point, I just started begrudging reading it so much. It was just dull. If you want to give me vampires, then give me the shit that goes along with them do. The book had so much potential . . . I want to see what Tarantino would do with it.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Buenas acciones sin tener buenas intenciones.-

Género. Narrativa fantástica.

Lo que nos cuenta. Durante los años treinta, el ascenso de Hitler al poder implicó la eliminación de muchas personas, y también de vampiros. No ha sido hasta el estallido de la guerra que los vampiros han sido realmente conscientes de que deben hacer algo para detener la amenaza que viene de Alemania, por lo que a Berlín va un grupo de vampiros muy antiguos, con Brigit a la cabeza, para tratar de encargarse del asunto. Primer libro de la saga Milenarios.

¿Quiere saber más del libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://www.librosdeolethros.blogspot....

[harlequin {Stephanie} · Rating 1 out of 5]

Please keep in mind this is a review of the first 80 pages. I counld not coerce or even trick myself into picking this up again.

I feel bad giving it one star since the writing was beautiful. It was the characters, relationship & story progression that have forced me to reduce to one star.

The story: To sum up we get a bit of back story and find out Brigit & Eamon are both cold blooded murdering vampires who are in passionate 'Romeo&Juliet' love. I don't hate the coldblooded angle, however, it never really says why they kill their food. Seems illogical if hitler is doing such a great job of wiping out your kind as well as your food supply. " Cutting off your nose to spite your face " as the saying goes. New, but missing the logic to it.

Other than that there's a boring party & some business on a train that gets us nowhere.


The relationship: I rather prefer relationships that have already begun when starting a story. Sometimes the meet & greet is boring due to the old adage of "everyone's doing it". I do want that fill in, but I don't mind waiting for it.

This story on the other hand latches onto the love between Brigit & Eamon without showing cause. Your told to accept the chemistry between the characters rather than shown.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The debut novel, The Midnight Guardian by Sarah Jane Stratford is filled with historical facts woven into the storyline, and gives you a real sense of what the atmosphere must of been like in Germany before and during World War II in Europe, dreadful and gray feeling. Sarah Jane Stratford brings home the real horror of the travesties the Jewish went through in the hands of the Nazis and times before.

The vampires in The Midnight Guardian have been said to be similar to Anne Rice’s vamps and I have to agree. They horrific when transformed into their vampire state. And they are just as cold and calculating about their views on humans as their food source, which is the reason for their interference with Nazis. They are trying to prevent another world war, since the Great War devastated their food supply. But you’ll find these terrifying and beautiful vampires are mostly monogamous, loyal and are very passionate in their relationships.

At the beginning of the book, I had a hard time getting into the story, it just wasn’t grabbing me. I didn’t feel much of a connection with Brigit, who was the main narrator at the start. It wasn’t until Eamon’s point of view, several chapters in, that my interest in the story started to pick up. Through Eamon, I started to get a better sense of who Brigit was. My curiosity was piqued about the beginnings of Brigit’s and Eamon’s lives as vampires as well as their story as a couple. Here’s an excerpt from Eamon when he was first turned:

The fangs were out before the eyes turned red. He felt them elongate and found it a peculiar and exquisite sensation. She struggled and he enjoyed that, too. The round, wriggling little body. The obnoxious flesh she’s wanted him to touch. She’d wanted his mouth on her, although she would not have been above spitting at his sister.

“You bought my bread, but you would have died rather than break it with me. Still, let’s have one last supper together, shall we? Well, your last. My first.”

The secondary characters, in all their evil glory both the vampires and the Nazis, certainly added to the plot of the book. The one that grab my attention the most was Mors. He’s not just a millennial vampire but a double millennial, who has been undead for over two thousand years. I’ve always been attracted the character that has that devil-may-care attitude, who lives for the excitement of adventure and chaos. That's who Mors is.

