I had been looking forward to reading the story of the infamous Csimenae, the woman Saint-Germain saved by turning her into a vampire; she who rejected her maker's advice and his ethics and proceeded to create her own vampire army. But her story is rather pathetic, as is Saint-Germain's response to her actions. He grieves, but does nothing to stop her. His compassion is admirable but his passiveness gets really annoying sometimes.This book breaks the series pattern by showing more than a glimpse of Saint-Germain's life: it covers several hundred years. But the background history is weak, and I was annoyed when one particular period of his life, one of the few times that Roger and Saint-Germain are separated, is merely skimmed over.Saint-Germain has remarkable patience with humanity considering that he always seems to encounter the very worst sort of people. Nearly everyone he deals with is suspicious, greedy, jealous, or downright hostile.As usual, I enjoyed Olivia's letters.
People interested in Spain during the Moorish occupation might get more out of this book than anyone. In the story, Yarbro attempts to explain how and why the idea of vampires spreading as an uncontrollable plague on society might have come about, if there really were vampires. This is a case where Saint-Germain's kind heart causes him no end of grief.I'm not certain the plot of this book was entirely Yarbro's idea; more likely it was her attempt to explain to a new publisher the difference between her vampires and the ones in the movies, and may have been written at his behest to try to reconcile the two. Bad idea.Yarbro makes the idea work, but the writing is strained and lacks her usual ability to draw the reader in, to feel as if he or she is really there, watching events unfold.
