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Smoke Trilogy #1-3
The Complete Smoke Trilogy
Now in an omnibus edition, the Lambda Award-nominated supernatural Smoke series presents contemporary fantasy with a gothic twist.
When Tony Foster relocated to Vancouver with his vampire Henry Fitzroy, he knew it was his chance to get his act together. In an example of art echoing life, Tony landed a job as production assistant for the syndicated TV show, Darkest Night, a series about a vampire detective. And except for his unrequited crush on the show's handsome co-star, Lee Nicholas, Tony was pretty content.
Until everything started to fall apart on the set.
It began with shadows----shadows where they didn't belong, that almost had an existence of their own. Tony tried to ignore it--until he found Nikki Waugh's body, and felt the shadow's touch, and a stunt crash went wrong for no discernible reason--and Tony knew that he had to find out what was threatening everyone on the set.
The Shadows aren't the only threat Tony will confront as he works on Darkest Night,/i>. A turn-of-the-century mansion, used as a filming location for a haunted house, proves to be more realistic than expected. One of the show's stunt people may be more than they appear. And before the end, Tony and his allies will combat an unprecedented demonic invaion, the result of which may determine hte fate of the entire world.
When Tony Foster relocated to Vancouver with his vampire Henry Fitzroy, he knew it was his chance to get his act together. In an example of art echoing life, Tony landed a job as production assistant for the syndicated TV show, Darkest Night, a series about a vampire detective. And except for his unrequited crush on the show's handsome co-star, Lee Nicholas, Tony was pretty content.
Until everything started to fall apart on the set.
It began with shadows----shadows where they didn't belong, that almost had an existence of their own. Tony tried to ignore it--until he found Nikki Waugh's body, and felt the shadow's touch, and a stunt crash went wrong for no discernible reason--and Tony knew that he had to find out what was threatening everyone on the set.
The Shadows aren't the only threat Tony will confront as he works on Darkest Night,/i>. A turn-of-the-century mansion, used as a filming location for a haunted house, proves to be more realistic than expected. One of the show's stunt people may be more than they appear. And before the end, Tony and his allies will combat an unprecedented demonic invaion, the result of which may determine hte fate of the entire world.
835 pages, Paperback
First published July 9, 2019
51 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Tanya Huff
151 books2,451 followersTanya Sue Huff is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood Ties.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 26, 2021
THE SMOKE TRILOGY is a pseudo-sequel to the Vicki Nelson books by Tanya Huff. Those books, adapted to the Blood Ties series on Lifetime, were about the titular detective and her love triangle wiht both her ex-partner as well as Henry Fitzroy the vamprized bastard of Henry VIII. Tony was a minor character, being a male prostitute and Henry's lover in a somewhat fascinating polyamorous relationship that was pretty unique in the early 90s.
Tony was not included in the Blood Ties series and some people believed it was because a gay male character was going to be more controversial than the perky Goth, Coreen, that ended up being used in his place. In fact, it was because of Tanya Huff believing that Tony had the potential to headline his own series. Honestly, I'd always considered Tony to be something of a minor character and the least interesting of the cast. However, I was interested in seeing whether Tanya could convince me otherwise. She mostly did.
Tony has broken up with Henry Fitzroy and is now a Production Assistant on Darkest Nights, which I basically take to be an EXPY of Forever Knight as well as other syndicated Canadian genre shows. Tony has an exceptionally strong crush on the (seemingly) straight star of the show and is struggling to live a normal life. Soon the production is assaulted by all manner of ghosts, extradimensional shadow monsters, and immortal stunt women.
The Smoke Trilogy is a lot more fantasy than the Vicki Nelson books and more solidly urban fantasy than horror. Tony is also caught with the unenviable task of being the designated sane one in a cast of oddballs. Eventually, he starts getting some power of his own rather than having to rely on Henry Fitzoy but sadly I don't think his love interests are ever more interesting than our resident vampire. Some characters are also decidedly annoying like a pair of whiny obnoxious children in the second book that poor Tony has to protect from a Ghostbusters-esque infection.
Still, I love Tanya Huff's writing and think this is worth checking out. I just prefer the Vicki Nelson books.
Tony was not included in the Blood Ties series and some people believed it was because a gay male character was going to be more controversial than the perky Goth, Coreen, that ended up being used in his place. In fact, it was because of Tanya Huff believing that Tony had the potential to headline his own series. Honestly, I'd always considered Tony to be something of a minor character and the least interesting of the cast. However, I was interested in seeing whether Tanya could convince me otherwise. She mostly did.
Tony has broken up with Henry Fitzroy and is now a Production Assistant on Darkest Nights, which I basically take to be an EXPY of Forever Knight as well as other syndicated Canadian genre shows. Tony has an exceptionally strong crush on the (seemingly) straight star of the show and is struggling to live a normal life. Soon the production is assaulted by all manner of ghosts, extradimensional shadow monsters, and immortal stunt women.
The Smoke Trilogy is a lot more fantasy than the Vicki Nelson books and more solidly urban fantasy than horror. Tony is also caught with the unenviable task of being the designated sane one in a cast of oddballs. Eventually, he starts getting some power of his own rather than having to rely on Henry Fitzoy but sadly I don't think his love interests are ever more interesting than our resident vampire. Some characters are also decidedly annoying like a pair of whiny obnoxious children in the second book that poor Tony has to protect from a Ghostbusters-esque infection.
Still, I love Tanya Huff's writing and think this is worth checking out. I just prefer the Vicki Nelson books.
October 25, 2019
Still my favorite series.
All of her works are great, but I consider these her best.
I just wish she had written more and that they had turned this into a TV series.
All of her works are great, but I consider these her best.
I just wish she had written more and that they had turned this into a TV series.
June 16, 2023
In Smoke and Shadows we find Tony hard at work on a cult TV show about a vampire detective, a show which in many ways mirrors his real life. Tony has moved to Vancouver with his friend and former lover, Henry Fitzroy, romance author, bastard son of the King of England and, oh yes, a vampire - his father was Henry VIII. Now Tony is hard at work trying to make a semi-normal life for himself and not give away his attraction to the show’s straight male lead but on the set there are shadows where no shadows should be and they move as no shadow should be able to move. Then first a stunt goes wrong and then the “body of the week” ends up really dead and Tony finds he is battling an entity from another dimension.
Smoke and Mirrors finds Tony and the crew filming in a haunted house with a long history of murder/suicide deaths. When the house awakens and traps the crew Tony has to call on his nascent wizard powers to figure out what is going on and defeat the entity that is causing the violence and trapping the ghosts.
Smoke and Ashes has Tony fighting demons alongside Leah, an immortal stunt woman, and several of the TV show’s crew. There is a Demonic Convergence and as various demons pop into our world looking to kill the Leah and unleash her demon lord to destroy earth.
These are very enjoyable urban fantasy. Tony was apparently a minor character in Ms Huff’s Blood book series but apparently was recast as female in the TV series, Blood Ties, based off that series. Here Ms Huff has given us Tony as a main character the Smoke trilogy and I am glad she did. He is likeable and relatable in his insecurities when it comes to his relationship attractions, the banter on the set is amusing and the non-supernatural characters are very much as I suspect real actors and set people really are. If gay relationships bother you then this is not the trilogy for you but this straight woman adores Tony and I, for one, would really like to see more of him and Henry. Highly recommended
Smoke and Mirrors finds Tony and the crew filming in a haunted house with a long history of murder/suicide deaths. When the house awakens and traps the crew Tony has to call on his nascent wizard powers to figure out what is going on and defeat the entity that is causing the violence and trapping the ghosts.
Smoke and Ashes has Tony fighting demons alongside Leah, an immortal stunt woman, and several of the TV show’s crew. There is a Demonic Convergence and as various demons pop into our world looking to kill the Leah and unleash her demon lord to destroy earth.
These are very enjoyable urban fantasy. Tony was apparently a minor character in Ms Huff’s Blood book series but apparently was recast as female in the TV series, Blood Ties, based off that series. Here Ms Huff has given us Tony as a main character the Smoke trilogy and I am glad she did. He is likeable and relatable in his insecurities when it comes to his relationship attractions, the banter on the set is amusing and the non-supernatural characters are very much as I suspect real actors and set people really are. If gay relationships bother you then this is not the trilogy for you but this straight woman adores Tony and I, for one, would really like to see more of him and Henry. Highly recommended
April 28, 2021
Full review here:
https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...
This trilogy is much more lighthearted than the Blood books, and there are several moments of the production crew laughing at the horrible cliches and dialogue that are part and parcel of the proceedings. It's good to see Tony grow into an adult and realize what he wants. And it remains fun reading.
https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...
This trilogy is much more lighthearted than the Blood books, and there are several moments of the production crew laughing at the horrible cliches and dialogue that are part and parcel of the proceedings. It's good to see Tony grow into an adult and realize what he wants. And it remains fun reading.
July 29, 2021
Tony has an amazing story arc
First I saw the series on TV. Then someone told me there was a character in the books missing in the show. I kind of cell for Tony. Complex, for sure. And very identifyable
First I saw the series on TV. Then someone told me there was a character in the books missing in the show. I kind of cell for Tony. Complex, for sure. And very identifyable
February 17, 2024
Each book improved--book one is feeling out the new setting, book two is a locked-room (house) situation where Tony has to step up, book three brings all his allies in. A little dated now (Tony, please stop mentioning Joss Whedon...), but still fun to read, and I would totally watch Darkest Night.
May 11, 2025
First by this author. A fun read but felt the writing was a bit clumsy and hard to follow at times.
August 24, 2025
Has been a few years since I have read this trilogy but I really enjoyed them back in the day. The main character is really likeable as is the rest of the cast. It was nice reading some gay supernatural fiction that wasn't trauma based.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews