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Legacy of the Dark Kind #1
Blood Tears
When a foreign child is abandoned by her family in Isolann's wolf-ridden forests, she is taken to live under Azrar's protection as his ward. The strange ability that the girl possesses, a power that so terrified her own people, could be the only hope for Prince Azrar's survival.
601 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 2005
3 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Raven Dane
33 books53 followersRaven Dane is a UK based author of dark fantasy, alternative history, post apocalyptic SF, horror, steampunk novels and short stories. Her first books were the dark fantasy Legacy of the Dark Kind trilogy, Blood Tears, Blood Lament and Blood Alliance. These were followed by a High Fantasy spoof, The Unwise Woman of Fuggis Mire.
Her steampunk novels so far are the award winning Cyrus Darian and the Technomicron and sequel Cyrus Darian and the Ghastly Horde. She has had many short stories published, including one in a celebration of forty years of the British Fantasy Society and in international horror anthologies. These have included Tales of the Lake 2, alongside Richard Chizmar, Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon and Jack Ketchum. She also had a story in Billie Sue Mosiman’s Frightmare –Women Write Horror which was shortlisted for a prestigious Bram Stoker award in 2016.
She has appeared in two international lists of best female horror writers. In 2013, she was signed up by Telos Publishing for her collection of Victorian ghost stories, Absinthe and Arsenic and in 2015, the alternative history/ supernatural novel, Death’s Dark Wings. All the Cyrus books are with Telos now in new editions with the third book in the series due in 2019.
A lifelong Dr Who fan, Raven was delighted and honoured to be part of the script team on a spin off film, The Daemons of Devil’s End by Reeltime Pictures in 2017. She also contributed to the novelisation of the film.
Raven brought out a horror novella, The Bane of Bailgate in 2018 and is currently working on a Victorian-based supernatural novel, The Arcane and a prequel to her Legacy of The Dark Kind trilogy, entitled The Blood of Kings More recently Raven has a post, post apocalyptic SF novel released by Demain Publishing called House of Wrax and a short story in an anthology set in celebrated author Dave Jeffery's A Quiet Apocalypse world called A Silent Dystopia.
Readers, please note , some old editions of Blood Tears,Blood Lament, Blood Alliance and the Unwise Woman of Fuggis Mire are no longer available and publishers no longer trading. So far Blood Tears and The Unwise Woman of Fuggis Mire are now republished with lovely new covers. Goodreads does not let the author remove out of date editions
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 22, 2009
Wow. I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very rich in scenery, language, world-building and characters. It kind of reminded me of Vampires of the Scarlet Order in that it deals with a group of vampires throughout the centuries but there in lies the only similarity. Sort of Anne Rice's vampire world-building with the language of Gabaldon's Outlander presenting a new addition to classic gothic literature. I mention this because I love books of this kind that takes vampire lore and creates a whole world around it. A world seen through their eyes as they live parallel to humans. In the world of Blood Tears, vampires are called the Dark Kind.
It's hard to pinpoint the exact storyline. It's not a high concept one where 'a and b meet c and therefore d happens' but it's more along the lines of 'there are these characters living in this particular world and this is their life through the ages'. Azrar is the Dark Prince of a small country called Isolann and he takes in a young mind reader named Khari. The story unfolds as Khari grows into her powers and learns of the world while offering her gift to help Azrar keep one step ahead of his enemies as the threat of 20th century technology and WWII is on the horizon. I really liked the dynamic between Azrar and Khari. Although he offered her a home and somewhat raised her, she falls in love with him and I had to say I was kind of rooting for them to get together. Although the end was contrary to this, it worked as Khari ended up with someone who shared her mutual love (although the Epilogue raises some interesting questions that may deter that possibility). Another Dark Kind, Eshan, also fell in love with Azrar and tries to warn the young girl that Dark Kind don't fall in love as humans do. Once Azrar did and suffered greatly for it.
There's a certain poetry within the characters because they feel like they are living and breathing. Garan, a Dark Kind who defies Azrar and choose to live by his own rules, is ruthless, a bit arrogant and rebellious but he is likeable at the same time. Sandor is the young abused worker with whom the story opens and his kindness and love for Khari and her mother figure Ileni is infectious. There's also a few side characters that have an agenda of their own amidst the Dark Kind and Ms. Dane takes great care to explore their desires, dismay and complexities as well.
I loved that Blood Tears took place in across the centuries throughout the large world wars and big events that really tie into historical reality. Every time I cracked open the book to read just a little bit I would find myself entranced in the story and the characters. I'm definitely going to check out the rest of the series to see what happens after the events of this book.
Although this was published in 2006, this is definitely going on my best reads of 2009.
It's hard to pinpoint the exact storyline. It's not a high concept one where 'a and b meet c and therefore d happens' but it's more along the lines of 'there are these characters living in this particular world and this is their life through the ages'. Azrar is the Dark Prince of a small country called Isolann and he takes in a young mind reader named Khari. The story unfolds as Khari grows into her powers and learns of the world while offering her gift to help Azrar keep one step ahead of his enemies as the threat of 20th century technology and WWII is on the horizon. I really liked the dynamic between Azrar and Khari. Although he offered her a home and somewhat raised her, she falls in love with him and I had to say I was kind of rooting for them to get together. Although the end was contrary to this, it worked as Khari ended up with someone who shared her mutual love (although the Epilogue raises some interesting questions that may deter that possibility). Another Dark Kind, Eshan, also fell in love with Azrar and tries to warn the young girl that Dark Kind don't fall in love as humans do. Once Azrar did and suffered greatly for it.
There's a certain poetry within the characters because they feel like they are living and breathing. Garan, a Dark Kind who defies Azrar and choose to live by his own rules, is ruthless, a bit arrogant and rebellious but he is likeable at the same time. Sandor is the young abused worker with whom the story opens and his kindness and love for Khari and her mother figure Ileni is infectious. There's also a few side characters that have an agenda of their own amidst the Dark Kind and Ms. Dane takes great care to explore their desires, dismay and complexities as well.
I loved that Blood Tears took place in across the centuries throughout the large world wars and big events that really tie into historical reality. Every time I cracked open the book to read just a little bit I would find myself entranced in the story and the characters. I'm definitely going to check out the rest of the series to see what happens after the events of this book.
Although this was published in 2006, this is definitely going on my best reads of 2009.
September 1, 2013
Wow, this was a fascinating read! Ms. Dane created a rich, vivid, mesmerizing world filled with historical events, terrifying vampires, war, uneasy alliances, betrayal, loyalty, love and violence.
The descriptions were strong and compelling and, although there was a large cast of characters, most were well-fleshed out and likeable...even the Dark Kind, who were definitely not human and possessed their own unique traits that often conflicted with those of the humans around them. Ms. Dane did an excellent job of conveying the isolation and stark, rugged beauty of Isolann and the ignorance its citizens had of the modern world outside their borders. Her portrayal of Jendar Azrar as a very powerful, dangerous Dark Kind warrior was bang-on.
This is definitely not a story for the squeamish. There is a lot of graphic violence and bloodshed as the author takes us on a harrowing journey through the horrors of war-ravaged Europe as experienced by humans and Dark Kind alike.
Great job, Ms. Dane! I will definitely be reading the next book in this series.
The descriptions were strong and compelling and, although there was a large cast of characters, most were well-fleshed out and likeable...even the Dark Kind, who were definitely not human and possessed their own unique traits that often conflicted with those of the humans around them. Ms. Dane did an excellent job of conveying the isolation and stark, rugged beauty of Isolann and the ignorance its citizens had of the modern world outside their borders. Her portrayal of Jendar Azrar as a very powerful, dangerous Dark Kind warrior was bang-on.
This is definitely not a story for the squeamish. There is a lot of graphic violence and bloodshed as the author takes us on a harrowing journey through the horrors of war-ravaged Europe as experienced by humans and Dark Kind alike.
Great job, Ms. Dane! I will definitely be reading the next book in this series.
December 12, 2010
I am thinking of adding a "WOW" shelf just for this book. Raven Dane's Blood Tears was such an unexpected surprise. It is becoming rare to find a piece of fiction that is so well conceived, intelligent, and genuine. This is a lengthy journey into the world of a-moral vampires that have existed since before time, nearly. This is not a romance novel, at least not to me. It is science fiction and suspense at it's very best. We are introduced to a vampire caste system, which is not new, but Ms. Dane has scattered this caste across the globe and have them teetering on extinction. Despite this, the vampires remain locked in the past and surviving alone. The story begins in 1925 somewhere in the Upper Balkans where a vampire warrior, the last of his kind, continues to live by the sword in a land he has bent to his will. His name is Jendar Azrar. He, like most of their kind, are forever young and eternal. His ward, Kali, is a human with the ability to read human minds in great detail. They live in ignorant isolation until they are forced into the 20th century by the Nazi assault. The book concludes in 1945 with the allied occupation of Germany. Ms. Dane takes us throughout occupied and war torn Europe to experience the war as Dark Kind and human alike. The Dark Kind are forced to form an uneasy alliance with the humans. This is especially interesting because the Dark Kind can't pass as human. They have no whites in their glowing eyes and purple blood. They also do not experience the range of emotions that humans do. They are simply their own species with some human attributes. Ms. Dane does not tell us how they are created. All the vamps in the story had been alive since before Jesus. This story has more twist and turns than the Pacific Coast Hwy. There is a great deal of bloodshed and violence to make the point clear that the Dark Kind are not your typical vamps. This book is supposed to be Kali's love story but I did not find that to be a very large part of the story. Although the book is long, it captivates and draws you in so you don't really realize you are reading circa 600 pages (I think). I highly recommend this book to readers of darker paranormal fare and aspiring writers. The pacing of this novel is pure perfection and shows control that many newer writers lack.
