Dark Ages: Toreador

Dark Ages Clan Novels #9

by Janet Trautvetter

Rosamund of Islington, vampiric ambassador from the Courts of Love, returns to the haven of the German Ventrue Lord Jurgen with harsh tidings. An enraged ancient is in her company and demands shelter at the Ventrue court. Soon he is usurping Jurgen's ambitions to conquer Livonia and to make Rosamund his queen. Can the Toreador ambassador negotiate the troubled waters between these warring lords, or will her own passions doom her?

Genres: World Of Darkness, Vampires, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Historical Fiction, Role Playing Games

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2003

Reviews

[Marcin Wronikowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a novel. It's a South American telenovela in book form. There is no plot - just a string of set pieces interspersed with travesties committed by Alexander - the deposed prince of Paris. The book is written competently, I cannot fault the author's style, but there just isn't any meaningful content; just pages upon pages of melodrama with the occasional bit of Alexander's depravity. It all feels like a setup volume for things to come.

The book follows Rosamund of Islington, the Toreador ambassador to the court of Paris introduced in the "Brujah" book, who for some inexplicable reason decided to accompany Alexander into his exile, ending up a slave to his petulant, childish whims and bringing doom on everyone close to her as a result because like all abusive and controlling boyfriends he seeks to isolate her from anybody sympathetic to her.

I must say, I haven't felt such loathing for a character in a book since I read Stephen King's "The Green Mile". I must applaud the author for making Alexander such a despicable creature, but it comes with multiple caveats that are required to keep the book together. Early on, Rosamund says or thinks that she cannot leave Alexander, much as she would like to, because he's just too powerful and he would have many means of tracking her down. This makes no sense. Alexander is in exile, incapable of finding support anywhere and on his way to Germany because only a distant prince has agreed to take him in. He barely has any people with him, so Rosamund could easily escape with her brother and her servants and leave Alexander high and dry.

Secondly, the plot armour and plot convenience surrounding Alexander are just too much sometimes. How is the reader supposed to believe that this master manipulator and old vampire who can overrule others' will through his age alone was so easily deposed from his throne in Paris? In this book, he does whatever he likes. He successfully blackmails, brainwashes, gaslights, manipulates, murders, and abuses people around him, committing multiple violations of Cainite laws and taking advantage of vague privileges due to his clan just to have his way and everyone around can only nod and meekly obey. How did he even get deposed by a younger vampire when he supposedly has so much power? Oh, I get it. Alexander is just a two thousand years old bully who can only win over those who are much weaker than him.

There are multiple plots in this book, again, that go nowhere and are abandoned without any resolution, which was disappointing because some of them were quite interesting. Malachite makes a couple of inconsequential appearances only to vanish again just to add to the mysticism. Consequently, parts of the book are revealed to just serve as padding the page count. It's unfortunate that for all the stylistic competence of the writer, the book ends up being just a slow-moving intermission without much character development or anything exciting happening. With the focus on Alexander and Jurgen - the prince of Magdeburg sheltering Alexander - the book should have been subtitled "Ventrue" because it shows much more of what makes that clan than it does Toreadors.

[E J · Rating 4 out of 5]

After two chapters in, I already know I'm not going to enjoy it as much as the previous novel, Brujah. The author of that novel had such a talent for presence and depth, in character and environment, that reading Trautvetter's considerably more functional prose is jarring. While there's still a good measure of introspection from the signature character and dialogue between characters that has my attention engaged, my impression of this book so far is that it is lesser than my current favourites, Assamite, Brujah and Nosferatu (in that order).

Also, Rosamund seems to be a bit of weakling; too heavily burdened by conflicting obligations between Alexander, Josselin and her links with the Courts of Love. Gothic sensibilities really are a bit of a boner kill, sometimes.

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Finished. A better ending than I had anticipated. Some reading of "Under the Black Cross" would help.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The clan of the roses returns

Toreadors are fascinating. They're artists, performers, actors, spies, etc. They also usually find ways to cause, influence, or break up conflict. While this novel only covers some aspects of what makes the clan special, the medieval setting is interesting.

[Jim Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting series overall, but the 13 volumes should be read in order, since there is an underlying story that is developed and several characters featured in the earlier books reappear later in the series. This book was well written and the interaction between the main characters was believable, but the plot centered more on court intrigue, and there was less action than in most of the other volumes. It serves as more of a setup for the remaining 4 volumes, in which the major players begin to interact more directly and the various subplots will be integrated into the resolution of the main storyline. Viewed as a whole, the concept is interesting and well thought out by the various authors. I plan eventually finish the entire after taking a rest from it for awhile. If you find the Twilight series juvenile and boring, give this series a try.