Dark Ages: Assamite

Dark Ages Clan Novels #2

by Stefan Petrucha

The Highest Stakes
For the Children of Haqim, the Middle-Eastern vampires Europeans call Assamites, there can be no more important battle. Christian crusaders are amassed in Constantinople threatening the Muslim Egypt and the Holy Land. Harnessing their zeal is a powerful vampiric Templar who dreams of taking Jerusalem and destroying Clan Assamite.
Standing against him is Amala, a skilled Child of Haqim who finds herself drawn to the Templar and his pronouncements of divine sanction. Can one woman stop a crusade? Does she even want to?
Dark Ages: Assamite continues the epic thirteen part series of Dark Ages Clan Novels, chronicling a vast conflict among the vampires of the Middle Ages. The War of Princes rages.
Dark Ages Clan Novels
This series is an exploration of Cainite intrigue, set in a World of Epic Horror. In the tradition of the Vampire Clan Novel series, each installment focuses on a specific clan and the issues central to it in these fascinating and exciting times.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, World Of Darkness, Vampires, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2002

About the author

Stefan Petrucha (born January 27, 1959) is an American writer for adults and young adults. He has written graphic novels in the The X-Files and Nancy Drew series, as well as science fiction and horror.
Born in the Bronx, he has spent time in the big city and the suburbs, and now lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, fellow writer Sarah Kinney, and their daughters. At times he has been a tech writer, an educational writer, a public relations writer and an editor for trade journals, but his preference is for fiction in all its forms.

Reviews

[Cy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly better than the first book in the series, but it still lacks any sort of true characterization. For a book called "Assamite", it focuses just as much (maybe even more) on characters not from that clan and leaves little room for the titular vampires to be little more than a few character traits.

I also took offense at the love subplot between the main character and Hugh. Just once I'd like a female heroine in a fantasy story to not be defined by the romantic attachments she makes to a man.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

YEAR 1204
Constantinople is burning. European vampires followed the crusade, coming to feed on the Queen of Cities.


Knight Templar Sir Hugh of Clairvaux, Cainite of Clan Ventrue, gifted with the supernatural charisma and presence of his bloodline, prepares carrying the crusade forward into the Holy Land.


For vampire Clan Assamite, which claims the lands of Islam as its own, that is simply not acceptable.

Enter the Assassins!
Exotic beuty Amala, a trained Assamite with a dark past charged with his elimination. Muslim who claims to have converted to Christ is a tempting companion for the Templar and the perfect double agent.
Her retinue: Sihr Haddad, beduin who loathes civilization and skilled blood sorcerer, and the inquisitive vizir Fajr, always starving for knowledge.



Lots of themes in this novel!
The fall from Grace of Sir Hugh, trying to keep on a leash his inner Beast with his Faith, corrupted by an ancient monster inducing him divine visions and dreams during which he quotes the Koran.
Amala finding him so attractive that she can't bring herself to assassinate him while there's a chance he is doing Allah's will (and because of the fact he reminds her of a long time lost lover).
Her conflict with Sihr's and Islam's pressure to destroy the infidel before his cause becomes widespread and he gathers an army.
Christanity against Muslim, East against West, vampiric factions playing politics like chess.
The resulting novel is both complex and rich in character development, but all of them are over shadowed by the Presence of Sir Hugh.

Dulcis in fundo
The ending is just awesome: we have a great surprise twist and a long, brutal and unforgetable duel between the two main characters.

What to say more?
The Dark Ages were never so dark and Stefan Petrucha is a master storyteller.
A must read for medieval, kick-ass heroines, assassins, horror, Rpg gamers and no-sparkly-vampires lovers.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the thirteen book series that begins with the sacking of Constantinople in the spring of 1204. Each book of the series uses a member of each of the thirteen clans, hence the thirteen books, as its protagonist. The first book dealt with a Nosferatu living in Constantinople and this, the second novel, deals with an Assamite (vampires who are adept as stealth and assassination) from Egypt, who happens to be a devout Muslim. Shehas been tasked with preventing the remaining crusaders from continuing into the Muslim territories.
The story revolves around Amala, the Assamite of the title, and her interactions with a Ventrue (charismatic vampire), Sir Hugh of Clairvaux, who is a devout follower of Christ and a member of the Knights Templar. Sir Hugh is having visions of the Blessed Queen (Virgin Mary) that is counseling him to take his retinue, and what ever other followers he can enlist, and continue this Crusade by taking Egypt. With Egypt taken, then it should follow that the Holy Land will fall easily as it will be cut off from a major supplier and shipping route. This is the reason why Amala has been sent by her elders, all whom are followers of the Muslim faith, to determine and act on the best method of preventing this incursion into their territory.

As with the first novel, this book is rather surprising in its religious overtones and content. And to further ‘spice the pot’ the author has thrown in the Muslim faith. I am impressed that the author, who I know not if he is Muslim himself, did an admirable job of representing the Muslim faith in a sincere, realistic and non-offensive manner. Atypical of the current North American world view of Muslims as radical terrorist extremists, the author has presented them as no or less violent or hostile than the Crusaders in the novel. If the author has presented the Muslim faith accurately, this book has been very enlightening into explaining various aspects of that faith.

One of the key concepts of this book seems to be that of religious truth and opposing dogmas. For there is a key scene in the book where a puppet master of the events is revealing the ‘truth’ by espousing quotes from various religious texts (Qu’ran, Siddhartha Gautama, Talmud, Bhagavad Gita) with the intent of showing that all are worthless when contrasted against each other. This concept if furthered in the book with various moments of the main and lesser characters having ‘crises of faith’.

Another literary technique applied in this book is that of the framing sequence. The book starts in the present day with an Assamite vampire trying to convince a human woman to perform some task that will prove both her worthy and desiring to be embraced (made a vampire herself). This happens as a conversation in the back of a University classroom in Turkey, where the professor is leading a detailed lecture on the Fourth Crusade. This sequence makes a few appearances throughout the book and again as its end. This is a neat idea as I think it being used to show that even though 800 years of time has passed, the questions, concerns, beliefs and actions of the people then are really the same as they are today. Which is one of the key fallacies of man, that because we have more knowledge and technology, that we are somehow more civilized and superior to our historical predecessors?

All in all a worthwhile read that can easily be recommended to either a reader of horror who is interested in history or to a player of Vampire who is interested in a fictional tale along the lines of the game. However, I must again caution that because the protagonists are vampires, it in no way de-vilifies them and as such this isn’t a book for those looking for heroes without morale ambiguity.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good plot twists!
The book is good. I like the scene with the Lamia and the codex. First, this bitch ate her own fingers. Then she puts vampires in torpor by showing them a whole new world. Bitches be crazy, am I right?

4 stars, because slow start but very gripping ending.

[Marcin Wronikowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marginally better than the first book in the series. At least no one is feeling constantly sorry for themselves in this one. However, the plot is slow and plodding. The characters barely have personality to their names. Modern day segments feel tacked on because they have no bearing on the main narrative of the novel. The main story goes absolutely nowhere for the first 80% of the page count and then suddenly everyone starts to act out of character, which suggests to me that the author ran out of ideas and just sprinted to finish the book. Another massive disappointment overall.

[LEGO Yoda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just didn't find this one as engaging as the one before. The characters aren't anywhere near as interesting imo except Hugh whose monologues and general characterization take the spotlight here.

This one is more on the frontlines of the Fourth Crusade, which is pretty interesting, but not as interesting to me as the fall of Constantinople in the previous one.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vampire assassins during a failed crusade

There's a lot to like about this book. The dual past/present storytelling adds a bit of complexity as well as a different way to read the events of the book. The characters are also really interesting.

[MrBearmouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is stunningly good and so far is the best out of the Dark Ages series.

I expected a regular, non-special adventure but instead I got a deep and well thought out story. It focuses on an Assamite warrior sent to scout and possibly stop a Christian crusade led by western vampires, particularly its Ventrue leader.
The themes of love, duty and faith all clash in this book, bringing the undead characters to "life" and making the story gripping and believable at the same time. In a Vampire the Masquerade fashion the novel portraits the Assamites in a way humans understand and can sympathize with - as creatures sometimes unsure, confused, prone to error or blinded by love or admiration. But at the same time, as a clan very deadly, mystical and wise with clear ties to the legacy of an advanced Persian empire.
The view from the Assamite perspective is neatly done, making you think twice about who is the real oppressor, who are the good guys, who the bad and even if this classification makes any sense in the first place.

This novel has everything that it needs to have. Great cast of characters that develop throughout their journeys, atmosphere worthy of an Vampire setting and tense and culminating plot line keeping you on the edge of your seat - all in a not too long book that is easy to devour.

[Anders Haywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly insightful look into the Assamites.

This was a really excellent book! It primarily follows an Assamite and her companions as they seek to destroy or subsume a Templar before he can lead a new crusade.
I won't spoil any of the plot, but the thing I liked the most was seeing things from the Assamite's p.o.v as she struggled to balance her faith, her feelings and the implacable orders of her clan leaders. This lead for a fascinating journey with some great character development from several of the people we meet in this book.
The only reason I deducted a point was because of the somewhat heinous editing. Many mistakes could have been easily found with spell check and it just wasn't good enough.
The actual story, however was fantastic!

[E J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excellent. A bit better than Nosferatu.

The idiot reviewer complaining about Amala being another fictional woman having romantic involvement as a central plot point for her character needs to lighten up. You weren't happy that she totally wipes the floor with her so-called romantic interest's ass, and only after finding out the spiritual - and hence, deeply personal - bond they shared was false only because Hugh's beliefs were implanted in his head by a formidable baddie? And Amala then goes ronin?

"Took offense", indeed. What do you expect from someone with an anime profile pic? Damn weebs.

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Reread 15/7/23

Not as good as I remember, but maybe because I wasn't in the mood for florid and gothic prose. Bumped down from 4 to 2 stars.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read. I enjoyed the story told. Very good work and a good follow up to Nosferatu.