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Shadowspawn #1
A Taint in the Blood
Eons ago, Homo Lupens ruled the earth. Possessing extraordinary powers, they were the source of all of the myths and legends of the uncanny. And though their numbers have been greatly reduced, they exist still-though not as purebreds.
Adrian Breze is one such being. Wealthy and reclusive, he is more Shadowspawn than human. But he rebelled against his own kind, choosing to live as an ordinary man. Now, to save humanity, he must battle the dark forces of the world-including those in his own blood..."
Adrian Breze is one such being. Wealthy and reclusive, he is more Shadowspawn than human. But he rebelled against his own kind, choosing to live as an ordinary man. Now, to save humanity, he must battle the dark forces of the world-including those in his own blood..."
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
S.M. Stirling
165 books1,582 followersStephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.
MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)
I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.
MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)
I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
January 23, 2023
A Taint in the Blood
By S.M. Sterling
A read a few books by this author a long time ago and enjoyed them but not this one! I struggled to finish it. The overall plot was good but the filling was pretty sick in much of it! Sexual abuse, psychological torture along with physical abuse. Not my kind of books.
By S.M. Sterling
A read a few books by this author a long time ago and enjoyed them but not this one! I struggled to finish it. The overall plot was good but the filling was pretty sick in much of it! Sexual abuse, psychological torture along with physical abuse. Not my kind of books.
August 8, 2011
This book has so much going for it; readable prose, interesting characters, well thought out magic system, the tantalizing themes of dominance and submission in relationships...and yet I had to force myself to finish it.
The reviews seem to all focus on Adrian Breze as the main character, but truly, he spent so little time onstage I barely cared for him at all.
Truly the book is about how his evil twin sister, Adrienne tortures and rapes Adrian's ex girlfriend Ellen, and then goes on to detail the food they eat and the clothes they wear.
Adrian and Adrienne are Shadowspawn, the blood-drinking, probability-influencing, mind-reading proto-vampires that secretly have controlled the world for years.
Adrienne kidnaps Ellen to upset Adrian, and he is forced to reenter the world of Shadowspawn politics.
Yikes. The book spends so much time on how Adrienne is torturing her stable of blood givers that it simultaneously icked me out and made me bored. While the exploration of amorality and the nature of a power based on the ability to see and influence probability was interesting, I just couldn't ever get into it.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: Spicy Cheetos that you eat so much of that it burns your lips and makes you a bit ill.
The reviews seem to all focus on Adrian Breze as the main character, but truly, he spent so little time onstage I barely cared for him at all.
Truly the book is about how his evil twin sister, Adrienne tortures and rapes Adrian's ex girlfriend Ellen, and then goes on to detail the food they eat and the clothes they wear.
Adrian and Adrienne are Shadowspawn, the blood-drinking, probability-influencing, mind-reading proto-vampires that secretly have controlled the world for years.
Adrienne kidnaps Ellen to upset Adrian, and he is forced to reenter the world of Shadowspawn politics.
Yikes. The book spends so much time on how Adrienne is torturing her stable of blood givers that it simultaneously icked me out and made me bored. While the exploration of amorality and the nature of a power based on the ability to see and influence probability was interesting, I just couldn't ever get into it.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: Spicy Cheetos that you eat so much of that it burns your lips and makes you a bit ill.
December 4, 2021
This is the first in a series about a rather conventional society of evil powerful supernaturals who secretly control the world and a splinter group of their order who oppose them. It's the first of a series, and there's not much of a conclusion to this book, but I doubt that I'll go any further. There's quite a lot of content involving sexual abuse, which was unpleasant and grew tiresome pretty quickly. (Shouldn't "Punished By Orgasm" have been the name of a punk album twenty years ago?) Two of the main characters are siblings named Adrian and Adrianne, which made the audiobook confusing at times. I'll stick with Anita Blake.
Shelved as 'dnf'
August 4, 2013If it were not against my personal policy to rate books I didn't finish, I'd give this a 1. Just in the first four chapters, which as far as I got, the damsel in distress is raped, humiliated, and defiled in every conceivable, graphically- described manner possible, in a style that I believe is intended to be titillating.
Maybe I'm just a prude; certainly I didn't give this book a "fair chance."
But honestly?
I'm just rather horrified that someone is able to think like this.
Please, pass the brain bleach.
Maybe I'm just a prude; certainly I didn't give this book a "fair chance."
But honestly?
I'm just rather horrified that someone is able to think like this.
Please, pass the brain bleach.
October 24, 2013
Picked this up because it looked like it could have a kind of interesting story. Oh wow no. In fact it is just several hundred pages of lesbian sadomasochism. I tried to rush through it to maybe see if there was just a bit of plot lurking somewhere, but no, it was just more self-indulgent porno. I think by page 100 I was hoping everyone would just spontaneously combust. Creepy old men should keep their sick fantasies to themselves
June 19, 2010
Several months back we saw SM Stirling at the local bookstore: he was reading the first few pages of this book. As I gradually realized that it was a *vampire* novel, my first reaction was "Oh, No, you've sold out! The shelves are already filled with this dreck. Can't you give us another Change novel or something?" But, I also knew that since it was Stirling I would almost certainly read it. Thankfully, I got it from the library!
Not that I've ever believed Stirling to be prudish in any way, but the Change novels have minimal sex of any sort. The Draka series (see Marching Through Georgia, etc.) has considerably more, consensual and otherwise, and in this aspect as well as several others, "Taint" resembles these novels above anything else he's written. In fact, the vampires ("Shadowspawn") are in many ways the Draka writ large: utterly ruthless, amoral, and with actual super powers who regard their less gifted cousins as pets at best, cattle/prey more commonly. Or mice, with themselves as the cats.
Yes, there is the obligatory good-guy vampire making a valiant effort to rise above his upbringing and genetic need for human blood (his comes from the Red Cross), but his literal evil twin sister is a self-described sadist who kidnaps his estranged lover and proceeds to rape her at least twice a chapter if not more. I quickly found myself skipping whole pages of this unpleasantness and waiting with increasing impatience for him to rescue her. In fact, I raced through the book in three nights - usually I intentionally savor Stirling - just to get it over with, and gave serious consideration to quitting 1/2 way through. The plot is pretty predictable, honestly (good vampire and faithful human adept mentor try to rescue his girl and possibly save the rest of the world if its convenient), and none of the questions or "what ifs" posed were nearly interesting enough to make up for the excess of nastiness. And there weren't even any Father Ignatius or Sister Marya equivalents to balance out the general ugliness of the plot.
Unfortunately it ends on a cliff-hanger and I Almost want to know what happens next. But probably not enough to read the next one. At least not 'til someone else previews it for me and lets me know how many rapes I have to wade through to get to the rest of the plot.
I almost gave this 2 stars, and perhaps I should, but it does contain Stirling's typically excellent dialog, characters, and humor...
The 7th and last Change novel is out later this year. If you've never read Stirling, skip this one and rush out and grab "Dies the Fire." If you hurry you can catch up by the time it's out in paperback!
Not that I've ever believed Stirling to be prudish in any way, but the Change novels have minimal sex of any sort. The Draka series (see Marching Through Georgia, etc.) has considerably more, consensual and otherwise, and in this aspect as well as several others, "Taint" resembles these novels above anything else he's written. In fact, the vampires ("Shadowspawn") are in many ways the Draka writ large: utterly ruthless, amoral, and with actual super powers who regard their less gifted cousins as pets at best, cattle/prey more commonly. Or mice, with themselves as the cats.
Yes, there is the obligatory good-guy vampire making a valiant effort to rise above his upbringing and genetic need for human blood (his comes from the Red Cross), but his literal evil twin sister is a self-described sadist who kidnaps his estranged lover and proceeds to rape her at least twice a chapter if not more. I quickly found myself skipping whole pages of this unpleasantness and waiting with increasing impatience for him to rescue her. In fact, I raced through the book in three nights - usually I intentionally savor Stirling - just to get it over with, and gave serious consideration to quitting 1/2 way through. The plot is pretty predictable, honestly (good vampire and faithful human adept mentor try to rescue his girl and possibly save the rest of the world if its convenient), and none of the questions or "what ifs" posed were nearly interesting enough to make up for the excess of nastiness. And there weren't even any Father Ignatius or Sister Marya equivalents to balance out the general ugliness of the plot.
Unfortunately it ends on a cliff-hanger and I Almost want to know what happens next. But probably not enough to read the next one. At least not 'til someone else previews it for me and lets me know how many rapes I have to wade through to get to the rest of the plot.
I almost gave this 2 stars, and perhaps I should, but it does contain Stirling's typically excellent dialog, characters, and humor...
The 7th and last Change novel is out later this year. If you've never read Stirling, skip this one and rush out and grab "Dies the Fire." If you hurry you can catch up by the time it's out in paperback!
June 20, 2013
I made myself stick with this book for five chapters to give it the benefit of the doubt. I am always hesitant to give really bad reviews, because any book published means that some author put a lot of long, hard work into it. Likewise, I try not to listen to, or read, other reviews before actually reading a book for myself and forming my own opinion about it. This time I had the bad luck of seeing that A Taint in the Blood had a lower-than-average review score, and after slogging through five chapters and not being able to go any further, I have to concur with the masses on this one.
The writing and dialogue are as stiff as a board. I just couldn’t get into it, at all. And unfortunately I have to say that there wasn’t an ounce of originality in the story, as far as I read. Human girl in love with supernatural guy, with a relationship status would be best be described by the Facebookian “it’s complicated.” A secret clan that tries to keep order over supernatural beings, with many factions and backstabbings and whatnot. Human girl loves/hates supernatural guy yet is drawn to him time and time again. Supernatural guy is at war with the “beast” he is and the human he wants to be. Yes. We’ve all seen this before. So many times that it makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
Please—no more vampires, warewolves, or demons. I can’t take it anymore. I guess the only person I can blame there is myself for picking the book to read, but that stuff is really getting old. I am surprised, because S. M. Stirling has written a lot of stuff, and all of the books of his that I’ve read previously were much better than this.
Maybe I’ll give this book another try somewhere down the road…but the recycled storyline just makes me want to move on.
The writing and dialogue are as stiff as a board. I just couldn’t get into it, at all. And unfortunately I have to say that there wasn’t an ounce of originality in the story, as far as I read. Human girl in love with supernatural guy, with a relationship status would be best be described by the Facebookian “it’s complicated.” A secret clan that tries to keep order over supernatural beings, with many factions and backstabbings and whatnot. Human girl loves/hates supernatural guy yet is drawn to him time and time again. Supernatural guy is at war with the “beast” he is and the human he wants to be. Yes. We’ve all seen this before. So many times that it makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
Please—no more vampires, warewolves, or demons. I can’t take it anymore. I guess the only person I can blame there is myself for picking the book to read, but that stuff is really getting old. I am surprised, because S. M. Stirling has written a lot of stuff, and all of the books of his that I’ve read previously were much better than this.
Maybe I’ll give this book another try somewhere down the road…but the recycled storyline just makes me want to move on.
August 21, 2019
I wish I could give this 1.5 stars because while it was garbage, I have definitely read worse garbage.
September 3, 2010
Hmmmmmm... it's *really* hard to know what to say about A Taint in the Blood. The thing is that it has some good worldbuilding type concepts in it that fit with its alleged urban fantasy genre. And I'll also say up front that I'm fairly predisposed to like any book that:
a/ has a main character who's comfortable with the fact that she's a masochist and a submissive, and still makes (for the most part) practical, sensible, intelligent choices; and
b/ very clearly lays out the difference between consensual kinkplay on one hand and abuse and sexual assault on the other; and that says, between the lines if not overtly, that there's nothing wrong with the former, but the latter is completely unacceptable
(and with an review introduction like that, you already KNOW the book isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea)
So I want to give this book a positive review... but the uncomfortable truth is that I just can't find other positives. You can read the basic plot and premise in previous reviews - but I can sum it up in a sentence: hero's girlfriend is kidnapped by his sadistically evil twin sister, who spends the remainder of the book tormenting and sexually assaulting said girlfriend until the hero can rescue her.
Yes, sure there's background information about the Shadowspawn (the supernatural race of creatures to which both the hero and his sister belong, who feed on fear and pain as well as blood, and are, of course, immortal), who they are, the threat they pose to our world, their plans to destroy it (which the hero needs to foil), etc, etc, etc. But that all feels like window dressing - the ribbons and bows that were added at the last minute because the story the author really seemed to want to tell was a little barren and one-track without them. This is basically a dodgy paranormal romance that's all about the trials and travails that the two lead characters have to go through so they can be together. My gut feel is that A Taint in the Blood might have made a good intro short story / novella for a series about the Shadowspawn war, but there's just not enough content in it for a novel.
Then there's the sexual violence, which I suspect will put many people off far more than the plotlessness does. It's not graphically-described for the most part (although every now and then there'll be a phrase or a gesture from one of the characters that ends up being far more visual in your mind than you wish it had been), but it's clearly there, and it is constant. I don't know about the "two rapes a chapter" that one of the reviewers below mentioned, but as readers, we clearly understand that rape is repeatedly happening offscreen to the female lead in between the scenes that ARE specifically mentioned, so anyone who finds references to sexual violence triggering (or hell, just unpleasant enough that they'd prefer not to have to read about it in fiction they're MEANT to be reading for enjoyment) would be advised to stay well away from this book.
That said, I don't dislike the book as a whole nearly as much as I feel I should... possibly because, on one level, it's eerily close to the novel I tried to stumble my way through writing myself when I was at university (back before I realised I couldn't plot to save myself, and learned to content myself with writing single-scene-based fanfic). So when Book 2 comes out, I will read it, just to see where Mr Stirling goes with the concept. But in the meantime, I'm giving the book 6/10. And that, I think, is being generous.
a/ has a main character who's comfortable with the fact that she's a masochist and a submissive, and still makes (for the most part) practical, sensible, intelligent choices; and
b/ very clearly lays out the difference between consensual kinkplay on one hand and abuse and sexual assault on the other; and that says, between the lines if not overtly, that there's nothing wrong with the former, but the latter is completely unacceptable
(and with an review introduction like that, you already KNOW the book isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea)
So I want to give this book a positive review... but the uncomfortable truth is that I just can't find other positives. You can read the basic plot and premise in previous reviews - but I can sum it up in a sentence: hero's girlfriend is kidnapped by his sadistically evil twin sister, who spends the remainder of the book tormenting and sexually assaulting said girlfriend until the hero can rescue her.
Yes, sure there's background information about the Shadowspawn (the supernatural race of creatures to which both the hero and his sister belong, who feed on fear and pain as well as blood, and are, of course, immortal), who they are, the threat they pose to our world, their plans to destroy it (which the hero needs to foil), etc, etc, etc. But that all feels like window dressing - the ribbons and bows that were added at the last minute because the story the author really seemed to want to tell was a little barren and one-track without them. This is basically a dodgy paranormal romance that's all about the trials and travails that the two lead characters have to go through so they can be together. My gut feel is that A Taint in the Blood might have made a good intro short story / novella for a series about the Shadowspawn war, but there's just not enough content in it for a novel.
Then there's the sexual violence, which I suspect will put many people off far more than the plotlessness does. It's not graphically-described for the most part (although every now and then there'll be a phrase or a gesture from one of the characters that ends up being far more visual in your mind than you wish it had been), but it's clearly there, and it is constant. I don't know about the "two rapes a chapter" that one of the reviewers below mentioned, but as readers, we clearly understand that rape is repeatedly happening offscreen to the female lead in between the scenes that ARE specifically mentioned, so anyone who finds references to sexual violence triggering (or hell, just unpleasant enough that they'd prefer not to have to read about it in fiction they're MEANT to be reading for enjoyment) would be advised to stay well away from this book.
That said, I don't dislike the book as a whole nearly as much as I feel I should... possibly because, on one level, it's eerily close to the novel I tried to stumble my way through writing myself when I was at university (back before I realised I couldn't plot to save myself, and learned to content myself with writing single-scene-based fanfic). So when Book 2 comes out, I will read it, just to see where Mr Stirling goes with the concept. But in the meantime, I'm giving the book 6/10. And that, I think, is being generous.
November 12, 2012
Would book with multiple genres such as action, suspense, drama and a bit of romance, all with a twist in classic history interest you? If so, imagine more, in A Taint in the Blood written by S.M. Stirling a New York Times best-selling author would be an excellent choice. Stirling has introduced a re-designed story of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan in a darker, more mature, and invitingly clever manner. His direction, the constant character background development and each character speaks on a different emotion makes even this fiction novel relatable and phenomenal. The story follows Adrian Breze, Ellen Tarnowski, and the delightfully sinister maternal twin sister of Adrian, Adrienne Breze. The general plot unfold fairly quickly, yet leaving out just enough detail to have you in suspense, the knowledge you soon know shortly into the book is that in erased history there was a co-inhabitance of two separate human species. The forgotten humans ruled for 100,000 years, they were the Gods in Greek and Roman history, they were every fable, and they’re superior and know as the Shadowspawns. These Shadowspawns are evil vampiric-like super humans also with shape shifting. But they disappeared and were forgotten so history thought, but they truly never stopped ruling, in secret cults they’re in control of what really happens in Governments, Politics and even the media, the Spawns run the world. All explained by Adrienne to Ellen, after she had been kidnapped by Adrienne to lure her ex Adrian. However, Adrian once belonged to the cult Adrienne explains, but he rebelled had grown love for the humans and did not want to treat them they way the Spawns do, so he then decided to hide his identity and live in harmony. The year is 2010 and the spawns are creating army, an army to re-establish their dominance as the true rulers without the secrecy. Although, the Spawns are missing someone, they need Adrian, he and Adrienne are very strong Spawns and need him back. That’s why she captured Ellen knowing he’ll never willingly come to her. With the events already taken, the Spawns do not realize how difficult their mission will be, and as for the humans they have no idea what’s coming. For most people I would recommend this novel to ages fourteen and up due to graphic content. Although there are exceptions, for me the book was phenomenal to see a different side of this type of story, but people who don’t like this type of story might not be so interested. I truly think anyone would enjoy the way his words express the emotion and moods of the characters. He used terrific language that made the dialogue more real, like an actual conversation but also some challenging area as each character speaks on a very different level. I thought the book was really good; however vampires are over done he should of used something more creative. But seriously if you like sci-fi, or any type of fiction such as this go pick up a copy now!
July 26, 2014
So this book is just awful. Every single cliche in vampire lore was used in the story. It is derivative of other novels and graphic novels. If you've read Anne Rice, especially her Sleeping Beauty series, Marvel's Blade, seen the Underworld movies, then none of this is original to you. Obviously, some of the concepts are taken from Bram Stoker's Dracula. There is not one original thought or situation in this book. The characters were just unlikable and that is a major sin to me when I read a book. I would have given this book no stars actually but we can't. I had not read this author before and I did not know this was a vampire novel. I picked it up because it was recommended to me. This is part romance novel, part horror novel, and part a how to S&M guide. It was also incredibly boring. I usually like details in a story because it helps me paint a picture of the environment the characters are in. This story just had so much useless but not very helpful details of the food and clothing that if you had never eaten it or seen the clothing styles then you wouldn't picture it from his writing either. The characters were shallow and you get the feeling you are missing something because there is little in the way of a background story or what happened that the main characters are at such odds. You piece it together as you go along but it is given in such a boring manner. There are more details of the food and other trivial things than any of the characters in the novel. The dialogue was ridiculous. And this story drags, relentlessly drags. It starts off with one event which finally resolves itself at the end but it could have been handled in the first chapter with how obvious it was going to turn out. Don't waste your time with this novel. I know there are 2 other books in the series but I am not going to reading them.
September 18, 2010
I really like Sterling's Emberverse series, so when I saw new series by him, I thought "why not"
It's basically a vampire story, with a little different twist. The plot is so so. Reformed vampire used his powers to help the "Brotherhood" fight the dark powers, until he got burned out fighting a losing war. Now his twisted sister wants to draw him back into the game and turn to the "dark side" I founded it interesting that the good guys seem to be stuck between fighting for a horrible future or very horrible future. My main complaint with the novel is that Stirling writes it as sorta as a very weird bondage romance, with lots of torture, violence, and sex.
I think Stirling got a little carried away with showing how bad the bad guys are, and then felt he needed to reinforce the idea. When the plot moves it is intresting, but with half the story about bondage sex, torture, and more whips and chains, got old and I couldn't wade through it any more.
So if you like whips, torture, evil, evil super bad guys, and a flawed hero this might be the book for you.
It's basically a vampire story, with a little different twist. The plot is so so. Reformed vampire used his powers to help the "Brotherhood" fight the dark powers, until he got burned out fighting a losing war. Now his twisted sister wants to draw him back into the game and turn to the "dark side" I founded it interesting that the good guys seem to be stuck between fighting for a horrible future or very horrible future. My main complaint with the novel is that Stirling writes it as sorta as a very weird bondage romance, with lots of torture, violence, and sex.
I think Stirling got a little carried away with showing how bad the bad guys are, and then felt he needed to reinforce the idea. When the plot moves it is intresting, but with half the story about bondage sex, torture, and more whips and chains, got old and I couldn't wade through it any more.
So if you like whips, torture, evil, evil super bad guys, and a flawed hero this might be the book for you.
May 28, 2010
this book was read because of the cover and the title. the cover looked cool with a guy and his motorcycle and the title of blood in it. there seems to be something going on with vampires latley like twilight and true blood, etc. I was glad I picked this book up though because it was actually good. its a science fiction book about another race on the planet called the Eons and a main character called jake who goes through life trying to survive with the Eons while he is a normal human being. He is a typical soldier type who can do everything and does everything to survive so there are a lot of cool things and scenes that go on. if there is anyone who likes a fun adventure sci-fi book then this book is the one to pick up and read. now although it has nothing to do with vampires its still a cool book to read. its a lengthy read but its still a quick book if you like the type and doesnt go by so badly
July 8, 2018
I started reading SM Sterling with his joint books with David Drake on the General series. And I love Sterling's ability to build characters and worlds that pull you in. That strength shows clearly in the Shadowspawn trilogy. The world as we know it is hiding more than just monsters in the shadows, and not all the monsters agree on how to interact with us. In this case, two of the strongest, the fraternal twins Adrian and Adrienne differ about who should have Ellen, a Marilyn Monroe look alike. The twins differ on many things, but for this book, Ellen is the bone of contention. Steve Sterling does not usually put sex in his books, and a warning, this one has strong sexual content, worse, Steve is no better at writing this kind of content than I am and it is the only weakness of an otherwise excellent read.
July 22, 2010
Ok ...well this was a weird one for me. The shadowspawn are supposed to be where all legends of bloodrinkers came from and why human's are afraid of the dark. Adrian's lover Ellen was abducted by his sister. His sister is one sick and twisted B'tch. There was a lot of rape, abuse of all kinds, and very twisted s&m going on in this book. There was also a love story going on here and in the end the "good" guys won over the bad...or so it seems. I don't really know what to think about this book honestly. I almost want to say Mr. Sterling went a tad over to the dark side and I couldn't bring myself to go with him. I can't say this is a fantastic book or really reconmend it to anyone. I guess you'd have to be into extreme brutiality to love this book......I think.
June 6, 2010
Derivative, but enjoyable. Probably good, mindless beach book. It reads a bit like Stirling just discovered dirty sex, which is annoying.
May 18, 2013
First in the Shadowspawn urban fantasy series revolving around a twin rivalry. Primarily based along the California coast.
The start of this story is the blip in which Stirling's short story, "Pain and Suffering" (P&S) begins.
My Take
This is seriously creepy! I got turned on to this series by a short story I caught in Down These Strange Streets : "Pain and Suffering", and it sounded intriguing. I never expected a character like Adrienne. This woman is seriously evil. It's just incredible how well Stirling writes the evil of the Shadowspawn. They're terribly intelligent vampire-like beings who are also staggeringly self-absorbed with very sensitive tastebuds which makes some aspects of their eating behaviors a gastronome's delight. But they swing back---often---to their discussions of their ruling the world, and I wanna get off!
Stirling provides a very subtle tell as Jose, Peter, and Monica try to put a good face on the state of their lucyhood in their informal meet-and-greet between Ellen. It's just gut-clenching how horrifying that subtle is. The backstories Stirling created for them were interesting, and something of an indictment against our world.
Ick, there was something morbidly fascinating about Dr. Duggan's clinical observations of Homos sapiens nocturnus as well as her practical instructions on surviving a feeding...double-ick.
I'm clueless about the whole "I driiiink youuurrr miiiiilk shake" routine…
The truly scary part is that Stirling compels you to feel sympathy for Monica, even as she terrifies you. He's almost as bad as she is in appealing and repelling you from paragraph to paragraph. It's almost impossible for Ellen to guard her thoughts, and I shudder with Adrienne's responses to those thoughts. She's so happily accepting of anything---and I mean anything---Ellen thinks.
There is plenty in here for the foodies who enjoy good food and the subtle pairing of wines with it.
I do wish Stirling had been more clear about the differences between the Brotherhood and the Council. At one point, it sounds like they're mortal (so-to-speak) enemies, and at other times they sound like they work together.
The intellectual side of it is fascinating. It's like going to a party with other Mensans and discussing art, history, politics, science, all within one conversation.
The Story
Ellen has broken up with Adrian Brézé, but on her way home, she's waylaid by Adrienne, his evil twin, who loves to torture mentally and physically, using sex to tease and humiliate, as it amps up the blood.
For Adrienne wants something from Adrian. Mostly to hurt him.
It's within the many "adventures" Adrian experiences in tracking Ellen down that he learns of plots within plots that could take down the world.
The Characters
Ellen Tarnowski, a submissive, has a BA in Art History from NYU and has been working at Giselle Demarcio's gallery, Hans and Demarcio, in Santa Fe.
Adrian Brézé is the Shadowspawn dumpee. He's battling his species' natural proclivities, trying to stay under the radar. He can also pull you into his dream world, and he has talent for foretelling. Harvey Ledbetter, a field team leader for the Brotherhood, is an old friend whom Adrian wishes had stayed away.
Shadowspawn and their people
Adrienne Brézé is Adrian's twin sister. Where he struggles to retain his goodness, Adrienne wallows in the pain and suffering of others, doing her best to make it worse. A telepathic psychopath. And, oh brother, she's good. She gave me the creeps so bad, that I kept checking under the bed! Leila and Leon, Weasels One and Two, are her twin children. And I have a suspicion as to who the father is. More ick.
Adrienne's people at Rancho Sangre---her lucies and renfields
David Cheung is a lucy. Theresa is a renfield, Adrienne's household manager; generations of her family have served Adrienne. Captain Harold Bates is a Gurkha and in charge of Brézé Enterprises' site security forces. Dr. Fiona Duggan plays doctor for the "herd". Monica Darton has two children, Josh and Sophie, and is going slowly insane with the fear and the need to be bitten while projecting a fierce acceptance---and she loves cooking. Jose Villegas is Theresa's cousin and keeps trying to find positive reasons for his fate. Dr. Peter Boase is a scientist with an MIT degree; he insisted on questioning his results. Jamal was taken---I get the impression he's of the streets. The others don't think he'll last long. Then there's Police Chief Mendoza.
Jules and Julianne Brézé are Adrian and Adrienne's parents. They're body-dead---killed by Hajimie, but not dead. I don't quite understand this one. Jeanne and Jacques are more siblings.
Tōkairin Michiko would prefer it if Adrian and her grandfather, Hajimie is the head of the family, were dead. She's also a sibling-of-blood with Adrienne---they've shared kills and sex. Wayne Jackson was an epidemiologist at Stanford before Michiko forced him into being a lucy. Bad blood exists between the Tōkairin and the Brézé.
Dimitri Usov is in exile in Siberia and panting to get out. Gheorghe Brâncuşi is one of them and was assassinated a short while ago. Dale Shadowblade is the Council assassin; Kai is his blood-bitch---and it doesn't begin to describe her. Wilbur Peterson is a recently deceased Shadowspawn whose DNA will come in very handy. Master Mthunzi is head of the Council's breeding program.
Sheila Polson---is she ever uptight!---is the chief of the Brotherhood. I get the impression they are enemies of the Shadowspawn. But they seem to employ some as well. Anjali Guha and Jack Farmer will help Adrian infiltrate the Prayer for Long Life party.
Jean-Charles is a clothing designer in San Francisco. Paco is a coyote---although Adrienne refers to him as being more of a jackal. Bit rich, coming from her! Eusebia Cortines---she'll get luckier than the 80-some other "snacks" delivered for Adrienne's little party.
The Council of Shadows is Shadowspawn, immortals who require blood to survive and can't step into the light of day or tolerate silver. They all have a talent for magic and prefer blood that's been "stimulated". They can also shapeshift into any DNA they can swallow. And they are the true masters of the world. I think the Order of the Black Dawn is separate from the Council. Or that the Council evolved from it. Mhabrogast is the language spoken in Hell. A renfield is a human who voluntarily chose to serve the Shadowspawn, while a lucy is involuntary. The Alberman Scale is a test for nocturnus genes, a test of power levels in humans. Wreaking is what they call magic. To Carry is to soul-eat, when a Shadowspawn kills you and takes your soul into his or her body. The Brotherhood evolved to battle the Order, witchfinders.
The Cover
It's a dark and murky cover with a hot guy in a black leather racing jacket, leaning back against an adobe building. Right around the corner is his motorcycle. I suspect it's the same artist as does Seanan McGuire's October Daye covers.
I suspect the title is a reference to the addiction long-term exposure to biting has on humans, A Taint in the Blood.
The start of this story is the blip in which Stirling's short story, "Pain and Suffering" (P&S) begins.
My Take
This is seriously creepy! I got turned on to this series by a short story I caught in Down These Strange Streets : "Pain and Suffering", and it sounded intriguing. I never expected a character like Adrienne. This woman is seriously evil. It's just incredible how well Stirling writes the evil of the Shadowspawn. They're terribly intelligent vampire-like beings who are also staggeringly self-absorbed with very sensitive tastebuds which makes some aspects of their eating behaviors a gastronome's delight. But they swing back---often---to their discussions of their ruling the world, and I wanna get off!
Stirling provides a very subtle tell as Jose, Peter, and Monica try to put a good face on the state of their lucyhood in their informal meet-and-greet between Ellen. It's just gut-clenching how horrifying that subtle is. The backstories Stirling created for them were interesting, and something of an indictment against our world.
Ick, there was something morbidly fascinating about Dr. Duggan's clinical observations of Homos sapiens nocturnus as well as her practical instructions on surviving a feeding...double-ick.
I'm clueless about the whole "I driiiink youuurrr miiiiilk shake" routine…
The truly scary part is that Stirling compels you to feel sympathy for Monica, even as she terrifies you. He's almost as bad as she is in appealing and repelling you from paragraph to paragraph. It's almost impossible for Ellen to guard her thoughts, and I shudder with Adrienne's responses to those thoughts. She's so happily accepting of anything---and I mean anything---Ellen thinks.
"And it feels nice when she drinks from me, really. It's...natural. Like the way flowers make nectar for hummingbirds. It's what we human people are for."
There is plenty in here for the foodies who enjoy good food and the subtle pairing of wines with it.
I do wish Stirling had been more clear about the differences between the Brotherhood and the Council. At one point, it sounds like they're mortal (so-to-speak) enemies, and at other times they sound like they work together.
The intellectual side of it is fascinating. It's like going to a party with other Mensans and discussing art, history, politics, science, all within one conversation.
The Story
Ellen has broken up with Adrian Brézé, but on her way home, she's waylaid by Adrienne, his evil twin, who loves to torture mentally and physically, using sex to tease and humiliate, as it amps up the blood.
For Adrienne wants something from Adrian. Mostly to hurt him.
It's within the many "adventures" Adrian experiences in tracking Ellen down that he learns of plots within plots that could take down the world.
The Characters
Ellen Tarnowski, a submissive, has a BA in Art History from NYU and has been working at Giselle Demarcio's gallery, Hans and Demarcio, in Santa Fe.
Adrian Brézé is the Shadowspawn dumpee. He's battling his species' natural proclivities, trying to stay under the radar. He can also pull you into his dream world, and he has talent for foretelling. Harvey Ledbetter, a field team leader for the Brotherhood, is an old friend whom Adrian wishes had stayed away.
Shadowspawn and their people
Adrienne Brézé is Adrian's twin sister. Where he struggles to retain his goodness, Adrienne wallows in the pain and suffering of others, doing her best to make it worse. A telepathic psychopath. And, oh brother, she's good. She gave me the creeps so bad, that I kept checking under the bed! Leila and Leon, Weasels One and Two, are her twin children. And I have a suspicion as to who the father is. More ick.
Adrienne's people at Rancho Sangre---her lucies and renfields
David Cheung is a lucy. Theresa is a renfield, Adrienne's household manager; generations of her family have served Adrienne. Captain Harold Bates is a Gurkha and in charge of Brézé Enterprises' site security forces. Dr. Fiona Duggan plays doctor for the "herd". Monica Darton has two children, Josh and Sophie, and is going slowly insane with the fear and the need to be bitten while projecting a fierce acceptance---and she loves cooking. Jose Villegas is Theresa's cousin and keeps trying to find positive reasons for his fate. Dr. Peter Boase is a scientist with an MIT degree; he insisted on questioning his results. Jamal was taken---I get the impression he's of the streets. The others don't think he'll last long. Then there's Police Chief Mendoza.
"Monica…" she said. "Monica's completely insane, isn't she?"
Peter shrugged. "I prefer to think of it as excessively well adjusted."
Jules and Julianne Brézé are Adrian and Adrienne's parents. They're body-dead---killed by Hajimie, but not dead. I don't quite understand this one. Jeanne and Jacques are more siblings.
Tōkairin Michiko would prefer it if Adrian and her grandfather, Hajimie is the head of the family, were dead. She's also a sibling-of-blood with Adrienne---they've shared kills and sex. Wayne Jackson was an epidemiologist at Stanford before Michiko forced him into being a lucy. Bad blood exists between the Tōkairin and the Brézé.
Dimitri Usov is in exile in Siberia and panting to get out. Gheorghe Brâncuşi is one of them and was assassinated a short while ago. Dale Shadowblade is the Council assassin; Kai is his blood-bitch---and it doesn't begin to describe her. Wilbur Peterson is a recently deceased Shadowspawn whose DNA will come in very handy. Master Mthunzi is head of the Council's breeding program.
Sheila Polson---is she ever uptight!---is the chief of the Brotherhood. I get the impression they are enemies of the Shadowspawn. But they seem to employ some as well. Anjali Guha and Jack Farmer will help Adrian infiltrate the Prayer for Long Life party.
Jean-Charles is a clothing designer in San Francisco. Paco is a coyote---although Adrienne refers to him as being more of a jackal. Bit rich, coming from her! Eusebia Cortines---she'll get luckier than the 80-some other "snacks" delivered for Adrienne's little party.
The Council of Shadows is Shadowspawn, immortals who require blood to survive and can't step into the light of day or tolerate silver. They all have a talent for magic and prefer blood that's been "stimulated". They can also shapeshift into any DNA they can swallow. And they are the true masters of the world. I think the Order of the Black Dawn is separate from the Council. Or that the Council evolved from it. Mhabrogast is the language spoken in Hell. A renfield is a human who voluntarily chose to serve the Shadowspawn, while a lucy is involuntary. The Alberman Scale is a test for nocturnus genes, a test of power levels in humans. Wreaking is what they call magic. To Carry is to soul-eat, when a Shadowspawn kills you and takes your soul into his or her body. The Brotherhood evolved to battle the Order, witchfinders.
The Cover
It's a dark and murky cover with a hot guy in a black leather racing jacket, leaning back against an adobe building. Right around the corner is his motorcycle. I suspect it's the same artist as does Seanan McGuire's October Daye covers.
I suspect the title is a reference to the addiction long-term exposure to biting has on humans, A Taint in the Blood.
Read
February 1, 2021I used to read quite a bit of S.M. Stirling's work, until he started his postapocalyptic series of "The Change", and I just found them far too depressing to enjoy, so I laid off for a while. I discovered the first book in his new Shadowspawn series at the library, and thought I'd give it a go. There's really nothing new and exciting here, I think we've seen it all before, though perhaps not lumped into one big heap before.
The Shadowspawn are a sub-species of humans who have what amounts to vampiric and shape-shifting abilities, as well as a bunch of other minor "spells" that they have used to dominate the human race for centuries. Like the Illuminati on steroids, I suppose. Nearly everything horrible that has happened on Earth in recent memory is their fault, from the rise of Hitler to ebola, either just as a result of their twisted amusements or as a way to cull out the herd a bit. Their favorite thing to do is to rape, slaughter and drink the blood of humans, though not necessarily in that order, but you get the drift.
Their High Council has decided that there are far too many humans on the planet, and that they'd like to return to a much simpler time, so they are planning to use massive EMP explosions to drive civilization back to the Stone Age and wipe out most of the pesky humans, leaving the rest easily ruled. Some of the younger, more progressive members would rather not act so drastically, enjoying the fruits of modern technology, and merely propose a genetically engineered plague to thin the human ranks a bit. So, there's some major political machinations going on in the midst of the obvious plot in this novel.
One of the Shadowspawn, Adrian Breze, has renounced the vicious ways of his people and has tried to remain uninvolved in any of their power plays and sadistic amusements. His sister, Adrienne, steals his girlfriend, who starts out unaware of his non-human nature, away from him and makes Ellen her own sexual slave and blood donor. The human servants and blood donors for the Shadowspawn are, of course, called 'renfields' and 'lucies'. The foreground plot of the book is Adrian's quest to rescue Ellen and foil his sister's plans, with any luck killing Adrienne in the bargain.
This novel contains a ton of graphic, bondage and discipline, sado-masochistic sexual scenes, as well as brutal and graphic violence. In this, it's not much different from some of Stirling's earlier works. The story is somewhat amusing, however, and it's interesting to see how he explains away all of the horrible things that have gone on in the world by attributing them to the Shadowspawn, plus the belief in gods, demons, faeries, and all other things that go bump in the night.
One of the things I found fun was how Adrienne would refer to the flavor of Ellen's blood, depending on her emotional state. Phrases like, "Two distinct layers of fear, and anger, dread, longing, resignation, courage...like a very, very good beef bourgignon garnished with sauteed pearl onions and mushrooms. The sort one cooks with a really fine Burgundy and a bouquet garni from a farm stall..." Priceless.
A most definitely adult novel.
The Shadowspawn are a sub-species of humans who have what amounts to vampiric and shape-shifting abilities, as well as a bunch of other minor "spells" that they have used to dominate the human race for centuries. Like the Illuminati on steroids, I suppose. Nearly everything horrible that has happened on Earth in recent memory is their fault, from the rise of Hitler to ebola, either just as a result of their twisted amusements or as a way to cull out the herd a bit. Their favorite thing to do is to rape, slaughter and drink the blood of humans, though not necessarily in that order, but you get the drift.
Their High Council has decided that there are far too many humans on the planet, and that they'd like to return to a much simpler time, so they are planning to use massive EMP explosions to drive civilization back to the Stone Age and wipe out most of the pesky humans, leaving the rest easily ruled. Some of the younger, more progressive members would rather not act so drastically, enjoying the fruits of modern technology, and merely propose a genetically engineered plague to thin the human ranks a bit. So, there's some major political machinations going on in the midst of the obvious plot in this novel.
One of the Shadowspawn, Adrian Breze, has renounced the vicious ways of his people and has tried to remain uninvolved in any of their power plays and sadistic amusements. His sister, Adrienne, steals his girlfriend, who starts out unaware of his non-human nature, away from him and makes Ellen her own sexual slave and blood donor. The human servants and blood donors for the Shadowspawn are, of course, called 'renfields' and 'lucies'. The foreground plot of the book is Adrian's quest to rescue Ellen and foil his sister's plans, with any luck killing Adrienne in the bargain.
This novel contains a ton of graphic, bondage and discipline, sado-masochistic sexual scenes, as well as brutal and graphic violence. In this, it's not much different from some of Stirling's earlier works. The story is somewhat amusing, however, and it's interesting to see how he explains away all of the horrible things that have gone on in the world by attributing them to the Shadowspawn, plus the belief in gods, demons, faeries, and all other things that go bump in the night.
One of the things I found fun was how Adrienne would refer to the flavor of Ellen's blood, depending on her emotional state. Phrases like, "Two distinct layers of fear, and anger, dread, longing, resignation, courage...like a very, very good beef bourgignon garnished with sauteed pearl onions and mushrooms. The sort one cooks with a really fine Burgundy and a bouquet garni from a farm stall..." Priceless.
A most definitely adult novel.
April 29, 2018
My god people, have none of you read the classic by Jack Williamson "Darker Than You Think" on which this is most evidently based!?
The Williamson book, written in the 1940's was an amazing book -- far ahead of its time in depicting 'vampires' (which is not at all what I would call the Shadowspawn!) as ethereal, sensual, shape-changing monsters/superhumans of a lost race reborn and out to conquer mankind - again.
I haven't read any interviews with Stirling (some of whose novels I love, particularly the Lords of Creation, unfortunately only 2 books!) about his inspiration for this series, but just to be clear, this is based on a novel written decades before any of this 'modern' vampire (mostly) crap. Someone above mentioned Twilight. I cringe. Sorry, but that is a tween vanilla annoying-girl with cringey emo boyfriend vampire...really just so bad. At its worst, these Shadowspawn novels don't come anywhere near the vapidness of those teen novels.
I recommend all of you who don't 'understand' this series read the inspiration by Jack Williamson, Darker Than You Think. It is a classic and has stood the test of time -- as it is still fantastic reading nearly 80 years later!
Sorry to sound so harsh above, but I really am shocked to read the amount of confusion about these novels.
The Williamson book, written in the 1940's was an amazing book -- far ahead of its time in depicting 'vampires' (which is not at all what I would call the Shadowspawn!) as ethereal, sensual, shape-changing monsters/superhumans of a lost race reborn and out to conquer mankind - again.
I haven't read any interviews with Stirling (some of whose novels I love, particularly the Lords of Creation, unfortunately only 2 books!) about his inspiration for this series, but just to be clear, this is based on a novel written decades before any of this 'modern' vampire (mostly) crap. Someone above mentioned Twilight. I cringe. Sorry, but that is a tween vanilla annoying-girl with cringey emo boyfriend vampire...really just so bad. At its worst, these Shadowspawn novels don't come anywhere near the vapidness of those teen novels.
I recommend all of you who don't 'understand' this series read the inspiration by Jack Williamson, Darker Than You Think. It is a classic and has stood the test of time -- as it is still fantastic reading nearly 80 years later!
Sorry to sound so harsh above, but I really am shocked to read the amount of confusion about these novels.
September 20, 2024
The author gives us a different (to me, anyway) take on the vampire mythos, weaving it into real-world religions and mythologies, and making it contemporary with modern global politics and economics. Yet, as in his excellent Emberverse series, he never really explains just HOW the vampire magic works--which I guess comes with the territory of urban fantasy.
The story is reasonably well-paced and the characters compelling enough, with strengths and weaknesses the reader can wrap their head around without much trouble. But despite the good writing by one of my favorite authors, this one didn't sit well with me.
Some readers might be turned off by the lesbian BDSM and Stockholm Syndrome--never mind that, well, vampires.
The story is reasonably well-paced and the characters compelling enough, with strengths and weaknesses the reader can wrap their head around without much trouble. But despite the good writing by one of my favorite authors, this one didn't sit well with me.
Some readers might be turned off by the lesbian BDSM and Stockholm Syndrome--never mind that, well, vampires.
March 28, 2018
If the author took as much time developing the characters as he did describing the art or the food the book would be much better. I was lost most of the time he explained the intricate details of some exotic dish or named the specific type of architecture that was prominent in a building. The extra detail did not help create a visual in my mind instead I became lost in the words. The characters were two dimensional and never really developed into tangible personalities. The plot was lacking as well. I kept waiting for something to happen.
September 25, 2017
I quit. I can't read this. The second time a rape is sketchily described and not treated as something horrible has been too much. Plus all the telepathy scenes are impossible to figure out--it just needs a clearer layout!--because telepathy is shown the same way as stream-of-consciousness thought. It's endlessly confusing. Add distasteful on top of it and I just can't force myself to continue. There are some interesting ideas about vampires but nope, I can't ride it out.
August 13, 2021
I gave this book two stars because the writing is fine, and the plot is exciting enough. But, the author spends zero time explaining what any of his supernatural fantasy vocabulary means, and doesn’t give us any sort of history to make the characters feel like actual monsters versus a cocktail of all the scary stuff he could think of. Plus, he’s an old white dude trying to write from a woman’s point of view - about kinky lesbian sex, no less - and it comes off as a creepy voyeur porno.
July 12, 2010
Shadowspawn used to rule the Earth as gods. But you can get kind of lazy when you're immortal and nearly indestructible. After thousands of years of cross-breeding with humans, today's Shadowspawn posterity isn't as pureblooded, making for all kinds of problems. Even worse, humans have over-populated the Earth and kind of taken over things. By the time you get around to dealing with the issue, you have to do something drastic, say, another plague to wipe out all the extra humans so you can reestablish yourself as the one in charge.
Adrian Brézé may not be pureblood Shadowspawn, but he's got enough that his ability in the Power is stronger than most, and he's decided that the blood is no excuse to treat the human race as sheep. The only problem is that the other almost-purebloods not only outnumber him thousands to one, they would never agree with him to leave humans alone. After years of trying to help the Brotherhood, a group dedicated to the eradication of Shadowspawn, he retires from the civil war. Unfortunately, his sister Adrianne decides to yank him back into Shadowspawn politics by kidnapping his ex-girlfriend. As he works to save Ellen, Adrian discovers the dismaying plans the Council has for the human race.
I'm not sure why, but S.M. Stirling decided it was his turn at a vampire urban fantasy series starting with A TAINT IN THE BLOOD. His successful Change Series has garnered him a well-deserved following, the post-apocalyptic stories grim yet hopeful. Now, instead of a retro Dark Ages setting, he tries his hand at magic and demons. Most of us are getting tired of all the blood-sucking out there (Gaiman thinks so too), but if it's going to stick around, the writing might as well be decent--and fortunately Stirling will force those vampire wannabe writers to step it up a notch, especially in showing how much vampires really are monsters. It's about time.
Stirling's big strength in all his books is world building. Here he takes the traditional vampire lore and twists it into a shape that's more interesting than most urban fantasy. There's the history and origins of modern-day 'demon cannibals' who are born not made, mix in Shadowspawn proclivities and lifestyle, add a pinch of killing methods and details about warfare, and fold in the rules of the Power and how to work around it. Then you bake it into something that looks like a regular cake, but is actually a lava cake filled with chocolaty goodness (couldn't help myself, the novel is filled with all sorts of foodie details).
This book has all the clichés. There's the main character Adrian, the wealthy and brooding immortal who's trying to break away from his evil family and their 'humans are only good for food' attitudes. There's the grizzled mentor Harvey, thrice divorced, who carries around his sawed-off shotgun with silver bullets and used to work with Adrian for the Brotherhood. There's the plucky heroine Ellen with the body of a goddess (she's a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe...), who endures torture at the hands of Adrian's sadistic sister while she awaits rescue. Have we read all this before? Sure, but not written with this much tongue-in-cheek and depth at the same time.
Yet, while TAINT is better than your average urban fantasy, it has its flaws. The most petty being that Stirling is italics happy--between all the telepathy and PoV character thoughts it got to be a little ridiculous. If you want me to get more serious, then I could complain about how poor Ellen must suffer Adrienne's sadist tendencies, and unfortunately we end up having to watch, including one incredibly unpleasant S&M scene. While Adrienne is a deliciously evil villain, the constant sexual abuse witnessed first hand and talked about among her blood herd of 'lucies' got redundant and overbearing.
One thing that starts out as a strength but ends up becoming a problem later is the pacing. Like his other novels, Stirling starts TAINT at a sprint, and blabs about back history along the way, hoping you can keep up. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't, but the action is enough to keep you reading even if you don't 100% know what's going on. The action does get breakneck enough that readers will stumble and have to re-read when transitions are light on explanation; on the other end of the spectrum is a big gap of time that's glossed over, and even includes a hokey 'Rocky trains for the big fight montage' reference. It kind of felt like Stirling rattled off this book one weekend and had a lot of fun writing it, throwing together interesting concepts along the way, but didn't bother to go back and smooth it all out. What starts out as interesting world building by the end leaves some holes about how the magic works, which is pretty crucial to the plot. Add to that some contrivances, and you read the climax thinking, "What the..." or "That should not have worked."
I really wanted to like TAINT because I enjoyed Stirling's Change Series novels, but while it's well written and interesting, its over-the-top cruelty was difficult for me to read. The novel could give romantic vampire urban fantasy the jump start it needs, forcing realism and excellent writing into a usually fluffy and melodramatic sub-genre, and could attract readers who usually wouldn't pick up this kind of book.
Adrian Brézé may not be pureblood Shadowspawn, but he's got enough that his ability in the Power is stronger than most, and he's decided that the blood is no excuse to treat the human race as sheep. The only problem is that the other almost-purebloods not only outnumber him thousands to one, they would never agree with him to leave humans alone. After years of trying to help the Brotherhood, a group dedicated to the eradication of Shadowspawn, he retires from the civil war. Unfortunately, his sister Adrianne decides to yank him back into Shadowspawn politics by kidnapping his ex-girlfriend. As he works to save Ellen, Adrian discovers the dismaying plans the Council has for the human race.
I'm not sure why, but S.M. Stirling decided it was his turn at a vampire urban fantasy series starting with A TAINT IN THE BLOOD. His successful Change Series has garnered him a well-deserved following, the post-apocalyptic stories grim yet hopeful. Now, instead of a retro Dark Ages setting, he tries his hand at magic and demons. Most of us are getting tired of all the blood-sucking out there (Gaiman thinks so too), but if it's going to stick around, the writing might as well be decent--and fortunately Stirling will force those vampire wannabe writers to step it up a notch, especially in showing how much vampires really are monsters. It's about time.
Stirling's big strength in all his books is world building. Here he takes the traditional vampire lore and twists it into a shape that's more interesting than most urban fantasy. There's the history and origins of modern-day 'demon cannibals' who are born not made, mix in Shadowspawn proclivities and lifestyle, add a pinch of killing methods and details about warfare, and fold in the rules of the Power and how to work around it. Then you bake it into something that looks like a regular cake, but is actually a lava cake filled with chocolaty goodness (couldn't help myself, the novel is filled with all sorts of foodie details).
This book has all the clichés. There's the main character Adrian, the wealthy and brooding immortal who's trying to break away from his evil family and their 'humans are only good for food' attitudes. There's the grizzled mentor Harvey, thrice divorced, who carries around his sawed-off shotgun with silver bullets and used to work with Adrian for the Brotherhood. There's the plucky heroine Ellen with the body of a goddess (she's a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe...), who endures torture at the hands of Adrian's sadistic sister while she awaits rescue. Have we read all this before? Sure, but not written with this much tongue-in-cheek and depth at the same time.
Yet, while TAINT is better than your average urban fantasy, it has its flaws. The most petty being that Stirling is italics happy--between all the telepathy and PoV character thoughts it got to be a little ridiculous. If you want me to get more serious, then I could complain about how poor Ellen must suffer Adrienne's sadist tendencies, and unfortunately we end up having to watch, including one incredibly unpleasant S&M scene. While Adrienne is a deliciously evil villain, the constant sexual abuse witnessed first hand and talked about among her blood herd of 'lucies' got redundant and overbearing.
One thing that starts out as a strength but ends up becoming a problem later is the pacing. Like his other novels, Stirling starts TAINT at a sprint, and blabs about back history along the way, hoping you can keep up. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't, but the action is enough to keep you reading even if you don't 100% know what's going on. The action does get breakneck enough that readers will stumble and have to re-read when transitions are light on explanation; on the other end of the spectrum is a big gap of time that's glossed over, and even includes a hokey 'Rocky trains for the big fight montage' reference. It kind of felt like Stirling rattled off this book one weekend and had a lot of fun writing it, throwing together interesting concepts along the way, but didn't bother to go back and smooth it all out. What starts out as interesting world building by the end leaves some holes about how the magic works, which is pretty crucial to the plot. Add to that some contrivances, and you read the climax thinking, "What the..." or "That should not have worked."
I really wanted to like TAINT because I enjoyed Stirling's Change Series novels, but while it's well written and interesting, its over-the-top cruelty was difficult for me to read. The novel could give romantic vampire urban fantasy the jump start it needs, forcing realism and excellent writing into a usually fluffy and melodramatic sub-genre, and could attract readers who usually wouldn't pick up this kind of book.
April 20, 2018
If there was a negative rating I would give this book the lowest I could find. It's revolting, brutal, and grotesque. I should have stopped reading after I felt the first negative reaction but I tend to finish what I start. If you think about reading this one, DON'T! Only read once and never again.
August 11, 2020
More like 3.5. This is the first time I've read this author. He was recommended to me. I guess because the book had vampires/shapeshifters in it. It took a while to get into it. I might read the next book.
December 16, 2019
Stirling's Shadowspawn series is an amazing new take on the entire vampire genre. Excellent worldbuilding and dynamite characters.
October 20, 2024
Wow what a book. Stirling has created a tremendous world ruled by Shadowspawn. This was a fun adventure and I look forward to the next in the series.
August 8, 2020
I found this book in the dollar store for just $2. I remember having read Stirling's Terminator series works some years back and was reasonably entertained (except for the third book in the series, which I remember being flawed beyond my being able to finish it). Maybe this later Stirling work will be better now that he has had time to improve his craft.
Well, I read the entire book all the way through, and it was work to do so. I can say that I do think there is an audience for this book. It will appeal to youthful readers who enjoy vampire stories, find S&M titillating, and are foodies. Foodies will properly enjoy the oh so many comparisons between drinking blood and fine dining. The young, whose world experience is limited and whose hormonal sex drives allow them to think of little else outside their own bodies will find the S&M clever and world-view-expanding. Oh, and did I mention that it's a vampire story? How cool and needed is that!
If you do pick this novel up, it will help your enjoyment of the story if you speed read. Think of this literary masterpiece as akin to a fine light beer, procured in a 12-pack for less than $9, a beer best served ice cold (so it can't be too well tasted) and guzzled in a beer bong if you have one so that it misses the tongue's taste buds altogether. If the book is speed read, you may not notice the use of the many familiar side characters that were never introduced who never appear in the story again. The author, I thought at first could be forgiven this flaw. Not reintroducing your characters is to be expected in a long series, especially when reading a book in the middle of the series. Imagine my surprise when upon looking it up after finishing it I found this book was the series introduction.
The book's many flaws are so easy to pick out that we need not dwell on them long. The writing style, which contains ellipses [...] everywhere, used by authors too lazy to end a sentence, or complete a thought and begin a new one. How about the fact that the protagonist, Adrian, is supposed to be the main character? However, the easily victimized human girlfriend who really enjoys the abuse, sort of, takes the book over instead. Another flaw is the sadistic sister to the alleged protagonist, supposed to be the antagonist, but portrayed so sympathetically she becomes the protagonist.
Then, there's the many showoff foreign phrases our oh-so-erudite author throws in (why? who cares! my author, he so smart and worldly). Don't speak nothing but English? Not to worry. Every foreign phrase is painstakingly (and painfully) translated by the author. You wouldn't want to miss a scintilla of this sparkling and essential prose. Those of us who know the languages (come on, who doesn't know enough Spanish to pick up the gist?) get to be twice as bored.
Don't even get me started on the simplicity of the plot (Sis steals hero's girlfriend, hero gets girlfriend back and gives Sis the revenge she deserves, all in just 422 pages). There's the beautiful less than one page non-climax of an ending to look forward to. Spoiler: side character dishes out the revenge in an action scene lasting a sentence or two. How about that unconvincing romance? We go from breaking up for no real reason to an "I do" for also no real reason other than would-be hero-rescuer needs a goal so we can have the "happily-ever-after" two-page epilogue.
So why don't I give this slop one star? It's because the author manages somehow to do one thing (and one thing only) well. He builds an interesting world. His concepts of shadowspawns, renfelds, and lucies, the council, the power, non-corpreal forms, the argument that humans overpopulate the world and this needs to be solved, and the language the immortal characters use from Latin to mhabrogast are interesting. They are not entirely original. I've seen enough of the Twilight series to know this. Nevertheless, the background is intriguing. Further developed, it could provide an interesting setup of a world to the crap of a story, writing style, and cardboard characters that people it. Because of this background I don't rate every aspect of the novel a failure.
So interesting is the backdrop that I actually considered going on and reading the next novels in the series. Upon viewing the Goodreads reviews of them, I have decided not to. The subsequent novels have a higher rating than this book, but only by half a point. I suspect that's because readers of low standards who read and liked this novel are the ones who went on to read the subsequent ones. If the latter books in the series really were any better in terms of story and characters, they should be closer to a 4 rating then, but they struggle at about 3.5. I'll spend my time elsewhere, therefore. I'll also spend it with a different author than Stirling. His voluminous output prevents quality is my assessment.
Well, I read the entire book all the way through, and it was work to do so. I can say that I do think there is an audience for this book. It will appeal to youthful readers who enjoy vampire stories, find S&M titillating, and are foodies. Foodies will properly enjoy the oh so many comparisons between drinking blood and fine dining. The young, whose world experience is limited and whose hormonal sex drives allow them to think of little else outside their own bodies will find the S&M clever and world-view-expanding. Oh, and did I mention that it's a vampire story? How cool and needed is that!
If you do pick this novel up, it will help your enjoyment of the story if you speed read. Think of this literary masterpiece as akin to a fine light beer, procured in a 12-pack for less than $9, a beer best served ice cold (so it can't be too well tasted) and guzzled in a beer bong if you have one so that it misses the tongue's taste buds altogether. If the book is speed read, you may not notice the use of the many familiar side characters that were never introduced who never appear in the story again. The author, I thought at first could be forgiven this flaw. Not reintroducing your characters is to be expected in a long series, especially when reading a book in the middle of the series. Imagine my surprise when upon looking it up after finishing it I found this book was the series introduction.
The book's many flaws are so easy to pick out that we need not dwell on them long. The writing style, which contains ellipses [...] everywhere, used by authors too lazy to end a sentence, or complete a thought and begin a new one. How about the fact that the protagonist, Adrian, is supposed to be the main character? However, the easily victimized human girlfriend who really enjoys the abuse, sort of, takes the book over instead. Another flaw is the sadistic sister to the alleged protagonist, supposed to be the antagonist, but portrayed so sympathetically she becomes the protagonist.
Then, there's the many showoff foreign phrases our oh-so-erudite author throws in (why? who cares! my author, he so smart and worldly). Don't speak nothing but English? Not to worry. Every foreign phrase is painstakingly (and painfully) translated by the author. You wouldn't want to miss a scintilla of this sparkling and essential prose. Those of us who know the languages (come on, who doesn't know enough Spanish to pick up the gist?) get to be twice as bored.
Don't even get me started on the simplicity of the plot (Sis steals hero's girlfriend, hero gets girlfriend back and gives Sis the revenge she deserves, all in just 422 pages). There's the beautiful less than one page non-climax of an ending to look forward to. Spoiler: side character dishes out the revenge in an action scene lasting a sentence or two. How about that unconvincing romance? We go from breaking up for no real reason to an "I do" for also no real reason other than would-be hero-rescuer needs a goal so we can have the "happily-ever-after" two-page epilogue.
So why don't I give this slop one star? It's because the author manages somehow to do one thing (and one thing only) well. He builds an interesting world. His concepts of shadowspawns, renfelds, and lucies, the council, the power, non-corpreal forms, the argument that humans overpopulate the world and this needs to be solved, and the language the immortal characters use from Latin to mhabrogast are interesting. They are not entirely original. I've seen enough of the Twilight series to know this. Nevertheless, the background is intriguing. Further developed, it could provide an interesting setup of a world to the crap of a story, writing style, and cardboard characters that people it. Because of this background I don't rate every aspect of the novel a failure.
So interesting is the backdrop that I actually considered going on and reading the next novels in the series. Upon viewing the Goodreads reviews of them, I have decided not to. The subsequent novels have a higher rating than this book, but only by half a point. I suspect that's because readers of low standards who read and liked this novel are the ones who went on to read the subsequent ones. If the latter books in the series really were any better in terms of story and characters, they should be closer to a 4 rating then, but they struggle at about 3.5. I'll spend my time elsewhere, therefore. I'll also spend it with a different author than Stirling. His voluminous output prevents quality is my assessment.
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