Vivia

by Tanith Lee

Vivia, a paragon of youth and beauty, daughter of Lord Vaddix, is alienated from his brutal campaign of violence and fear. Her only solace lies in the secret cave in the bowels of the castle, known only to her and the arcane god whose shrine she believes it is.

When plague enters the castle, bringing an orgy of death and destruction, Vivia seeks shelter in this seductive place. Drawn to her innocence and beauty, a presence - Zulgaris - is resurrected who claims her as his own. Wakened to the wonder of the undead, Vivia is granted the secret of eternal life, but she has been betrayed. Her immortality stretches before her like a damnation.

Handsome Zulgaris, dark prince, war-leader and alchemist. Is Vivia to be his lover, or his pet? Or, far worse, is she but one more thing to be used in this relentless quest for sorcerous power.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Vampires, Gothic, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Dark

395 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[Meredith is a hot mess · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

Vivia is pure gothic decadence, in Tanith Lee’s unique style. I adore it. Tanith Lee’s prose is delectable, and I always enjoy her dark fantasy & gothic stories.

I agree with the points the critical reviews make, except they don’t bother me. I wasn’t expecting a typical story with a well-crafted plot and impressive character arcs. I simply wanted to savor Tanith Lee’s gorgeous writing style.

This book grows stranger and stranger as it goes on. It ventures into the absurd at times. It’s not all beautiful. There are vivid descriptions of decay and violence. Tanith Lee had this ability to write the most bizarre things with such poetic beauty. There were many times I thought, “Wtf did I just read?” I enjoy this quality to her writing, but I expect other people may find it weird or distasteful and that’s ok. I understand why it won’t appeal to everyone, but I like it.

Vivia is rich in symbolism and social/gender commentary. There’s a lot to chew on. There is depth, nuance, and cleverness in Vivia as well as White as Snow . Tanith Lee’s medieval fantasies feel authentic. She weaves realism, human struggles, and wry wit in with the fantastical that’s admirable.

This is a book that I get, and it easily made its way into my all time favorites. Tanith Lee was a writer that wrote from inspiration. She wasn’t influenced by market demands, and it shows. If I could spend a day in any author’s head it would be Tanith Lee hands down. Praise aside, I would neither actively recommend Vivia to anyone nor expect anyone else to enjoy it. There is definitely a love or hate it quality. Like other reviewers have mentioned, it’s an acquired taste you have to be in the right mood for.

There’s an abstract, symbolic quality to the prose. It’s lyrical and imaginative. Lee doesn’t tell readers what to think, and much of the story is left open to interpretation. This type of story lacking in plot but heavy in symbolism stirs my imagination more than action-oriented or even character-driven stories. The experience is similar to reading poetry.

A few thoughts

I like the light homoerotic elements in Carmilla , and wish there were more Carmilla inspired vampire tales. Thus I was thrilled with the aspects of Vivia reminiscent of Carmilla. Gula’s subplot is the most reminiscent of Carmilla, but there is an interesting orgy in Vivia’s court of virgin girls. I’ll admit the orgy was strange (very strange), but I like that Tanith Lee went there. Heterosexual relationships occur in Vivia too, but like with Jacqueline Carey, I’m impressed by Tanith Lee’s ability to include sexual and gender diversity in her stories. Ooh, I just found this article on Tor that has a list of Lee’s stories that “explore the fluidity and complexity of gender and sexuality.” I had no idea she wrote lesbian fiction under the penname Esther Garber! I’m so checking that out.

I like the Christianity and Pagan themes that were also in White As Snow. I grinned when characters would blaspheme by saying, “Marius Christ.” lol.

The descriptions of the caves in the beginning were so damn lush! Tanith Lee crafted the prose in such a way where I could feel Vivia’s descent into the grotto:

Down…

Through the stone castle, along its branching corridors, some narrow as a drain…

Down.

Past the warren where the servants of Lord Vaddix lived, the steaming kitchen with its hole of a hearth, and dead geese and onions hanging from the rafters. Down through the under-chambers where stuff was stored and lost….

Vivia was not afraid. She had come this way for almost ten years. Ursabet had brought her – You’ll be safe here.

I actually liked Vivia. She was a bit passive, but she had limited courses of action to begin with. She was a 16 year old princess in medieval times. She was motherless; raised by an elderly servant with an absentee, cruel father. She had no friends, no schooling, no other outlets except her imagination and journeys into the caves. I thought it fascinating she found comfort and escape in the caves deep underneath the castle. When I was young I always explored the woods behind my house, especially when I was stressed, so this kind of adventure to escape the harsh reality of childhood/adolescence was relatable to me. There was some wish-fulfillment here, the idea of having caves all to myself to explore underneath a castle is so appealing. I thought Vivia was a badass for making the caves her second home. She came across as fearless and daring. I loved the line: Vivia was not afraid. People may complain that she didn’t take charge of her life, but her options were limited, as were many women’s options in medieval times. I thought her inner voice was rather rebellious and sarcastic. Some may consider her inner thoughts cold or austere, but it didn’t bother me. Vivia did show courage and audacity, it was just written in such an understated way it was easy to miss.

I’m giving this 4.5 stars because I didn’t like ending. I was satisfied up until 96%, and then I thought, “Wait. This is it?” It was a tragic, anti-climatic ending. I don’t hate it, but it wasn’t as good as White As Snow. White As Snow definitely had the plot, character arcs, and a beautiful, though bitter sweet ending. I like White As Snow a bit more, but this was still one of the best books by Tanith Lee I’ve read. To be fair, this is a horror novel, unlike White As Snow, and Vivia's ending was dreadful in a horrific manner.

I also want to mention that I’ve been wanting to read Vivia for awhile now, and I was happy to see it's available on Kindle Unlimited. Immanion Press deserves commendation for making Tanith Lee more accessible. They’ve reissued Tanith Lee’s work on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and have published print editions. Tanith Lee didn't have the easiest time with publishers, and I’m glad a publisher is stepping up and helping preserve her legacy.

[Sadie Hartmann]

I need to decide if I can recommend this to general audiences...it's problematic but goddamn, the story and the writing! Let me think on it.

[Althea Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thrilled to find a copy of this Tanith Lee book (she's one of my favorite authors), which I don't believe has been published in the US - and, as a bonus, the cover art is one of my favorite paintings ("Sappho" by Charles-August Mengin, 1877)! I was not disappointed by the writing either - it's a purely sensual experience, and a wonderful addition to the vampire fiction genre.
I rarely like books that don't have any sympathetic characters - but this was an exception!

[Nicholas Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivia is the fifteen-year-old daughter of the warlord king Vaddix, a man recently married and the recent victor of a bloody war. However, as her father weeps in his bedroom with the corpse of his favorite horse, Vivia slowly watches the castle and the surrounding town fall to madness and plague. She takes refuge in the dark caverns beneath the castle, where she leaves offerings to a mysterious bat god. While madness and debauchery takes place above, Vivia is visited by a shadow god who, after a night of eldritch passion, bestows upon her a dark gift: vampirism.
Vivia is the sole survivor of her father's kingdom, but then the alchemist prince Zulgaris discovers her and takes her as one of his pets. In a bizarre twist on a passive heroine scenario, as Vivia hungers for blood, she will transfers into something monstrous, but wonders if she'll be alone.

Okay, whew! There's A LOT to talk about with Vivia. First off, let's get this out of the way: this is a Gothic grimdark fantasy novel, and that grimdark is with a capital "g." Tanith Lee has gone to dark places in the books I've read by her thus far, but like every other horror and fantasy author in the mid-1990s, she really, really brought out the ugliness in humanity here. A lot of horrible things happen to people in this book, including Vivia herself. If you are some who is put off by a lot of rape/sexual assault, squelchy body horror stuff, brutal deaths, underage characters engaging in sexual situations, and just utter misery, then this is not the book for you. In fact, this book could be considered "problematic" by today's standards. I was surprised that I made it through this book, but despite all its horrors and despair, and I ended up mostly enjoying it.

