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Saint-Germain #4
Path of the Eclipse
The mysterious and seductive hero Ragoczy Saint-Germain is torn between the love of a Chinese woman warlord and a voluptuous Indian princess in this historical horror novel set in the Far East
467 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
10 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
259 books475 followersA professional writer for more than forty years, Yarbro has sold over eighty books, more than seventy works of short fiction, and more than three dozen essays, introductions, and reviews. She also composes serious music. Her first professional writing - in 1961-1962 - was as a playwright for a now long-defunct children's theater company. By the mid-60s she had switched to writing stories and hasn't stopped yet.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 17, 2017
This installment of the Saint-Germain chronicles didn’t quite hit the spot for me—it seemed to cover a lot of ground (literally), a lot of tragedy, and did it all without much point. It wouldn’t have taken much to push it into 4 star territory, just a bit more focus. As it stands, this book felt to me very much like two excuses to push Saint-Germain into a Chinese and an Indian woman’s beds, and little else.
I can certainly see why female readers find Saint-Germain a sympathetic character—age doesn’t mean much to him, considering how old he is, so even we older readers can envisage ourselves as possible love interests for this enigmatic vampire. Plus, as the Indian woman, Padmiri, discovers, he is all about female sexual satisfaction. She describes a subsequent lover as willing to get her aroused because he knows that it will benefit him, but her arousal & satisfaction are not truly that man’s focus.
Two enormous, diverse countries are explored in this novel and both got short shrift. When the story begins, Saint-Germain has already been in China for some time, long enough for a university to decide that they would like him to leave. At no point is the reader told why Saint-Germain chose China or what he was trying to accomplish there. India is just a way-station on his travels “home,” and the potential for interesting adventures is hemmed in by the rather histrionic plot in which a young priestess of Kali attempts to capture & use Saint-Germain as a sacrifice to her goddess.
For me, the most engaging and interesting part of the book took place as Saint-Germain and Roger over-winter in a Buddhist monastery and get to know the nine-year-old lama in charge of the lamasery. It is a small section, disappointingly quick to pass.
What should have been a more pressing problem—Saint-Germain is running out of his supply of his native earth—doesn’t get nearly the attention that it should. Especially since he and running water don’t get along and he will need to put to sea to get home. Another irritant (for me), was a series of letters from two Nestorian Christians travelling in China, but who remained completely unexplained. It is not until the very end of the book that the survivor of the pair crosses Saint-Germain’s path and I assume that it is a set-up for another volume.
Still, despite my criticisms, I enjoyed this fluffy little fantasy tale and I will definitely continue on with the series.
I can certainly see why female readers find Saint-Germain a sympathetic character—age doesn’t mean much to him, considering how old he is, so even we older readers can envisage ourselves as possible love interests for this enigmatic vampire. Plus, as the Indian woman, Padmiri, discovers, he is all about female sexual satisfaction. She describes a subsequent lover as willing to get her aroused because he knows that it will benefit him, but her arousal & satisfaction are not truly that man’s focus.
Two enormous, diverse countries are explored in this novel and both got short shrift. When the story begins, Saint-Germain has already been in China for some time, long enough for a university to decide that they would like him to leave. At no point is the reader told why Saint-Germain chose China or what he was trying to accomplish there. India is just a way-station on his travels “home,” and the potential for interesting adventures is hemmed in by the rather histrionic plot in which a young priestess of Kali attempts to capture & use Saint-Germain as a sacrifice to her goddess.
For me, the most engaging and interesting part of the book took place as Saint-Germain and Roger over-winter in a Buddhist monastery and get to know the nine-year-old lama in charge of the lamasery. It is a small section, disappointingly quick to pass.
What should have been a more pressing problem—Saint-Germain is running out of his supply of his native earth—doesn’t get nearly the attention that it should. Especially since he and running water don’t get along and he will need to put to sea to get home. Another irritant (for me), was a series of letters from two Nestorian Christians travelling in China, but who remained completely unexplained. It is not until the very end of the book that the survivor of the pair crosses Saint-Germain’s path and I assume that it is a set-up for another volume.
Still, despite my criticisms, I enjoyed this fluffy little fantasy tale and I will definitely continue on with the series.
March 11, 2009
3.5 stars. This teeters on the edge of being a really good book, but then I'm a sucker for a lonely, brooding, good-guy vampire. It has elements of romance and the supernatural, but mostly it's historical fiction. Saint-Germain's supernatural characteristics are very low-key.
This is the second of these books I've read; one of the earlier ones. There are more than two dozen of them, set in various places and times throughout history. Saint-Germain is ancient (more than 3000 years old in this book) and apparently spends his long life wandering all over the world trying (and mostly failing) to live in peace and avoid being hunted down as a vampire.
In this book he is living in early 13th century China, which is in the process of being overrun by the Mongol horde. (I think next I will read the one where he's in Nazi Germany.) The historical setting was very interesting, although I don't know enough about Chinese history to be able to gauge the accuracy of the details.
The writing is admittedly melodramatic but I enjoyed everything except the interminable letters. Every single chapter begins with the text of a letter from or about our characters, often intended to show the passage of time. Many of the letters are long and tedious, and they're printed in italicized text which is annoying to read in large chunks.
This is the second of these books I've read; one of the earlier ones. There are more than two dozen of them, set in various places and times throughout history. Saint-Germain is ancient (more than 3000 years old in this book) and apparently spends his long life wandering all over the world trying (and mostly failing) to live in peace and avoid being hunted down as a vampire.
In this book he is living in early 13th century China, which is in the process of being overrun by the Mongol horde. (I think next I will read the one where he's in Nazi Germany.) The historical setting was very interesting, although I don't know enough about Chinese history to be able to gauge the accuracy of the details.
The writing is admittedly melodramatic but I enjoyed everything except the interminable letters. Every single chapter begins with the text of a letter from or about our characters, often intended to show the passage of time. Many of the letters are long and tedious, and they're printed in italicized text which is annoying to read in large chunks.
December 29, 2012
I really could not get into this one, which is too bad because I was really looking forward to exploring China and (what is now) India. However, time seemed very compressed (Saint Germain mentions being somewhere for six months....I seriously thought it had been about six days), and because of that, the relationships he builds with the various characters seemed forced and shallow. Not to mention there was simply too much going on in the book, and I very quickly drifted into "I really don't care" land about all of them.
Here's hoping the next one is better.
Here's hoping the next one is better.
December 16, 2020
Somehow, although this fourth book is the first not to center around a single location, and there's plenty of blood and guts to go around, this one seems to be the slowest and least dramatic so far. Saint-Germain is nearly killed by the Mongols and almost sacrificed to Kali, but at no time was I truly concerned about his welfare.
As you may have already guessed, the location of this novel is the eastern half of Asia. Two cities in China, a monastery in Nepal, and a Raj somewhere in modern India (or perhaps Bangladesh). And no matter where he travels, there is always the shadow of Jenghiz Khan, who captures Pei-King (Beijing) just as the book begins, and is still a force to be reckoned with by the Sultanate of Delhi by books end.
Saint-Germain is known in China as Shih Ghieh-Man, which apparently translates as something like "Beautiful and Courageous Magician". He has been teaching at the University in Lo-Yang when the capture of Pei-King makes the Chinese authorities suspicious of all foreigners. The Warlord T'en Chih-Yu, scion of a distinguished family, but who has the misfortune to have been born a woman, has come to Lo-Yang to beg for additional troops for her stronghold at Mao-T'ou but is rebuffed. A professor at the University suggests to her that Shih Ghieh-Man (who has just been informed that his services as an instructor will no longer be required), who is an Alchemist might be able to assist her with strengthening the defenses.
Needless to say, the Mongols overrun Mao-T'ou, and apparently only Saint-Germain and Roger escape. The make their way west to a lamasery of a faction known as the "Yellow Hats", where the (9-year-old) Master and Saint-Germain become friends, having many philosophical discussions where each teaches the other.
Continuing westward, they find out that the Silk Road has been cut by the Mongols, and the Mongols are now ravaging Persia. They stop in Natha Suryarathas, ruled by Rajah Dantinusha. Political intrigues and the expanding Sultanate of Delhi have reduced Natha Suryarathas to paying tribute to the Sultan. It is clear that Saint-Germain will be balked from continuing West by the tensions between the Sultan and the Rajah, while the Mongols continue their conquest of Persia.
The above will indicate the expanse of territory covered in this book, and the timeline is difficult to figure since there are several dating systems cited (including regnal dating in the Raj). But letters from a Nestorian Christian date the tale from AD 1217 - 1218
Due to the constant travel between countries, letters are not always an indication of the full duration of the novel
Chinese reckoning: Day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Year of the Rat, 13th year of the 65th cycle - Fortnight of the Bright Frosts, Year of the Tiger, 15th year of the 65th cycle.
Nepalese regnal reckoning: 18th year of the King's reign
Rajah Dantinusha regnal reckoning: 19th-21st (and Last) year of his reign
Rani Tamasrajasi regnal reckoning: 1st (and only) year of her reign.
AH reckoning: 595th-597th year after the Hejira
Sultan Shams-ud-din Iletmish regnal dating: 7th-9th year of his reign*
*a later message written by Saint-Germain is dated the 8th year of his reign, but Saint-Germain probably had other things on his mind.
As you may have already guessed, the location of this novel is the eastern half of Asia. Two cities in China, a monastery in Nepal, and a Raj somewhere in modern India (or perhaps Bangladesh). And no matter where he travels, there is always the shadow of Jenghiz Khan, who captures Pei-King (Beijing) just as the book begins, and is still a force to be reckoned with by the Sultanate of Delhi by books end.
Saint-Germain is known in China as Shih Ghieh-Man, which apparently translates as something like "Beautiful and Courageous Magician". He has been teaching at the University in Lo-Yang when the capture of Pei-King makes the Chinese authorities suspicious of all foreigners. The Warlord T'en Chih-Yu, scion of a distinguished family, but who has the misfortune to have been born a woman, has come to Lo-Yang to beg for additional troops for her stronghold at Mao-T'ou but is rebuffed. A professor at the University suggests to her that Shih Ghieh-Man (who has just been informed that his services as an instructor will no longer be required), who is an Alchemist might be able to assist her with strengthening the defenses.
Needless to say, the Mongols overrun Mao-T'ou, and apparently only Saint-Germain and Roger escape. The make their way west to a lamasery of a faction known as the "Yellow Hats", where the (9-year-old) Master and Saint-Germain become friends, having many philosophical discussions where each teaches the other.
Continuing westward, they find out that the Silk Road has been cut by the Mongols, and the Mongols are now ravaging Persia. They stop in Natha Suryarathas, ruled by Rajah Dantinusha. Political intrigues and the expanding Sultanate of Delhi have reduced Natha Suryarathas to paying tribute to the Sultan. It is clear that Saint-Germain will be balked from continuing West by the tensions between the Sultan and the Rajah, while the Mongols continue their conquest of Persia.
The above will indicate the expanse of territory covered in this book, and the timeline is difficult to figure since there are several dating systems cited (including regnal dating in the Raj). But letters from a Nestorian Christian date the tale from AD 1217 - 1218
Due to the constant travel between countries, letters are not always an indication of the full duration of the novel
Chinese reckoning: Day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Year of the Rat, 13th year of the 65th cycle - Fortnight of the Bright Frosts, Year of the Tiger, 15th year of the 65th cycle.
Nepalese regnal reckoning: 18th year of the King's reign
Rajah Dantinusha regnal reckoning: 19th-21st (and Last) year of his reign
Rani Tamasrajasi regnal reckoning: 1st (and only) year of her reign.
AH reckoning: 595th-597th year after the Hejira
Sultan Shams-ud-din Iletmish regnal dating: 7th-9th year of his reign*
*a later message written by Saint-Germain is dated the 8th year of his reign, but Saint-Germain probably had other things on his mind.
August 10, 2024
I bought my copy of Path of the Eclipse in 1993, have read it several times, and reread it last week. I have always enjoyed the novel for its vivid historical settings. In the 12th century St Germain is living quietly in Lo-Yang, in China, pursuing scholarship and a quiet life. He is forced to leave due to inroads by the Mongols and finds sanctuary with the warlord T’en Chih-Yü, who employs his alchemical and engineering skills to strengthen her fortress against the Mongols. Tragically, St. Germain has to leave as the Mongols chew away at the borders of the Empire.
His road back to the West leads through Tibet, and from Tibet to India where he stays for a time in a Hindu princely state engaged in ongoing conflicts with the Delhi Sultanate. I always enjoy it because I am Indian and CQY for the most part got her research on the Indian princely states at the time of the Delhi Sultanate, right. I have family connections to several of the former Maharajahs of India.
In 1981, when the book came out, there was very little information on India easily available in the US outside university libraries. After 43 years in the US, I still think that Americans in general know little or nothing about India other than the Taj Mahal, Rajasthan, and crap about the Beatles and the Maharishi, which were jokes in the Indian community when I was growing up. With Kamala Harris as the Democratic Presidential nominee, this needs fixing.
I grew up in London, and my Dad owned a large collection of books on India, which I have added to, but until the early ~ 2000s, these were all published in India or the UK. The best collection I know of in the US is the Allen Library at Penn. So CQY deserves credit for the detailed picture of medieval India that she created. Saint-Germain apparently speaks some Tamil!! How wonderful! So do I!!
While I started my review with the third section of the novel, I feel that the same applies to the sections set in China and Tibet. They brought vividly to mind Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee novels, set in T'ang Dynasty China, and I had something of the same feeling of a highly sophisticated urban culture centuries ahead of the West. "Path of the Eclipse" indeed-a long journey through 2 highly civilized empires devastated by barbarians. Reading about this period always makes my heart bleed.
His road back to the West leads through Tibet, and from Tibet to India where he stays for a time in a Hindu princely state engaged in ongoing conflicts with the Delhi Sultanate. I always enjoy it because I am Indian and CQY for the most part got her research on the Indian princely states at the time of the Delhi Sultanate, right. I have family connections to several of the former Maharajahs of India.
In 1981, when the book came out, there was very little information on India easily available in the US outside university libraries. After 43 years in the US, I still think that Americans in general know little or nothing about India other than the Taj Mahal, Rajasthan, and crap about the Beatles and the Maharishi, which were jokes in the Indian community when I was growing up. With Kamala Harris as the Democratic Presidential nominee, this needs fixing.
I grew up in London, and my Dad owned a large collection of books on India, which I have added to, but until the early ~ 2000s, these were all published in India or the UK. The best collection I know of in the US is the Allen Library at Penn. So CQY deserves credit for the detailed picture of medieval India that she created. Saint-Germain apparently speaks some Tamil!! How wonderful! So do I!!
While I started my review with the third section of the novel, I feel that the same applies to the sections set in China and Tibet. They brought vividly to mind Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee novels, set in T'ang Dynasty China, and I had something of the same feeling of a highly sophisticated urban culture centuries ahead of the West. "Path of the Eclipse" indeed-a long journey through 2 highly civilized empires devastated by barbarians. Reading about this period always makes my heart bleed.
August 1, 2021
Here we are, another St. Germain book.
This one is ambitious and covers a lot of ground, both historically and geographically, as well as in the context of moving the saga along.
However, it had a number of irritants which slowed the gears down.
Spelling, for one. I realize this was pre-internet, but there is no reason on Earth not to use the word "Genghis".
Additionally, since the languages involved in much of the book, if written, would be using kanji, or symbols/images, not letters, to represent words, there is no reason to take a place name like (example only) Chicago and turn it into Shee-Kah-Goh throughout the entire book just to make it clear that it is an ancient pronunciation or accent. Goodness gracious.
I will also say that for the first time, I had to laugh out loud at some choreography on page 69, which was the result of no one on the editing and proofing team really having much experience with mounting horses. I really laughed.
Usually choreography breaks down to nonsense in the bedroom, but this was a surprise. Have fun with that.
By this point in the books, a clear pattern is evolving which a person is either going to accept or be bored with. I am accepting because the historical trivia is good, and the situations remain complex and intriguing. Plus, strong vocabulary.
Binge reading is a good way to deal with stress while moving around a lot.
This one is ambitious and covers a lot of ground, both historically and geographically, as well as in the context of moving the saga along.
However, it had a number of irritants which slowed the gears down.
Spelling, for one. I realize this was pre-internet, but there is no reason on Earth not to use the word "Genghis".
Additionally, since the languages involved in much of the book, if written, would be using kanji, or symbols/images, not letters, to represent words, there is no reason to take a place name like (example only) Chicago and turn it into Shee-Kah-Goh throughout the entire book just to make it clear that it is an ancient pronunciation or accent. Goodness gracious.
I will also say that for the first time, I had to laugh out loud at some choreography on page 69, which was the result of no one on the editing and proofing team really having much experience with mounting horses. I really laughed.
Usually choreography breaks down to nonsense in the bedroom, but this was a surprise. Have fun with that.
By this point in the books, a clear pattern is evolving which a person is either going to accept or be bored with. I am accepting because the historical trivia is good, and the situations remain complex and intriguing. Plus, strong vocabulary.
Binge reading is a good way to deal with stress while moving around a lot.
May 23, 2025
It's 1200 AD and St. Germaine has chosen interesting times to go on an oriental vacation. He just so happens to be living in China when the Mongol hordes under Temujin begin their attack. He does what little he can but soon has to depart, planning to return to his ancestral homeland of Transylvania.
St. Germaine goes to Tibet, meets a Samurai and the Dalai Lama, and makes his way into India. Things aren't much better there, as the Muslims are in the process of conquering the Hindu Rajas. He is strongly encouraged to stay in the kingdom of a particular Raja, where he meets the Raj's sister. He also meets with Thuggis, scorpions, and eunuchs.
As usual, St. Germaine is present but not much participating in the action of the story. Many things happen around him, he spends his time making gold. Literally making gold. But it's a well researched story in an exotic setting with interesting characters and always the looming threat of Genghis Khan on the horizon.
St. Germaine goes to Tibet, meets a Samurai and the Dalai Lama, and makes his way into India. Things aren't much better there, as the Muslims are in the process of conquering the Hindu Rajas. He is strongly encouraged to stay in the kingdom of a particular Raja, where he meets the Raj's sister. He also meets with Thuggis, scorpions, and eunuchs.
As usual, St. Germaine is present but not much participating in the action of the story. Many things happen around him, he spends his time making gold. Literally making gold. But it's a well researched story in an exotic setting with interesting characters and always the looming threat of Genghis Khan on the horizon.
August 10, 2020
Written before the "Interview with a Vampire" and the "Twilight Saga," the Saint Germain Chronicles intertwine layers of rich, well researched history with Yarbro's intelligent, enigmatic, and charming vampire hero. Yarbro challenges the reader to see the darker side of humanity through history against the often compassionate, but monsterous vampire St. Germain as he constantly rebuilds his identity over the years and around the globe. These books do contain sexual situations, violence, and horror and are not recommended for adolescent readers.
July 12, 2018
A fascinating (and depressing) look at the impact of Genghis on China and the Sultanate in India. Gosh what shit lives everyone especially the women had, poor Saint Germaine and his love as thou wilt philosophy can't catch a break. No wonder there aren't many female vampires.
April 8, 2020
Definitely not top of the line for this series. It reads more as a how-to for sex than a tale of the tragic and beleaguered St-Germain that has populated the pages of previous stories
January 13, 2011
This series is about St. Germain, who is a vampire who has lived for centuries, and witnessed many historic events. In this, the 4th book in the series, he falls in love with a warrior princess in 12th Century China, flees heartbreak and Ghengis Khan's Mongol hordes, befriends a child god in the mountain kingdom of Tu Bo Te, and may finally lose his life at the hands of a bloodthirsty Maharani who is a devotee of the goddess of Kali, the goddess of both fertility and destruction.
I loved this book! I admit, that when I first was offered this book from Bookcrossing, I accepted with some trepidation, since I am so not into the current vampire craze. However, it was so well-written, and the historical aspect blew me away! The vampirism didn't get in the way of a great story at all, and was only one aspect of a character that was also really well-written. One of my favorite historical subjects is that of the exploration of the Silk Road, which is what caught my interest in the first place. That aspect of the book was extremely satisfying, but there was so much more I enjoyed as well, that I definitely plan to read more in this series! This book was so terrific, that it pulled my out of a New Year's reading slump!
I loved this book! I admit, that when I first was offered this book from Bookcrossing, I accepted with some trepidation, since I am so not into the current vampire craze. However, it was so well-written, and the historical aspect blew me away! The vampirism didn't get in the way of a great story at all, and was only one aspect of a character that was also really well-written. One of my favorite historical subjects is that of the exploration of the Silk Road, which is what caught my interest in the first place. That aspect of the book was extremely satisfying, but there was so much more I enjoyed as well, that I definitely plan to read more in this series! This book was so terrific, that it pulled my out of a New Year's reading slump!
February 19, 2011
#4 Saint Germain - Vampire/Historical Fiction
Much more historical fiction than vampire story, this book covers the 13th centure time period in Saint Germain very very long life. From China, he must flee Genghis Khan.
I do enjoy the meticulous historical details, but this was such a bloody period in the world's history -- wars between religions, border wars ... it was a bit much.
I skipped #3 Blood games (set in early Roman times) because the book sounded to violent. Will continue reading this very long-running series.
Much more historical fiction than vampire story, this book covers the 13th centure time period in Saint Germain very very long life. From China, he must flee Genghis Khan.
I do enjoy the meticulous historical details, but this was such a bloody period in the world's history -- wars between religions, border wars ... it was a bit much.
I skipped #3 Blood games (set in early Roman times) because the book sounded to violent. Will continue reading this very long-running series.
May 26, 2013
The Count’s Asian adventure as it where. If you enjoyed Better in the Dark, you will most likely enjoy this chronicle of the Count’s life for the character of T’en is very much like Rangaude. The book finds the Count traveling though the Far East and even into India where we are introduced to Padremi, a slight variation of the Count’s normal women, being older than the average. It is here also that the reader sees the Count drawn to the outsiders, those at the margins of society.
August 18, 2011
The forth novel about the vampire Count De Saint-Germain an his servant Rogerio. In this one he travels through thirteenth-century China, where he battles Genghis Khan and the Mongol hordes. Then through Tibet where he stays a while in a lamasery. [return][return]The vampire stuff isn't really horrific, but the historically accurate battle stuff is.
August 9, 2012
Very good detail and description of China in the 13th century during the invasion of Ghengis Khan's Mongols. The main character, a European civilized vampire, is both odd and interesting. In my opinion, the book's main flaw is that the story could be better structured.
September 19, 2008
Set in Medieaval China and India, and gives a bit of insight into Saint-Germain's history
December 3, 2008
Excellent.
June 15, 2009
Begins in China at the time of the Mongol invasions, continues through Tibet and into India. One of the best.
July 14, 2015
The cover artist has clearly never read this book.
January 24, 2015
I have to admit I love these books. Well-researched history plus a supernatural element... count me in!
February 11, 2015
Liked vampire series!
August 31, 2016
A good read!!!
June 22, 2022
I love this series but this is a weak entry imo. It felt like 3 or 4 different unrelated stories.
Read
December 28, 2008nice fluff reading...enjoyed this series many years ago.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews