Traveling with the Dead

by Barbara Hambly

Book Overview

Down through the deathless centuries, the vampires had drunk human blood for sustenance and for sport. They preyed where they willed, for no mortal humans could resist their unclean powers. But now... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345407407
• ISBN13: 9780345407405
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 361 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Mesmerizing, hypnotic, tasty, delicious, exciting adventure!

Even better than the first. I enjoyed it tremendously. This book put a glamour over me. I was as drawn to continue reading its pages as Lydia was drawn to Ysidro or James to Anthea. It was heartbreaking, terrifying, enthralling, exciting, interesting, creative. Reading this book was thoroughly satisfying. I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys vampire lore or vampire fiction. Hambly's is a class unto itself, so unique.

Dark temptations

I picked up Barbara Hambly's vampire novels in a fit of boredom, and was unable to put them down. They are dark and rich as a Black Forest cake. The characters, human and inhuman, are enticingly complex and fascinating. Once again, professor and ex-spy James Asher and his obsessively scholarly bride are swept into the intrigues of the vampires. Dark secrets unfold as Asher tracks the ruthless agent Karolyi and the world-weary vampire Earl of Ernchester -- not realizing that his wife has enlisted the aid of the oldest and most dangerous of the London vampires to rescue him from the trap into which he is stumbling unaware.Alliances shift among the living and the dead, and through this tangle Lydia Asher and her inhuman companion must weave their way and find their peace. And as James draws closer to the secret of the Deathless Lord, he finds his only way out is through the deadliest path of all.Try, if you can, to read each novel in one sitting -- alone.

Explorations in the nature of Love...

If the connecting thread in the previous "Those Who Hunt the Night" was the bond of friendship that can develop between extremely different people, then the underlying pattern in this sequel is the spirit of love that grows between hearts and souls. The story starts swiftly with James Asher (Oxford don and former British Intelligence agent) spotting a dangerous spymaster meeting with a known London vampire, Lord Charles, in a railway station. Immediately he's on their trail (with Anthea, the 200 year old vampire wife of the "traitor" vampire) to Paris, Vienna and onto Constantinople to prevent a disastrous alliance. Lydia, refusing to remain in London, courageously contacts the ancient vampire Don Simon Ysidro and forms an uneasy partnership with him as they, and a hastily acquired former governess, travel the same route. The story is convoluted and exciting as James narrowly escapes death by fire or vampires until he is captured by the "Deathless Lord" Master Vampire of Constantinople. Even imprisoned in the lair of the "Deathless Lord," James manages to investigate the dark reasons behind Charles' summoning to Constantinople, the power struggle between new vampires and old, and his adversary's manipulations. The draw of the story, however, is the emotional love between different characters: the unselfish/courageous love of Anthea for Charles (and James' admiration for Anthea) which drove her to choose the vampire life to remain with her husband, and then to leave the relative safety of London to follow him on his dangerous trip to Constantinople. The selfish love of the "Deathless Lord" is at the center of the mystery. Margaret's shallow, vampire-induced infatuation is ultimately selfish and hollow (on both her and Ysidro's part.) The impossible and unwanted web of love that weaves between Lydia and Ysidro is unbelievable yet undeniable to either of them. Even as Ysidro grows more vampire/alien in appearance (from a self-imposed "fast" for Lydia's sake)--their bond of reliance, protection, and a willingness to love what is impossible leads to a final heart-rending unselfish sacrifice for love.

Ther best vampire book I've so far read!

As soon as I read this book, I fell in love with it, fell in love with Ysirdo. And I haven't even read the one before this! It inspired me to write my own book, which also inspired me to want to write movies!

a sane look at vampires

"traveling with the dead" is unquestionably one of the most sober books i've read on the vampire myth (or are they real?) i especially appreciated the effort to explain in medical terms (at least those available in lydia asher's time) the physiology of vampires, why they're averse to garlic and hawthorn and silver and mirrors, and what they're not averse to. now i know better than to arm myself with only a crucifix - unless it's made of largely unalloyed silver!