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James Asher #6
Darkness on His Bones
Simon. Something frightful has happened to Jamie. Please come...
When James Asher is found unconscious in the cemetery of the Church of St. Clare Pieds-Nus with multiple puncture-wounds in his throat and arms, his wife, Lydia, knows of only one person to call: the vampire Don Simon Ysidro. Old friend and old adversary, he is the only one who can help Lydia protect her unconscious, fevered husband from the vampires of Paris.
Why James has been attacked - and why he was called to Paris in the first place - Lydia has no idea. But she knows that she must find out, and quickly. For with James wavering between life and death, and war descending on the world, their slim chance of saving themselves from the vampires grows slimmer with each passing day...
When James Asher is found unconscious in the cemetery of the Church of St. Clare Pieds-Nus with multiple puncture-wounds in his throat and arms, his wife, Lydia, knows of only one person to call: the vampire Don Simon Ysidro. Old friend and old adversary, he is the only one who can help Lydia protect her unconscious, fevered husband from the vampires of Paris.
Why James has been attacked - and why he was called to Paris in the first place - Lydia has no idea. But she knows that she must find out, and quickly. For with James wavering between life and death, and war descending on the world, their slim chance of saving themselves from the vampires grows slimmer with each passing day...
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2015
27 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
204 books1,580 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 47 reviews
February 8, 2019
In this 6th volume of the series, Lydia Asher is in Paris at the hospital bedside of her husband James who is a coma following a fall from a church tower - except that to her and her vampire friend, Don Simon Ysidro, to whom she turns for help, he bears the marks of a vampire attack. The story then follows her attempts with Simon's help to find out what James was doing in Paris and why he has been attacked, while he lies too ill to move and various enemies close in along with the German guns, WWI having broken out. The story is fairly convoluted following the twin machinations of Germans who want to use vampires as a weapon of war, the attempts by various groups to locate a fabled vampire artefact, and the threat by hostile vampires to finish off James. Meanwhile James is having dreams in which he is an onlooker on events in Simon's life in 17th century Paris which have a bearing on the current crisis.
I think this book would have worked much better if it had been a spinoff from the series and dealt with Simon's life in the past from his point of view rather than James Asher's. He is by far the most interesting character in this series and it becomes a bit tiresome to have the reiterated dilema of the Ashers spelled out - that vampires are evil, that James has now turned to hunting them, and that they should kill Simon but depend on him too much for protection against other vampires. If Simon's interactions in the 17th century with other vampires and the church officials who were manipulating him by holding out hope of his salvation, and his conflict between that and his strong friendship with the then vampire Master of Paris, plus his relationship with his human servant Tim who, like the church, wants him to kill 'heretic' vampires, had been the focus of the story instead of appearing as tantalising snippets I think it would have been absorbing. As it is, to some extent this book goes over well trodden old ground and I find the Ashers increasingly irritating and irrelevant, so for me this was only a 3 star read and I won't be bothering with any more of this series. A pity after the absorbing first two volumes, but too many of them since then have been following a formula and falling flat by failing to deliver on promising beginnings.
I think this book would have worked much better if it had been a spinoff from the series and dealt with Simon's life in the past from his point of view rather than James Asher's. He is by far the most interesting character in this series and it becomes a bit tiresome to have the reiterated dilema of the Ashers spelled out - that vampires are evil, that James has now turned to hunting them, and that they should kill Simon but depend on him too much for protection against other vampires. If Simon's interactions in the 17th century with other vampires and the church officials who were manipulating him by holding out hope of his salvation, and his conflict between that and his strong friendship with the then vampire Master of Paris, plus his relationship with his human servant Tim who, like the church, wants him to kill 'heretic' vampires, had been the focus of the story instead of appearing as tantalising snippets I think it would have been absorbing. As it is, to some extent this book goes over well trodden old ground and I find the Ashers increasingly irritating and irrelevant, so for me this was only a 3 star read and I won't be bothering with any more of this series. A pity after the absorbing first two volumes, but too many of them since then have been following a formula and falling flat by failing to deliver on promising beginnings.
December 31, 2015
This book was amazing. AMAZING. Okay. It's the sixth book in the James Asher series, which are about spies and vampires in pre-WWI Europe. That might seem like a weird combination, but it actually works quite well; the vampires are repeatedly positioned as a type of weapon, an amoral killing force that various governments seek to control as part of their efforts to gain any advantage over one another. The parallel to actual weapons, both then (mustard gas, long-range guns, tanks) and now (atomic weapons) is obvious and well-handled.
However, Darkness on His Bones has now become by far my favorite book in this series. Which is quite a feat, as it's got a really weird premise. James Asher is found in Paris in a coma, having suffered serious head injuries; he remembers nothing of the previous months, not why he came to Paris nor what he'd done since arriving. Lydia, his wife, comes to Paris to help him, and she calls on Don Simon Ysidro, a vampire and their sometime-ally, to protect her and James from the Paris vampires, who probably were the ones who injured James. While the three of them attempt to figure out what James had been doing, World War I is declared and the Germans gradually come closer and closer to Paris, forcing them to race against the clock, needing to flee before Paris itself is bombed while also needing to wait until James is well enough to be moved. A great deal of the book takes place in dreams, mostly James's during his coma and in his subsequent sickness, which are full of half-remembered memories, both James's of recent events and of his childhood and early years as a spy, and Ysidro's, mostly of his experiences in Paris in the early 1600s when he was caught up in the Catholic vs Protestant wars, participation in which he believed might be able save his soul. None of the dreams are entirely trustworthy, and all have that fluid, changeable quality of real world dreams, which gives the whole book a very distinct feel.