Over all, The Midnight Guardian gives you a feeling of a cloak and dagger spy mystery with paranormal elements. To me, there are almost two stories being told at once in this novel. One story being the mystery of the precious cargo Brigit is trying to bring back to England and the other, the love story of Brigit and Eamon. By the end of the book, Sarah Jane Stratford had me liking and cheering for even the worst of the vampires in this story along with an even greater disgust for the Nazi Party and those affiliated with it.

I couldn’t find any definite information about the next Millennial novel, other than Sarah is working on it. I’m hoping it will be on Mors.

[Karol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a riveting tale of millennial vampires who try to destroy the Nazis, a story that is full of fascinating historical detail such as the Viking invasion of England that leads to the genesis of the heroine, Brigantia, later Brigit, and the York pogrom that leads to the making of her lover, Eamon. The story unfolds like a mystery, moving back and forth in time, so that you are never once sure what will happen to Eamon who stays in England to fight and Brigit who goes with a core group of vampires to Germany where the Nazis are convinced that they have cleared the country of vampires with their elite vampire hunting corps, the Nachtspere. It is a constant cliff hanger that is also a moving love story and a darkly comic thriller that transcends any one genre so that you simply fall into the story of these vampires who are as vulnerable as everyone else, so that they are a sort of metaphor for all of us, the frailties and dreams, the loneliness and the fight to survive. It will surprise you at every turn, through the last page.

[Viviana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi tema con este libro es... ¿por qué diantres es tan poco conocido? ¡Es un libro de vampiros fantástico! Cada línea temporal (por decirlo de una manera) me tenía atrapadísima, todas fueron fantásticas de leer. El tipo de vampiros presentes aquí.. wow. Me encantaron.
Tengo un problema eso sí... ¿¡POR QUÉ NADIE HA HECHO FANART!? Necesito fanarts de Brigit y Eamon en mi vida.
Y sí, valió completamente la pena esperar. Este libro me fascinó.

[Rosu Aquabutts · Rating 1 out of 5]

ENJOYABILITY: 1
QUALITY: 1

PROS:
- Beautiful, lush prose. Stratford has a real gift for making words into art. The narrative is honestly just stunningly gorgeous.
- Very interesting premise.
- Well thought-out world-building. I liked these vampires and their unique traits, the relationship between them and their demons, etc.

CONS:
- Absolutely terrible focus. This book is about about sixteen different things and there's no cohesion between them. It's far too short to have the scope it wants to have and everything is told in a distant sort of way that makes it so that very few scenes in this whole thing feel like they matter or affect anything. Like, nothing in this book is relevant to anything else in this book.
- Pacing is terrible, too! There is no ebb and flow of action, things just seem to happen or not happen at random.
- There are about five billion characters in this and exactly two and a half have any real personality you can cling to. I realize there's a sequel to this (which I will not be reading, ever) but it's ridiculous to not even tell us that if Cleland survived after all the words that had been wasted on him.
- The characters are so ineffectual. They accomplish nothing, and I realize that's what this book is supposed to be about, and you're thinking well SOMETIMES you don't need to be victorious and the conflict is in having to try and failing! Yes, I know that. But these characters don't seem like they're even DOING anything. They're supposed to be taking the Nazis apart slowly from inside. That sounds awesome. But all they're doing is casually flirting with guys at parties so that their wives are a little PO'd? That's what they expected was going to halt WW2 in its tracks? Give me a break. The book tells us over and over again how absolutely fucking amazing these vampires here, Mors and Brigit especially are just getting constant blow jobs from the prose with how they're literally the best vampires ever to exist in all history, but we're never SHOWN that they're impressive, just told.
- Melodramatic. And I love melodrama. I absolutely ADORE melodrama, it's my all time favourite guilty pleasure. But this stuff is beyond the pale. Listening to the depths to which Brigit and Eamon love each other does not inspire anything but bemusement, like listening to a really, really drunk friend talk about how much they love pretzels while you're completely sober.
- AKSJKLA TOO MUCH TO LIST THIS BOOK IS A HOT MESS.

OTHER:

As far as I can tell, this is what the book is about:

A selfish group of vampires go to Berlin to stop the Third Reich from decimating their food source. They realize they're in over the heads and cannot stop the Nazis too late, and have to settle instead for saving two simple Jewish children.

It's an absolutely brilliant pitch for a story that instantly captures my attention! It's the reason I bought this book. But the actual story is so silly and melodramatic and unfocused and SILLY and pretentious. The beautiful prose actually makes me hate it more because this author obviously knows how to write, and how badly she's fumbled such a clever premise. Brigit is hyped up so much by this book, the third person omniscient point of view seems engineered specifically so that everyone else can remark on how amazing Brigit is, but she never displays any of these traits she's extolled for. And let me just say again: damn, Eamon and Brigit are like that couple you know who are always hanging all over each other and you just want to slap them and tell them to calm their tits.

There are a lot of individual moments where this book is good, but it never goes anywhere. It's just a collection of stuff that isn't even THEMATICALLY tied together. Brigit just wakes up one day and now she cares about humans and after all that hype about how important it was that the children survive I thought they must be some super vampire children or something, but they're just ... children, and there's nothing important about them at all. If this book was three times the length, it could have deserved its scope, but fitting over a thousand years of history into less than 300 pages is just asking for trouble. The book is too flimsy to support this much plot, and as a result the whole thing is just so rickety and lean and stitched together and STUPID and things happen completely without reason or purpose or build-up and I'm done now.

This book is horrible, don't read it.

FAVOURITE SCENE:

I really enjoyed the chapter about Eamon's making when it wasn't playing the theme from Titanic in the background.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER:

Honestly, I hated basically everybody! Padraic, maybe? He was gay and Irish and had like three lines.

[Lisa Spindler · Rating 5 out of 5]

REVIEW SUMMARY: A new take on the vampire with a kick-butt heroine too.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Alternate history vampires infiltrate Germany to stop The Third Reich.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Stratford's lush voice brings weight to a fantastical and potentially over-the-top alternate history story.
CONS: Stratford's lush voice might be too much work for some readers who expect a lighter treatment.
BOTTOM LINE: The Midnight Guardian breathes new life into the undead. I definitely enjoyed this book.

Even before being turned into a vampire, main character Brigit (nee Brigantia nee Hilda) was a woman apart in an early 900s Briton community near York, England. This independent streak is what drew the attention of one particular vampire, but this same quality later sets Brigit apart from other vampires and enables her to survive when others cannot. Alone among her vampire clan, Brigit seems to have the power of fire -- a burning demon within in addition to the vampiric demon who has possessed her for over a thousand years.

The story proper begins in 1936 when England's remaining vampire clan sends its oldest members, all "Millennials," to Germany to thwart The Third Reich. This over-the-top premise is given dimension by Stratford's lush narrative voice, which I loved. While I often stick to and enjoy grittier reads, Stratford's dense prose fit that of a thousand year old character, grounded the plot, and enabled me to suspend my disbelief for the duration of the story.

While many of the vivid characters, the least of which Brigit, stayed with me when I put this book down, some may find the story structure somewhat disorienting. Stratford jumps the story back and forth from Germany in 1936 and 1940 to 917 (thereabouts) and 12th Century York. The technique does add tension and suspense to the story, but I found myself slightly confused a few times. Stratford holds a Master's in medieval history and since The Midnight Guardian is slated to be the first in a trilogy, I'm hoping for more information on Brigit's eternal love Eamon, formerly Jacob of Emmanuel from a Jewish community in the aforementioned 12th Century York.

In addition to Brigit's fundamental independence, another facet that lends originality to this story is the presence of a Jewish vampire. In Stratford's vampire world, Jews turned into vampires retain more of their original human soul and can pass as human more easily than other vampires. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it is this quality of Eamon's that partly enables Brigit to survive her main ordeal. That a Jewish vampire like Eamon holds onto at least part of his original soul is a telling irony juxtaposed against the "souless" epithet several of the Nazi characters voice more than once against Jews. This is not a topic I have so far in my reading seen dealt with in any other vampire story.

I also appreciated that Stratford didn't shy away from depicting the ferocity of her vampires. The reader fully witnesses the brutality with which the vampires can deal with humans and the bloody consequences their enemies face. Despite this power, the story exploits the weaknesses of Brigit and her cohorts to increase the stakes very well. I'm definitely looking forward to future installments of the Millennial trilogy. If you enjoy a good vampire story as well as some historical details, you will like The Midnight Guardian.

This review can also be found here: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010...

[Jenny / Wondrous Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally read many adult novels, but every now and then, one will catch my eye. As soon as I knew that The Midnight Guardian mixed vampires and the Second World War -- two of my favourite subjects to read about -- I knew I had to give it a go. I'm so glad I did!

I love the vampire mythology of the Millennials, thousand-year-old vampires that are super strong and harder to kill. It takes a lot of hunting for me to find something different in the vampire genre, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Millennials fit into what I was looking for. Brigit is the main focus of The Midnight Guardian, and her present, as well as her past, is documented in great detail. Her soulmate Eamon recounts Brigit's early life, both human and vampire, and her existence spans hundreds of years, starting back when the Vikings were around.

The decision to set this story in the throes of WWII worried me initially. I didn't want it to be poorly executed, or to glorify that terrible period of history. Stratford doesn't take anything lightly, and takes great care in portraying the Nazis exactly as they were. Hitler is mentioned, but never featured, and I think that was the right thing to do. There's a point when fiction can blur too much with reality, making it unbelievable and distasteful, and Stratford succeeds in never crossing that line.

The Midnight Guardian is written intelligently, with a style and content suitable for the YA audience. There are a few gruesome, violent vampire scenes, but it's nothing too bad. The few sex scenes are written with taste and, while not quite as tame as what you'd find in a typical YA book, aren't overly explicit. Don't be put off by this book living on adult shelves, as it's worthy of being read by a much wider audience.

An unusual setting, clever characters and interesting vampire lore make The Midnight Guardian a fantastic debut novel. Stratford knows what she's talking about, and her love of history is engrained on every page. It's a welcome addition to the hordes of vampire stories out there, and I can't wait for the next book in the series.

(4.5/5)

[Lawral · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and engrossing read. It splits, very early on, into two storylines. One follows Brigit and the rest of the Millenial vampires, as they try to take down the emerging Nazi empire by infiltrating its ranks and/or seducing men in high places. Brigit is joined by Cleland, Mors, Swefred and Meaghan on her trip to Germany. It is only safe for vampires over a millennium old to voluntarily walk into a country quickly filling with vampire hunters. Swefred and Meaghan, together since the beginning of time it would seem, have each other and Mors has been single and loving it for his whole millennium long and more life, but Brigit and Cleland both have to leave their partners behind in London.

Much is made of Brigit and Eamon's love and heartbreak over their distance throughout the book, Brigit is the main character after all, but Cleland and his partner Padriac (both men, in case you aren't well versed in really old Irish names) also suffer through their separation. Cleland and Padriac's love is portrayed as just as true, long-lasting and, above all, normal as that of Brigit and Eamon's, even if it doesn't get as much page space devoted to it. The only "problems" that arise out of their homosexuality is Cleland's annoyance at having to seduce Nazi wives and the prison cell in which they found Padriac on his last night as a human hundreds of years ago.

The other story, the one that sucked me in, shows Brigit trying to sneak back to London on a train of German soldiers and possibly vampire hunters. She is escorting "precious cargo," which is why she has to take such a public route and is constantly in danger of being caught with forged papers, revealed as a vampire, or having to change trains in broad daylight. The way that loyalties change in the face of the force of the Nazis becomes so interesting in this storyline, but to talk about any of it would be to give too much away. Some liberty is taken with the vampire myth, what they can and cannot do, but it still remains a horror story of sorts. Except that you will side with the monsters.

[Kara Cardwell]

I enjoyed this book. It was refreshing because it reminded me of a time before Twilight. Yes people there were vampire books before the Twilight saga. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Twilight series but I loved that this book really can’t be compared to it. When I first started reading this book, I had to adjust to the fact that this was an adult book and not YA. Since this is an adult book nothing had to be held back. There is definitely violence in this book but I thought the author worded all those scenes very well, I call it artistic violence. I thought that the involvement of Nazis in this book was very unique and creative. If I had ever thought of an idea like this I would never have come up with a good enough way to turn it into a novel worth reading or writing. I loved the characters, especially Mors and I’m hoping that the next Millennial novel expand what I know about him as well as Eamon and Brigit’s relationship. After seeing what they’d gone through in their life before they ended up together makes me appreciate their relationship especially because of Brigit. Her feeling of wanting love and being afraid that she’d never find it is a common fear that I could relate to. The only thing I didn’t like (which was mostly my fault) is that not all the story is told in the same time, meaning that the chapters would switch from the past to the present about every other chapter (more or less). I didn’t notice at first so I was very confused for a while in the beginning. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next book in the series. This book gets and A. :)

[Jens Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the plot of this novel when I first read about it on a blog about vampire books. I bought it as soon as it was out and I wasn't disappointed. The author perfectly combines the two genres I love the most, so I didn't really have a chance.

When I started reading it I at first did have some difficulties with the several timelines and frequent time-hopping. But that soon ceased when I got drawn into the world she created. The vampire characters are positively loveable (forget the Cullens) and the atmosphere is breathtaking.

There are some minor historic flaws, which might annoy the besserwisser (Stuttgart was one of Germany's major railway stations in the 1940ies, not a place where only a few would have gotten off) but who cares about things like that - it's fiction after all.

I am delighted to have found this new star on the horizon and am so much looking forward to the sequel(s). The idea of the millennia vampires in itself guarantees that there can be an indefinite number of them. Just put one of them in the Napoleonic era and I'd be in heaven.

[Elizabeth Eslami · Rating 5 out of 5]

With its relentless tension, original characters, and cinematic imagery, Sarah Jane Stratford’s novel, The Midnight Guardian, casts an undeniable and unforgettable spell.

Deftly re-imagining our darkest period, Stratford introduces us to a fascinating group of millennial vampires grappling with their own role in history, from fearless leader Mors, who harbors a perpetual secret, to the enigmatic and enchanting Brigit, a modern feminist and seductress who knows her own heart, whether beating or still. As the vampires embark on a perilous journey to infiltrate and sabotage the Nazis, Stratford ambitiously explores the vampires’ debt to and dependence upon humans, as well as issues of race and class, and what it means, ultimately, to be human.

A thrilling work of historical fiction, The Midnight Guardian makes us forget what we think we know about vampires, challenges us to imagine a different version of history, and opens us up to a world of infinite possibilities.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vampires fighting Nazis, at first for the good of their food supply (you know, people. yummy, yummy people) and then just because SRSLY Nazis are assholes. So yes, vampires attempting to undermine Nazis, and it all ties in with lovely bits of history, which is one of the coolest things about vampires, in my opinion, all that first person history! The author creates great vampire lore, the key for this book being that, once the first thousand years pass, a vampire gets even stronger and much much harder to kill. This causes Millennial Brigit to have to leave her 800 year old lover Eamon behind when she and 4 other Millennials go to create chaos within the Nazi regime. So, History + Angst + some bloody vampire vengeance = yes you should read it.

[Levi · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first the frequent timeline shifts are rather distracting and unwelcome. Eventually this begins to feel natural and works into semi-comfortable pattern as I knew more of what to expect. The setting is nearly perfect, Vampires vs Nazis. A battle anyone would practically welcome, although the vampires end up feeling like the good guys despite the fact that they are ultimately trying to protect their food supply. The characters really are somewhat believable despite the thousand plus year lifespan. Overall a mostly satisfying read, could be a little better in parts but this authors first book does not disappoint.

[Shamsia]

Sospechaba que incluiría vampiros, y no me equivoqué. Empezó algo flojo, pero siguió de forma tal que del aburrimiento pasé a la irritación. Los nazis son malos, muy malos, y los vampiros deben de defender su fuente de alimentación, la humanidad. Sí, sí, capto.

¿Algo nuevo, interesante, que no me de ganas de tirar el libro hacia la pared? No, nada. Relaciones trilladas, teorías absurdas, personajes con los que no sentía empatía sino ganas que los nazis los descubrieran para que dejasen de jorobar, y la lista sigue. Lo dejé a las cincuenta páginas, creo, si no antes. Muy olvidable.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the better fiction books that I have read for a while--interesting premise (Vampires go after the Nazis) and execution. The characters were interesting, and Stratford manages to tell her story and not change the flow of history (that much). While the ending was a little disappointing (she set up several compelling villains, whom the heroine dispatches far too easily), I enjoyed this overall.

[D. Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can you not enjoy a book about Vampires versus Nazi's? SJ Stratford weaves haunting yet romantic tale of the "humane" side of vampires out to save themselves, as well as mankind,from the evil war machine of Hitler's Nazi Germany.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale of fighting and eluding Nazis was told with a thriller's plotting and a fabulous twist. I loved the smart playful jabs about prejudice as it descends on our honorable, charming vampire heroine and other characters--like the gay vampires. Waiting for more from SJS....

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loooooooved it. Great suspense as far as the storyline goes. The characters were great too.

[Rochelle Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly brilliant! I hope there is a sequel!

[Jen Deaderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best book about Nazi-hunting vampires I've ever read!

[Fer B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely my favorite contemporany vampire novel. There isn't anything that I didn't like...excep, maybe, that there isn't much about the background of the other vampires. Time have passed since I read and reread this book (eight years) and I remember everything perfectly, something that doesn't happen unless the story impress me a lot.

Brigit is amazing, and this is something very rare for me to say about a protagonist (female or male) in a fantasy/Urban fantasy (I think) novel with romance, and the relationships between everyone (romantic, friendly, etc.) are perfec.
The best parts in the story, in my humble opinión, are the vampires created by Stratford, the realistic view of them in human history. and that here, the romance between Brigit and Eamon wasn't the typical romance where the male was a desperate stalker and the female the helpless victim falling in lust/love at first glance but denying her desirees, etc. This wasn't a cliché.

I have too many things to say about the novel, but...well, nobody wants me to rant and read spoilers, if someone hasn't read it. Or if you didn't like the book or liked it less than me, it's ok, you don't need to read my review and remember everything you hated of the book.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me la pasé todo el libro diciendo que no me gustaba, al final, se compuso un poco, pero el ejercicio literario de escribir un capítulo actual, otro devolviéndose en el tiempo, otro actual y así, se vuelve tedioso y no genera el efecto deseado.
Tenía entendido que es para adolescentes, y me pareció muy fuerte, muchísima violencia.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some books you can describe with a single sentence. This is one of them: "Vampires kicking Nazi ass." I mean really, how can that possibly go wrong?

That's a rhetorical question. It can't. Still, actual execution can range from mediocre to eye-gougingly awesome. While Sarah Jane Stratford's The Midnight Guardian slides fluidly along this continuum, it's closer to the latter than the former, if only because of it's breathtaking characters (that's a pun). As far as the "kicking ass" parts go, they're too few and too far between, strung out along a plot that doesn't achieve lift-off.

