-Writ in Blood- is by far the lightest of the Saint-Germain novels. Particularly when compared to -Mansions of Darkness-. It was fun to see Saint-Germain trying to out-politic Germany and England. It was also a nice change to see Saint-Germain able to relax with a lover. Both of his women were likeable. The only bad thing about this book is that "Tempting Fate" is only a couple of years in WiB's future. So I read the entire book with the feeling that something awful was about to happen. BTW, if anyone knows what the Opus number of Chopin's "Winter Wind" is, email me. Please.

If you're into the politics of Europe before World War I, you would probably like this book. I did learn that Serbia had a large influence in the start of the war from this book, but I thought too much of the book was devoted to politics. I think it highly unlikely that a vampire would involve itself in a high profile position. I would suggest reading this book to Saint Germain fans, but to would be fans, I would suggest reading the books about Saint Germain in the order they were published. I thought the book was not as good as the others, but if you are a fan, you will enjoy it anyway. I did like the way the book Dracula was woven into the story. That was a nice touch. I give this book three stars, but four stars to fans of Ms. Yarbro.

Or eleventh, if you count "Out of the House of Life", which is primarily a spinoff novel about Madeline de Montalia (former lover and vampiric "childe" of Saint-Germain), but which does include some flashback scenes to some of Saint-Germain's early history.

Or fourteenth, if you also count "A Flame In Byzantium", "Crusader's Torch", and "A Candle For d'Artagnan", the spinoff series about Atta Olivia Clemens, an earlier lover and vampiric "childe".

This book is set in the years leading up to the first world war, roughly 1910-1913. As such, it ends only a few years prior to the events in the fifth book in the series, "Tempting Fate". It is one of the most enjoyable books in the series to read; the early books (Hotel Transylvania", "The Palace", and "Blood Games") were not as well written as most of the later ones, being more historical-romance bodice rippers than serious literary efforts, but they had the advantage of being enjoyable reading, with stories in which the hero succeeds in rescuing the damsel in distress. Starting with the fourth book in the series, "Path of the Eclipse", we have had a long run of stories in which Saint Germain has had relatively little success in that regard, and the stories, while frequently very powerful, were something of a downer to read. Finally in this book, we see what Yarbro can do with the action hero plot now that she's grown as a writer; the plot is much more similar in tone to her early efforts, but far better written. For one thing, her villains are far more three dimensional and far less cardboard cutouts than they were in those books, particularly the first.

If you're a fan of traditional vampire fiction, you may or may not be disappointed in these stories; there is none of the struggle with the evil "inherent in the vampiric nature" that one finds in most vampiric fiction, notably the Anne Rice vampires. Saint-Germain is an unabashed hero, neither a sympathetic villain nor an anti-hero. He has lived 4000 years, and outgrew that silliness in the time of ancient Egypt. (Bits of this were seen in the aforementioned "Out of the House of Life".) The villains in this book (and in most of the books in this series) are mortals, and they are responsible for whatever "horror" elements that there are in the plot.

If, on the other hand, you enjoy historical romance, and don't automatically reject the concept of a vampire as the hero and main character, you should truly enjoy this entire series, and particularly this book.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (is that a she, a he, or a committee?) is an expert fad-surfer; although the vampire novels are reasonably adept, this attempt to cash in on the popularity of Tony Hillerman's Indian detectives falls flat. The writing isn't bad, and the mystery is intriguing enough -- but when Charlie S. (for Spotted) Moon uses magic to discover who done it, I found myself squealing "That's CHEATING!!" Don't bother to track this novel down; unless you're a collector of rare books, it's not worth the effort.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's diverse work has impressed me for quite awhile now. My favorite books are her historical vampire books, but I would have to say her Charles Spotted Moon series is my second favorite series, behind the Saint-Germain and Olivia books. There are only four books in this series, but I hope one day there will be more.

In Bad Medicine (published in hardcover as Ogilvie, Tallant, and Moon in 1976) lawyer Charlie Moon's client and love interest is accused of malpractice. Moon uses his skills as a lawyer and his shaman magic to find the real culprit.

So fans of mystery, start hunting the used stores for Bad Medicine, False Notes, Poison Fruit, and Cat's Claw.

Or first in the "Olivia" series, depending on how you look at it.

For those unfamiliar with the series, the Saint-Germain series is a series of historical "horror" novels (although the horror element is tenuous at best, based purely on the fact that the main characters are vampires, and "Vampire fiction" is considered a subgenre of "horror fiction"; actually, "Historical Romance" is closer to accurate) in which the main character is the vampire Saint-Germain, who has lived as a vampire since approximately 1500-2000 BCE. In this book, however, the main character is Atta Olivia Clemens, who as a lover of Saint-Germain's became a vampire when she died, back in the time of Nero in Imperial Rome (in the third book of the series, "Blood Games").

This book is set in the time of the Emperor Justinian in 6th Century Byzantium; for those of you not up on the history, this can be most quickly identified as the time of the burning of the library at Alexandria, a minor plot point in this book.

I liked this book, but not as well as most of the previous entries in the series, for a couple of reasons:

1) The element of Olivia's vampiric powers is radically understated in this book; granted, Saint-Germain is subtle in the use of his vampiric powers, but he does have them, and we the reader generally get to see him make use of them several times during the course of a novel; he may show exceptional strength; not just "he had a surprisingly firm grip", but actually breaking the arm of an assailant with little difficulty, or climbing nearly-sheer walls, or moving with exceptional quickness, or sustaining a wound that would be near-fatal to a mortal with minimal effect. Now (again) granted, Olivia, as a woman, must be even MORE circumspect than he about demonstrating such puissance, but surely, we could have seen SOME situation in which she had opportunity to be impressively butch, but it never happens. The "vampire" element is limited to her taking small sips from her lover's neck, her not eating (normal food) and being susceptible to sunlight and water, and needing her native earth in her shoes and mattresses and such. Otherwise, she might as well have been a normal woman. What's the fun in that?

2) Early in the book, we see Olivia struggling unsuccessfully to broach the subject of her vampiric nature with her lover Drosos; he pointedly refuses to pick up on her hints, and she can't find the way to force the issue. Later in the book, we discover that he knows about it, and she knows he knows. Presumably, at some point in between, the issue was dealt with, during a behind-the-scenes moment. Apparently, Yarbro had as much trouble figuring out how to address the subject as Olivia did, and decided to duck the issue. Unforgivably sloppy for a writer of her abilities, really. That's a major enough plot point that it really MUST be addressed more directly than it was.

Those who already know that they like vampire novels, anything at all that features a vampire, can skip this review, and likewise, those who hate the whole idea of vampires can skip it. But for those trying to decide whether or not to read more of this genre, or whether the one vampire novel you've already read was a fluke, it may help if we have some ways to categorize these novels. Thus: BunRab's Standard Vampire Elements. First, most authors of vampire novels approach from one of the main genres of genre fiction; thus their background may be primarily in romance, or in science fiction/fantasy, or in murder mysteries, or in horror. Second, many vampire novels come in series; knowing whether this is one of a series, and where in the series it falls, may be helpful. Then we have some particular characteristics: - Is the vampire character (or characters) a "good guy" or a "bad guy"? Or are there some of each? - Are there continuing characters besides the vampire, through the series? - Are there other types of supernatural beings besides vampires? - Can the vampire stand daylight under some circumstances, or not stand daylight at all? - Does the vampire have a few other supernatural characteristics, many other supernatural characteristics, or none other than just being a vampire? (E.g., super strength, change into an animal, turn invisible) - Does the vampire have a regular job and place in society, or is being a vampire his or her entire raison d'etre? - Does the vampire literally drink blood, or is there some other (perhaps metaphorical) method of feeding? - Is sex a major plot element, a minor plot element, or nonexistent? - Is the entire vampire feeding act a metaphor for sex, part of a standard sex act, or unrelated to sex? - Is the story set in one historical period, more than one historical period, or entirely in the present day? - Does the story have elements of humor, or is it strictly serious? - Is the writing style good, or is the writing just there to manage to hold together the plot and characters?

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's series about the vampire St. Germain starts from the historical romance genre, and is a continuing series. Olivia, the heroine of this book, is a woman of ancient Rome whom St. Germain has turned into a vampire; this book is one of several written about her rather than about St. Germain. St. Germain and Olivia are definitely good guys, using the knowledge they've gained in hundreds of years of living to help others. There are a few characters that continue from book to book besides these two. Ghouls are the only other supernatural characters who appear in these books. Olivia can stand daylight with the right preparations. She has unusual strength, but not limitless, and unusual wisdom, but there are no other overt magic powers. Olivia has an occupation of being an aristocrat and landowner, insofar as that was a full-time occupation through most of history. Yarbro's vampires do not literally drink blood; they feed on emotions, usually during erotic experiences, but sex is nonetheless only a minor plot element, rare and very discreet. The series as a whole covers 3000 years, from ancient Egypt to the modern day; each book is set in a span of a particular period, usually 20-30 years. The writing is serious, but not self-important; the writing quality is excellent, and Yarbro's abilities as an author qualify these books as literature rather than "merely" genre fiction.

This particular book is set in the Roman empire of Justinian, as run from Constantinople, or Byzantium, in 545 C.E. The major elements of conflict come from the tension between the remnants of Rome, the remnants of Greek civilization, and the influence of the Near East and even the Orient. Political treachery is the order of the day. Olivia's bondsman, Niklos, is a hero of major importance; it is thanks to Niklos' saving Olivia's life that we can look forward to the next book in the series. Because this is one of the later-written books in the series about St. Germain and Olivia, it might be helpful to a newcomer to read a couple of the others first. _Blood Games_, the book set in Nero's Rome, is the one in which St. Germain first meets, and "converts," Olivia; it would be a good one to read as a preliminary to reading _Flame in Byzantium_.

A couple of years ago, I read an interview with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in which she mentioned this then unpublished book. She said in the review that her publisher had declined to publish it, due the the relative unpopularity of her Olivia vampire books, as compared to her St. Germain vampire novels. I was unhappy with her publisher's decision, and so was delighted to find that the "Madelaine" book was now available as an electronic book.

I am glad I got the chance to read it, but I was not thrilled with the format. Having to read the book on the computer screen was trying, and due to the Microsoft format, it was not possible to print out a chapter to read in bed, etc. I understand that printing is allowed in the Adobe electronic book format, and I would look for that in purchasing electronic books in the future.

The book itself is not among Yarbo's best. Madelaine is an interesting character when she pops up in the St. Germain books, but her personality and circumstances limit the action when she is the focus of the entire book. I'll admit that my judgement may be affected by the format of the book, which forced me to read it sitting at my desk. Yuck.

I was monitoring the list of Yarbro novels available, hoping for more information on the next St. Germain, when to my surprise I noticed this e-book. I had never before purchased an e-book and I spent some time deciding if I wanted to read a book on the PC. Not an attractive proposition, as the first reviewer of this book pointed out. Mentioned the problem to my husband who suggested that he download the book not to the regular PC, but to his iPAQ (a PALM size PC). He was less happy that he had to load a Microsoft product to effect the download, as he is strongly committed to Linux, but was finally persuaded by being promised a new iPAQ when the product is upgraded.

I believe that e-books have a real future on iPAQ type devices. Lightweight and compact, you can take it wherever you like. Easy to read without a lamp as the device is self illuminated and will not disturb anyone sleeping nearby. Also, an e-book takes no space on my already crowded book shelf.

As to the story, I found "In the Face of Death" much more enjoyable than the Olivia novels. Poor Olivia was always complaining how much better things were for the women during the Roman Empire. Madelaine gets on with her trials of body and spirit without Olivia's whining and less anguish than St. Germain would experience. For all that the main interaction was between Madelaine and General Sherman, I was happy not to be regaled with detailed descriptions of battles in the Civil War. I also enjoyed Madelaine's progression in her life as a vampire. She has obviously learned a lot since she was in Egypt and seems to have acquired much more of St. Germain's skill with medicines than Olivia managed. An interesting book and I hope to read more.

Saint Germain fans be aware that this book doesn not deal with Yarbro's vampires in any way.

Taking place at the turn of the millenium (2K) apparently in an alternate reality, the College of Cardinals under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit elects a Chinese communist woman as Pope. Twice. The story dragged on and on going no place in particular, though from the beginning you knew this Pope had to be assassinated.

I usually love Yarbro's books, even when they are not about vampires. Unfortunately this novel suffers from a lack of editing and in fact would probably have been rejected by publishers of traditional paper books had it been offered to them. The kindest thing I can say about the book is to call it "experimental". Perhaps you will like it. I did not, and I consider myself a fan.

I have read over fifty of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's books. I think that qualifies me as a fan. A recurring theme in her books is the cruelty and hypocrisy which has been all too evident during the long history of the Catholic Church. Magnificat is a tour de force, once again twisting the tail of the Catholic Church, pointing out with unerring accuracy the rat's nest of politics,duplicity, and downright unethical behavior all too often found in its leaders, the very ones who should know and do better. Yarbro tells this tale, set in an "alternate reality"--in other words a world very like our own--with humor and insight into human character. This whimsical story is a page-turner; her love scenes tend to take one's breath away--she is a master at writing the tasteful yet oh-so-steamy love scene. While I could see the ending coming,I very much wanted to know how she got there and what she did with it. Yarbro is an idealist: she convinced me that the world could very much use a Pope like Pope An. The only negative I can think of for long-time Yarbro readers is that there are none of our favorite characters in it. Having read it, I now have some new favorites.

I've read all of CQY's vampire stories and this is the last one for me. I loved the first few books, enjoyed the middle few, got heartily sick of the last 2 and this one I didn't even finish. Don't need to; I know how it ends. She is following the same basic formula for every book and while it was a good formula, it's time for a change! Hate to echo what's already been said here, but I'm sick of the same types of characters, the same dialog (SG and Roger seem to have the same bantering conversation in every book!), the same plot. CQY is a good writer and should not be wasting her time with this stuff. She should use her talents to explore new territory and techniques.

Of the many novels starring the vampire Saint-Germain that Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has written since 1975, this is definitely another one.

Historic setting? Check; the kingdom of Charlemagne (or Karl-lo-Magne) around AD 800. ... male-dominated society and religion full of ignorance, superstition, and pervasive abuse of women? Check. Sensitive, intelligent damsel more than usually distressed by this nasty culture? Check. Reason she's singled out for extra distress? This heroine's both an albino and a stigmatic -- someone who bears spontaneous wounds resembling Christ's in the palms of both hands.

Two main variations in the formula this time around. The romance is so low-key as to be almost non-existent. The 'evil superstitious patriarchal society' plot takes up a correspondingly larger amount of room. In this one, the vampire or the damsel can barely say "please pass the salt" without the remark being construed as treason, heresy, or witchcraft by the uniformly nasty cast surrounding them. Some local peasants whose story parallels the damsel's have no better luck, in spite of being mostly male. As is so often the case in this series, their eventual destruction is the result of an ill-considered charitable act by St. Germain earlier in the book.

Yarbro does do her homework on historical matters. As always, she does an admirable job of evoking of a society unfamiliar to her readers. She describes every single one of them as superstitious, petty, and cruel to women, but at least she doesn't skimp on the details. The other bright spot is the brief return of Olivia, a Roman matron who is one of the hero's former lovers now turned vampire.

If you like the series, you should have no serious gripes with this entry. If not, I wouldn't recommend this book as a starting point.

Tempted to read Night Blooming and Hotel Transylvania by the reviewers' comments, I was sorely disappointed in these books and the primary character, Saint Germain.

Germain is "supposed" to be a vampire - although it is really hard to tell since the only vampirific tendencies he regularly exhibits are 1) he has a hard time crossing running water, and 2) he has to tuck his native earth into shoes, saddles, and other accoutrements SO THAT HE CAN BE OUT AND ABOUT IN THE SUN.

Come on, I realize vampire characteristics differ - but two things are usually universal 1) vampires drink the blood of the living to continue their existence, and 2) they can be killed by exposure to sun light.

Oddly enough, "Saint" is an excellent title for Germain because he and Mother Theresa could be good friends. Germain travels the earth doing good works. He spends his time helping ladies that he fancies, kings that require advice and counsel, down trodden servants, outcasts of society, and so on. I really don't know why Yarbro bothered to make Germain a vampire - the books would be more interesting if he were a regular person who did these things; because he is supposed to be a vampire, you keep expecting him to do gothic, vampire-like stuff, when he doesn't, he slips into being dull, predictable, and tiresome.

For me, Yarbro's writing style is tedious, vapid, and uninspired. It took me many more days than it should have to read these books because I kept falling asleep. All of the tedium about titles, church minutia, underdeveloped characters, and loose ends ... I was secretly hoping to permanently misplace the books so that I did not have to finish reading them.

I am sorry that this series did not live up to its billing. Since Anne Rice's glory days (I don't count her more recent work to be a part of her stellar past), it is difficult to find engaging vampire fiction. If you are dying to read this series, make certain that you either adjust your expectations about what a vampire is and does or load up on caffeine before you begin.

When I first received this book, I looked forward with anticipation to reading it. 20 pages into it, my enthusiasm was dampened mainly by the use of the phrase "Militant Angel" in every other sentence (are there no editors anymore?). However, I thought if I persevered, it was bound to get better and it did for the most part. This book has so much promise, so much potential that is lurking just below the surface, you just want to scream at the author to keep working on it, to reach for those hidden details and fleshed out storylines. As it stands now, "The Angry Angel" could be shortened by a third or more and be a very good novella but as a book it loses some of its punch in the padding. This is probably due to the publisher making a trilogy out of this but I'm going to bet the story of all three "sisters" could be told in one longer book. I will probably check out the next one but from a library before I buy. To summarize, not a bad book but one that disappoints as much as it entertains.

This is my first novel from this particular writer so I was a bit weary....especially all my vampire reading have been from Anne Rice novels.

This novel I thought was beautifully written and had such great detail. I could clearly see the Kelene's family and could relate to them on many levels. The father and mother to me ver yvery well thoughtout and described, along with the other minor characters. Kelene's character throughout most of the book was rather sad/tragic and interesting.

But one problem I did have with the book was it's treatment of Dracula's and Kelene's relationship. I thought the character of Dracula was well done...he was ominous and tragically sad at the same time, and it left me wanting more about him throughout the book. Iknow this is the first of the series so I will eargly await more info. But for his relationship with Kelene.....during the first couple parts of the book..it was very good...and griping, but towards the end it just became repetitive. During the whole journey to his castle it seems to me that thye were repeating the same scene over and over again. I felt these last couple of chapters could have been cut short.

Overall, I was pleased with this book and look forward to the next installment.

I am still reading this book, but I would like it to never end.... Only few books are capable of touching divinity...and here is one.. M.

In this book Yarbro shows us a society where the people's dreams are watched by the mass in sophisticated media, with ads in between. She describes us a few characters and writes chapters in which they are always arguing in couples. She repeats the same themes. She seemes possesed by Frank Herbert, as read the obsession with body language. And at the end the book tells you very few things for not so many pages.

The topic is interesting (reminds me the best Pohl/Kornbluth stories), but the book is not so. It's like a theater piece repeated over and over again. I suppose that later Yarbro books are better (in Spain only this and Nomads were edited, apart from some excelent short stories), but I recommend you not to buy it unless you are a fan of her.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Signs and Portents (Jove, 1984)

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is a wonderful writer who doesn't mind wallowing in the literary muck now and then; she harbors no illusions that she's too good for, well, anyone. That pretty much assures the uninitiated Yarbro fan (for there are two types of people on Earth, Yarbro fans and those who have not yet been exposed to her work) that any piece of fiction the woman has turned out is going to be a fun time. Signs and Portents is no exception to the rule. It's a book of short stories, and it suffers from one of the deficiencies of almost any book of short stories, inconsistency (only the truly great and the truly awful short story collections are uniform in their quality). However, that is to be expected, and no reader of short stories will fault a colelction for it.

When Yarbro is good, she is very very good, and that's the case here. Her characters jump off the page and into the reader's brain with a minimum of hassle, and they're usually doing something altogether fun, like learning that getting a love potion from a witch ain't all it's cracked up to be ("Savory, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme") or messing with the order of the universe thanks to, well, being an incompetent clod ("Space-Time Arabesque"). There's quite a bit to enjoy here, if you're lucky enough to find a copy. ***

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
- Revelation 6:8 (KJV)

Yarbro's now known for her genteel vampire romances and various "Quinn Fawcett" Mycroft Holmes adventures. _Time of the Fourth Horseman_ predates both, being a 1976 SF vision of the then-near future - *not* a historical fantasy in the time of the Black Death (see _Blood Roses_), although as implied by the title, epidemic disease is a major concern.

_Fourth Horseman_ addresses a popular SF theme of the 1960s-1970s: overpopulation. (The theme's popularity has declined somewhat, as the issues of real-life history have been far more varied: China's policies, for example, or various countries where voluntary birth control is *so* popular that an aging population seems destined to depend on a shrinking workforce.) _Fourth Horseman_'s overpopulation is a universal problem, without issues of nationality, religion, or ethnicity.

A major motive in _Fourth Horseman_ is that voluntary methods of population control have proven ineffective - setting the stage for a conspiracy using *in*voluntary methods. (The conspiracy aspect is no spoiler - the story quickly stipulates the conspiracy's existence and activities, concentrating on the resulting problems - the suspense involves who'll survive and under what conditions.) The specific tools chosen involve sabotage-from-within of the health care system, which routinely vaccinates against major diseases to the point that the diagnostic technology no longer recognizes typhoid, cholera, etc. (We're not told what diseases the machines *are* normally expected to identify - they're supposed to be doing *something*, after all - or why physicians would still be taught to recognize the symptoms while their techno-toys aren't.)

_Fourth Horseman_'s characters are mainly health-care professionals - not just physicians, although that's the calling of the two protagonists: Natalie Lebbreau and Harry Smith. We begin with Natalie, whose professional and personal situation illustrates the problems caused by overpopulation even while she realizes that more and more patients show symptoms of diseases that they should never have caught, having been immunized against them: tuberculosis, polio, even smallpox. Harry, having seen the same things with his patients, joins forces with Natalie after a 3rd party, asked by both to run tests, accidentally brings them together.

Professionally, Natalie is considered a trouble-making idealist; she once tried to force Inner City Hospital's administration to help remove two abused children from their parents' custody. Her colleagues admitted the evidence of abuse, but claimed insufficient proof the *parents* were guilty. The kids died within six months, and her colleagues not only refuse responsibility, but use the incident as an example of previous inappropriate over-involvement. Natalie isn't shocked at her requests for tests being ignored.

But after one brush-off too many, she finds more than she bargained for when she talks her way into her administrator husband's laboratory in Inner City Hospital to run tests on her own. Not only is her diagnosis confirmed; she overhears Mark's seduction of another woman - obviously not his first infidelity...Mark catches Natalie on a return trip, and reveals that the Project - random batches of ineffective vaccine for many major illnesses - is an experiment in population control and has been going on for years. No explanation of why all the diseases suddenly reappeared *now*; Yarbro doesn't address a necessary corollary: reintroducing the diseases themselves, particularly smallpox.

Natalie and her like-minded colleagues - healers who aren't just in it for paychecks, including various nurses, paramedics, and ambulance drivers - concentrate not on exposing the scheme publicly - as the diseases reach epidemic levels, that'll happen anyway - but on trying to pick up the pieces, survive, and get the Project stopped (priorities vary according to character). The monumental folly of the villains, as Natalie and Harry point out, is that they unleashed several diseases at once - so even if a person received a real vaccine for cholera, say, they might be vulnerable to half a dozen other diseases. The stupidity is implicitly attributed to an ivory-tower disconnection from reality among the administrators participating in the scheme - but since one of them is an epidemiologist, the situation still isn't fully accounted for.

Now the "test area"'s health-care system is rapidly being filled to bursting with patients dying from all kinds of things - and the resources just aren't there to treat them all, as the city is quarantined. The healers themselves are at high risk, in more ways than one.

Yarbro's eye for detail, while not fully developed, is apparent in many places. Child abuse is mindblowingly common - logical consequence of diabolical overcrowding. (Natalie's family of three (one a domineering administrator) live in a converted 3-room cellar.) Even more common is child abandonment - the hospitals see those kids once they're suffering from malnutrition and exposure. These kids have opinions of their own, starting with bitter awareness that the establishment seems bent on killing them off, and understandable suspicion of authority figures.

The total effect is of a tense adventure story suffering from plot holes of varying degrees of subtlety - which in turn might be considered side effects of the headlong rush of events, as issues are raised but not addressed. This includes development of the main characters - Mark's arrogance, for instance, extends into his personal life, but inconsistently *doesn't* interfere where it would be inconvenient to the storyteller. The main bad guys are sometimes inexplicably sloppy, but Yarbro compensates in some surprising ways. Scene-setting is *very* spare, in stark contrast to Yarbro's historical novels.