The central mystery of what James was doing in Paris is very intriguing and well-done, but what I found even more compelling were the themes: the gradually growing horror of war as it becomes more and more clear that it won't be a short or easy fight, which is a fantastic parallel to the eventual ending of the book, which is super creepy; the possibility of impossible things, which sometimes includes redemption and trust; patriotism and idealism contrasted with the terrible things done in the name of country or God. It's just a great book in all sorts of ways: well-written, well-structured, full of compelling characters. Just, wow. I can't wait to read it again.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
However, Darkness on His Bones has now become by far my favorite book in this series. Which is quite a feat, as it's got a really weird premise. James Asher is found in Paris in a coma, having suffered serious head injuries; he remembers nothing of the previous months, not why he came to Paris nor what he'd done since arriving. Lydia, his wife, comes to Paris to help him, and she calls on Don Simon Ysidro, a vampire and their sometime-ally, to protect her and James from the Paris vampires, who probably were the ones who injured James. While the three of them attempt to figure out what James had been doing, World War I is declared and the Germans gradually come closer and closer to Paris, forcing them to race against the clock, needing to flee before Paris itself is bombed while also needing to wait until James is well enough to be moved. A great deal of the book takes place in dreams, mostly James's during his coma and in his subsequent sickness, which are full of half-remembered memories, both James's of recent events and of his childhood and early years as a spy, and Ysidro's, mostly of his experiences in Paris in the early 1600s when he was caught up in the Catholic vs Protestant wars, participation in which he believed might be able save his soul. None of the dreams are entirely trustworthy, and all have that fluid, changeable quality of real world dreams, which gives the whole book a very distinct feel.
The central mystery of what James was doing in Paris is very intriguing and well-done, but what I found even more compelling were the themes: the gradually growing horror of war as it becomes more and more clear that it won't be a short or easy fight, which is a fantastic parallel to the eventual ending of the book, which is super creepy; the possibility of impossible things, which sometimes includes redemption and trust; patriotism and idealism contrasted with the terrible things done in the name of country or God. It's just a great book in all sorts of ways: well-written, well-structured, full of compelling characters. Just, wow. I can't wait to read it again.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
December 31, 2022
Vampires, the WWI German invasion of France, Gay-then-terrified Paris!
Asher is called to France, then attacked by vampires and left for dead. Lydia comes to his aid, as does Don Simon Ysidro, the vampire.
There are spies, as well as a power struggle among the Paris vampires, and Asher clings to life in an understaffed, unclean hospital, getting sicker... and then things go really bad.
Lots of fun and adventure for the whole gang, again!
Asher is called to France, then attacked by vampires and left for dead. Lydia comes to his aid, as does Don Simon Ysidro, the vampire.
There are spies, as well as a power struggle among the Paris vampires, and Asher clings to life in an understaffed, unclean hospital, getting sicker... and then things go really bad.
Lots of fun and adventure for the whole gang, again!
August 25, 2015
I think this installment harked backward to the very first book in the series, Those Who Hunt the Night; it has a very clean plot, a very small cast, and even brings back two subsidiary characters from that first book. I liked that, and I liked that it's a very bright window on Ysidro's early past. Not to mention that the Object of Power is very 80s, but handled tastefully.
What bothers me is the constant revolution around the two sub-plot points of Lydia being in love with Ysidro (and he with her, in a purely chivalric mode) and Asher wavering between killing him and working with him. It was important when it first came up; Lydia's romantic subplot, which arose in Travelling with the Dead, was amazing. I thought that at the time. It blew life into somewhat stock and two-dimensional characters and it was handled really realistically. You could cast Ysidro as a serial killer and write it exactly the same way; how does a moral person work with/like/love someone who commits reprehensible acts and is never going to stop?
In Ysidro's case of course, he literally can't stop. And it's something that gets glossed over or worked-around in modern vampire tales. I loved that Hambly addressed it and used it to make her characters really live.
But having taken that immense step forward in her second book, Hambly has just kept dancing around it ever since. Book six; Ysidro hasn't changed, we just know a bit more about him. Lydia is still fretting over her love for him, with a degree of repetitiveness that annoys me. After seven years of only sporadic contact, I think the gilt would be off the gingerbread; I can only carry a completely inappropriate torch for so long, myself. And Asher - waffles: 'I ought to kill him, but it's more convenient to work with him. But I ought to kill him. But.' Back and forth. We all know which way it's going to go, so just deal with it.
It's a pity. This is a perfectly respectable fantasy series, but briefly it looked like being something more, very much in the spirit of Hambly's Winterlands series.
What bothers me is the constant revolution around the two sub-plot points of Lydia being in love with Ysidro (and he with her, in a purely chivalric mode) and Asher wavering between killing him and working with him. It was important when it first came up; Lydia's romantic subplot, which arose in Travelling with the Dead, was amazing. I thought that at the time. It blew life into somewhat stock and two-dimensional characters and it was handled really realistically. You could cast Ysidro as a serial killer and write it exactly the same way; how does a moral person work with/like/love someone who commits reprehensible acts and is never going to stop?
In Ysidro's case of course, he literally can't stop. And it's something that gets glossed over or worked-around in modern vampire tales. I loved that Hambly addressed it and used it to make her characters really live.
But having taken that immense step forward in her second book, Hambly has just kept dancing around it ever since. Book six; Ysidro hasn't changed, we just know a bit more about him. Lydia is still fretting over her love for him, with a degree of repetitiveness that annoys me. After seven years of only sporadic contact, I think the gilt would be off the gingerbread; I can only carry a completely inappropriate torch for so long, myself. And Asher - waffles: 'I ought to kill him, but it's more convenient to work with him. But I ought to kill him. But.' Back and forth. We all know which way it's going to go, so just deal with it.
It's a pity. This is a perfectly respectable fantasy series, but briefly it looked like being something more, very much in the spirit of Hambly's Winterlands series.
February 22, 2016
After reading Publishers Weekly's comment: "Hambly gives Anne Rice a run for her money", I thought this book was right up my alley. I have to admit, I was very disappointed. Successfully getting the gist of the story by scanning through the chapters, I happily closed the book.
July 17, 2017
Call it a 3.5. Not a bad book, but I feel like it didn't quite *click* this time around. The characterization seemed a bit thinner than before, and it didn't have the globetrotting, exploratory element that the previous books have often had.
That said, I will add that Hambly remains one of the best authors of historical fiction I have ever read.
That said, I will add that Hambly remains one of the best authors of historical fiction I have ever read.
March 6, 2020
I've been a tremendous fan of Barbara Hambly since her Star Trek novels in the 80's. Her characters, whether they're someone else's creations like Spock or Catherine Chandler, or her people who appear in only one novel like Marcus or Norah, are valued friends. When they're characters who have been appearing in her novels since 1988, like the Ashers and Don Simon, they're practically family.
Darkness on His Bones starts off with one of the family, James Asher, critically wounded, and let me tell you: if as an author you want to create suspense, that's how to do it. I was tearing through the pages to find out if he was all right – because even knowing that Jamie is one of the primary characters the series centers around, still, it felt like his life was not safe. Realistically I doubt Ms. Hambly would ever kill Jamie off. In the context of the book, he might well have been dying. She sold it; I bought it. She's a marvelous writer.
In the commentaries for the late lamented Firefly, Joss Whedon talked about how everyone is the hero of his own story. At risk of being the boring repetitive fangurl, one thing I always say about her is held up in this book: every single character – whether it's one of the Ashers or one of the vampires who looms threateningly to one side but hardly says a word, or Ellen, or the woman mopping the floor, or the magnificent taximan Greuze, or Simon Xavier Christian Morado de la Cadeña-Ysidro – each and every one of them could carry a book on his own, if Ms. Hambly ever got bored and needed a different direction. (I'd love to see a Greuze spin-off.) It is so easy to see each character, named and unnamed, briefly seen or often, as the hero of his own tale, with a life of his own offscreen. I don't want to make it sound like a cluttered landscape, filled with all these heroes fighting for attention. It isn't, any more than your last trip to the grocery store was. All those other people in the aisles, the non-speaking role of the person who stole your parking space or cut in line just ahead of you, the teenager who rang up your order and the senior citizen who bagged it – they're all the heroes of their own story, and however brief their appearance in your story they're real and vivid. That's what Ms. Hambly manages to do in her worlds.
Oh, and the writing. "Dr Théodule, stooped, white-haired, and resembling nothing so much as a wizard who has attempted to transform himself into a goat and had the spell fail halfway." It's funny, and unusual, and – well, I can certainly see him. "‘If you faint from inanition I shall carry you to the curb and leave you there,’ Ysidro had told her last night". How very Ysidro. "Morning sunlight buttered the Avenue du Maine". So beautiful.
Every word pulls its weight, fits into its place as if that place had been built for it when the universe formed. The saying I usually use as a rod to beat poor writers with is, here, a paean: “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug.” Zeus's got nothing on Barbara Hambly for lightning.
All right, I'm getting a little worshipful here. I can't help it. Put it this way: given a choice between reading 99% of anything else out there and Barbara Hambly, I will, given free will, always opt for Ms. Hambly. Always.
I received this from Netgalley, with thanks, for a review.
Darkness on His Bones starts off with one of the family, James Asher, critically wounded, and let me tell you: if as an author you want to create suspense, that's how to do it. I was tearing through the pages to find out if he was all right – because even knowing that Jamie is one of the primary characters the series centers around, still, it felt like his life was not safe. Realistically I doubt Ms. Hambly would ever kill Jamie off. In the context of the book, he might well have been dying. She sold it; I bought it. She's a marvelous writer.
In the commentaries for the late lamented Firefly, Joss Whedon talked about how everyone is the hero of his own story. At risk of being the boring repetitive fangurl, one thing I always say about her is held up in this book: every single character – whether it's one of the Ashers or one of the vampires who looms threateningly to one side but hardly says a word, or Ellen, or the woman mopping the floor, or the magnificent taximan Greuze, or Simon Xavier Christian Morado de la Cadeña-Ysidro – each and every one of them could carry a book on his own, if Ms. Hambly ever got bored and needed a different direction. (I'd love to see a Greuze spin-off.) It is so easy to see each character, named and unnamed, briefly seen or often, as the hero of his own tale, with a life of his own offscreen. I don't want to make it sound like a cluttered landscape, filled with all these heroes fighting for attention. It isn't, any more than your last trip to the grocery store was. All those other people in the aisles, the non-speaking role of the person who stole your parking space or cut in line just ahead of you, the teenager who rang up your order and the senior citizen who bagged it – they're all the heroes of their own story, and however brief their appearance in your story they're real and vivid. That's what Ms. Hambly manages to do in her worlds.
Oh, and the writing. "Dr Théodule, stooped, white-haired, and resembling nothing so much as a wizard who has attempted to transform himself into a goat and had the spell fail halfway." It's funny, and unusual, and – well, I can certainly see him. "‘If you faint from inanition I shall carry you to the curb and leave you there,’ Ysidro had told her last night". How very Ysidro. "Morning sunlight buttered the Avenue du Maine". So beautiful.
Every word pulls its weight, fits into its place as if that place had been built for it when the universe formed. The saying I usually use as a rod to beat poor writers with is, here, a paean: “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug.” Zeus's got nothing on Barbara Hambly for lightning.
All right, I'm getting a little worshipful here. I can't help it. Put it this way: given a choice between reading 99% of anything else out there and Barbara Hambly, I will, given free will, always opt for Ms. Hambly. Always.
I received this from Netgalley, with thanks, for a review.
October 3, 2015
This is book 6 in the Asher/Ysidro (have people settled on a name here? I've seen both used) series. After five books of build-up, we finally hit World War One! I thought it would never get here.
This felt like a bridge book: we've ended the "slow build up to war" section of the series, but we don't really hit the full-out war section here---at least, in the sense that our characters don't really take part in the war in this book. (That will doubtless change in future books, if there are future books, given James and Lydia's particular professions.) The entire book takes part in Paris, first on the eve of war, and then with our main trio trapped in the city while fighting commences a small distance away. The plot isn't really war-centric, with the war mainly serving as background noise/danger. Though we do have the Most of the book involves our trio trying to dodge the vampires of Paris, protect the injured and ill James, and discover the vampire-related secrets that brought James to Paris in the first place.