Passive main female characters are not looked upon fondly these days. Not just passive in that they do nothing in fighting against the threats of the book, but also passive in the plot happens to them and they don't drive the plot themselves. I'd argue that Vivia herself falls into this latter category for a time until Zulgaris's downfall. Anytime a writer writes a passive female character it's met with scorn for understandable reasons; though, I feel that women writers get more criticism and hatred for writing such characters, at least from what I've witnessed. Vivia's pacifism will upset some readers, however he gradual transformation in a monster, of sorts, is both satisfying and depressing to see. If you want to see a young woman truly become evil, reject the light and embrace the darkness, you're guaranteed that with Vivia. I will admit that what happens to Vivia made me feel sick and exhausted at times--as I said, there's a lot of rape in this book--but what Lee was doing was still so interesting to me. It is interesting how this passive girl became both feared and revered by the novel's end. Her vampirism was genuinely a threat that inspired hysteria in men (and women). In some ways, Vivia became like her violent father at the beginning. Not all passive heroines meet such a fate in books by Lee or other authors. Many of them are left broken or dead as a reminder of the horrors of the world or because the author can enjoy torturing weak and unassuming characters. Vivia might be the first passive character I've seen who's embraced monstrosity and the darkness by the end of the novel.

Seeing that journey from its beginning and conclusion can feel like a lifetime, however. The pacing in this book was a little slower than Lee's usual work. Though I felt it picked up somewhat after the midway point. And that was strange to me, because Lee's prose here was a bit different too. It was both baroque, what she is usually none for, but sparse as well. Like the sentences and paragraphs could be quite short sometimes, but their deliver felt, for the lack of a better phrase, William Shatner-esque. I never expected such a thing from Lee. It wasn't bad, but definitely different.

Although Vivia herself is passive for a good deal of the novel, I would not say she's hollow. She begins as a disinterested and bored girl, perhaps use to her father's atrocities already as evident by how little sorrow there is when she thinks about her mother, who was killed when she was a little girl by a single fist to her head from Vivia's father. It's only when her servant Ursabet dies, the only mother figure she had in her life, does the fear in the girl come out. As she witnesses the horrors of the plague take over the castle, her fears guides her to the place beneath the castle. However, after Zulgaris takes her in and their eventual experimentation with her being a vampire, Vivia becomes a hardened soul. She begins to care little for human life, including those far vulnerable than her. During her stay with Zulgaris, she is forced to have sex with him multiple times, partially because a study in alchemy he is following, and partially because, like many men in the book, he views her as his slave. Zulgaris legitimizes this latter part by putting a gold chain around her neck. A witch employed by Zulgaris, who has her own plans, has a sort of bitter rivalry with Vivia even though they are both women under Zulgaris's heel. In a better world, perhaps the two would've allied, helped each other, and been like sisters. However, this is a world where it's every woman for herself. Vivia is given a group of young girls to feed off their blood and she does not pity them one bit, especially poor Gula and Oria. I genuinely felt sorry for Gula and hoped she's have a happy fate or at least make a turn like Vivia, but...
So, this is where another weird part comes in. After Vivia feeds off her young handmaidens, all the girls, except Gula, become...sexually aroused and engage in a lesbian orgy. It's kind of It by Stephen King-levels of uncomfortableness (if you know, you know). And one point Zulgaris witnesses this orgy and uses it to *ahem* pleasure himself into a golden jar held by the elderly witch. There is a reason for the whole semen in the jar thing. as I said the witch has her own plans, but yeah. This moment solidified for me that Lee would cross every line, offend every sensitivity, and so forth.
All of these events while with Zulgaris--and she's with him for a while--harden her more and make her distant from and despise humanity, particularly men. And here's where things gets interesting with all of thus. While under Zulgaris's heel, the prince himself, his people, his knights, and eventually Vivia herself, also point out and emphasize Vivia's vampirism, how pale she is, but also her affinity for the darkness. Vivia longs for the shadow god who, up till that point in the novel, gave her the only night of pleasure she ever experienced and gifted her vampirism. Zulgaris himself is often signified with light and the sun, usually seen as the "good guy" in stories that adhere more closely to the rules. However, Zulgaris is nothing more than a megalomaniac whose obsession with his alchemy makes him disregard the concerns of others and treats women like chattel. The witch and poor Gula have their persons violated by him, though not as thoroughly as Vivia.
Here, the light is something to despise, it is not the hero or the saving grace. This theme is magnified by the fact that after Vivia becomes a vampire, the sun hurts her, but does not hurt or destroy her. In the world's main religion, clearly modeled off of Christianity with some Pagan elements amalgamated together, the main figure of worship is Marius Christ, who was crucified to a tree and when resurrected was dressed in the brilliant light of the sun. Throughout the book, iconography of Marius Christ focuses on the sun on his face. Vivia comes to reject God and Marius, but this is another example the light being seen with contempt in the story. Vivia despises much of humanity because of the light of this religion they follow.

And if you haven't been following along, you'll notice that I've mentioned that most of the men in this book are awful. All except one of them, but more on that in bit. There is a persistent theme throughout Vivia about how men treat women and view them. To most of the men in the book, women are nothing more than sexual objects or dark, irrational, ferocious beings to fear. However, one man solely views Vivia herself as transcendent and lovely, a goddess almost. And although he loves her and Vivia grows closer to him, there's some unspoken question about whether this true love or not, but as I said more about him in a bit. Lee does not shy away from the horrors men throw upon women. As I said in some of my past reviews of her other books, like The Birthgrave and Sabella, when it comes to her social-political commentary, Lee is a shower not a teller. She does not give you dignified diatribes about the hows and whys men treat women so horribly, she just shows you want man can do (and have done) to women. Still there are some lines that are very perceptive:

Men were powerful, must always be placated, or run from.

and...

He himself had raped her, over and over. That he was a prince had presumably made this acceptable. But all men were princes, vilely elevated by their masculinity.

...really go for the jugular. Vivia becomes so distrusting and disgustful of men that she even refuses to drink their blood. All these horrible men make Vivia long for her shadow god whose gender is a mysterious thing. The shadow god is referred to as he/him, Vivia says that the shadow god is not a man or male and she reflects on its eldritch body pleasing her during the passionate night of her coming into vampirism. She makes specific reference to its many tongues. This was interesting me. Can this be considered a queer moment? I'm not sure myself, but I certainly think you could make an argument for it. The only one who could give Vivia pleasure was a god with different kind of body. It is in this memory that Vivia can only find peace in during the horrible moments with Zulgaris.

That is until she comes to Syr and meets the artist Ruslem.

After a series of shenanigans that lead to Zulgaris's people realizing how damn crazy he is and how they can truly do nothing against a monster like Vivia, the alchemist prince finally gets his comeuppance. Vivia now rules him. They come to the desert city of Syr where Zulgaris declines and Vivia finally understands her vampire abilities. Not only that, she willingly engages in prostitution...and she enjoys it! She even starts discovering the pleasures of her own body and embracing her sexuality. And then one night, while hunting for blood, she discovers Ruslem who is immediately smitten by her and whom, to Vivia, resembles somewhat her shadow god. Ruslem is not afraid of her and offers his blood. Vivia is reluctant at first, but when she realizes she loves him, she accepts. In fact, she hopes to turn him into a vampire too.
Vivia feeds off Ruslem and Ruslem adores hers. There is pleasure in their sex, both of their bodies and souls are sated. But when Vivia sees the painting Ruslem made of her, the young woman she sees barely resembles her. She had become Ruslem's muse and goddess, but doe he really see her?
This what I was talking about earlier? Ruslem is kind and gentle, unlike all the other brutal men of the book, but does he truly love Vivia as a woman and who is he? Or is he idealizing her? Idealizing somebody isn't loving somebody and sadly many women have been idealized and not loved. Simone de Beauvoir has something to say about this in The Second Sex:

The prestige she enjoys in the eyes of men comes from them; they kneel before the Other, they worship the Goddess Mother. But as powerful as she may appear, she is defined through notions created by the male consciousness.

The Muse is the conduit between the creator and the natural springs he draws from. It is through woman’s spirit deeply connected to nature that man will explore the depths of silence and the fertile night. The Muse creates nothing on her own; she is a wise sibyl making herself the docile servant of a master.

Now, Vivia's relationship with Ruslem is not exactly like this. She is not docile to him, however, Ruslem, like many of the other men in the book though far less cruel, as envisioned her as something idealized and thus distancing her from any close to what she actually is (vampire) and what she once was (human). I have no idea if Lee read de Beauvoir here or channeled her here, but her description of Ruslem's painting of Vivia almost rings close to de Beauvoir's description of the "depths of silence and fertile night." She is cloaked in dark clothing in front of an ominous sea and seems almost a caricature of herself.
It's sad to say that Ruslem and Vivia's love does not continue.

And that brings us to the ending. It was one of the most depressing endings in a book I've read. I haven't gone over every detail in this book, some I have left out for other readers to discover for themselves if they dare. What I will say is that Vivia remembers her mother and in her final moments, curled up somewhere, her final words are "Sleep, baby, sleep, my love."

Vivia isn't alone, but she has no one. She has left the world of light behind, the world of humanity behind, for the light and the sun harm her. She embraces the dark, for the dark can be safe and comforting like a mother's arms. However, the dark can be lonely.

I close out with the poem "El Desdichado" by Gérard de Nerval:

I am the tenebrous, – the widower, – the disconsolate
Prince of Aquitaine in a ruined tower:
My only star is dead, – and my lute, constellated,
Bears the black sun of Melancholy.
In the dark night of the tomb, you who consoled me,
Grant me the Posillipo and the sea of Italy,
The flower that so pleased my heart which is desolate,
And the trellis where vines with roses intertwine.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars--I really liked it. However, I don't recommend it--it's incredibly weird. Plus there's a biggg content warning for a lot of awful things (rape on nearly every page and misogyny). I'm just a sucker for Lee's prose and gothic trappings.

And oh boy is it gothic. The book starts in a dark, sinister castle built into the side of a mountain, and winds its way to a golden medieval-esque city, finally ending up in the desert. There's not much plot in this book--instead it rambles along from one strange, puzzling encounter to the next.

However, each encounter is so unique and beautifully written that I was captivated. Vivia, though not as passive as many of Lee's heroines, is so weighed down by her own (and her society's) misogyny that she lives her life in horrible captivity, even when it's clear to the reader that she could easily free herself if she tried. Overall a lush read from Lee. I'd give it 5 stars, but I thought the ending was abrupt.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Vivia’ feels very much like the mid-90s book that it is. Published in the wake of the big budget Hollywood movie adaptations of ‘Dracula’ and ‘Interview with the Vampire’, both the novel and the cover aim for a decadent, sensuous vibe and mostly achieve it. It’s an interesting counterpoint to the other vampire novels I’ve reviewed recently for this column. Far removed from the aggressive Victoriana of ‘Anno Dracula’ or the yuppie satire of ‘Suckers’. Instead, ‘Vivia’ is a much more gothic affair, and none the worse of that.
The book tells the story of the title character Vivia, a young woman in an unnamed medieval land beset by war and plague. Vivia is set upon by a member of the undead and transformed into a bloodsucker, feeding on young women that are enslaved for her.
To be honest though, the story matters little. This is far more an exercise in style and atmosphere than it is in plot It’s a novel rich in dark imagination and explicit sex. It’s graphically violent and erotic from beginning to end, with the dreamlike, bloody eroticism of a Jean Rollin film, and a frank earthiness. Whilst the characters and situations are fantastic and largely unrelatable, the prose is so enjoyable that I found the book hard to put down. This might well be the first Carry on Screaming book that I read for the words rather than the story.
‘Vivia’ is a book unlike any other I’ve reviewed for this series. It’s definitely a horror novel, but closer to the dark fairy tales of Angela Carter than Herbert or Hutson or even Clive Barker. Lee was a prolific author who wrote in numerous genres and her wide ranging talent is very much on display here. This is a grim and challenging, but at times beautiful book and very much worth reading.

[mo · Rating 3 out of 5]

i have no idea how to rate this. vivia is fascinating and vivid in its descriptions; the way tanith lee wrote this work shows a real sensitivity to the sound of language as well as the meaning it evokes. scenes of putrid decay and examples of human cruelty are portrayed in lush detail. it's not a book to read when you want to feel optimistic about human nature.

my overall feelings on vivia are a jumble. did i enjoy reading it? i don't really think so. was i spellbound by its dark medieval setting and winding tale of neglect, abuse, sickness, and despair? yes.

the entire book is grim and rife with stuff that could be triggering, but here's a list of content warnings: rape, child neglect, gore, depictions of plague, and abuse. lots of abuse. this world of tanith lee's is filled to the brim with misogyny, so take care if you want to read this. (it never felt like it was included for the sake of being ~dark~ but rather integral to the type of book this was. but still, proceed with caution.)

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get it :(



Thanks for the buddy read, Nenia!

So far I have loved the Tanith Lee's young adult coming of age robot love story The Silver Metal Lover and her gloomy, gothic, futuristic vampire romance Sabella, or The Blood Stone. Two very different yet extremely amazing novels.

Very curious to see how this one turns out and I am going in blind!!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

So dark I forgot to breathe. Good grief.

[ThatBookish_deviant · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0/5

Vivia is like if the 70’s sexploitation film, Vampyros Lesbos, had a book baby with Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, and I enjoyed every debauched moment of it. Gotta thank Mother Horror, Sadie Hartmann, for bringing this one to my attention.

“Her terror was transformed into a burning itch of malevolence.”

[Myridian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It didn't take me too long to realize that I'd read this novel before, and while I generally love Tanith Lee, this isn't one of her better books. It has something of an interesting twist with an inter-species love that is able to transcend the difference between two groups that are typically characterized by animosity. However, I've come to the realization that Lee frequently writes about passive, withdrawn women, and while this isn't a problem when their introspections and the events that are happening to them are interesting, if the environment doesn't provide enough spice, the character certainly won't. That was the problem with this book. The world just doesn't feel rich enough. It has magic, and mountain, and unique races, but just not quite enough spice for me.

[Zan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it's unfortunate that I rate and review books publicly. As much a joy as it is to exercise my thoughts and share them with you, every once in a while there's a book that's just so unrelentingly incriminating it's embarrassing to share how much I enjoyed it with strangers, my friends, my family. I've long since fallen in love with Tanith Lee and her potent ability to paint a picture, this flowing vivid image that wraps you in the absolutely fantastical - here she uses her powers for a wholly gothic and malicious end.

This book is dark. Brutal. A constant assault on the senses in such a sadistic and voyeuristic manner it's hard not to be both disgusted and titillated by it. There's an absurd amount of rape, torture, abuse. Characters are introduced solely to be mutilated and destroyed without any further meaning behind their existence or death. Most of the plot follows the titular Vivia, daughter of a fantasy Vlad the Impaler, this brutal imposing lord who sets out to conquer... within a scant few chapters in the beginning everything is uprooted as plague sweeps through the castle driving everyone into an orgy-unto-death, Vivia only escaping by secreting herself within the bosom of the shrine to the devil in the caves beneath the case, where she comes across.... a vampire lord?

It's the stuff of purest tawdry gothic fantasy, and though theres, I think a meagre hint of thematics pointing towards the inherent frailty of women's power being bound up in beauty and sex... I mean, most of the book is there for the spectacle. Lee's ideas are utterly unbounded - I don't generally find that I'm a squeamish person, but a number of times I wondered if the gory details were too much for me. Violence, brutal sex, and dark religious iconography stain these pages through and through - she really did not hold back whatsoever, and regardless of how else you find it, that seems commendable to me.

So yeah. Nothing but pure, dark id. Loved this. Feel like a decent person probably shouldn't. But who wants to be decent, eh?

[Clara · Rating 1 out of 5]

..what?
___________
I saw someone compare their reading experience of Vivia to waking up in someone's gothic nightmare.  So I thought that it would be right up my ally, but alas it wasn't meant to be. The pacing felt off, and perhaps I would have liked it if it were a novella. As it was, the whole thing felt drawn out and repetitive. In the beginning, the setting and weirdness were kind of enchanting, but none of it had a point. If you asked me what this book was about, I really wouldn't be able to tell you. Vivia grew up at her father's mercy, he was cruel, but I guess that's okay because Vivia is so aloof and doesn't care about anything. Then she gets kidnapped, practically locked into a tower and raped on a daily basis, but that's also okay because she is pretty and pretty people don't need to worry about anything. Now, at least her chains are made out of gold.

[Archfiend Prototype · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is there any other book that can compete with the environs and spaces of Vivia? I think not. I smelled and heard and felt and sensed everything. Meaning-making reaches its heights into visions of light and dark, of celestial bodies, and of the clashing of binary oppositions. I loved everything I read. Everything about Vivia makes it inherently feminine. Women are bound to every thread that makes this universe. There wasn’t a single part that felt out of place about the writing. The pacing is amazing. Every word compels you to read more, and every sentence obligates itself to another. There was not a single moment where the story felt slow. I think I’ve been bewitched.

[Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose is beautiful, like reading in a trance.
But I felt so bad for all the women. Justice for Gula especially, she just wanted to know motherly love. And I'm happy gargoyle stone baby reunited with Vivia at the end.

[Lily G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hard/graphic/abusive read but still very good. The themes of abuse weren’t exactly exploitative but rather telling of the woman experience.

Like others I thought the first half was more interesting, but the storyline was strong and the protagonist Vivia was well written

[pareidolia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sensual dream of blood and pestilence.
Zulgaris is so very much a man; it's satisfying to watch his downfall. He's only one of many, though. Even Vivia the vampire can't fell them all. And yet, that's not her tragedy. Her tragedy is loneliness.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, not one of the Divine Ms Lee's best works.

In this case, it is the story that is lacking. Vivia wanders around, letting her surroundings and the people in it control her life decisions, only coming to conclusions about herself by accident--and then not acting upon them. I found myself reading onward just to see where Vivia was going (emotionally.) And she didn't. Several instances and characters I wish we had seen repeated, or developed upon. The red wolves, for example, could have been brought to Syr. Or Demed could have become a victim of Vivia as Zulgaris had made her a victim. The whole novel had a very vague, lost vibe to it. Nothing came full circle.

In addition, I have to point out that while Lee possesses extraordinary talent in beautiful, unusual description; I felt that book one and two were overwhelmingly Purple. So much so that there were passages I had to reread again and again just to attempt to grasp. And the few blatant modern curse words were so unexpected amongst the flowery Purple Prose they jarred me right out of the story each time I encountered them.

A few points I especially loved; the city like a maze, Syr; Zulgaris' golden exterior and how he used it to make himself almost a god; the Spike Tower of Vivia's father; the bizarre sex plague; the strange and awkward truce between the witch and Vivia. Also, as usual with Lee's novels there were one or two passages that so struck me, I had to throw down my book and fervently sketch them before I could move on. I rarely experience this kind of vivid visual from any other author.

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

exceptionally grim (the copy for the immanion press reissue says lee was “writing grimdark fantasy even before it was known as a genre” - does that mean she inadvertently birthed hopepunk as well?) and frankly way too long. lee seems especially uninterested in the meat of the zulgaris section - before his fall, that is, which reanimates the book. i rly liked where vivia herself ends up and generally there is more than enough here that enraptures, even if the usual dionysian lee pleasures are weighed down by an unusually turgid plottiness.

interesting that in a 2012 interview lee noted that vivia was written to a horror brief - a style of working she also said she didn’t particularly love - and that in retrospect she felt the horror aspects of the book were “overloaded” — anyone who has read this can probably guess at one in particular :)

[Madly Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

REREADING IN 2019

Still one of my favorite books. Dark, poetic language that I shall remember for a long time. This is a tale all girls should read. Tanith was a great feminist without trying. NO preaching. It's all very organic and fluid.

This is an acquired taste, a book so dark that it will make you think too much. I seem to be the only one who really loved it. I guess that is because I like Lee's style and the fact that she is telling not one story but two, the story on the surface and then the one in all that imagery. Lee makes plain that girls and women are faced with difficult issues when it comes to love, marriage, or children. Something primitive and unsaid in our culture but duly noted in fairy tales and folklore.

[Carolyn Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very dark fantasy, which to begin with was a little more macabre and disturbing than I enjoy. The main character Vivia started out quite unlikeable, however during the course of the story I began to warm to her a little.
I enjoyed the development of Vivia's character throughout, although I was disappointed at the way she allowed others to set her course and use her.
This is not a book for feminists. Women are not regarded as anything more than objects to be used by men and Vivia is quite accepting of this.
A different vampire novel to most which was quite refreshing.

[Bronwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it has been at least eight years since I first read this, what I seem to remember most about this novel was how lush and promising the beginning chapters were and how it ultimately fell flat in the end--a common complaint I have with of a lot of Lee's more recent writings.

Vivia herself is a fascinating character, and the depictions of her early life in the family castle as well as the decadent going-ons within were a highlight of the book for me.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me the story has little to recommend it. My soul (or whatever innards you want to call it) felt bleak and diminished upon finishing it. The characters are one dimensional with no arc, the plot consists of horrible occurrences in sequence. The women are powerless even when they have supernatural powers, maybe this was the author's point? The men are rapists, well, one was not but he was at the end so I guess 98% of the men are rapists. I don't think I'll be trying any more from this author.

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivia is born in a crumbling castle to a Vidix, a violent and rageful man, who kills her mother when Vivia is only six years old. When a plague comes to the castle, Vivia looses everything she has ever known, and retreats to subterranean pools below the castle to wait for an end. But in the phosphorescent caves, she discovers an old god, who turns her into a vampire. This is a strange, meandering story, held together by Tanith Lee's spare but imagistic prose, and her careful characterisation of Vivia. I found the beginning difficult to read because the images of the rot-filled castle during the plague were so gruesome, and I was frustrated that some threads of the story didn't seem to go anywhere, but despite this, I found this book completely compelling, and I was totally drawn in by Vivia and her world. I rarely wish for books to be longer, but here I wish there had been 50 more pages at the end so Lee could really have explored Vivia's development.

[Tôpher Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing you notice about this book is how good the writing style is. So much better than most of the fantasy/gothic/horror writers of her day. It is also very erotic and therefore for adults. Like a lot of Tanith Lee’s work the central character is a young woman who becomes enthralled by a powerful man, in this case a vampire, and having been made into a vampire herself, slowly discovers her powers and eventually throws off her abusive master. It is a metaphor for how a lot of women are treated by men but there is no easy or trite worthy signalling here, she seems to love her ‘master’ until she hates him and even then…?
This is undoubtedly one of the most sensual and original vampire novels I’ve read. I don’t understand why her novels are not kept in print, if it wasn’t for digital books she’d be hard to come by. A brilliant writer and one of the best of her time, yet so abandoned by the publishing world.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

YIKES this is dark, and not in the expected ways. The darkness is real, not gothic or romantic. There was an assault on pretty much every page, and it was ugh, but it also did not seem gratuitous. Oh, you think a beautiful princess would have a beautiful life in a world where she is property? That’s cute.
It’s a big LOLfuckoff to every romantic medieval fantasy as well as sexy-vampire books.
Vivia is so passive. She’s internalized so much misogyny that even when she has massive power, she does nothing with it. She believes she is nothing, so she does nothing.
It was a depressing nightmare of a book, but I could not put it down. It casts a spell, that’s for sure. And when it was over, I was pleased that I have a voice, agency, a life.

[Juushika · Rating 4 out of 5]

When her city is taken by plague, the daughter of the warlord escapes to the caverns below where her subterranean worship rouses a creature who makes her a vampire. This is a rambling, developing narrative, cinematic in a way more art house than action flick: specific and precise tableaux, character-focused, with a relentless but sparsely indulgent gothic atmosphere. The depictions of sexual violence are confrontational, ubiquitous, and profoundly nuanced. This is almost one for the "more interesting than successful" pile, but when the narrative spills forward, the determined allegiance to Vivia's characterization grounds it.

[Ayre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is dark, depressing, and smutty.

Its set in a fantasy universe that is very medieval with magic but instead of being romanticized everyone dies in unpleasant ways. Half the time the reader has no idea whats going on and the ending is very open ended. So if that bothers you you probably wont like this

As far as trigger warnings. There is an excessive amount of rape. Women, especially Vivia, are treated like property, not people. There is also human experimentation, sacrifice, gruesome murders, and plague deaths.

[Fizza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gracious approval from me. Lee delivered a star of a protagonist whom I kept finding myself gushing over as the story kept progressing.

Our titular character however was overshadowed by the lycan ghosts who proved to become more irritating than the weak grammar and prose. Now I like Wolves, But Why are they Swarming every chapter with their Incessant munching and licking?

[C.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark but interesting

This is not my favorite of Lee's but it held my attention all he way through. Vivia is such a self-destructive being so when she finally took charge of her life I got really engaged. Then of course it fell apart.