The Empire of Fear
Dec. 17th, 2005 02:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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darkling_talesLJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dfordoom)
Brian Stableford, The Empire of Fear
The title and the fact that it involves vampires might lead you to think that this is a horror novel, but it isn’t really. Not quite, anyway. It’s more an alternative history, taking place mainly in the 17th century (although ending in 1983) in which extremely long-lived, but not immortal, vampires rule Europe, with humans being a subject race. Edmund Cordery learns of the existence of a plague that can kill vampires (who are immune to all other diseases). He uses this to kill a vampire, who happens to be an ex-lover, although at the cost of his own life. The story then follows the adventures of his son Noel. After falling in with pirates, he ends up in Africa, and discovers the process by which a human can become a vampire.
Stableford makes this exceptionally original story surprisingly convincing, both historically and biologically (I believe he holds degrees in both sociology and biology). Recommended.
dfordoom)Brian Stableford, The Empire of Fear
The title and the fact that it involves vampires might lead you to think that this is a horror novel, but it isn’t really. Not quite, anyway. It’s more an alternative history, taking place mainly in the 17th century (although ending in 1983) in which extremely long-lived, but not immortal, vampires rule Europe, with humans being a subject race. Edmund Cordery learns of the existence of a plague that can kill vampires (who are immune to all other diseases). He uses this to kill a vampire, who happens to be an ex-lover, although at the cost of his own life. The story then follows the adventures of his son Noel. After falling in with pirates, he ends up in Africa, and discovers the process by which a human can become a vampire.
Stableford makes this exceptionally original story surprisingly convincing, both historically and biologically (I believe he holds degrees in both sociology and biology). Recommended.
