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James Asher #4
Magistrates of Hell
James Asher finds himself once more in alliance with vampire Don Simon Ysidro, as their investigations takes them to far-off Peking . . . October, 1912. James Asher, his wife Lydia, and the old occultist and vampire-hunter Dr Solomon Karlebach have journeyed to the new-born Republic of China to investigate the rumour that the mindless Undead – the Others that even the vampires fear – have begun to multiply in the caverns of the hills west of Peking. Alongside his old vampire partner, Don Simon Ysidro, Asher embarks on a sinister hunt, while somewhere in the city’s cold gray labyrinth lurk the Peking vampires, known as the Magistrates of Hell – with an agenda of their own . . .
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2012
44 people are currently reading
589 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
204 books1,582 followersaka Barbara Hamilton
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 21, 2019
I have a complicated relationship with Hambly's writing: I find that I enjoy her structure and style a great deal, but am often ambivalent about plot and narrative choices. Though I really enjoyed Those Who Hunt the Night, the first in the James Asher series about a British spy and his uneasy alliance with a centuries-old Spanish vampire, mixed reviews for subsequent books, and limited interest in time-period fiction, meant I moved on until the latest book in the series crossed my feed. Unfortunately, this one was a miss.
The plot begins at an engagement party. Asher is in Peking with his mentor, Karlebach, to discover more about the mindless Others, a type of creature even vampires fear. Asher is talking to the vampire Ysidro at the party when the betrothed young woman is found dead outside, her drunken suitor passed out next to her. The father of the fiance, a British diplomat, recognizes Asher from his previous service and threatens to blow his cover unless Asher clears his son's name.
It seems straight-forward, but Asher and Hambly have trouble tying the plots together, so the stories progress in spurts. A short investigation into the death (viewing the body, talking to his friends) leads to local politics. Before long, Asher is back to seeking the Others. These portions are inevitably accompanied by Karlebach haranguing Asher for trusting a vampire and Asher musing on how Ysidro is fundamentally an evil creature because he must kill others to stay alive (though Asher admits to himself he's done the same thing as a spy). Asher's lack of ethical conviction in the face of Ysidro's consistent friendship is dismaying. For those looking for the supernatural angle, it doesn't feel like it is integrated until very late in the story; if one is looking for a 'vampire' book, it might prove unsatisfying.
Viewpoint is primarily that of Asher, although it does tap into his wife, Julia's perspective a few times. She's our nominally plucky heroine, although somewhat hampered by a vanity that insists she remove her spectacles every time someone might see her wearing them. This is a major characteristic that is noted many times by both Julia and Asher, that became quite tiresome in a writer of Hambly's caliber.
Setting is undoubtedly realistic, with the obvious exception of the mysterious Others. I mean, not that I would be able to validate, but there was lots of institutionalized sexism, political and personal racism, political graft, marginalization of the servant/Chinese class, and so forth, so I can only assume it was real. For a short time, I wondered if I would be able to continue, as a section was particularly filled with vitriol against the Chinese. This is coupled with a sub-plot about abuse of prostitutes. Hambly might have done her research here, but I can't say that I needed it repeatedly emphasized. The section I most enjoyed was a description of an enclave where a number of low-status people were living and interacting, and managed to care for one of the characters though they were 'invisible' status.
The ending was two-fold, and one part a definite surprise. I didn't feel we had any build-up to it, but I did like the concept. If only there had been more mythology to support it! The other ending was gratuitously thriller-esque, and I don't know how we slipped from 1915 to a Die Hard movie.
In some ways, this reminds me stylistically of Well's Death of the Necromancer, only Wells was more sensible and left her (fantasy) 'period' building to the physical world and economics over racial groups, and integrated more humor. I think next time, I'll remind myself to re-read that over another stab at this series.
Two-and-a-half stars, rounding down to balance out all the four star reviews. It really isn't as wonderful as all that.
The plot begins at an engagement party. Asher is in Peking with his mentor, Karlebach, to discover more about the mindless Others, a type of creature even vampires fear. Asher is talking to the vampire Ysidro at the party when the betrothed young woman is found dead outside, her drunken suitor passed out next to her. The father of the fiance, a British diplomat, recognizes Asher from his previous service and threatens to blow his cover unless Asher clears his son's name.
It seems straight-forward, but Asher and Hambly have trouble tying the plots together, so the stories progress in spurts. A short investigation into the death (viewing the body, talking to his friends) leads to local politics. Before long, Asher is back to seeking the Others. These portions are inevitably accompanied by Karlebach haranguing Asher for trusting a vampire and Asher musing on how Ysidro is fundamentally an evil creature because he must kill others to stay alive (though Asher admits to himself he's done the same thing as a spy). Asher's lack of ethical conviction in the face of Ysidro's consistent friendship is dismaying. For those looking for the supernatural angle, it doesn't feel like it is integrated until very late in the story; if one is looking for a 'vampire' book, it might prove unsatisfying.