I love the Ysidro/James relationship. I've always found it very compelling---their shared history of espionage, Ysidro's part-friendship part-feudal lord relationship with James (he calls James in this book, which I found very interesting). I like Lydia a lot . . . but the whole "Ysidro and Lydia love each other because Lydia is The Greatest Ever And Ooh Look A Love Triangle" thing kind of makes me gag. I really hope Hambly never fully goes down the "Asher and Ysidro only work together because of their mutual love for Lydia" road, because it seems so . . . blah. Pointless and banal. Ysidro and James have a ton in common already, they seem to understand and like one another a great deal, and making their relationship All About Lydia would destroy a really complicated and fascinating dynamic.
Overall, I enjoyed this book much more than The Kindred of Darkness, but not quite as much as the first four books. Like I said, it felt like a bridge book---I'm actually really excited for future books now that our main trio will be getting involved with the war.
This felt like a bridge book: we've ended the "slow build up to war" section of the series, but we don't really hit the full-out war section here---at least, in the sense that our characters don't really take part in the war in this book. (That will doubtless change in future books, if there are future books, given James and Lydia's particular professions.) The entire book takes part in Paris, first on the eve of war, and then with our main trio trapped in the city while fighting commences a small distance away. The plot isn't really war-centric, with the war mainly serving as background noise/danger. Though we do have the Most of the book involves our trio trying to dodge the vampires of Paris, protect the injured and ill James, and discover the vampire-related secrets that brought James to Paris in the first place.
I love the Ysidro/James relationship. I've always found it very compelling---their shared history of espionage, Ysidro's part-friendship part-feudal lord relationship with James (he calls James in this book, which I found very interesting). I like Lydia a lot . . . but the whole "Ysidro and Lydia love each other because Lydia is The Greatest Ever And Ooh Look A Love Triangle" thing kind of makes me gag. I really hope Hambly never fully goes down the "Asher and Ysidro only work together because of their mutual love for Lydia" road, because it seems so . . . blah. Pointless and banal. Ysidro and James have a ton in common already, they seem to understand and like one another a great deal, and making their relationship All About Lydia would destroy a really complicated and fascinating dynamic.
Overall, I enjoyed this book much more than The Kindred of Darkness, but not quite as much as the first four books. Like I said, it felt like a bridge book---I'm actually really excited for future books now that our main trio will be getting involved with the war.
September 14, 2023
I loved this book for its eerie atmosphere.
Some things are tired ("I should hate and destroy all vampires! Oh, but I like this one! How could I?) (Could vampires be used as a weapon? Also: could a magical object exist that gives vampires even more power?), others are way too convoluted (why on earth are the Paris vampires so hell-bent on destroying Jamie and Lydia? Seriously? And why does everyone think they have the answers to everything? From the pov of the - many - villains, it makes no sense.) (Also, is there a rule somewhere that says that our heroes must get banged up all the way to the doors of death itself every single time?!)
I've made my peace with the fact that sensical plots are not the author's strong point.
But the writing, the exquisite details, the history...! I'm a Parisian born and bred and it was a delight to see my city in its layered history. It's possible to be nostalgic for a time one has never known, especially in cities of the old world. Using vampires to revisit our past is a seamless ploy, even if it was done in very Byzantine ways, through non linear dreams and visions, something that usually annoys me.
I loved Constantine Angelus, I loved the very real rendition of the hatred between Catholics and Protestants, Ysidro's qualms, the lineage of the Paris vampires, and the war, the war that saw the birth of my own grandparents.
My favorite in the series, and deserving 5 stars in spite of my qualms.
Some things are tired ("I should hate and destroy all vampires! Oh, but I like this one! How could I?) (Could vampires be used as a weapon? Also: could a magical object exist that gives vampires even more power?), others are way too convoluted (why on earth are the Paris vampires so hell-bent on destroying Jamie and Lydia? Seriously? And why does everyone think they have the answers to everything? From the pov of the - many - villains, it makes no sense.) (Also, is there a rule somewhere that says that our heroes must get banged up all the way to the doors of death itself every single time?!)
I've made my peace with the fact that sensical plots are not the author's strong point.
But the writing, the exquisite details, the history...! I'm a Parisian born and bred and it was a delight to see my city in its layered history. It's possible to be nostalgic for a time one has never known, especially in cities of the old world. Using vampires to revisit our past is a seamless ploy, even if it was done in very Byzantine ways, through non linear dreams and visions, something that usually annoys me.
I loved Constantine Angelus, I loved the very real rendition of the hatred between Catholics and Protestants, Ysidro's qualms, the lineage of the Paris vampires, and the war, the war that saw the birth of my own grandparents.
My favorite in the series, and deserving 5 stars in spite of my qualms.
August 15, 2023
WWI is imminent and James has been almost mortally wounded while away in Paris investigating a credible lead from his old professor, that the vampires of France are hunting a relic believed to hold great power. To make matters worse, European military forces are also after the same item in the hopes it will enable them to tip the power scales of the upcoming conflict in their favor. Lydia travels to Paris to be with James, but first calls on the aide of their undead friend, Simon and shortly afterwards they too are thrown into the hunt. The danger is real for everyone and as the war begins Lydia and Simon must use every ounce of courage and daring to stop the the artifact falling into the wrong hands of both the living and the dead, while James fights for his life as his injuries threaten to overwhelm him. You won't be able to put this one down! Highly recommend!
March 19, 2017
Pretty good, although it’s not one of my favorites in the series. For one thing it’s full of dream sequences, which I dislike, but since Asher is injured and bedridden for the entire book, dreams are the only way for him to actively participate in the story. This is set in Paris in 1914, at the onset of WWI.
Lydia and Asher firmly agree that vampires are mass-murderers and should be destroyed, not excepting Ysidro, but when Asher is injured and the German guns are sounding in the distance, guess who Lydia immediately calls on for help? I rather like the Ashers’ angst over their vampire “friend”.
There’s some background on Ysidro, which is fairly interesting. For complicated reasons Asher is dreaming about Ysidro as a young vampire in 1602, worrying about his immortal soul - for instance, he’s been trying to only kill heretics (i.e. Protestants) who are already damned anyway.
Lydia and Asher firmly agree that vampires are mass-murderers and should be destroyed, not excepting Ysidro, but when Asher is injured and the German guns are sounding in the distance, guess who Lydia immediately calls on for help? I rather like the Ashers’ angst over their vampire “friend”.
There’s some background on Ysidro, which is fairly interesting. For complicated reasons Asher is dreaming about Ysidro as a young vampire in 1602, worrying about his immortal soul - for instance, he’s been trying to only kill heretics (i.e. Protestants) who are already damned anyway.
September 18, 2015
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Barbara Hambly's vampire series is a favorite of mine. Don Simon Ysidro is insidiously attractive to me, just like he is to Jamie and Lydia in the books. Hambly manages to pull of the trick of making clear just how dangerous Simon is, while still making him intriguing. He's no alpha male, but he is the perfect predator, one who can make his prey want to come to him. Does he really love Lydia? Appearances say yes, but can you really trust the cat if you're a mouse?
In this book, Jamie is mostly sidelined with a head injury. This injury is an excuse for him to hallucinate/dream/remember his work tracking vampires in Paris. His fear is that German agents are working ahead of the invasion in 1914 and trying to co-opt the Parisian vampires into working for them. However, not much is really done with this idea because there's a counter-plot. The vampire mistress of the city has a hold over her followers because she has convinced them that a mystical ceremony and regalia is needed to turn new vampires, and only she has access to what is needed. These two plots twisted up so much that I wasn't sure which trail we were following a lot of the time.
Lydia summons Don Simon because she doesn't think that she can protect Jamie from the Paris vampires on her own, and also because once Germany begins its aggression it becomes more and more difficult to get out of Paris at all. Hambly hits a bit on the naive nationalism of the time, the confidence that it will all be over soon because of own's nation's innate superiority. It's almost cliche, yet you can see it happen today.
The book is atmospheric, and Hambly's always been great at historical research and setting. My problem is that by the end of the book I was along for the ride, but wasn't quite sure what was happening anymore. There was danger from vampires, from German agents, and in addition there was some of Ysidro's backstory. In his youth, he was manipulated by the Church into destroying other vampires in an effort to save his own soul. Again, the naivete of believing in one true cause and righteousness. Ysidro's past self did unfortunately feel a bit like Louis in Interview with the Vampire, full of moral repugnance for what he has become, trying to find meaning in his sinful existence.
The other quibble I have with the book is that the series itself is beginning to feel quite episodic. The overarching plot line between the books has stalled. Jamie and Lydia are working through an ancient text that might tell them how to effectively get rid of vampires- there's about a sentence about that here. Lydia and Simon's reluctant attraction is at a standstill. Something about the recruitment of vampires for nationalist purposes harks all the way back to Those Who Hunt the Night, first book in the series. All these episodes are enjoyable enough, but we're spinning our wheels a bit. It could be that Hambly's happy to do just that at this point in her career. But I'm ready for what happens next in the relationships between Jamie, Lydia, and Simon.
Barbara Hambly's vampire series is a favorite of mine. Don Simon Ysidro is insidiously attractive to me, just like he is to Jamie and Lydia in the books. Hambly manages to pull of the trick of making clear just how dangerous Simon is, while still making him intriguing. He's no alpha male, but he is the perfect predator, one who can make his prey want to come to him. Does he really love Lydia? Appearances say yes, but can you really trust the cat if you're a mouse?
In this book, Jamie is mostly sidelined with a head injury. This injury is an excuse for him to hallucinate/dream/remember his work tracking vampires in Paris. His fear is that German agents are working ahead of the invasion in 1914 and trying to co-opt the Parisian vampires into working for them. However, not much is really done with this idea because there's a counter-plot. The vampire mistress of the city has a hold over her followers because she has convinced them that a mystical ceremony and regalia is needed to turn new vampires, and only she has access to what is needed. These two plots twisted up so much that I wasn't sure which trail we were following a lot of the time.
Lydia summons Don Simon because she doesn't think that she can protect Jamie from the Paris vampires on her own, and also because once Germany begins its aggression it becomes more and more difficult to get out of Paris at all. Hambly hits a bit on the naive nationalism of the time, the confidence that it will all be over soon because of own's nation's innate superiority. It's almost cliche, yet you can see it happen today.
The book is atmospheric, and Hambly's always been great at historical research and setting. My problem is that by the end of the book I was along for the ride, but wasn't quite sure what was happening anymore. There was danger from vampires, from German agents, and in addition there was some of Ysidro's backstory. In his youth, he was manipulated by the Church into destroying other vampires in an effort to save his own soul. Again, the naivete of believing in one true cause and righteousness. Ysidro's past self did unfortunately feel a bit like Louis in Interview with the Vampire, full of moral repugnance for what he has become, trying to find meaning in his sinful existence.
The other quibble I have with the book is that the series itself is beginning to feel quite episodic. The overarching plot line between the books has stalled. Jamie and Lydia are working through an ancient text that might tell them how to effectively get rid of vampires- there's about a sentence about that here. Lydia and Simon's reluctant attraction is at a standstill. Something about the recruitment of vampires for nationalist purposes harks all the way back to Those Who Hunt the Night, first book in the series. All these episodes are enjoyable enough, but we're spinning our wheels a bit. It could be that Hambly's happy to do just that at this point in her career. But I'm ready for what happens next in the relationships between Jamie, Lydia, and Simon.
August 24, 2015
After the last book in the series, I was really interested to see how Hambly would proceed. On the one hand, it's a little more predictable than some might hope: James and Lydia have not suddenly become vampire hunters. On the other hand, it's delightfully unexpected in that we get a lot of Lydia POV and Lydia driving the action, and we get a LOT of Ysidro background!
I thought--dared to dream--that the book (at least the action parts of it) might end up being entirely Lydia POV, and I was a little disappointed by how thoroughly James' POV takes over the last third of the book, but I don't DISLIKE James at all, so it's hardly a tragedy. I do still think/feel that Hambly has put some distance in the friendship between James and Ysidro that was VERY present in Kindred of Darkness but not in the previous novels, but, given the plot of Kindred of Darkness, that's maybe understandable. I do wish that there was a greater acknowledgement that there was a wary but actual relationship there at one time, though, even if it's damaged at this point.
In any case, I really enjoyed the construction of the mystery; the final result of it and the horror of it. I liked how much Lydia we got and the wealth of Ysidro's background and the pressure and crisis of this playing out against the backdrop of Paris at the start of WWI (a war that's far less "popular" than writing about WWII). I honestly feel that this is one of Hambly's best entries in the series.
I thought--dared to dream--that the book (at least the action parts of it) might end up being entirely Lydia POV, and I was a little disappointed by how thoroughly James' POV takes over the last third of the book, but I don't DISLIKE James at all, so it's hardly a tragedy. I do still think/feel that Hambly has put some distance in the friendship between James and Ysidro that was VERY present in Kindred of Darkness but not in the previous novels, but, given the plot of Kindred of Darkness, that's maybe understandable. I do wish that there was a greater acknowledgement that there was a wary but actual relationship there at one time, though, even if it's damaged at this point.
In any case, I really enjoyed the construction of the mystery; the final result of it and the horror of it. I liked how much Lydia we got and the wealth of Ysidro's background and the pressure and crisis of this playing out against the backdrop of Paris at the start of WWI (a war that's far less "popular" than writing about WWII). I honestly feel that this is one of Hambly's best entries in the series.
September 17, 2016
Entertaining as always, though I'm increasingly wishing this could be the Lydia and Don Simon series. James is just not very exciting as a protagonist, and even though he's unconscious for much of this one we still get too much of his dream sequences.
February 17, 2025
Struggling to find motivation to read on (p. 181).
The story strands (spoilers):
- Isydro kills vampires because he is promised salvation for it, but it's obviously a lie (in the past). As former spy and supposed intellectual, I would think him smarter than this, even at the "youthful" age of 50.
- Lydia contemplates killing Isydro despite her affection - which I'm unclear about at this point. Isydro is a good lap dog, but what really attracts her to him other than vamp magic? And why is she staking out his hideouts now? Killing him makes the Ashers more vulnerable to other vampires, not less. This could be plausible but isn't developed enough/too much else is going on.
- James is half dead, but we know he's going to survive. The stakes feel low, despite war and prison and enemy vampires.
- James knows things about Isydro that only a particular supposedly dead vampire knows. I just somehow don't care about that mystery, because noone in the book pays much attention to that.
I feel too many things are happening at once without adding to a greater theme. There certainly is the underlying theme of whether vampires can be redeemed, yet it's not handled in a nuanced enough manner in my opinion, and the main plot of the present day (fleeing Paris in the time of war with a spoonfull of espionage) doesn't tie into it. Perhaps Hambly should have gone all in and made James more openly the vampire hunter he wants to be, bringing the conflict to a boil and forcing Isydro to show his true colours. This book feels like she was shying away from fully exploring the central conflict between the characters. Again. This is getting too repetitive.
The story strands (spoilers):
- Isydro kills vampires because he is promised salvation for it, but it's obviously a lie (in the past). As former spy and supposed intellectual, I would think him smarter than this, even at the "youthful" age of 50.
- Lydia contemplates killing Isydro despite her affection - which I'm unclear about at this point. Isydro is a good lap dog, but what really attracts her to him other than vamp magic? And why is she staking out his hideouts now? Killing him makes the Ashers more vulnerable to other vampires, not less. This could be plausible but isn't developed enough/too much else is going on.
- James is half dead, but we know he's going to survive. The stakes feel low, despite war and prison and enemy vampires.
- James knows things about Isydro that only a particular supposedly dead vampire knows. I just somehow don't care about that mystery, because noone in the book pays much attention to that.
I feel too many things are happening at once without adding to a greater theme. There certainly is the underlying theme of whether vampires can be redeemed, yet it's not handled in a nuanced enough manner in my opinion, and the main plot of the present day (fleeing Paris in the time of war with a spoonfull of espionage) doesn't tie into it. Perhaps Hambly should have gone all in and made James more openly the vampire hunter he wants to be, bringing the conflict to a boil and forcing Isydro to show his true colours. This book feels like she was shying away from fully exploring the central conflict between the characters. Again. This is getting too repetitive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2018
Really enjoyed this entry in the series. First, we have Jamie severely injured, first in a coma from a head injury, then with amnesia and later pneumonia so his POV sequences are very effective dream wanderings that are a mixture of his own past, the events leading up to his injury and, weirdly, Simon's memories. (This is explained at the end.) Then we have Lydia and Simon trying to keep Jamie safe while solving the mystery. And then the master-stroke: this is all taking place during the first week of WWI when Germany is invading Belgium and France, and our heroes are stuck in Paris unable to flee because of Jamie's health. Strong tension throughout.
February 3, 2018
I have read the entire series, starting with the first one about 1990. This one is a mess. The series is out of steam and the author seems to be out of ideas. Last one before this was weak, this one is worse. Won't bother anymore if another is published. The first book in the series was excellent, winning a Locus Award as best horror novel of the year.
September 3, 2018
A mysterious mystical object to be found, and more insight into Don Simon's history, while Asher lies in a coma and the German army advances on Paris.
