Sunidesus Reads

Blood Price, by Tanya Huff

This is the first of the "Blood Books" by Tanya Huff.

I found out about this series in a slightly roundabout way. I've been watching Moonlight on CBS and in the forums for it on TWoP someone mentioned Blood Ties which is airing on Lifetime, and that that series is based on a book series. So of course I ended up at Borders since I like to read something before I watch it. (Over the weekend I watched most of the episodes of it that have aired so far and it's quite good)

So we have a former cop that is now a PI (she has retinitis pigmentosa and couldn't continue as a cop), her former partner/lover, and the illegitimate son of Henry VIII (who is a vampire). The story itself involves demons.

I think I finished this in all of about two days. Yes, I'm predisposed to like the mortal/immortal dynamic, but it's a really good story and well written and it was one of those books that I couldn't put down.

What I find absolutely fascinating about the book is that Henry (the vampire) is Catholic, he has a soul, he prays. It's pretty common to have books about supernatural stuff that just has evil vs. humans. And "good" vampires are only good because they deny their vampy ways. But this one is different. Yes, he's a vampire and he enjoys what he is, but he isn't evil.

slightly spoilery bit is next, quit reading now if you don't want to know...

There's a part where the demon is starting to come through and Henry prays and the demon is pushed back. There's an acknowledgment of the supernatural that is good. And that the good is just as powerful as the bad. It's just not something that's seen very often in the genre and I'm loving it.

Blood Trail, by Tanya Huff

This is book number 2 in the Blood Books series by Tanya Huff. Yes I read it in one day.

Clearly I'm enjoying this series, but there's only 5 of them and that makes me sad! But they're very re-readable so that's good.

The story in this one involves a family of werewolves and someone is hunting them. The family dynamic is very different than a human family (obviously!) but they're essentially a close-knit family that just wants to be safe. And ya know, turn into big dog/wolf/wer things.

The Henry/Vicki relationship moves quite a bit forward in this book. And the relationship Mike has with both of them changes. The scene when Mike is going to the farm to confront the two of them seriously had me laughing out loud at work.

Blood Lines, by Tanya Huff

This is number three in the Blood Book series by Tanya Huff.

Well, I managed to get this one to last about three days which is progress of a sort! I'm just glad these are all very re-readable or else I'd be very very sad, instead of just normal sad.

The Big Bad in this one is a mummy, sort of. And no that's not a spoiler, it's on the back cover of the book.

There's a lot of Henry's emotional insecurities and fears in this one which hadn't really been in the first two very much. He's not quite the invulnerable vampire he'd like everyone to believe. There's also more religion stuff in this one which I think is really interesting. There's a kind of struggle between ancient Egyptian gods and Henry and his belief in the One True God.

I know I talked about it before with the first book, but I find the author's treatment of religion incredibly refreshing. I'm such a sci-fi junky that most of what I read completely dismisses my own religious beliefs and while I have no idea what the author's personal beliefs are, she treats them with respect and I really appreciate that. It's such a rare thing to find.