This book is available on Kindle for 99 cents. I will tell you now, there are some missing words here and there. It would not hurt for the editor to go back through it. The other 2 books of this series have not been made into ebooks but I am nothing if not patient. The paperback is too expensive so I will wait on the 2nd book, Blood Lament to hit Amazon.
This book is available on Kindle for 99 cents. I will tell you now, there are some missing words here and there. It would not hurt for the editor to go back through it. The other 2 books of this series have not been made into ebooks but I am nothing if not patient. The paperback is too expensive so I will wait on the 2nd book, Blood Lament to hit Amazon.
January 20, 2023
To be fair, I doubt I would have liked this much even if there had been great editing and a clearer vision to this story.
set in the fictional country of Svolenia somewhere in the Upper Balkans and featuring and isolated mountain range called Isolann where somehow the last Vampire Prince still reigns ...
Anyway this story is about a girl called Khari who moves from Isolann to Britain where she then uses her gift of mind-reading to help the Allies win WWII. Confused already? Well, the story sounds a little disjointed and to be honest, it always remained that way. At least for me.
Khari, Ehsan, Azrar, Parrish add later Joe Devane are the main cast of this tedious 600-page doorstopper, but they all remain equally pale, lifeless, boring and insignificant. Any atmosphere that could possibly arise is stopped short and overwhelmed by the tiring, tedious, obviously unedited narrative. While I do think the author must have had a clear vision of her project, she fails (possibly lacking a good editor and own experience) to transfer her vision to the pages. Mysterious vampires remain lackluster, definition of the Dark Kind and their history remain diffuse but not in an interesting way. The dialogues are skip-worthy and the narrative often tells and drones incessantly.
There are two more long, droning books in this series which I won't read because my time is too precious to waste it on long books that don't pay off. The author is not without talent and a strict and merciless team of beta readers could definitely slap the writing into form.
set in the fictional country of Svolenia somewhere in the Upper Balkans and featuring and isolated mountain range called Isolann where somehow the last Vampire Prince still reigns ...
Anyway this story is about a girl called Khari who moves from Isolann to Britain where she then uses her gift of mind-reading to help the Allies win WWII. Confused already? Well, the story sounds a little disjointed and to be honest, it always remained that way. At least for me.
Khari, Ehsan, Azrar, Parrish add later Joe Devane are the main cast of this tedious 600-page doorstopper, but they all remain equally pale, lifeless, boring and insignificant. Any atmosphere that could possibly arise is stopped short and overwhelmed by the tiring, tedious, obviously unedited narrative. While I do think the author must have had a clear vision of her project, she fails (possibly lacking a good editor and own experience) to transfer her vision to the pages. Mysterious vampires remain lackluster, definition of the Dark Kind and their history remain diffuse but not in an interesting way. The dialogues are skip-worthy and the narrative often tells and drones incessantly.
There are two more long, droning books in this series which I won't read because my time is too precious to waste it on long books that don't pay off. The author is not without talent and a strict and merciless team of beta readers could definitely slap the writing into form.
February 15, 2012
It was an enjoyable story and on an epic scale. There is a large cast of characters which at some times I felt were a bit hard to keep on track with.
One thing I found difficult was that the characters were not easy to relate to. They seemed to be somewhat distant to me as a reader and I like a bit more of a emotional connection to characters. That said the Raven Dane goes to some length to explain that the vampires in this world are very definitely not human and never were.
I really enjoyed the descriptive passages they were vivid and strong, particularly the landscape and the descriptions of the horses.
All in all a really enjoyable read.
One thing I found difficult was that the characters were not easy to relate to. They seemed to be somewhat distant to me as a reader and I like a bit more of a emotional connection to characters. That said the Raven Dane goes to some length to explain that the vampires in this world are very definitely not human and never were.
I really enjoyed the descriptive passages they were vivid and strong, particularly the landscape and the descriptions of the horses.
All in all a really enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews