A Feast In Exile

Description

Saint-Germain is a prisoner in fourteenth century India. His companion, a young acrobat, is reluctant to slake Saint-Germains thirst if that will lead to her own undeath. Meanwhile, sexy Avasa Dani rises to new life and, without Saint-Germains promised protection, must make a place for herself in a world dominated by men.

---

Customer Reviews

I enjoyed this one more than most in the series....
For me, and I guess I'm in the minority, this book was more enjoyable than most of the others in the series of St. Germain books.

It seemed that this time St. Germain wasn't making 10 million horrible decisions that would come back and, er, bite him in the you-know-what. I was beginning to get a little sick of a man - vampire, actually - who's been around the block more than a couple of times in his 4000 years on Earth making the same stupid, stupid mistakes over and over again.

Two mistakes, to be totally accurate: 1. Falling for the wrong woman 2. Trusting the wrong people. (He does make the third usual mistake: waiting too long to leave...but heck, that's part of the story now, isn't it?)

In this one I felt I began to see another side of St. Germain - he seemed to be more than someone who always pulls off the impossible.

Can't wait until I finish the next in line....I sincerely hope the progress continues rather than backslides into the same 'dang it, don't trust her!/him!/them!' scenarios.

2005-02-20 (Virginia) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

---

Huh?
I'm still in the process of reading this one but felt I had to
share. As with every book Ms. Yarbo thanks those who read the book for clarity, content, errors, etc. Her thanks were premature. There are at least two glaring inconsistencies of plot in this one.
Was she even paying attention as she wrote it?

2004-06-08 | The Mad Squirrel (Prescott, AZ USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 2

---

Sadly Formulaic
'A Feast in Exile' doggedly follows a formulaic pattern that has been established in the last four or five books. Saint Germain is living in India in the 14th century as Tamerlane (Timur-i-link) is invading from the north and the current Raj is putting in place taxes and restrictions on foreigners (the Count among them) within the city. There are two love interests, one extent as we begin the book and one the Count meets as he flees his home ahead of the invading army. Circumstances force them together in their journey south and to hoped-for safety.

Like many of the reviewers of Ms. Yarbro's books, I have read every St. Germain book, plus the three books based on Olivia and the first Madelaine book 'Out of the House of Life'. The first five books, beginning with 'Hotel Transylvania' were seductive, fascinating reads that I eagerly devoured and reluctantly finished because I wanted more. The writing sparkled, the characters were vivid, the dialogue fresh and the plot and characters were deftly tied to the political circumstances of the time period making the first five books an exquisite, sumptuous delight. I would highly recommend new readers of the Saint Germain series start with Hotel Trans and continue on with the next four books.

By constrast, 'A Feast in Exile' took me 6 months to slog through, reading a chapter here or there then putting it aside in favor of something more engaging. I finished the book out of a sense of loyalty to the character of Saint Germain more than anything.

Ms. Yarbro's last four novels have ceased to engage the imagination. Her longtime fans know the Count survives well into the 1970's, at least, if they've read 'The Saint Germain Chronicles'. And so, where the plot would normally revolve around the predicament and survival of the hero, it now must revolve around the predicament and survival of the secondary characters and their relation to the Count. For this to work the reader must be engaged and interested in the secondary characters, identifying with them and feeling they, too, have a stake in the success, failure, survival or death of those characters. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case with this series.

Ms. Yarbro's characters fall into three categories without fail: a) noble suffering martyr, b) cunning, cruel adversary (ultimately defeated) and c) cringing or offensive 'atmosphere' character. 'Feast' is chock-a-block with all three categories and no relief in sight, from the hand-wringing, risk-adverse business partner to the offensive spies that watch Saint Germain to the cruel Raja who tries to use the Count under mistaken (and somewhat murky) circumstances. Granted only Garrison Keillor has the knack of making ordinary folks interesting but certainly the medieval world had other people not so broadly drawn as to be obviously good or obviously evil? Were medieval people everywhere so selfish, suspicious and hysterical as to immediately suspect every stranger they saw? Was simple, common charity and openness so lacking?

The secondary characters are caricatures, broadly drawn stereotypes rather than real human beings. Attempts are made, here and there, to give the characters a bit of color or interest but once you are introduced to a new character it only takes a few lines to 'categorize' he or she within the framework of the story.

Like the characters, the stories have slowly taken on a stale flavor that makes me more and more reluctant to read them. The plot opens with an oppressive, male-dominated society on the brink of persecuting Saint Germain. A tortured (either mentally, physically or both) heroine captures his interest and his heart. She is also about to be or already is oppressed by the society. There is the inevitable need of Saint Germain (and possibly the love interest) to leave his home to outrun persecution. The culmination is the ultimate loss of his lover by some tragic means. The only thing that changes is the physical location and the political landscape.

From the beginning of 'Feast' the dialogue is wooden, stilted and repetitive, whether Saint Germain is speaking with his manservant, Roger, with his business partner or with his love interests. This has been a recurring problem through several books so I doubt it is some attempt to represent the manner in which people spoke in 14th century India or any other time period.

The same questions, concerns and themes are discussed ad nauseum by the characters, e.g., his constant reassurance to his second love interest that he won't force himself on her. Given the historical preferences of the Count for strong women who know their own minds (Olivia, Madelaine, Ranegonda) what he could possibly see in the woman he travels with is beyond me. She is callow, inexperienced and weak and her behavior toward him his repellant. Perhaps the old adage 'chicks dig jerks' holds true for ancient, lonely vampires?

'Feast' attempts to use physical movement (the Count's journey south) to simulate movement in the plot. A scene where part of a caravan is swept away by a swift river is so poorly executed that I paused in the middle and did not return to finish the chapter for a week. What little movement Ms. Yarbro achieves swiftly bogs down with repetitive, wooden conversations between the Count and his traveling companions as he reassures them he is no threat. It begins to read like one weary man's apologia to the entire female gender throughout history and that I find repellant as well. A man with his supposed grace, poise and command, who has the knowledge of thousands of years of life and the compassion he has chosen to take on instead of violence is reduced to sniveling.

The only thing that sparkles and continues to sparkle is Ms. Yarbro's research. It is always meticulous and interesting and, despite an error here or there (natural when dealing with so much detail and trying to distill it into a novel) 'Feast' as well as her other novels gives one an interesting encapsulation of a moment in history. But where the historical events played such an integral and fascinating role in the older books, it is now nothing more than a mildly interesting but unengaging backdrop.

The ending of this book seemed to me a stark and disturbing encapsulation of the entire novel - why did St. Germain do any of the things he did for either woman? What did it all mean? Nothing, apparently, and I was left feeling just as empty and dissatisfied. I do not know if I will continue to purchase and read the series. Clearly it has become a somewhat lucrative franchise, thanks to the popularity of vampires, and allows Ms. Yarbro to pursue other writing projects that are less lucrative but more creative. If nothing else, her editor does Ms. Yarbro and her readers a disservice by not pointing out the 'rut' into which these novels have fallen.

2004-01-18 (San Jose, CA) | Helpful Votes: 7 | Rating: 2

---

Fourteenth in the Saint Germain series.
Or fifteenth, if you count "Out of the House of Life", a novel that is primarily a spinoff novel about Saint Germain's vampiric "childe", Madeline de Montalia, but does have some scenes that are flashbacks to the early years of Saint Germain's vampiric life.

Or Eighteenth, if you include "A Flame In Byzantium", "Crusader's Torch", and "A Candle For d'Artagnan", the spinoff trilogy about Olivia Clemens, a previous "offspring".

This is one of the best books in the series; many of the later books have been much more complex in their scope and plotting that the first four books in the series, all of which had a very strong tendancy toward the "Historic Romance" novel. There is still an aspect of that to be found in the later books, but there is more complexity to the characters, the plots, and the love interests than can be found in the earlier books. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending of this book, but not sufficiently unsatisfied to spoil the enjoyment of a fine story.

For those unfamiliar with the Saint Germain series, Saint Germain is a vampire who has lived for over 4000 years; each book places him in a different time period, and a different locale. This book finds him in India around 1400, during the time of the depradations of the man known in the west as Tamerlane (Timur-i locally). Saint Germain is not the antihero or sympathetic villain found in much of vampire literature, such as Lestat in the Anne Rice books; he is a legitimate hero; occasionally, he will make mention of the fact that when he first became a vampire, he was a more traditionally minded vampire, but has learned in his long life to avoid such rampages and bloodshed, as he has learned how to overcome many of the limitations of vampirism. In 4000 years (3400 at the time of this book) he has actually become one of the most civilized beings one could imagine.

A fine historical novel, one of the best of a fine series.

2003-08-31 (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

---

Maybe I'm Hard to Please
This was a big step up from her last work, though still a bit tedious in a number of places. For the most part the culprit is the dialog--lengthy conversations that repeated the same points until I was ready to scream, "OK, I get the idea already." The story threads never really seem to wind together and a number of things dwelled upon have no bearing on the plot at all. However, the love interest, Tulsi Kil saves the book. Hers is a strong character, searching for herself and only willing to settle for her own mind. Saint Germain seems a bit flat next to her....come to think of it, he's been a bit flat lately in general. SNAP OUT OF IT, SG!!!

2002-02-09 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 3

---

Burning Shadows: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain (St. Germain)

Product Details

• <a title='Condition Guide' href='/content/Condition_and_S hipping_Guide.htm' target='_blank'>Click here to witness our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices</a>
• ISBN13: 9780765319821
• Fettle: NEW
• Notes: Disgrace New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Description

---

Customer Reviews

Another wonderful story
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro keeps me interested with her ever-so-carefully researched historical settings and the wonderful Saint-Germain. She paints a wonderfully clear picture of the times he "lives" in and it has been delightful to have so many fine stories over the years. It is amazing to me how her references to a time in the past, of which she had not yet written, later turn out to fit so cleverly in the engaging tapestry of her work. My favorite vampire. None of the "new" can touch him!

Burning Shadows - a great read.

2010-02-15 (Winston-Salem, NC USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

---

One of Yarbro's best
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro did it again. The other reviewers have pretty much covered my major points, so I'll keep it simple. I have read all of Yarbro's Saint Germain novels. This latest is simply one of the finest in the series. For those of us who love the Saint Germain novels, "Burning Shadows" is not to be missed. For anyone who loves rich historical fiction, "Burning Shadows" is filled with the historical detail coupled with rich characters and a compelling story. If you have never read one of Yarbro's novels of the Count Saint Germain, this novel would make a fine beginning. If you are already a fan, you are in for a treat.

2010-01-31 | Human being (Panama City, Florida) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

---

Spectacular Look at the Huns
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has scored another triumph with "Burning Shadows".

Sanctu-Germainios, now a Roman official in charge of Appulum Inferior, in the Dacia Superior, faces the deadly threat of Attila and his Huns head on. Retreating to the monastery of Sanctu-Eustacios, the Hermit, he and several hundred citizens and soldiers eke out an existence while waiting for the Huns to appear. Once they do, a deadly onslaught begins that leaves hundreds dead, and Germain fearing for his undead life.

Taking in refugees from the Huns is both charitable, and dangerous. Amidst a group from Tsapoulos is a silver haired young woman who takes Germains' heart and with her own secret, endangers him.

Between the Hun-Gaul-Goth threat, the interpersonal relationships between monks, soldiers, citizens, and Germain is difficult. I highly enjoyed a 'real' look at what a Hun invasion might look like and how it affected the brave, and not quite so. This is terror, from a 439AD perspective.

Would you choose death? Or switch allegiances to save your life? Would you take your own life to save your soul, or pledge allegiance to a bloodthirsty leader?

Yarbro gives us another masterful look at a time period we are not familiar with. You either walk away going 'wow', or wish you could write as well as she can. She clearly is deserving of all of her creditations and awards. I am in awe of her skill.

2009-12-24 | Comic Fan 42 (Red Deer, Alberta) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

---

terrific entry
In 438 C.E., Dom Feranescus Rakoczy Sanctu-Germainios is part of the Regional Guard of Apulum Inferior as the Huns flood Europe. His lover Atta Olivia Clemens flees the Carpathians for the relative safety of Constantinople, but though she begged him to accompany her, he felt an obligation to lead the fleeing villagers to a safer place.

On the way to the isolated Sanctu-Eustachios monastery that prefers no visitors, Rakoczy meets Nicoris, who is also on the run from the Huns' horde too. They are attracted to one another from the onset. As the pair and hundreds of frightened peasants take refuge at the monastery, Rakoczy conceals his vampiric nature, but his lover learns of his True Nature. With the Huns closing in on them, Rakoczy fails to realize the biggest danger may come from within as she too has a dark secret might lead to his True Death inside these holy walls.

This is a terrific entry that works on two fronts: a strong insightful look at those fearing the Huns horde and a romance between Saint Germain and his true love Nicoris. The story line brings to life villagers and Roman legionnaires who expect death and worse once the invincible army arrives. Adding to that profound look at the fifth century are the reclusive monks who believe god's predetermination means life and death has been doggedly resolved by the Maker so why worry about defense. Although the ending could have used more flesh on it so as to fully bring out the blood and guts of the final twist, fans will relish Saint Germain's latest bittersweet historical adventure.

Harriet Klausner

2009-12-09 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

---

Borne in Blood: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain (St. Germain)

Product Details

• <a title='Condition Guide' href='/content/Condition_and_S hipping_Guide.htm' target='_blank'>Click here to contemplation our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices</a>
• Educate: NEW
• Notes: Label New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• ISBN13: 9780765317148

Description

---

Customer Reviews

St. Germain: The Historical Vampire
I've enjoyed reading Yarbro's historical fiction novels about the legendary Count St. Germain for several years. In Yarbro's work, St. Germain is portrayed as a vampire... a very romantic, rich, well-dressed, intellectual, passionate, handsome vampire who is only interested in giving women pleasure and promoting social justice.

Anyway, this is not the best of the series to get an understanding of this world's cosmology (i.e., how vampirism works in this series of books), but it's an excellent portrayal of societal mores of this time period, shortly after the defeat of Napoleon. It does not move as slowly as some of the earlier novels, and is not as sad, although melancholy is a lingering feature in this series. If you are already a fan, I would recommend it.

2009-11-01 | Lee (San Diego, CA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

Interesting post-Napoleonic setting
As a fan of Yarbro's St. Germain series, I'm happy to enjoy the similarity of these novels, enjoying the setting and the small differences of character and plot. Hero is charming and sympathetic, and the Count
admits that he cannot feel for her as he does for the great loves of his life, but he nevertheless protects her and improve her situation. The time, just after Napoleon has ravaged Europe, leaving famine and disorder, is not a well-known one. I like it that St. Germain manages in this book to avoid
being swept up in great matters of state, instead remaining in a back-county Swiss castle for most of the action, tending to his shipping and publishing interests mostly at a distance. I hope we get to find out in later books what happened to the major and minor new characters in this book.

To me this is a successful St. Germain book.

2009-07-30 | thehunter8 (Cambridge, MA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

---

Borne in Blood
This item arrived in excellent condition and before the date specified for delivery. An excellent experience!

2009-02-24 | DAC collector (Kansas City KS) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

---

Twenty fifth in the Saint Germain series.
Or twentieth, if you don't count the spinoff novels centering on two of Saint Germain's vampiric "childer", Madeline de Montalia & Atta Olivia Clemens.

This is a wonderful series, if not necessarily to the taste of the fan of traditional vampire stories. Saint Germain is a vampire born about 2000 year before the common era; we see him in each book in a different historical period. In this book, he is in Switzerland in the 1800s. He is not the traditional villainous vampire; we are given to understand that once he had been so, but that 3-4000 years have mellowed and civilized him. He is not even the Anne Rice/Laurell Hamilton style of "antihero" vampire, a vamire with enough humanity to make an interesting protagonist but one that could never truly be called a hero. No, Saint Germain is an unmitigated hero; he is not only elegant, urbane, and stylish, to say nothing of fabulously wealthy (not uncommon traits in literary vampires) but honest (within the limitations of practicality; he can't very well announce his nature to all and sundry, but he lies as little as can be helped, and never mendaciously), kind, generous, brave, and considerate. Yes, he is a traditional hero in all senses of the word. Except, of course, that he is something of a sexual libertine by the standards of most of the times and places we see him in; he is by modern standards ever so slightly conservative, but since we mostly see him in the rather repressive middle ages and Elizabethan era, his behavior would be considered scandalous.

Yarbro's vampires have very limited vampiric powers by the standards of most literary vampires; they are stronger than a normal human, faster, tougher, but not incredibly superpowered, and they have very few mental ablilities; they can be hurt by normal weapons, although it is very difficult to actually kill them, so again, a fan of traditional vampires might find these vampires to be somewhat bland. But if you enjoy historical romances, and don't necessarily reject the idea of a vampiric protagonist outright, you will probably find this a fascinating series. This book is well above the average for the series, if not as good as "Better In The Dark", "Dark of the Sun", or "Blood Roses". I'd call it about even with "Mansions of Darkness".

2008-11-20 (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

It's nice to catch up with an old friend
Borne in Blood is Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's 20th entry in her Saint Germain series. I've been reading the counts adventures from the beginning. At this point it feel like I'm catching up with an old friend. Her meticulous attention to detail really helps to visualize the time period of the book. Borne in Blood takes place right after the end of the Napoleonic wars. Saint-Germain has taken as a companion a woman, Hero, widowed by the war. Hero is in a struggle with her father-in-law to have access to her children. Yabro highlights just how few rights women have in this time period. It also shows how women are so used to such treatment that they just accept it without questions. In a sense this is more a story about Hero, than it is the count. As such the threat this time is directed toward Hero, and it is up to the count to rescue her.

The ending was predictable, but that didn't bother me. As I said in the beginning, the count seems like an old friend, and I don't always want to see him battered at the end of the book.

2008-05-29 | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

---

Come Twilight (St. Germain)

Description

In the early 600s, Saint-Germain makes a vampire of the lovely Csimenae. As Spain passes into the control of the Visigoths and is later conquered by the Arabs, Csimenae, against Saint-Germains teachings, becomes a mother of vampires.

---

Customer Reviews

Perhaps the most traditionally vampiric of the St. Germain series
Yarbro's approach in COME TWILIGHT is unique with respect to the other novels in her (usually wonderful) Saint Germain series. First, Yarbro constructs a plot that covers hundreds of years in the existence of Saint Germain and his faithful manservant Roger. Second, and more to my point, she infuses this story with other vampires. By doing so, Yarbro has created a story that allows for a greater display of vampiric abilities and personalities than in any of her other novels which I have read. Typically, Saint Germain uses all means at his disposal to not reveal his true nature. However, Csimenae and the clan she creates rebuke Saint Germain's instructions on how to exist as vampires, openly flaunting their vampirism and killing with little regard for the risks. In all, the novel is a strong addition to the Saint Germain canon, but it is not without its faults, the greatest of which is the overly contrived reasons that continue to bring Saint Germain and Csimenae into contact with each other over the centuries of her existence in the Pyrenees. Overall, a different, compelling novel to view Saint Germain and Yarbro's conceptions of vampirism.

2009-07-07 | Jim Jackson (Columbus OHIO) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

Not Free SF Reader
In this novel, Count Saint-Germain's weakness for women comes back to
haunt him in a major way, and for a very long period of time. He
creates another vampire, around 1500 years ago.

She, however, ignores any advice or other information he has given
her, and sets out to do what she wants to do, setting herself up as a
ruler and despot.

2007-09-03 | - Research Finished | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

---

Easy To Forget The "Supernatural" Elements Here
This book is set on the Iberian peninsula over a period of half a millennium, ending in the 1100's, and it is a fine example of an author who is truly able to access the psychology, customs, and culture of a time and place in the past. Rather than making her characters twenty-first century men and women in old clothing, Yarbro is among that handful of writers who can honestly revive a past era and set a present-day reader back into it. The fact that these books are, yes, "vampire stories" is something I for one was able to lose sight of as I concentrated on the excellence with which the past---from the Visigoths through the Moors to the nascent Christian re-conquest of what is today Spain---was described in a manner that utilized a reader's every sense. I don't mean my comment about "forgetting this was a vampire novel" as a putdown, but I also will say that the talent Yarbro possesses in recreating the past down to the smallest detail outshines the element of supernatural that constitutes what this series is supposedly about. Here we are treated to a tale of St. Germain creating a vampire from a fierce-natured Spanish woman in the 600's AD, and then we witness the tragic consequences of this act, as over many centuries this cruel and proud being disregards the advice of St. Germain, her maker, and begins a very dark reign of terror over her isolated and socially backward region, compelling generations of peasants to bring her and her kind tribute in the form of chalices of blood, and even the inevitable human sacrifices. This is a hefty book and it covers in its four sections five-hundred years and several dozen significant characters, so the undertaking of reading it does require a degree of dedication, be forewarned.

2006-06-27 (Under Your Skin) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

Thirteenth in the Saint Germain series.
Or fourteenth, if you count "Out of the House of Life", a spinoff novel primarily about the character of Madeline de Montalia, a vampiric "childe" of Saint Germain, but also including some flashback scenes featuring an early Saint Germain.

Or seventeenth, if you also include "A Flame In Byzantium", "Crusader's Torch", and "A Candle For d'Artagnan", a spinoff series about Olivia Atta Clemens, an earlier offspring.

Throughout the series, the best part of these novels is the character of the count Saint-Germain himself; he is an unmitigated hero, not the anti-hero that one usually sees in vampire novels, and that's a fascinating change of pace. He always explains that he wasn't always the urbane, elegant, even-tempered, kind and sensitive individual that he is now; four thousand years ago, when he became a vampire, he was a typical ravening beast, but he outgrew it. This is a marvellous and original perspective on vampirism, and a delightfully optimistic outlook on humanity: that given sufficient time, ANYBODY can grow up, even a bloodthirsty creature of the night.

As a result, what we have in this series is a series of historical novels, set at various points along the very long time-line of Saint Germain's life. We generally see very little of other vampires, other than occasionally seeing those who Saint Germain has made vampires in previous books. (Generally, we see even these only in their correspondence with Saint Germain; I cannot remember any book in which we see more of them than this except for "Tempting Fate", in which we see quite a bit of Madeline de Montalia, and one short story in the collection "The Chronicles of Saint Germain", in which we see the count in conflict with a more traditionally minded vampire.) This book is the exception to that rule, as well as the rule that each book covers a "point" on his time-line. This book is told in three sections, each a separate point of its own: one in the seventh century, one in the eighth, and one in the twelfth. This divergence from form is necessary in order to show the fact that interactions between vampires are by necessity very long-term things. The main conflict in this book is between Saint Germain and a woman who he makes into a vampire early in the book, and who refuses to accept him as a mentor on how to manage her new life and the powers that go with it.

This was an interesting change of pace, but resulted in a novel that was long on sub-plots, but had less primary plot than it might have. In addition, it made it difficult to see Saint Germain interacting with mortals as one normally would, because by definition, none of the mortals survived more than a third of the book. We did see interations, but there wasn't time to develop them as there normally would be, and that left them feeling rushed. Still, the loss of that aspect of the books was easily compensated for by the novelty of seeing other vampires, vampires who acted as vampires are expected to, for a change.

Not one of the best in the series, but far from the worst.

2003-11-08 (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

---

I smell a sequel...
This series is terrific. I read some of them a while ago, and am re-reading them now (and now there are even more in the series, so there's no danger of running out any time soon!)

There's some moral preaching, and the series does tend to be repetitive; the people follow trends. [...]

(Ok, I'm off my soapbox now.)

That said, that's my only beef with it. The writing is lovely, the letters to and from the characters and the notes describing what happened to the letters - weather they made it or not - are wonderful. The history comes to life and seems like a place just around the corner; you can see the mountains, touch the trees. You feel the differnt colors of the story.

This book represents a break from the series' tradition of plot: St Germain sets himself up in a place, meets people, gets himself a few friends and a few enemies, meets a lovely woman and sometimes an icky woman, gets into trouble and has to leave under bad circumstances. In this case, he makes a vampire out of a woman... and ooooh boy was that a mistake. It's sort of three related novelettes, taking place over some time. It isn't resolved completely at the end, thus the title of this review: I smell a sequel....

I actually like this book all the more for it's breaking from the traditional plot of her others. It's nice to know that while history may repeat itself, Chelsea Quin Yarbro doesn't have to.

2003-02-11 (New Hampshire) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 4

---

Messages from Michael

Description

For more than 20 years, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and her group of friends have faithfully recorded the messages of the spiritual essence known as "Michael." In this book, Michael offers comforting insights on such issues as reincarnation and how it perpetuates the endless lessons the soul can learn in each new life.

---

Customer Reviews

Putting this book in context
It has been said that the book Seth Speaks by Jane Roberts started the New Age movement. Jane Roberts channeled a spirit named Seth. You can see and hear her doing it on You Tube. A century or more ago, spirit mediumship was popular with what you might call the intelligentsia. It wasn't seen as New Age. Perhaps it was more respected then.

When Jane Roberts channeled Seth, her voice changed drastically. Her accent was unrecognizable. Seth sometimes had interesting things to say and sometimes droned on like a boring and obscure college professor.

Contrast Seth-Jane's delivery to that of Esther Hicks, who claims to be channeling a spirit named Abraham. Esther Hicks sounds exactly like your everyday motivational speaker, in both style and content. That is what she is, meaning she's not a channel, she's an outright fraud. She doesn't even pretend to be channeling, except for a few seconds at the start when she nods her head a few times and waits a moment before beginning. Other than that, and her stupid greeting, she can't bring herself to continue the charade, and just launches into a high energy motivational speech.

Along comes Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, professional fiction writer, giving us the channeled remarks of the Michael spirits. We are told that there are 1,050 spirits who work sort of as a team, they are known collectively as the Michael spirits, and some of them communicate with people. Thus, Messages From Michael.

Michael is very similar to Seth, and absolutely nothing like the mercenary snake oil salesman Abraham. Michael will often bore you, sometimes confuse you, and sometimes give you a lot to think about. Michael will never tell you to think positive thoughts and grow rich, which is Abraham's idiotic, trite, and unspiritual message.

There have been many books and internet articles about Michael since this Yarbro book came out. A few things have changed. Some insulting words have been made palatable. For example, in this book some people are called Slaves but later authors call them Servants. Personally I prefer Slaves.

What is this whole Slave/Servant thing about? Michael tells us that there are 7 roles we can play. These roles are Slave, Artisan, Warrior, Scholar, Sage, Priest and King. Each role is described in detail in this and all other Michael books. You are one of the 7, and will continue in that role throughout your life and beyond.

An example of a Slave is my wife. She runs herself ragged for everyone. She's constantly doing favors and running errands for her kids. Of course she isn't appreciated. She's a Slave. She is driven to serve the common good and she allows herself to be used. I wouldn't. I can say No.

I was channeled to be a Priest. It doesn't mean I'm religious. It means I look to my higher ideals all the time. I hold the world to high ethical standards. Some will find me inspirational. When I was informed that the Michael spirits looked me up in the Akashic Records and determined that I am a Priest and that my wife is a Slave, I was impressed. How did they know us so well? They were right about both of us. It made me think there is something to this Akashic Records business and these Michael spirits. What more can you ask than that they give you accurate information without knowing you at all.

I'm not 100% thrilled by everything I've read concerning Michael. Some of it seems like baloney to me. I don't remember anything offhand that I had a problem with in this book though.

I consider this an important book. I'm not absolutely convinced that it is true, but I have to conclude that unlikely as it seems, a lot of the material in this book might be true.

See you on the Astral Plane.

2009-01-15 | Keep your feedback to yourself, these are my opinions, not yours (USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

---

I love it!
I was introduced to the Michael material because someone I dated was trying to check-me-out through her Psychic! She was kind enough to lend me the tape so I could listen, and I found it to be the best Psychic reading I'd ever had, and I didn't even have to show-up, ask for, or pay for the thing! That was a few years ago, and as of late, remembering the occasion I decided to buy the first book "messages from michael", which I loved reading and I'm now on to the second, having purchased all of Yarbro's four books on michael. I'm not new to the New-Age, but there is a lot of crap in it, so it's been a breath of fresh-air to find something I resonate with... I highly recommend the material to newcomers, and keep your wits about discriminating between the good and the junk, this I consider good...hope you enjoy it as well, if you're inquisitive and open-minded, I'm sure you will, as I have!

2008-12-27 | artgenta (san diego) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

---

Really unique and helpful!
The system of thought presented in this book is really different and helpful. It describes the differences in people's behavior in terms of soul age (among other ideas). Younger souls are more focused on the material world and its issues and older souls are starting to focus on "cycling off" and turning their attention away from the physical universe. This explains so much! I read this book years and years ago and still refer to it and find it extremely enlightening.

2008-04-28 | Mary (Tehachapi, CA United States) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

---

It's NOT "the way"...
...nor does it EVER purport to be. The "Michael" entity could care less if you believe or not. I've read the Michael material for over 25 years now, and I keep returning to it, because for me, it answers a lot of the questions I have. Not all of them, assuredly, but enough. It's helped me in my relationships - relationships of all kinds. It helps to understand the paths others follow in this life.

Definitely worth the money, time, and energy to read!

2008-04-13 (Dallas, TX) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

---

even with more light, you still have to perform
If you haven't read the first two books in this series, and are concerned about some of the negative reviews here, you should be. Only because this book will ignite any dormat behavior your current environment is surpressing and force you to make decisions. Even the most "successful" people in the world will have parts of them awaken by reading these books. I would like to know why the negative reviewers had a bad time in their life. Most likely they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Have their life continue safely and still have the rewards of change. Sorry that doesn't happen. Remember the part where it mentions your life becoming galvanized - that is when you have to make a decision to go forward or pass up the opportunity. If you pass it up, that bitter feeling you have is the negative karma you just created. Destiny is the path that only you can block, and when you do, you sleep in the karma you've made.

For those that are quick to be sarcastic and view all guidance as Halmark cards for saps; ask yourself why do you prefer experiencing life from a cynical side? We all can't live like turtles expecting to be attacked for showing ourselves...

2006-10-31 | driven (Malver, PA) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

---

Crusader's Torch (Olivia)

Description

---

Customer Reviews

Not Free SF Reader
There is not a lot of vampire action in this book, so if you are after
that, you will likely be disappointed. More a romance focusing on the
problems and lack of respect women had at the time, and what men in
power will do to try and control independent women of means, or others.

2007-09-03 | - Research Finished | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

---

Good Book, Great Characters
I must start this review by stating that I haven't read any other works by Ms. Yarbro. I enjoyed this book very much and thought the main character Olivia was done wonderfully. The action and the struggle with the Knight Hospitlar's lust and feelings for the vampire were tastefully written. I was easily taken up in the story and enjoyed Olivia's personality, wishing for her to get safely to Rome. I wish that I hadn't picked this book up at random and knew more of the background. Even though I was essentially reading mid-story I enjoyed this book a lot. Olivia is not your typical vampire and I wouldn't classify this book as horror at all. It was nice historical fiction. Olivia is an intelligent woman with a fascinating personality. The world around her is in total chaos and she longs to return home. Her trip home and entanglements with the Knight Hospitlar and others made for a quick and enjoyable read. I will look forward to reading more of Ms. Yarbro's books in the near future.

2004-02-10 | ReadingSailor (New London, CT) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

---

Eighth in the Saint- Germain series.
Or second in the "Olivia" series, depending on how you look at it.

For those unfamiliar with the series, the Saint-Germain series is a series of historical "horror" novels (although the horror element is tenuous at best, based purely on the fact that the main characters are vampires, and "vampire fiction" is considered a subgenre of "horror fiction"; actually, "historical romance" is closer to accurate) in which the main character is the vampire Saint-Germain, who has lived as a vampire since roughly 1500-2000 BCE. In this book, however, as in the last, the main character is Atta Olivia Clemens, who as a lover of Saint-Germain's, became a vampire when she died, back in the time of Nero in Imperial Rome (in the third book of the series, "Blood Games").

This book is set in the late twelfth Century, during the time of the third Crusade.

As with "A Flame In Byzantium", the previous book featuring Olivia as the main character, I found this book somewhat disappointing, mainly because Olivia's power as a vampire is radically downplayed. Mostly, the only indication we have of her vampiric nature is her disabilities: her susceptability to light and water, her inability to eat normal food, etc. Her power is DISCUSSED, but never seen. Granted, there are more episodes in this book than in the last in which she is shown acting intrepidly, but never really in any way that could not have been accomplished by a reasonably heroic mortal woman. In the books that feature Saint Germain, we invariably see him demonstrating surprising power for his diminutive frame, or in some other way showing the reader his vampiric power (always subtly enough not to tip his hand to other characters, of course.) And certainly, Yarbro paints Olivia as a sufficiently independant-minded and resourceful woman that one cannot easily accuse her of the intention of writing female characters that are helpless damsels waiting to be rescued. So the question is: WHY do we never get to see Olivia use the "exceptional strength" that we keep hearing that she has? Just as it has been, in previous books, quite cathartic to see short, dapper Saint Germain beat the stuffing out of, say, five proto-Nazis each of whom had eight inches and eighty pounds on him, in this book there were several situations in which it would have been quite satisfying to see Olivia do something similar, and it could easily enough have been arranged. Instead, the author very carefully arranges the circumstances so that when Olivia has to fight, it is without the advantage of her powers. Just once, I'd like to see her demonstrate the ADVANTAGES of being a vampire.

This is a well-written book, excellent if what you want is a historical novel of the time period. But as a vampire novel, it's more than a little bit lacking.

2002-10-16 (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 3

---

even a lesser story in this series is still a good read
This book is part of a series about an almost-immortal vampire, Olivia Clemens; Olivia's stories are a spin-off from Yarbro's main series about the vampire St. Germain. Those who already know that they like vampire novels, anything at all that features a vampire, can skip this review, and likewise, those who hate the whole idea of vampires can skip it. But for those trying to decide whether or not to read more of this genre, or whether the one vampire novel you've already read was a fluke, it may help if we have some ways to categorize these novels. Thus: BunRab's Standard Vampire Elements. First, most authors of vampire novels approach from one of the main genres of genre fiction; thus their background may be primarily in romance, or in science fiction/fantasy, or in murder mysteries, or in horror. Second, many vampire novels come in series; knowing whether this is one of a series, and where in the series it falls, may be helpful. Then we have some particular characteristics: - Is the vampire character (or characters) a "good guy" or a "bad guy"? Or are there some of each? - Are there continuing characters besides the vampire, through the series? - Are there other types of supernatural beings besides vampires? - Can the vampire stand daylight under some circumstances, or not stand daylight at all? - Does the vampire have a few other supernatural characteristics, many other supernatural characteristics, or none other than just being a vampire? (E.g., super strength, change into an animal, turn invisible) - Does the vampire have a regular job and place in society, or is being a vampire his or her entire raison d'etre? - Does the vampire literally drink blood, or is there some other (perhaps metaphorical) method of feeding? - Is sex a major plot element, a minor plot element, or nonexistent? - Is the entire vampire feeding act a metaphor for sex, part of a standard sex act, or unrelated to sex? - Is the story set in one historical period, more than one historical period, or entirely in the present day? - Does the story have elements of humor, or is it strictly serious? - Is the writing style good, or is the writing just there to manage to hold together the plot and characters?

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's series about the vampire St. Germain starts from the historical romance genre, and is a continuing series. Olivia, the heroine of this book, is a woman of ancient Rome whom St. Germain has turned into a vampire; this book is one of several written about her rather than about St. Germain. St. Germain and Olivia are definitely good guys, using the knowledge they've gained in hundreds of years of living to help others. There are a few characters that continue from book to book besides these two. Ghouls are the only other supernatural characters who appear in these books. Olivia can stand daylight with the right preparations. She has unusual strength, but not limitless, and unusual wisdom, but there are no other overt magic powers. Olivia has an occupation of being an aristocrat and landowner, insofar as that was a full-time occupation through most of history. Yarbro's vampires do not literally drink blood; they feed on emotions, usually during erotic experiences, but sex is nonetheless only a minor plot element, rare and very discreet. The series as a whole covers 3000 years, from ancient Egypt to the modern day; each book is set in a span of a particular period, usually 20-30 years. The writing is serious, but not self-important; the writing quality is excellent, and Yarbro's abilities as an author qualify these books as literature rather than "merely" genre fiction.

Crusader's Torch is set in 1189 C.E., more than a millenium after Olivia has first entered the life of a vampire. The scenes include the Middle East during one of the Christian Crusades; the orders of the Knights Hospitaler and Knights Templar are major players in the story. The gist of the story is Olivia's struggle to get out of Tyre and back to Rome. Women are not held in high regard in this period, and Olivia's independence offends a highly placed Hospitaler; among the "good guys" are a Templar who gets thrown out of his order on suspician of leprosy. We catch a glimpse of an offshoot Christian sect, as we do in some of the other St. Germain novels, one based on absolute love and acceptance. Someday I would like to see Yarbro write an alternate history in which that is the main path the Catholic Church took... meanwhile, the details of sin and penance as conceived of in the 12th century provide a story that everyone who likes the series will enjoy, and those who haven't read the rest of the series will nonetheless find this a fine historical novel.

2001-01-02 | bunrab@bunrab.net (MD, United States) | Helpful Votes: 7 | Rating: 4

---

the novel was well researched and written.
The novel was different from many horror novels which I have read. The historical prespective was an interesting theme thru out the novel. I found myself wanting to find the first novel and read it prior the Crusader's novel. I recommend the book to those who enjoy Taylor Caldwell with a taste of the dark side added to it! The vampire is not evil and the ole legends are not necessarily found to be true in this novel. However, it is a refreshing answer to see vampires protrayed as something more than blood sucking dead.

1998-09-30 | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

---