Viewpoint is primarily that of Asher, although it does tap into his wife, Julia's perspective a few times. She's our nominally plucky heroine, although somewhat hampered by a vanity that insists she remove her spectacles every time someone might see her wearing them. This is a major characteristic that is noted many times by both Julia and Asher, that became quite tiresome in a writer of Hambly's caliber.
Setting is undoubtedly realistic, with the obvious exception of the mysterious Others. I mean, not that I would be able to validate, but there was lots of institutionalized sexism, political and personal racism, political graft, marginalization of the servant/Chinese class, and so forth, so I can only assume it was real. For a short time, I wondered if I would be able to continue, as a section was particularly filled with vitriol against the Chinese. This is coupled with a sub-plot about abuse of prostitutes. Hambly might have done her research here, but I can't say that I needed it repeatedly emphasized. The section I most enjoyed was a description of an enclave where a number of low-status people were living and interacting, and managed to care for one of the characters though they were 'invisible' status.
The ending was two-fold, and one part a definite surprise. I didn't feel we had any build-up to it, but I did like the concept. If only there had been more mythology to support it! The other ending was gratuitously thriller-esque, and I don't know how we slipped from 1915 to a Die Hard movie.
In some ways, this reminds me stylistically of Well's Death of the Necromancer, only Wells was more sensible and left her (fantasy) 'period' building to the physical world and economics over racial groups, and integrated more humor. I think next time, I'll remind myself to re-read that over another stab at this series.
Two-and-a-half stars, rounding down to balance out all the four star reviews. It really isn't as wonderful as all that.
April 21, 2012
I can't pretend to be at all rational about Barbara Hambly. When I read her books, it's not just about the pleasure of reading a really well-put-together story, it's the way that reading one of her books puts a hot iron to my own creative impulses. She writes not only worlds that I gladly get completely lost inside, but worlds that make me want to create ones of my own.
Though I should have known/remembered, it was a surprise to realize/remember that, though Hambly's vampire novels have been published many, many years apart, internally, it's been less than a handful of years. Which is an observation that's really here nor there except that I really need to go back and reread the whole series from the start.
One thing I like best about Hambly's vampires is that, although they can be beautiful, seductive, and—as in the case of Ysidro—hero/protagonists, she never stints on the idea that they are, first and foremost, predators and that every beautiful, seductive thing that they do is for self-serving reasons, be it protection or food. And though the relationship—triangle—between Asher, Lydia and Ysidro is central to the entire series, it definitely comes at a gradually steeper price, both in responsibility (with great knowledge, blah blah…) and in danger.
This latest book takes place in Beijing (Peking) in the days of the early Republic of China. I've read Hambly's Benjamin January series and liked it greatly, both on its own merits and for a thoughtful representation of a non-Caucasian culture by a Caucasian author. Magistrates of Hell, unfortunately, is somewhat more problematic than the January series, if only because, unlike the January series, Magistrates is written from the point of view of the colonialists. And though James and Lydia are both greatly open-minded and non-partisan for any time period, let alone this one, they're still—by necessity—people of a certain place and time, looking at Chinese culture through foreign eyes and judging it accordingly. As well, the nature of the story and the motivations behind it mean that very little of ordinary Chinese society of the time is seen. Only that part of it that particularly panders to the colonials, either through politics or through the seedy commerce of drugs, prostitution, etc. I think that Hambly does go through great pains to present China, and the Chinese, sympathetically and with relatively non-judgmental equivalency…but I also don't think she always succeeds.
In particular, early in the book, Hambly sets up a comparison between the more obvious bigots of the diplomatic corps declaring that Chinese culture/thinking/being is unfathomable because "they're not like other people", versus a vampire hunter declaring similarly about vampires because they're not human. This, on the one hand, shows up the fulcrum of bigotry, creating Otherness where none necessarily exists. But on the other hand, it's basically equating being Chinese with being a bloodsucking monster. Ouch.
Though my uneasiness about this representation of (a particular part) of Chinese culture persisted throughout the book, it wasn't so great a deal-breaker that I didn't love the hell out of the book anyway.
Since Traveling With The Dead, Lydia's feelings for/about Ysidro (and vice versa) have been very apparent, but in Magistrates, I found myself a lot more conscious of Asher's part in the triangle and how, though much less overt, in that restrained English manner, his feelings for Ysidro are no less powerful than Lydia's and how, given that Asher is fully aware of Lydia's feelings about Ysidro and vice versa, he shares Lydia with Ysidro fairly equably, other than the natural concern that he and Lydia are entangled in something of a long con by a predator. That is, there is something very polyamorous about the relationship that, while not expressed in sexual terms, is no less strong for the lack. And no less fascinating, either.
And while the trappings with which Hambly brings together these three adventurers is, in and of itself, a romp worth having, it's the ongoing unanswered question of how this relationship will/does/can resolve that keeps bringing me back when other vampire stories have long been leaving me…cold.
Though I should have known/remembered, it was a surprise to realize/remember that, though Hambly's vampire novels have been published many, many years apart, internally, it's been less than a handful of years. Which is an observation that's really here nor there except that I really need to go back and reread the whole series from the start.
One thing I like best about Hambly's vampires is that, although they can be beautiful, seductive, and—as in the case of Ysidro—hero/protagonists, she never stints on the idea that they are, first and foremost, predators and that every beautiful, seductive thing that they do is for self-serving reasons, be it protection or food. And though the relationship—triangle—between Asher, Lydia and Ysidro is central to the entire series, it definitely comes at a gradually steeper price, both in responsibility (with great knowledge, blah blah…) and in danger.
This latest book takes place in Beijing (Peking) in the days of the early Republic of China. I've read Hambly's Benjamin January series and liked it greatly, both on its own merits and for a thoughtful representation of a non-Caucasian culture by a Caucasian author. Magistrates of Hell, unfortunately, is somewhat more problematic than the January series, if only because, unlike the January series, Magistrates is written from the point of view of the colonialists. And though James and Lydia are both greatly open-minded and non-partisan for any time period, let alone this one, they're still—by necessity—people of a certain place and time, looking at Chinese culture through foreign eyes and judging it accordingly. As well, the nature of the story and the motivations behind it mean that very little of ordinary Chinese society of the time is seen. Only that part of it that particularly panders to the colonials, either through politics or through the seedy commerce of drugs, prostitution, etc. I think that Hambly does go through great pains to present China, and the Chinese, sympathetically and with relatively non-judgmental equivalency…but I also don't think she always succeeds.
In particular, early in the book, Hambly sets up a comparison between the more obvious bigots of the diplomatic corps declaring that Chinese culture/thinking/being is unfathomable because "they're not like other people", versus a vampire hunter declaring similarly about vampires because they're not human. This, on the one hand, shows up the fulcrum of bigotry, creating Otherness where none necessarily exists. But on the other hand, it's basically equating being Chinese with being a bloodsucking monster. Ouch.
Though my uneasiness about this representation of (a particular part) of Chinese culture persisted throughout the book, it wasn't so great a deal-breaker that I didn't love the hell out of the book anyway.
Since Traveling With The Dead, Lydia's feelings for/about Ysidro (and vice versa) have been very apparent, but in Magistrates, I found myself a lot more conscious of Asher's part in the triangle and how, though much less overt, in that restrained English manner, his feelings for Ysidro are no less powerful than Lydia's and how, given that Asher is fully aware of Lydia's feelings about Ysidro and vice versa, he shares Lydia with Ysidro fairly equably, other than the natural concern that he and Lydia are entangled in something of a long con by a predator. That is, there is something very polyamorous about the relationship that, while not expressed in sexual terms, is no less strong for the lack. And no less fascinating, either.
And while the trappings with which Hambly brings together these three adventurers is, in and of itself, a romp worth having, it's the ongoing unanswered question of how this relationship will/does/can resolve that keeps bringing me back when other vampire stories have long been leaving me…cold.
September 19, 2012
Review from Badelynge.
You wait 15 years for a new vampire laced James Asher book and then two come along almost at once with Magistrates of Hell following on neatly from last year's Blood Maidens. Retired spy James Asher sails to China in 1912 to investigate the discovery of a body very like the mutated vampires he encountered in St Petersberg. Accompanied by his wife and Dr Solomon Karlebach, Asher bases his investigation within the cosmopolitan confines of the Legation Quarter in Peking under the blind of a purely academic interest in philology and folklore. Keeping an even lower profile is Asher's ancient Spanish vampire ally Don Simon Ysidro. Usually these books have Ysidro treading on the territorial toes of the local nest of urban vampires but China's vampires are something different. Incredibly ancient and not altogether sane they mostly remain aloof and hard to pin down. With Ysidro hampered by their elusiveness, Asher has to rely more on his human allies, the Van Helsing like vampire hunter Karlebach and the Japanese Samurai Count Mizukami. Asher and the Count actually make quite a dynamic pairing out in the wilds among the swarming rabid rats and equally the double dealings and murder within the city and the Legation. Barbara Hambly dishes up a more b-movie action based script than usual but it remains faithful to the series tone, is well researched and maintains the levels of threat and anxiety common to Hambly books. As ever Hambly know how to entertain.
You wait 15 years for a new vampire laced James Asher book and then two come along almost at once with Magistrates of Hell following on neatly from last year's Blood Maidens. Retired spy James Asher sails to China in 1912 to investigate the discovery of a body very like the mutated vampires he encountered in St Petersberg. Accompanied by his wife and Dr Solomon Karlebach, Asher bases his investigation within the cosmopolitan confines of the Legation Quarter in Peking under the blind of a purely academic interest in philology and folklore. Keeping an even lower profile is Asher's ancient Spanish vampire ally Don Simon Ysidro. Usually these books have Ysidro treading on the territorial toes of the local nest of urban vampires but China's vampires are something different. Incredibly ancient and not altogether sane they mostly remain aloof and hard to pin down. With Ysidro hampered by their elusiveness, Asher has to rely more on his human allies, the Van Helsing like vampire hunter Karlebach and the Japanese Samurai Count Mizukami. Asher and the Count actually make quite a dynamic pairing out in the wilds among the swarming rabid rats and equally the double dealings and murder within the city and the Legation. Barbara Hambly dishes up a more b-movie action based script than usual but it remains faithful to the series tone, is well researched and maintains the levels of threat and anxiety common to Hambly books. As ever Hambly know how to entertain.
May 26, 2019
Another deliciously creepy and atmospheric entry in this series. James and Lydia travel to China, post Boxer Rebellion, at the insistence of Jame's former professor and mentor, who has heard rumors of disturbing vampiric developments. It's beautifully written as always, giving a real sense of time and place. Also, the Chinese vampires will scare your socks off.
July 26, 2012
I'm always happy to read anything by Barbara Hambly. I really like Ysidro, her 500 year old Spanish vampire. He didn't actually have too much to do in this book, though, except for giving some hints and helping rescue a damsel in distress at the very end. I would have liked to see more of him.
The book is mostly from the view of Asher, a bookish-looking former spy who has gone to Peking with an old vampire hunter/teacher because of disconcerting evidence that "Others" may be in China. I'm still not quite clear on what Others are supposed to be. Are they a twist on zombies? Some unnamed undead? They have a hive mind and are hard to kill, but are faster than shambling zombies.
Lydia, Asher's wife, is also in this book. She is entangled with Ysidro, although she isn't sure exactly how much. I like how Hambly will occasionally draw back the curtain on vampire glamour and show a bit of Ysidro's true, spidery self. These vampires are no longer human in their needs or their thoughts, and yet their predatory ways still manage to be seductive. You're never quite sure if or how much Ysidro is playing our protagonists. I do wish Lydia would wear her glasses, since she's functionally blind without them. We miss out on some lovely description because of this, and it seems very strange for a woman who's otherwise so practical and unconventional to worry so about her appearance, especially only for strangers- she'll wear glasses in front of her husband and Ysidro only.
Peking did not seem inviting in this book- wintry, windy, dusty and smelly. The book was partially a murder mystery and partly a paranormal investigation, and while these threads ultimately did come together, the book felt fragmented because of the different directions of the book. The murder investigation never felt really urgent, but it took time to deal with. Since the book is quite short for most fantasies these days- less than 250 pages- it felt like the plot threads were both shortchanged a bit.
The book is mostly from the view of Asher, a bookish-looking former spy who has gone to Peking with an old vampire hunter/teacher because of disconcerting evidence that "Others" may be in China. I'm still not quite clear on what Others are supposed to be. Are they a twist on zombies? Some unnamed undead? They have a hive mind and are hard to kill, but are faster than shambling zombies.
Lydia, Asher's wife, is also in this book. She is entangled with Ysidro, although she isn't sure exactly how much. I like how Hambly will occasionally draw back the curtain on vampire glamour and show a bit of Ysidro's true, spidery self. These vampires are no longer human in their needs or their thoughts, and yet their predatory ways still manage to be seductive. You're never quite sure if or how much Ysidro is playing our protagonists. I do wish Lydia would wear her glasses, since she's functionally blind without them. We miss out on some lovely description because of this, and it seems very strange for a woman who's otherwise so practical and unconventional to worry so about her appearance, especially only for strangers- she'll wear glasses in front of her husband and Ysidro only.
Peking did not seem inviting in this book- wintry, windy, dusty and smelly. The book was partially a murder mystery and partly a paranormal investigation, and while these threads ultimately did come together, the book felt fragmented because of the different directions of the book. The murder investigation never felt really urgent, but it took time to deal with. Since the book is quite short for most fantasies these days- less than 250 pages- it felt like the plot threads were both shortchanged a bit.
January 23, 2016
Good, not great. You can see the outline with which the author uses to craft the plot but the transitions are ragged. First she gets the Ashers to China and of course James has been there before in his position as a master spy. This book really wasn’t about vampires so much as the twisted ratpires that they had discovered in Prague in the last book. Simon was not really a dominant character in the book, which is disappointing since he is the most compelling of the cast populating this series. Hambly does a nice job setting up scenes then the plot lurches to the next facet of the story. A lot of plot points are just told to us readers rather than actually revealed through the action of the story. It’s like Hambly took her story outline and simply fleshed out the bulleted scenes without making much narrative effort to seamlessly connect it all together. It did not feel like she expended much effort or time on this novel.
August 17, 2015
After decades of spycraft, Asher chose to leave the clandestine war behind in favor of a history professorship. But he and his scientist wife Lydia stumbled upon a terrible truth--the existence of vampires living among us, hidden by glamours and humans' disbelief in the supernatural. Over the years they became troublingly close with a particularly old and chivalrous vampire, one Don Ysidro. Each of the three is drawn to the others, but Asher and Lydia are also repelled by Ysidro's murderous nature, and are conflicted about their friendship with him. Nevertheless, their goals are entangled, and when the vampire Masters of Europe hear rumors of a growing ghoul population in China, all three characters travel to Peking.
This is set in 1912, and Hambly does a masterful job of describing both colonial China and the political mindsets that will lead to the first world war. The characters are equally well described and memorable. And the action veers between a mysterious murder, petty social manueverings, and an intensely creepy series of battles with the ghouls.
This is set in 1912, and Hambly does a masterful job of describing both colonial China and the political mindsets that will lead to the first world war. The characters are equally well described and memorable. And the action veers between a mysterious murder, petty social manueverings, and an intensely creepy series of battles with the ghouls.
September 6, 2021
I like these because I love the married couple main characters. This is early 20th century (1912) and this one is set mostly in China. I also like that this isn't a romance where the romantic interest is with the vampire. Start with the first book though.
April 17, 2023
The 4th installment in the James Asher series takes James and Lydia to Peking China with James old Professor Karlebach only to find Don Simon Ysidro there already investigating the strange creatures rumored to be seen which are more powerful than the vampires. A thrilling adventure full of political intrigue, back stabbing and risky alliances resulting in an amazing twist as the adventure draws to a surprising end. This series gets better with each installment. You wont be able to put it down.
February 26, 2018
Love This Series
And this one in particular would make an outstanding movie, full of horror, chills, mysterious and fearsome monsters, male and female villains equally dreadful, plus the ambiguities inherent in the effort to challenge evil.
And this one in particular would make an outstanding movie, full of horror, chills, mysterious and fearsome monsters, male and female villains equally dreadful, plus the ambiguities inherent in the effort to challenge evil.
September 10, 2022
If you are still following Asher and Lydia's adventures with the Spanish vampire, Ysidro, then all I need to say is that you'll find more of the same adventure, thrills, danger, and monster-related, not to mention political, mysteries and dangers.
Everyone is in China, circa the end of the Victorian Era. Remember those "Others"? The non-quite vampire creatures who eat both humans and vamps, but don't spend much time thinking about it? One managed to find its way to China and start its own colony. The local vamps are either dead or in deep hiding and Asher is most worried that the Chinese or German governments might get their hands on, and weaponize, the Others. Ysidro's concerns are similar, but compounded by the near-sociopathic drive of the old Jewish vampire hunter, Karlebach, who believes Ysidro must be destroyed, along with the Others.
And Ysidro is in a city where he doesn't dare feed, for fear the local vampires would kill him, on the instant. And death is everywhere.
Everyone is in China, circa the end of the Victorian Era. Remember those "Others"? The non-quite vampire creatures who eat both humans and vamps, but don't spend much time thinking about it? One managed to find its way to China and start its own colony. The local vamps are either dead or in deep hiding and Asher is most worried that the Chinese or German governments might get their hands on, and weaponize, the Others. Ysidro's concerns are similar, but compounded by the near-sociopathic drive of the old Jewish vampire hunter, Karlebach, who believes Ysidro must be destroyed, along with the Others.
And Ysidro is in a city where he doesn't dare feed, for fear the local vampires would kill him, on the instant. And death is everywhere.
August 13, 2012
Magistrates of Hell is a decent period story that tells the tale of a former British spy's trip to China in 1912 to investigate reports of undead beings, referred to as the Others, who are feared even by vampires. Accompanied by his former mentor Professor K, the sixteenth-century Spanish vampire Don Simon Xavier Christian Marodo de la Cadena-Ysidro (a.k.a. Ysidro), and his clever wife Lydia and infant daughter, James Asher's investigation is compounded by fear of recognition by individuals he dealt with disguised as someone else on a previous mission who--in concert with the Others--would like to see him perish. As is doubtless period-appropriate, the story is liberally sprinkled with decidedly ethnocentric comments regarding the citizens of their host nation. This takes a bit of getting used to, and serves as a healthy bit of characterization as the folks spouting the most hateful invective are often not the most upstanding individuals as the story unfolds.
Layers of political intrigue serve as backdrop during a period of tremendous sociopolitical change as China emerges as a newborn republic. Bits of architectural history are provided by an amusingly pushy Russian baronness. Taken in concert with assorted early twentieth-century sensibilities, Hambly's explanation of her choice of the Wade-Giles method of transcription from Chinese into English as the historically appropriate form her characters' speech would have assumed is an informative addition. The stakes are increased as Asher is caught up in trying to investigate the murder of a young British woman by her ne'er do well finance who is a British diplomat's drunkard son. All is not well within the assorted foreign delegations, and given the social and poltical upheaval, Asher falls afoul of a local organized crime family who may/may not also be involved in the initial matter that drew him to China (i.e., the Others). Thus, the stakes are particularly high.
This period story, quite promising in my estimation, is held back a bit by a few things. First, it is only in the last six pages that much of the story's details fall into place. While quite clever, they do appear a bit rushed. Second, to reduce Prof. Karlebach to little more than an obsessed Van Helsing was disappointing--particularly given his role as something of a surrogate father figure in Asher's own life. Moreover, James' seeming relief to be free of Ysidro's pull is inexplicably short-lived in the face of the peace he quickly finds in a dream-sequence revelation about the vampire's fate. Third, why were neither James nor Lydia--both of whom were duped, drugged, and/or framed by select members of the Peking diplomatic Legation--ever worried about the safety of their infant daughter Miranda? (Admittedly, she'll have plenty of opportunity to be ransomed in future installments in the series, but her parents' seeming complacency regarding her safety was something of a puzzle.) And finally, the cover art--admittedly, something for which an author cannot be held accountable. While quite intriguing--think BtVS' Spike in Victorian garb with blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth--it had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the events or characters contained in the book.
Layers of political intrigue serve as backdrop during a period of tremendous sociopolitical change as China emerges as a newborn republic. Bits of architectural history are provided by an amusingly pushy Russian baronness. Taken in concert with assorted early twentieth-century sensibilities, Hambly's explanation of her choice of the Wade-Giles method of transcription from Chinese into English as the historically appropriate form her characters' speech would have assumed is an informative addition. The stakes are increased as Asher is caught up in trying to investigate the murder of a young British woman by her ne'er do well finance who is a British diplomat's drunkard son. All is not well within the assorted foreign delegations, and given the social and poltical upheaval, Asher falls afoul of a local organized crime family who may/may not also be involved in the initial matter that drew him to China (i.e., the Others). Thus, the stakes are particularly high.
This period story, quite promising in my estimation, is held back a bit by a few things. First, it is only in the last six pages that much of the story's details fall into place. While quite clever, they do appear a bit rushed. Second, to reduce Prof. Karlebach to little more than an obsessed Van Helsing was disappointing--particularly given his role as something of a surrogate father figure in Asher's own life. Moreover, James' seeming relief to be free of Ysidro's pull is inexplicably short-lived in the face of the peace he quickly finds in a dream-sequence revelation about the vampire's fate. Third, why were neither James nor Lydia--both of whom were duped, drugged, and/or framed by select members of the Peking diplomatic Legation--ever worried about the safety of their infant daughter Miranda? (Admittedly, she'll have plenty of opportunity to be ransomed in future installments in the series, but her parents' seeming complacency regarding her safety was something of a puzzle.) And finally, the cover art--admittedly, something for which an author cannot be held accountable. While quite intriguing--think BtVS' Spike in Victorian garb with blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth--it had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the events or characters contained in the book.
October 3, 2012
The best of the series.
October 24, 2019
James Asher and his wife Lydia sail to Peking, China to trace a rumor of the Others, the mindless undead that even vampires fear. Along with them is Asher's former teacher and mentor, Dr. Solomon Karlbach of Prague, who has his own reasons. Also on this journey is Don Simon Ysidro, the Spanish vampire they have worked with in previous adventures.
Peking has its own vampires but Simon finds them hard to trace and he can't feed without permission.
Asher and Lydia with Karlbach are housed in a hotel in the diplomatic quarter of Peking and Lydia must socialize with the other women there, who are grateful for a new face. In touring the nearby temples, she is shown statues of the Magistrates of Hell, who were once ordinary people but who are now minor gods.
The daughter of one of the diplomats is murdered at her engagement party, and her chosen fiance is the accused killer. His father asks Asher to solve the murder, especially not blaming it on his son. "It must be the Chinese" but "nobody" understands them or why. [But Asher finds a real motive.]
Asher is involved in solving two unrelated mysteries, and suddenly must defend himself against a charge of treason.
These vampires are not at all romantic. They must kill to keep their undeath "alive." If they don't, they begin to lose their ability to mesmerize humans and disguise their actual appearance. It's always interesting to see what an author's version of vampires turns out to be.
Hambly deliberately chose the older version of Chinese names, such as Peking (instead of the modern Beijing), because the story takes place in 1912 when those names were the ones used.
Very much action and misunderstandings. Good series, but begin at the beginning.
Peking has its own vampires but Simon finds them hard to trace and he can't feed without permission.
Asher and Lydia with Karlbach are housed in a hotel in the diplomatic quarter of Peking and Lydia must socialize with the other women there, who are grateful for a new face. In touring the nearby temples, she is shown statues of the Magistrates of Hell, who were once ordinary people but who are now minor gods.
The daughter of one of the diplomats is murdered at her engagement party, and her chosen fiance is the accused killer. His father asks Asher to solve the murder, especially not blaming it on his son. "It must be the Chinese" but "nobody" understands them or why. [But Asher finds a real motive.]
Asher is involved in solving two unrelated mysteries, and suddenly must defend himself against a charge of treason.
These vampires are not at all romantic. They must kill to keep their undeath "alive." If they don't, they begin to lose their ability to mesmerize humans and disguise their actual appearance. It's always interesting to see what an author's version of vampires turns out to be.
Hambly deliberately chose the older version of Chinese names, such as Peking (instead of the modern Beijing), because the story takes place in 1912 when those names were the ones used.
Very much action and misunderstandings. Good series, but begin at the beginning.
November 10, 2020
Set in Peking, 1912, James Asher and his lovely wife, Lydia, are on the trail of dangerous supernatural "others" who prey upon both the living and the undead. Hambly wastes little time getting the action moving - during the opening scene of an engagement party at an embassy, the young bride to be is strangled, seemingly by her beau, the son of one of Asher's old colleagues, Hobart. Don Simon Ysidro is also in attendance at the party, though he mysteriously disappears just before the murder is committed, after James has queried him for just enough information about the others to whet his, and we gentle readers', appetites.
Asher agrees to do what he can to exonerate his old friend's son, Ricky, which turns out to be a minor, and mostly ignored, piece of the plot, wrapped up in a sentence or two at the end of the novel. The backstory to why he was framed for a murder is slightly more integral, but the main story is about how James, Lydia, and assorted unlikely allies band together to eradicate the undead menace before the powerful players in Peking are able to make use of them to gain even more power.
I don't recall Lydia ever displaying any great sense of adventure in earlier stories, so it may be that Hambly is doing a bit of character development with her. When their adversaries attempt to sideline James by accusing him of treason, he fakes his own death, and she is the only soul who knows he is alive. She does a splendid job of acting the bereaved widow, while pressing forward with the investigation on her own.
A good conclusion and a not-unexpected plot twist to wrap up this tale.
Asher agrees to do what he can to exonerate his old friend's son, Ricky, which turns out to be a minor, and mostly ignored, piece of the plot, wrapped up in a sentence or two at the end of the novel. The backstory to why he was framed for a murder is slightly more integral, but the main story is about how James, Lydia, and assorted unlikely allies band together to eradicate the undead menace before the powerful players in Peking are able to make use of them to gain even more power.
I don't recall Lydia ever displaying any great sense of adventure in earlier stories, so it may be that Hambly is doing a bit of character development with her. When their adversaries attempt to sideline James by accusing him of treason, he fakes his own death, and she is the only soul who knows he is alive. She does a splendid job of acting the bereaved widow, while pressing forward with the investigation on her own.
A good conclusion and a not-unexpected plot twist to wrap up this tale.
September 14, 2022
Наша улюблена трійця з британської шпигунської родини та древнього готичного вампіра повертається з пригодами! На цей раз їх заносить аж в Китай, часи буремні, початок двадцятого століття, багато всяких заворушень і колоніалізм за рогом чигає, а тут ще місцеві реалії дещо неприємні - так звані Інші, про яких ходять легенди, ніхто їх особливо і не бачив (бо не вижив), але достовірно відомо одне - вони дуже люблять гризти вампірів. Тому дон Сімон теж ведеться обережно, але не те щоб це комусь допомогло. Однак в буквальному сенсі з кущів вискочить японський аташе з мечем наголо, бо в нього особисте і дуже зворушливе, а там виберуться.
Підозрюю, що історичне тло набагато болючіше, ніж я змогла тоді відчитати, а мені знань не вистачає. Але досить жваво, і всі кути в трикутникові розвиваються далі.
Читала колись в російському фанатському перекладі, здається, вже немає його в мережі.
Підозрюю, що історичне тло набагато болючіше, ніж я змогла тоді відчитати, а мені знань не вистачає. Але досить жваво, і всі кути в трикутникові розвиваються далі.
Читала колись в російському фанатському перекладі, здається, вже немає його в мережі.
January 10, 2018
In this interesting and entertaining fourth book of the James Asher/Isidro saga, the two meet in China to deal with a problem they had stumbled across in Prague, The Others. Mindless undead, with no sense of self, The Others are a threat to the secrecy of those who hunt the night and a huge danger to humanity. When a doctor in China writes a journal article chronicling the death of one such creature and an increase in numbers of others of them, James and Isidro head to China to destroy them. Along the way they will battle unexpected dangers, solve a crime and outwit a determined vampire hunter. I love the relationship between Lydia, Asher and Isidro and this is a great addition to the series.
July 17, 2023
Another great book in the Asher series.I was worried there for a while we were going to lose Ysidro in horrible, nasty conditions -comparable with some of the classicdescriptions of hell-Karlebach was a narrowminded character.Hope we won't see any self-appointed Von Helsing characters in the rest of this series.Learned some interesting facts about the Chinese view of hell-or hells-of the period.I enjoyed this book .Only minuspoint;the Lydia character is way too preoccupied about wearing her glasses in polite compagny ;maybe that is one of the reasons she gets kidnapped so bloody often.On to the next..
August 15, 2025
“The Magistrates of Hell” definitely points towards this series becoming one of vampire-themed mystery solving, rather than one that, as the first two books did, uses vampires (and, to be sure, mysteries associated with them) to probe at the nature of humanity. Like the previous book, there’s an exotic location, Beijing; a new and dangerous type of vampire; and several interrelated mysteries that require someone capable of moving between the worlds of human and vampire politics to solve. As I like the characters and enjoy Hambly’s writing, I’m not exactly complaining, but there’s no question but that this book is less interesting than either of the first two were.
January 9, 2019
Great
Hambly is an excellent writer who manages to write fascinating vampire adventure books that are both highly literate and pulpy at the same time- a rare trick indeed. Not to mention that this book, fourth in the Jame Asher Vampire series, as well as the other seven in the series, set in the early twentieth century in various foreign locales, can be read as excellent historical fiction. This one, set in Peking in 1912, gives a great view of Chinese culture at that time as well as British colonialism. Highly recommended.
Hambly is an excellent writer who manages to write fascinating vampire adventure books that are both highly literate and pulpy at the same time- a rare trick indeed. Not to mention that this book, fourth in the Jame Asher Vampire series, as well as the other seven in the series, set in the early twentieth century in various foreign locales, can be read as excellent historical fiction. This one, set in Peking in 1912, gives a great view of Chinese culture at that time as well as British colonialism. Highly recommended.
December 5, 2022
The pain of this book series is that all the efforts to describe a vampire's life as realistically unglamorous, laborious and - let me borrow some purple-prose vocabulary from the author - lugubrious hassle of an existence are negated by the fact that both human female and male leads are in love with the vampire lead. It may or may not have something to do with the fact that all he has been doing past the last three books is saving both humans from mortal dangers 9-to-5, only taking time to feed - unglamorously - or hide from the daylight in that pretty glamorous travelling coffin of his.
October 4, 2021
It felt like a short book, but it was a soft cover edition so I may be judging on weight alone. Anyway, it was compelling. I had trouble putting it down and it's been a long time since that's happened with me and a book.
I also realized it was published the same year as my first book. Of course, she's gone on to write about a dozen more, and that's the difference between a professional and a hobbiest.
I also realized it was published the same year as my first book. Of course, she's gone on to write about a dozen more, and that's the difference between a professional and a hobbiest.
January 21, 2020
3.5
A well crafted adventure set in early 20th century Peking. I just wish I felt that over the course of the series I got to know the main characters more intimately or that their relationship made more of a development. Ms. Hambly seemed to make an attempt at that here, but it fell short for me.
A well crafted adventure set in early 20th century Peking. I just wish I felt that over the course of the series I got to know the main characters more intimately or that their relationship made more of a development. Ms. Hambly seemed to make an attempt at that here, but it fell short for me.
March 15, 2022
excellent series in the supernatural
Barbara Hambly is a fascinating writer with magical, detailed, historical tales. So what if they involve vampires? Another series doesn’t, and all of,her books are worth reading. This one involves ancient and current (ish) Chinese history, with very understanding Englishmen abroad (husband and wife team).
Barbara Hambly is a fascinating writer with magical, detailed, historical tales. So what if they involve vampires? Another series doesn’t, and all of,her books are worth reading. This one involves ancient and current (ish) Chinese history, with very understanding Englishmen abroad (husband and wife team).
June 5, 2022
I hate to say I found this story confusing. The basic story surrounding the Others was interesting, but I found myself lost at times by the many Chinese, Japanese, and European political intrigue and unfamiliar names and terms. As always, the interplay between James and Lydia and Ysidro is well written and at times compelling.
July 20, 2023
I really like the series, and this one did not disappoint. I enjoyed the addition of new monsters for the protagonists to conquer. Having the story set in Peking was a bit of a challenge. Foreign terms and names were hard to follow at times, but the setting and historical detail was well done.
On to book 5!
On to book 5!
May 8, 2022
Another good installment
I had allowed my attention to wander from this series after the so-so book 3 and now I find there are 5 more books! This seems like a return to form to me, and ties up some things which puzzled me in book 3
I had allowed my attention to wander from this series after the so-so book 3 and now I find there are 5 more books! This seems like a return to form to me, and ties up some things which puzzled me in book 3
October 26, 2017
Cool setting: China prior to WWI. I like the strain that James' old mentor Rebbe Karlbach puts on his and Lydia's relationship with Ysidro. Lots of dark, claustrophobic sequences.
November 23, 2017
James Asher and his wife Lydia travel to China to investigate a new variety of vampire. Hambly is masterful at describing the dangers and creatures they encounter. One of my favorite authors.
April 16, 2018
As always, I thouroughly enjoyed this author's writing, the amount of research that goes into her projects and the complex relationships in every book. 4.5 stars.
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