Of course, the world has never been the same since a certain book featuring unconventional vampires. Stratford's vampires are a sensible concoction of various conventional interpretations. I like how crosses don't affect vampires who were Jewish in life, little details like that. They have the usual overdrive sex urges that seem to plague the undead like bad hangovers, but other than that, they are tolerable mythical creatures. And, passionate relationships aside, they are interesting people. Well, some of them.

Stratford tells the story in a non-linear manner. The "main" plot takes place in August 1940, with Brigit on a train escorting the children of a vampire hunter to safety in London. Interspersed are chapters two years prior, with Brigit and her millennial cohort in Germany just before the start of the war, as well as episodes from Brigit's past, including her "making" and when she "makes" her love, Eamon. I actually found this structure counterproductive to my comprehension of the story, but it's an excellent way of educating us about Brigit's life.

By far the most interesting parts of the book are the episodes of Brigit's past. I loved watching her transformation from human to vampire and her effort to come to terms with the implications of immortality. Stratford's vampires are still very human in the sense that they are not evil fiends. Sure, they kill people and suck blood. But they don't hurt children (who are unpalatable) and still have very human passions—for culture, particularly books and music. Nevertheless, Brigit's life as a vampire is manifestly different from her life as a human, and the difference is jarring at times. She has to confront her mixed feelings for her maker, who's a well-meaning but obtuse idiot. When she turns into a vampire a man whom she believes she's destined to love, he's not grateful at first, and the years slip by as they work things out. There's a certain sense of destiny to the relationship that I kind of had to ignore, but individually they're both interesting people.

The whole "vampires trying to sabotage the war" plot? Not so much. I enjoyed the chapters in 1938 in which Brigit, Mors, et al. attempt to infiltrate the ranks of the Third Reich. Stratford's depictions of wartime Germany, the attitudes of Germans toward Hitler and the Nazis, and the behaviour of the Nazis themselves are all wonderful. And it's fun watching how vampires would practise espionage. As we approach 1940, however, my interest begins to dissipate. I don't follow how Leon's children are "precious cargo that marks the only hope of salvaging their mission" (from the cover copy). Sure, it's great that Brigit is being all compassionate and risking herself to get them out of Germany, but what do they have to do with her mission?

That mission was doomed from the start, of course, and it only seems to derail and deteriorate as the book goes on. I suppose that's the problem with a premise like "vampires go to stop Hitler's war machine". Unless one wants to stray into alternate history territory, clearly the vampires can't succeed in preventing war, nor can they just go in and kill Hitler any time before April 30, 1945. That alone isn't a problem—"how will they fail?" can be just as exciting, even more so, than "will they fail?" But Stratford can't maintain my interest while Brigit is on the train. There's a nosey sergeant and a suspicious doctor who's actually a vampire hunter. All Brigit can do is complain that she's too exposed to properly eat, so she feels weak.

The climactic battle takes place on a peer, where Brigit is about to get on board a ferry to Britain with the children but is confronted by the doctor/hunter. Brigit gets the children she's protecting onto the ferry by having Eamon use his music, powered by their love, to create a smokey hand that pulls the children over the water separating the boat from the peer. And that, sadly, broke my suspension of disbelief.

Despite that last damning bit of criticism, I did enjoy The Midnight Guardian, and I'll recommend it to some of my friends who like supernatural fiction. Its plot could use some work; as this is a debut novel, I'll be interested to see if Stratford's writing improves with subsequent Millennial efforts.

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

meh

[Gerardo González · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entender el tema del vampirismo no es tarea fácil. Hay demasiadas obras para ello. Buenas y malas. Esta en particular me parece refrescante y con un enfoque preciso acerca de dicho tema.

[Camila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Siento que la historia daba para un mejor desarrollo, el concepto estaba interesante pero no me causó emoción y algunos capítulos se me hacían lentos.

[Lauquinthero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le doy dos porque, a pesar de que fue entretenido, los saltos en el tiempo hacen que sea complicado entenderlo