There are a few inconsistencies, Don Simon is a wreck after one potion to keep him awake, yet younger, weaker fledgling Hyacinthe glugs them back with barely a loss of glamour it seems...
There are a few inconsistencies, Don Simon is a wreck after one potion to keep him awake, yet younger, weaker fledgling Hyacinthe glugs them back with barely a loss of glamour it seems...
March 11, 2018
I'm really going to give this one good but not great marks. When I picked it up I didn't realize it's part of a series. I will go back to the beginning of the series and start it, and perhaps I will understand this one better. But I DO like her vampires much better than Anne Rice's vampires.
October 13, 2021
I burned through this one like sunlight through a vampire. Sorry. The author really has mastered the frying-pan-to-fire problems needed to keep pages turning. Especially enjoyed watching everyone getting more roughed up as the book progressed, but Ms. Hambly is great at that, too.
May 7, 2018
This was very tripping, and final reveal! WHOAH.
August 3, 2020
As always her writing is excellent and for me this is 5 stars...
December 3, 2020
I used to enoy this series. But now, I find I couldn't get into it, get past a few chapters. It was same old, same old. Something stuck in time. Maybe it's me.
August 10, 2015
Darkness on His Bones is a superb vampire fantasy set against the backdrop of late 19th century Paris.
James Asher, scholar, spy, investigator, and vampire hunter lies unconcious in a Paris hospital bed, weak with loss of blood and injured in a fall. His wife Lydia arrives at his side, not knowing why he was in Paris, but certain there are vampires that will stop at nothing to kill him. She summons their close friend, and sometimes adversary - the vampire Don Ysidro. Perhaps he can protect them and discover why James was attacked.
Meanwhile James dreams, wandering through memories that are not his own, knowing that there is something of great importance he must do. There is an artifact believed to strengthen the hold the master of the city has over the vampires in his nest. There are those who would take it, to wrest control of Paris and use it to manipulate the vampires. With war looming on the horizon, it will take all Lydia and Simon’s efforts to protect James and to stay alive.
Barbara Hambly’s vampires are first and foremost predators. Although Simon Isidro demonstrates his nobility and loyalty repeatedly, it is easy to understand the natural fear he provokes. The vampires of Paris are visibly dangerous, even those who claim not to mean them harm. Throughout the novel there is both the tension created by the coming war and the fear of the predators who hunt the night.
Darkness on His Bones is a wonderful addition to the James Asher Vampire Series, certain to satisfy fans. While it isn’t necessary to read the books in order, I would advise reading a few of Hambly’s earlier James Asher novels before delving into Darkness on His Bones.
5/5
Darkness on His Bones is available for preorder and will be released October 1, 2015.
I received a copy of Darkness on His Bones from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
—Crittermom
Darkness on His Bones is a superb vampire novel
http://muttcafe.com/2015/08/darkness-...
James Asher, scholar, spy, investigator, and vampire hunter lies unconcious in a Paris hospital bed, weak with loss of blood and injured in a fall. His wife Lydia arrives at his side, not knowing why he was in Paris, but certain there are vampires that will stop at nothing to kill him. She summons their close friend, and sometimes adversary - the vampire Don Ysidro. Perhaps he can protect them and discover why James was attacked.
Meanwhile James dreams, wandering through memories that are not his own, knowing that there is something of great importance he must do. There is an artifact believed to strengthen the hold the master of the city has over the vampires in his nest. There are those who would take it, to wrest control of Paris and use it to manipulate the vampires. With war looming on the horizon, it will take all Lydia and Simon’s efforts to protect James and to stay alive.
Barbara Hambly’s vampires are first and foremost predators. Although Simon Isidro demonstrates his nobility and loyalty repeatedly, it is easy to understand the natural fear he provokes. The vampires of Paris are visibly dangerous, even those who claim not to mean them harm. Throughout the novel there is both the tension created by the coming war and the fear of the predators who hunt the night.
Darkness on His Bones is a wonderful addition to the James Asher Vampire Series, certain to satisfy fans. While it isn’t necessary to read the books in order, I would advise reading a few of Hambly’s earlier James Asher novels before delving into Darkness on His Bones.
5/5
Darkness on His Bones is available for preorder and will be released October 1, 2015.
I received a copy of Darkness on His Bones from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
—Crittermom
Darkness on His Bones is a superb vampire novel
http://muttcafe.com/2015/08/darkness-...
April 2, 2016
This is the sixth of the James Asher vampire series. It's one of my favourite vampire series, because Hambly does not duck the fact that vampires kill people. A continuing theme through the series is the morality of working with the vampire Don Simon Ysidro - or helping him, in previous books - when he, too, is the killer of thousands of people. Is it possible to consider such a person a friend? Is it possible for such a person to be worthy of friendship?
This is, I think, all the more relevant nowadays, with the modern tendency to respond to the revelation of someone's crimes by attempting to erase them from society - to the extent of pulling down the house they lived in and refusing to sing the songs they wrote, negating anything they did that was good.
This book requires the reader to ask whether a person's crimes should require one to ignore the value of anything good that they contribute. Also, does the end ever justify the means - and if it does, when?
The story itself takes place partly in Paris, August 1914, around the outbreak of World War I - with the (in retrospect) insane optimism of the time, which quickly chilled to the realisation that it wasn't going to be all over by Christmas - and partly in James' dreams, which are also Don Simon's memories. We therefore get to learn more about Don Simon, and his experiences in Paris in the eighteenth century. There's need, faith, trust, betrayal, and lies - and Hambly makes the point that there are different kinds of power, and if other people have what you need, it doesn't matter how much power you have in other ways.
One of the things I love about this series is that there are no easy answers: all the characters have to make difficult choices, in the knowledge that there is no obvious "right thing". All choices have their price, and the real question is, what are you willing to pay?
This is, I think, all the more relevant nowadays, with the modern tendency to respond to the revelation of someone's crimes by attempting to erase them from society - to the extent of pulling down the house they lived in and refusing to sing the songs they wrote, negating anything they did that was good.
This book requires the reader to ask whether a person's crimes should require one to ignore the value of anything good that they contribute. Also, does the end ever justify the means - and if it does, when?
The story itself takes place partly in Paris, August 1914, around the outbreak of World War I - with the (in retrospect) insane optimism of the time, which quickly chilled to the realisation that it wasn't going to be all over by Christmas - and partly in James' dreams, which are also Don Simon's memories. We therefore get to learn more about Don Simon, and his experiences in Paris in the eighteenth century. There's need, faith, trust, betrayal, and lies - and Hambly makes the point that there are different kinds of power, and if other people have what you need, it doesn't matter how much power you have in other ways.
One of the things I love about this series is that there are no easy answers: all the characters have to make difficult choices, in the knowledge that there is no obvious "right thing". All choices have their price, and the real question is, what are you willing to pay?
July 1, 2015
Set in Paris before the outbreak of WWI. When Lydia receives notice that James Asher has been found near death in Paris, she rushes to her husband's side after sending a message to Don Simon Ysidro. War is imminent, and the Germans are preparing to take Paris, hoping to use the Paris vampire nest as a devastating weapon.
Lydia will need Don Simon's help in keeping James safe, but the ancient vampire discovers that events from his past threaten his ability to protect Lydia and James...and himself.
I've enjoyed most of the novels in this series and reviewed them. However, I found this one less entertaining than previous novels because it was less coherent. My favorites were Those Who Hunt the Night, Traveling with the Dead, and The Kindred of Darkness. If you enjoy vampire novels, Hambly has an interesting take on the vampire genre!
James Asher, Vampire Novels
Those Who Hunt the Night (Locus Award winner for Best Horror Novel in 1989)
Traveling with the Dead (Locus Award nominee 1996, winner of the Lord Ruthven Award 1996)
Blood Maidens (2010)
Magistrates of Hell (2012)
The Kindred of Darkness (March 1, 2014)
Blog review scheduled for Sept. 25, 2015. A Garden Carried in the Pocket
NetGalley/Severn House
Vampire/Supernatural. Oct. 1, 2015. Print length: 256 pages.
Lydia will need Don Simon's help in keeping James safe, but the ancient vampire discovers that events from his past threaten his ability to protect Lydia and James...and himself.
I've enjoyed most of the novels in this series and reviewed them. However, I found this one less entertaining than previous novels because it was less coherent. My favorites were Those Who Hunt the Night, Traveling with the Dead, and The Kindred of Darkness. If you enjoy vampire novels, Hambly has an interesting take on the vampire genre!
James Asher, Vampire Novels
Magistrates of Hell (2012)
Blog review scheduled for Sept. 25, 2015. A Garden Carried in the Pocket
NetGalley/Severn House
Vampire/Supernatural. Oct. 1, 2015. Print length: 256 pages.
August 31, 2016
Paris, France-August 1914 is the setting for Hambley's latest featuring James and Lydia Asher and their vampire friend Don Simon Ysidro.
A rather surreal outing, as poor James Asher has been gravely injured and spends a lot of time having these disjointed dreams, to which we are privy. To Lydia, it is obvious he has been attacked by vampires. The big questions are 1)why was he in Paris and 2)why was he in contact with that city's Undead. She begs Don Ysidro for assistance, as she tries to find answers to those questions.
The reader is not only treated to a good vampire story but also a look at Paris life at the beginning of WWI. James' dreams give us glimpses of his backstory as well as that of Don Ysidro.
Here's hoping there will be more books featuring this unlikely trio.
A rather surreal outing, as poor James Asher has been gravely injured and spends a lot of time having these disjointed dreams, to which we are privy. To Lydia, it is obvious he has been attacked by vampires. The big questions are 1)why was he in Paris and 2)why was he in contact with that city's Undead. She begs Don Ysidro for assistance, as she tries to find answers to those questions.
The reader is not only treated to a good vampire story but also a look at Paris life at the beginning of WWI. James' dreams give us glimpses of his backstory as well as that of Don Ysidro.
Here's hoping there will be more books featuring this unlikely trio.
August 3, 2015
I enjoy this series immensely...was very happy when, after a gap of 15 (?) years, Ms. Hambly returned with the 3rd in the series. Darkness on his Bones is the 6th of the James Asher series.
The relationship between the Ashers and Don Simon Ysidro is of as much interest as the "action " portion of the plot. Lydia is drawn to Simon, although she feels it wrong and disloyal to her husband; Simon apparently genuinely loves Lydia; James, although he views vampires as evil, acknowledges his debt to Simon and their odd friendship. I certainly hope the series will continue for many more volumes! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.
The relationship between the Ashers and Don Simon Ysidro is of as much interest as the "action " portion of the plot. Lydia is drawn to Simon, although she feels it wrong and disloyal to her husband; Simon apparently genuinely loves Lydia; James, although he views vampires as evil, acknowledges his debt to Simon and their odd friendship. I certainly hope the series will continue for many more volumes! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.
December 2, 2015
I enjoyed this very much! It was quite a bit of a dizzying time-travel story, with James and Isidro wandering dreamlike through each other's memories, and it was also a bit of escaping from the bad-guy vampires story, and quite of a bit of what I found the most heart-stopping, the story of their current deadly danger, trapped in Paris at the very beginning of WWI. Lydia's terror and exhaustion, her feeling of guilt over prioritizing her husband's escape over the medical care she can provide, James and Lydia and Simon's helpless love and affection for each other – it was a heartrending read.
October 2, 2016
This is such an amazing series. It should come as no surprise that Barbara Hambly makes a success of writing about Paris in the first weeks of WWI. Nor should it surprise that the vampires in this novel are scary, pitiful, profound, and in the case of Don Simon Ysidro, loveable. Its human protagonists, the Ashers, are also wonderfully complex, especially Lydia, my favorite character. This book will stand alone if you have never encountered the rest of the series, but I do urge you to try them all!
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