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Dark Ages Clan Novels #4
Dark Ages: Setite
Fourth of the Dark Ages Clan Novels
Andreas has an offer for the vampires fleeing the destruction in thirteenth-century Constantinople: a way out of the East and passage to the safer lands of Western Europe. But Andreas is not just a merchant, he is a priest of the snake god, a Follower of Set intent on uncovering the heretics in his own clan. If certain refugees need to be sacrificed for that to happen well, such is the cost of faith.
Andreas has an offer for the vampires fleeing the destruction in thirteenth-century Constantinople: a way out of the East and passage to the safer lands of Western Europe. But Andreas is not just a merchant, he is a priest of the snake god, a Follower of Set intent on uncovering the heretics in his own clan. If certain refugees need to be sacrificed for that to happen well, such is the cost of faith.
287 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 17, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 23, 2016
After the fall of Constantinople, Cainites are coming back home or looking for safety and a fresh new start in the western territories.
But traveling is full of dangers and difficults for vampires: hostile rulers, lack of blood, death by sunlight or angry werewolves and so on.
Enter Andreas the Setite, also known as Ankhesenaten, vampire of Clan Setite introduced into the previous novel.
The Followers of Set (or Setites) are a clan of vampires believing their founder was the Egyptian god Set. Their belief dictates that Set will one day return to rule or consume the world, and devout Setites prepare the way for his resurrection. To this end, the clan remains independent of other vampires, and practice skillfully the arts of corruption, deceit and sorcery.
Andreas is a "Traveling Prince", ruler of his caravan that uses to transport immortals across the world for a price.
The problem this time is that a lot of vampires are hiring him for safe travel to Europe: 11
The problems with this book are mostly two:
1)Too many characters introduced and going to appear again in next books.
Previous novels introduced a lot too, but never so many at the same time.
2)While the caravan rumbles across the world for 3 years and more, almost nothing happens
People like me who loved the full-action packed parts of the saga are really going to get bored here. Sorry.
But of that, this is not a bad book at all.
Intrigues, misteries, murders keep up the story interest for good.
But traveling is full of dangers and difficults for vampires: hostile rulers, lack of blood, death by sunlight or angry werewolves and so on.
Enter Andreas the Setite, also known as Ankhesenaten, vampire of Clan Setite introduced into the previous novel.
The Followers of Set (or Setites) are a clan of vampires believing their founder was the Egyptian god Set. Their belief dictates that Set will one day return to rule or consume the world, and devout Setites prepare the way for his resurrection. To this end, the clan remains independent of other vampires, and practice skillfully the arts of corruption, deceit and sorcery.
Andreas is a "Traveling Prince", ruler of his caravan that uses to transport immortals across the world for a price.
The problem this time is that a lot of vampires are hiring him for safe travel to Europe: 11
The problems with this book are mostly two:
1)Too many characters introduced and going to appear again in next books.
Previous novels introduced a lot too, but never so many at the same time.
2)While the caravan rumbles across the world for 3 years and more, almost nothing happens
People like me who loved the full-action packed parts of the saga are really going to get bored here. Sorry.
But of that, this is not a bad book at all.
Intrigues, misteries, murders keep up the story interest for good.
November 21, 2025
Out of the first four books in this series, this one has been the best, but it's not without flaws. Kathleen Ryan's English is a pleasure to read, unlike the previous books' authors', but her style leaves a little to be desired. 1) From time to time, I felt like dialogues were showing only half of a conversation happening because I couldn't make sense what characters were talking about. 2) Characters' actions sometimes felt like they make no sense because again, it was hard to follow the logic of what they are doing. 3) There were so many characters in this book, referred to by their first names, last names, titles, nicknames, that it was hard to discern sometimes who's who. 4) I felt like the main hook of the story went unresolved - sure, Ankhesenaten recovers the McGuffin... and the books ends there without revealing what was to be done with it or what would happen next to Khay'tall and Sarrasine.
This novel offered an interesting insight into collaboration between vampires of different clans. Ankhesenaten makes for a fun vampire "prince" of the caravan: no city to call his own, but still holding a lot of power and reputation in a way. The caravan's meetings with the different princes along its itinerary also offered a glimpse into vampire politics.
Overall, this book gave me what the previous three failed to do and that's why I liked it much more.
This novel offered an interesting insight into collaboration between vampires of different clans. Ankhesenaten makes for a fun vampire "prince" of the caravan: no city to call his own, but still holding a lot of power and reputation in a way. The caravan's meetings with the different princes along its itinerary also offered a glimpse into vampire politics.
Overall, this book gave me what the previous three failed to do and that's why I liked it much more.
July 20, 2024
Wow - I finally finished this novel.
I did NOT enjoy this story. It meandered, never really told a coherent story. In large parts, I was bored to tears, and the ending came out of nowhere. The plot was disjointed and jarring, like the first time you drove a stick-shift, with starts and fits.
Please, don't let the rest of the series be like this.
I did NOT enjoy this story. It meandered, never really told a coherent story. In large parts, I was bored to tears, and the ending came out of nowhere. The plot was disjointed and jarring, like the first time you drove a stick-shift, with starts and fits.
Please, don't let the rest of the series be like this.
December 16, 2020
More context
There's a couple of things that work well here.One of the things is further context. The other thing is just creating some awesome characters from the Setite clan of the Kindred.
There's a couple of things that work well here.One of the things is further context. The other thing is just creating some awesome characters from the Setite clan of the Kindred.
December 19, 2025
El mejor libro de la serie hasta ahora.
August 9, 2022
I can't even finish the first chapter. I was so pumped to read this after reviews gave this book a glowing recommendation. But Ryan's writing style is halting and lends to an appalling reading rhythm; commas everywhere, page breaks after a few pages of story. When encountering characters, I kept going, "who the fuck is this?" Also, I had such an unsatisfying and tenuous sense of location and environment.
Was Ryan on a coffee binge when she wrote this?
Was Ryan on a coffee binge when she wrote this?
December 19, 2023
I hated it. How it's written, how a large part is about a Ravos girl and her teenage-like problems. Are these really vampires? There are even WOKE and what looks like “self insertion”.
“Independent little Franj - she fights everything but the gods”.
This is narrative! Not dialogue or even the opinion of a character. It’s the author telling the reader directly and plainly, what to think about her character. It’s just bad writing.
So I think: the female author wants a “strong, independent girl” in the story - fine - but instead of writing one, she just, at the very end, tells us that she is.
And that is 4th wall breaking part.
At the same time she points out god, and here it begins to sound like it’s about how the author sees herself (or wants to portray herself as), instead of anything to do with the character.
Up to this point, the character hasn’t really come across like this.
This is the epiphany of bad writing; of telling, not showing.
More generally: Kathleen creates a weak presence. I was rarely had a clear picture of the location or environment, except a vague epithets or labels like: the palace, the town, the wagon.
It was a pain to go through and I don't ever want to read another book written by her.
“Independent little Franj - she fights everything but the gods”.
This is narrative! Not dialogue or even the opinion of a character. It’s the author telling the reader directly and plainly, what to think about her character. It’s just bad writing.
So I think: the female author wants a “strong, independent girl” in the story - fine - but instead of writing one, she just, at the very end, tells us that she is.
And that is 4th wall breaking part.
At the same time she points out god, and here it begins to sound like it’s about how the author sees herself (or wants to portray herself as), instead of anything to do with the character.
Up to this point, the character hasn’t really come across like this.
This is the epiphany of bad writing; of telling, not showing.
More generally: Kathleen creates a weak presence. I was rarely had a clear picture of the location or environment, except a vague epithets or labels like: the palace, the town, the wagon.
It was a pain to go through and I don't ever want to read another book written by her.
January 30, 2015
I couldn't put it down. So far I've only read three books of the collection (with Lasombra and Ravnos) and I believe this one to be the best of the three.
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August 13, 2016Language: hungarian
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews