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James Asher #2
Traveling with the Dead
Down through the deathless centuries, the vampires had drunk human blood for sustenance and for sport. They preyed where they willed, for no mortal humans could resist their unclean powers. But now came the ultimate perversion, the someone was conscripting the vampires into the secret services of a foreign power.
No government agency or bureaucrat could control the Undead. The idea was absurd, as Dr. James Asher knew all too well.
Years in His Majesty's service had taught Asher the finer points of espionage. And he knew the secrets of the vampires--a familiarity hard-won in unwilling service to Don Simon Ysidro, oldest and most subtle of the hunters of the London night. What Asher didn't know was why one of England's established vampires would risk everything to travel across the European continent at the behest of a ruthless spymaster.
But he could see the terrifying potential of such an unholy alliance...
No government agency or bureaucrat could control the Undead. The idea was absurd, as Dr. James Asher knew all too well.
Years in His Majesty's service had taught Asher the finer points of espionage. And he knew the secrets of the vampires--a familiarity hard-won in unwilling service to Don Simon Ysidro, oldest and most subtle of the hunters of the London night. What Asher didn't know was why one of England's established vampires would risk everything to travel across the European continent at the behest of a ruthless spymaster.
But he could see the terrifying potential of such an unholy alliance...
361 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
133 people are currently reading
901 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
204 books1,580 followersaka Barbara Hamilton
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
September 16, 2023
Halloween Bingo 2023
I really appreciate Barbara Hambly's approach to vampire characters. So many authors treat them just as regular people with certain advantages and restrictions, but Hambly's vamps are much creepier. They truly have left their humanity behind. During the course of the novel, we learn that these vampires don't just need blood to stay at full power, they actually are fuelled by the death of their victim. This makes coexistence much more difficult.
James Asher may be an old hand at the spy game, but his wife, Lydia, is not. In fact, James had quit the Great Game, but feelings of guilt pull him back in at this point. It's difficult to tell the people in charge about vampires, after all. They tend to think that your cheese has slipped off your cracker. Plus, the vamps are all tetchy about a living human knowing about their existence. But Lydia knows of them too and when James hares off across Europe, cabling her about his destination, and she realizes that he is headed toward a probable double agent, she does a brave thing. She figures out where Don Simon Ysidro makes his home and waits there for him to arise for the night. If James was reluctant to work with this vampire, Ysidro is also an unwilling partner to Lydia. In fact, when they part, she is sure that she is on her own when she boards a train for Vienna. So it is a bit of a surprise when one of Ysido's human servants shows up to act as her traveling companion. When dusk arrives, Ysidro himself shows up.
Hambly gives Ysidro characteristics unlike the vampiric qualities she has set up in her fiction. When Lydia is at his home/lair, she witnesses him feeding his cats. He maintains an agreement to not kill anyone while traveling with her. He seems to put up with a lot of physical contact with his servant, Margaret, although Lydia knows that he dislikes being touched. A number of times, she notices genuine amusement in his eyes as they discuss their situation.
There is a fair amount of action, interspersed with travel time and time spent researching to discover the whereabouts of vampires in Istanbul, their eventual destination. The threats to James, Lydia, and even to Ysidro all feel very authentic, but I knew there are more books in the series, giving me the luxury of knowing that everyone would survive to have further adventures.
I read this book to match The Carpathians on my bingo card.
I really appreciate Barbara Hambly's approach to vampire characters. So many authors treat them just as regular people with certain advantages and restrictions, but Hambly's vamps are much creepier. They truly have left their humanity behind. During the course of the novel, we learn that these vampires don't just need blood to stay at full power, they actually are fuelled by the death of their victim. This makes coexistence much more difficult.
James Asher may be an old hand at the spy game, but his wife, Lydia, is not. In fact, James had quit the Great Game, but feelings of guilt pull him back in at this point. It's difficult to tell the people in charge about vampires, after all. They tend to think that your cheese has slipped off your cracker. Plus, the vamps are all tetchy about a living human knowing about their existence. But Lydia knows of them too and when James hares off across Europe, cabling her about his destination, and she realizes that he is headed toward a probable double agent, she does a brave thing. She figures out where Don Simon Ysidro makes his home and waits there for him to arise for the night. If James was reluctant to work with this vampire, Ysidro is also an unwilling partner to Lydia. In fact, when they part, she is sure that she is on her own when she boards a train for Vienna. So it is a bit of a surprise when one of Ysido's human servants shows up to act as her traveling companion. When dusk arrives, Ysidro himself shows up.
Hambly gives Ysidro characteristics unlike the vampiric qualities she has set up in her fiction. When Lydia is at his home/lair, she witnesses him feeding his cats. He maintains an agreement to not kill anyone while traveling with her. He seems to put up with a lot of physical contact with his servant, Margaret, although Lydia knows that he dislikes being touched. A number of times, she notices genuine amusement in his eyes as they discuss their situation.
There is a fair amount of action, interspersed with travel time and time spent researching to discover the whereabouts of vampires in Istanbul, their eventual destination. The threats to James, Lydia, and even to Ysidro all feel very authentic, but I knew there are more books in the series, giving me the luxury of knowing that everyone would survive to have further adventures.
I read this book to match The Carpathians on my bingo card.
October 18, 2012
I put this book down with a sense of awe. That Hambly conceived of this story is impressive enough; that she pored huge amounts of knowledge about late 19th century Europe into the tale is incredible. She establishes the look and feel of every locale with the same clarity and texture that Eric Ambler achieves in his early 20th century spy tales. The sense that nations and people are heading, unbeknownst, towards World War I, is heady and creepy--and the way that Hambly inserts her own tale into the mix is marvelous.
The book did slow down for me in the last third after a drastic setting change that left me befuddled for another 30 pages or so. A new mystery is introduced, and its resolution was smaller than I expected. That said, the climax was excellent, pitting spies and vampires against one another in a bloody showdown--all spun into prose that reads without need of breath or break.
I have read no other book like this; nor, I am sure, will I. Vampires and spies in pre-World War I Europe--oh my!
The book did slow down for me in the last third after a drastic setting change that left me befuddled for another 30 pages or so. A new mystery is introduced, and its resolution was smaller than I expected. That said, the climax was excellent, pitting spies and vampires against one another in a bloody showdown--all spun into prose that reads without need of breath or break.
I have read no other book like this; nor, I am sure, will I. Vampires and spies in pre-World War I Europe--oh my!
May 3, 2007
The sequel to Those Who Hunt the Night. James and Lydia Asher, an academic couple in Victorian England, must once more venture into vampire society. Their growing understanding of their (few) vampiric allies puts pressure on their morals and their marriage—it’s hard to maintain a moral high ground when your bodyguard kills to survive. Hambly is one of the only authors to remember that old vampires should not think or react like people from our society. Born into a set of rules and mores that are often no longer even remembered, they are historical documents in and of themselves, and possibly more dangerous because of it.
July 3, 2018
An interesting mix of the spy and vampire genres set in the early pre-WWI 20th century. There is backstory here, and I realised after a while that there must be at least one earlier volume, but the book blurb and list of author's other books gave no clue of that. Anyway, the story is self-contained so it isn't a problem.
The basic plot is the attempt by former spy James to foil an alliance between a representative of the Austrian government and a known vampire: seeing them at a train station, James buys a ticket to Paris and follows them, and a chase across Europe begins. Meanwhile, his wife Lydia, who unusually for the time is a doctor at a university hospital, is concerned after receiving a telegram from him and goes in search of a vampire, Don Simon Ysidro, a Spaniard from the days of Elizabeth I's court. She forms an uneasy alliance with him that allows her to cross Europe in pursuit of James but always too late to prevent her husband falling into traps and danger enroute.
Although there is a large cast of characters the author manages to make each of them distinctive and in several cases, quite horrible. She also makes one or two of the characters, especially the female vampire, Anthea, wife of the vampire whom James saw at the station, sympathetic despite the fact that vampires in this universe have to kill humans at least occasionally: with blood alone, they don't receive the mental energy that allows them to exercise what to us are supernatural powers such as clouding minds so that they are not perceived, and they start to lose vitality.
The few niggles that prevented the book from earning a full 5 stars are firstly a few anachronisms that were jarring to a British reader: James and Lydia are both British, their vampire ally is a Spaniard who has spent time in Britain and Europe, and yet terms such as 'sidewalk' instead of pavement, 'wire' instead of telegram, and giving the time as twenty of one instead of twenty past one have crept in. Secondly, it is a bit silly of the heroine, Lydia, to be so vain about her glasses that she is always whisking them off - if there were enemies including vampire ones lurking about, I think most people would rather keep the glasses on. Thirdly, she is rather self-serving in expecting Ysidro to refrain from killing anyone on the trip and yet be able to protect her and the travelling companion he obtains for her, in the interests of respectability - it is obvious that he is increasingly debilitated without. Considering she is eager enough for her husband to shoot someone at one point, that seems rather hypocritical. Despite all this, I found it an absorbing and exciting read with lots of suspense and vividly described settings, and have been interested enough to order books 1 and 3 of the series now that I know there are quite a few more of them.
The basic plot is the attempt by former spy James to foil an alliance between a representative of the Austrian government and a known vampire: seeing them at a train station, James buys a ticket to Paris and follows them, and a chase across Europe begins. Meanwhile, his wife Lydia, who unusually for the time is a doctor at a university hospital, is concerned after receiving a telegram from him and goes in search of a vampire, Don Simon Ysidro, a Spaniard from the days of Elizabeth I's court. She forms an uneasy alliance with him that allows her to cross Europe in pursuit of James but always too late to prevent her husband falling into traps and danger enroute.
Although there is a large cast of characters the author manages to make each of them distinctive and in several cases, quite horrible. She also makes one or two of the characters, especially the female vampire, Anthea, wife of the vampire whom James saw at the station, sympathetic despite the fact that vampires in this universe have to kill humans at least occasionally: with blood alone, they don't receive the mental energy that allows them to exercise what to us are supernatural powers such as clouding minds so that they are not perceived, and they start to lose vitality.
The few niggles that prevented the book from earning a full 5 stars are firstly a few anachronisms that were jarring to a British reader: James and Lydia are both British, their vampire ally is a Spaniard who has spent time in Britain and Europe, and yet terms such as 'sidewalk' instead of pavement, 'wire' instead of telegram, and giving the time as twenty of one instead of twenty past one have crept in. Secondly, it is a bit silly of the heroine, Lydia, to be so vain about her glasses that she is always whisking them off - if there were enemies including vampire ones lurking about, I think most people would rather keep the glasses on. Thirdly, she is rather self-serving in expecting Ysidro to refrain from killing anyone on the trip and yet be able to protect her and the travelling companion he obtains for her, in the interests of respectability - it is obvious that he is increasingly debilitated without. Considering she is eager enough for her husband to shoot someone at one point, that seems rather hypocritical. Despite all this, I found it an absorbing and exciting read with lots of suspense and vividly described settings, and have been interested enough to order books 1 and 3 of the series now that I know there are quite a few more of them.
March 15, 2019
Well, bummer. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first. Lydia got on my nerves with her stupid glasses hangup, and the plot often dragged. There were still some good action sequences with James, and I like the way Hambly writes her vampires, but I think I’ll take a break from this series for a while.
November 24, 2021
Продовження пригод шпигуна, ученої та вампірів на тлі темряви, яка збирається перед першою світовою. Джеймса Ешера викликали з університетів знову послужити королю, бо колишніх шпигунів не буває, і звичайно, що в десь в Європі він пропав. Тому Лідія і дон Сімон беруться його відшукати, дорогою дізнаються про зловісні плани використати вампірів у війні (бо така біологічна зброя поруч ходить, щоб добро не пропадало), і так добираються аж до Константинополя. Непогана книжка, але заплутаніша за попередню, і що там конкретно сталося у константинопольских підземеллях і хто кого збирався загризти, я одразу і не зрозуміла. А ще Лідія трохи передбачувано зачарувалася вампіром, вийшло майже кліше.
March 5, 2016
For untold millennia, vampires have drained the blood of the living, but have remained apart from mortal conflicts as they stalked their prey, but there has never been such a time as this.
The First World War looms on the horizon. All Europe teeters on the edge and while the inciting incident is beyond anyone’s ability to predict, a war that would tear the West apart is inevitable, and not even the undead will be permitted to stand aside.
In Traveling with the Dead, readers revisit the husband and wife team of James and Lydia Asher, reluctant investigators of the uncanny and supernatural. A year has passed since they made their deal with the devil and were permitted to walk away reasonably unscathed, having unraveled the mystery related in Those who Hunt the Night, but now the deeper threat merely glimpsed in the prior novel comes to the forefront: the crowned heads of Europe are beginning a supernatural arms race in preparation for the Great War, and Austro-Hungary is ahead of the game, their agents having secured the alliance of an English vampire.
James Asher unwillingly takes up his duties as spy for the Crown to prevent the Austro-Hungarians making common cause with the undead, but he is walking into more danger than he realizes.
Lydia must set out to warn him, but she will need the help of one vampire she’d hoped never to see again: the Sixteenth Century Spanish hidalgo, Don Simon Ysidro.
Ysidro, who had retained James’ and Lydia’s services in Those who Hunt the Night and who could have eliminated them afterward to be rid of loose ends. A subtle and deadly hunter, terrifying, ruthless and seductive, yet bound by a code of honor to which he holds fast as his last tether to his lost humanity, as well as possessing a growing affection for the Ashers.
Ysidro is a character who easily deserves to be recognized above and beyond Lestat, and leagues past a certain sparkly specimen who shall remain nameless. The reader almost begins to like him, then realizes this too is part of his deadly charm and a weapon in his predator’s arsenal, as seen when he entrances and enslaves a naïve girl with romantic fantasies implanted in her vulnerable mind.
Readers who have rolled their eyes at the plotline of the Twilight books will notice some similarities between this character and Bella Swan, who likewise has her mind filled up with fantasies of eternal romance, but in this case, the character serves only as Ysidro's companion and sustenance while traveling.
Historical fantasy, thriller and espionage novel, the adventure will take the pragmatic Lydia and reserved but resourceful James across eastern Europe, to the tangled streets of pre-World War Vienna, and to the decadent and deadly intrigues of a vampire’s court in Constantinople.
Highly recommended and a hidden gem of fiction and exceeding Anne Rice’s intriguing but long-winded tomes. Hambly brings the past to life in lush detail while keeping readers on their toes with danger, intrigue and a breakneck pace. Her love of history shines through again and the reader can gain some reluctant sympathy for the undead, in many ways exiles from their own time as the centuries have passed, by recreating a time set in a world that is about to change and give birth to the modern age.
Particularly good is the vulnerability and limitations of the two mortal protagonists, who ground the narrative as they play their role in a fantastic and macabre world, and who recognize some remnant of humanity even in the horrifying blood-drinking inhabitants.
I eagerly anticipate following their further adventures. Here’s hoping someone thinks to put these books to film and gives them the treatment they deserve.
The First World War looms on the horizon. All Europe teeters on the edge and while the inciting incident is beyond anyone’s ability to predict, a war that would tear the West apart is inevitable, and not even the undead will be permitted to stand aside.
In Traveling with the Dead, readers revisit the husband and wife team of James and Lydia Asher, reluctant investigators of the uncanny and supernatural. A year has passed since they made their deal with the devil and were permitted to walk away reasonably unscathed, having unraveled the mystery related in Those who Hunt the Night, but now the deeper threat merely glimpsed in the prior novel comes to the forefront: the crowned heads of Europe are beginning a supernatural arms race in preparation for the Great War, and Austro-Hungary is ahead of the game, their agents having secured the alliance of an English vampire.
James Asher unwillingly takes up his duties as spy for the Crown to prevent the Austro-Hungarians making common cause with the undead, but he is walking into more danger than he realizes.
Lydia must set out to warn him, but she will need the help of one vampire she’d hoped never to see again: the Sixteenth Century Spanish hidalgo, Don Simon Ysidro.
Ysidro, who had retained James’ and Lydia’s services in Those who Hunt the Night and who could have eliminated them afterward to be rid of loose ends. A subtle and deadly hunter, terrifying, ruthless and seductive, yet bound by a code of honor to which he holds fast as his last tether to his lost humanity, as well as possessing a growing affection for the Ashers.
Ysidro is a character who easily deserves to be recognized above and beyond Lestat, and leagues past a certain sparkly specimen who shall remain nameless. The reader almost begins to like him, then realizes this too is part of his deadly charm and a weapon in his predator’s arsenal, as seen when he entrances and enslaves a naïve girl with romantic fantasies implanted in her vulnerable mind.
Readers who have rolled their eyes at the plotline of the Twilight books will notice some similarities between this character and Bella Swan, who likewise has her mind filled up with fantasies of eternal romance, but in this case, the character serves only as Ysidro's companion and sustenance while traveling.
Historical fantasy, thriller and espionage novel, the adventure will take the pragmatic Lydia and reserved but resourceful James across eastern Europe, to the tangled streets of pre-World War Vienna, and to the decadent and deadly intrigues of a vampire’s court in Constantinople.
Highly recommended and a hidden gem of fiction and exceeding Anne Rice’s intriguing but long-winded tomes. Hambly brings the past to life in lush detail while keeping readers on their toes with danger, intrigue and a breakneck pace. Her love of history shines through again and the reader can gain some reluctant sympathy for the undead, in many ways exiles from their own time as the centuries have passed, by recreating a time set in a world that is about to change and give birth to the modern age.
Particularly good is the vulnerability and limitations of the two mortal protagonists, who ground the narrative as they play their role in a fantastic and macabre world, and who recognize some remnant of humanity even in the horrifying blood-drinking inhabitants.
I eagerly anticipate following their further adventures. Here’s hoping someone thinks to put these books to film and gives them the treatment they deserve.
March 6, 2010
This is a sequel to Those Who Hunt the Night, set one year later (in 1908) and featuring Lydia and James Asher along with the vampire Don Simon Ysidro, who first arrived in England in the retinue of King Philip of Spain when he came to court Mary Tudor.
When Asher disappears chasing vampires and spies halfway across Europe, Lydia and Ysidro strike up an uneasy alliance and head out in pursuit.
I didn't find the plot especially interesting, and overall the book isn't as good as the first one, but every scene with Ysidro was fascinating. I like Hambly's writing very much and I look forward to reading more of her work.
When Asher disappears chasing vampires and spies halfway across Europe, Lydia and Ysidro strike up an uneasy alliance and head out in pursuit.
I didn't find the plot especially interesting, and overall the book isn't as good as the first one, but every scene with Ysidro was fascinating. I like Hambly's writing very much and I look forward to reading more of her work.
February 28, 2020
I didn't love this one as much as the first one, but still a really good story. I love the historical detail and the way vampirism works. I love the characters of James Asher and Don Simon (vampire). Lydia Asher, wife of James, gets on my nerves a little. I like her better when she's in scenes with James and they spent the majority of this book separated. I always find the vampire characters interesting. The first book moved faster for me. This one bogged down in places. I felt like it took a really long time to get to the point of what was happening and why. The big climatic scene was very near the end. I also noticed that there was a lot of unneeded wordiness in this one. Someone would say something or ask a question and then there would be a paragraph of thought before the other spoke. If this happened in the first book, it didn't bother me as much. I found it distracting. I still enjoyed it though and will read the next in the series. 3.5 stars
January 6, 2018
This was ok, but I liked the first novel in the series a WHOLE lot better. I expected to like this a lot more.
But the story-telling was pretty disjointed. There were some pretty gaping holes in the plot, and some characters that weren't really being used to their potential in the plotline. Also, the human characters tendency to use the vampires at one moment and be disgusted with them the next grew very old as it kept happening. "get me out of here, please. How dare you eat that beggar, I forbid you from eating anyone else, but help me find my husband, why are you too weak to move?" Just really comes off, well, stupid.
The story here is that James spots one of the vampires he is 'friendly' with going off with a known double agent, and decides he needs to follow them on to a train to Paris in order to stop whatever kind of plot they must be developing against England. huh. A plot against England? hmmm
Anyway, Lydia of course jumps in, but knowing it will be dangerous, she gets ANOTHER local vampire to come help her. huh. A vampire will keep you safe?
and so starts the story....and each development is sort of the same. and it never really comes to a good resolution. Even when they realize WHY someone is taking a vampire out of London, it really makes no sense.
But the story-telling was pretty disjointed. There were some pretty gaping holes in the plot, and some characters that weren't really being used to their potential in the plotline. Also, the human characters tendency to use the vampires at one moment and be disgusted with them the next grew very old as it kept happening. "get me out of here, please. How dare you eat that beggar, I forbid you from eating anyone else, but help me find my husband, why are you too weak to move?" Just really comes off, well, stupid.
The story here is that James spots one of the vampires he is 'friendly' with going off with a known double agent, and decides he needs to follow them on to a train to Paris in order to stop whatever kind of plot they must be developing against England. huh. A plot against England? hmmm
Anyway, Lydia of course jumps in, but knowing it will be dangerous, she gets ANOTHER local vampire to come help her. huh. A vampire will keep you safe?
and so starts the story....and each development is sort of the same. and it never really comes to a good resolution. Even when they realize WHY someone is taking a vampire out of London, it really makes no sense.
October 6, 2018
This is the second book of Barbara Hambly featuring the former spy, James Asher and his wife, Lydia. As the title tells, there is some travelling involved and I quite liked to visit some European cities at the brink of the first world war. Still, I did not enjoy this one as much as I remember to enjoy the first one, but my memory might be blurred. Also, I think the novelty of “spy meeting vampire” was wearing off and the plot just not thrilling enough.
October 16, 2023
The Sour Cream and Onion Pringles of vampire books.
January 7, 2024
Well, I made it to 40%, but it is so very, very slow, and loaded down with much description, that I've entirely lost an interest in continuing.
October 26, 2022
[3.5 stars really]
“Traveling with the Dead” is, to a significant extent, a reprise of “Those Who Hunt the Night”, another twisty mystery in which humans must work together with vampires to stop something even worse. Hambly adds two main things to the ingredients of the first book. First is a dose of international intrigue, which starts the plot moving: Asher, seeing Farren, one of the London vampires from the previous book, in company with a known Austrian spy, decides that it’s his patriotic duty to follow them to ensure that Austria doesn’t obtain some sort of advantage by associating with vampires. This also allows Hambly to introduce some new settings, as the book goes to Istanbul via Paris and Vienna, and hence also, since vampires are so territorial, some new and quite terrifying vampires. The other new development is the introduction of the sex motif, traditionally an important part of vampire stories but largely neglected in the previous book. Asher is accompanied across Europe by Farren’s beautiful and strong-willed wife and fellow vampire Anthea: he is, of course, loyal to Lydia, but it can't be denied that Anthea makes an impression on him. Lydia, meanwhile, discovers something that Asher must know, and has no way of passing the information to him — he is naturally traveling incognito, so a telegram wouldn’t reach him — other than finding him to tell him in person. Since vampires are in question, she recruits Don Ysidro to escort her, which he will only do on the condition that they be chaperoned. The chaperone is Margaret Potton, a former governess, decidedly drab and definitely lower middle class, who Ysidro has convinced to accompany them by manipulating her romantic imagination with highly-colored gothic fantasies of eternal love. These swoony fairytales — any relationship between Ysidro and the governess is entirely in the latter’s head — provide a nice background on which we can observe Asher and Lydia struggling with their genuine feelings for Anthea and Ysidro. The vampires are, of course, monsters who kill people to drink their blood, and Hambly’s vampires never hide this side of themselves, with their feeding never being presented as anything but a particularly gruesome form of murder. But they are also powerful beings, capable of inhuman feats of strength and possessing uncanny mental abilities, and this power is seductive. Especially so when those who have such power are willing to regard you, an ordinary human who would otherwise be bracketed simply as prey, as their equal. It is perhaps worth noting here that Lydia and Asher are both members of the English upper classes, while vampires in these books generally prey on the poorest of the poor, who are least likely to be missed: it seems quite likely that the seeming offer of equality is strengthened by its appeal to the class prejudice in the minds of the former. Lydia falls particularly hard, and no wonder, seeing as how she has constantly in front of her the contrast between the way that Miss Potton, who is, as both women know, decidedly Lydia’s social inferior, is fobbed off with dreams, while Ysidro obeys Lydia's commands, up to and including her requirement that he refrain from feeding as long as he is accompanying her. It would take a truly exceptional level of humility to remain unaffected by this demonstration of regard: no wonder Ysidro, who is luckily also a paragon of rectitude, insisted on a chaperone for the trip. As Hambly is prepared to go only so far in developing these relationships, this aspect of things largely comes to a close when the characters all reach Istanbul and the plot takes over again. Which is in some ways a shame, as the plot, though well-crafted and full of twists, is not especially memorable. But if Hambly answered all the questions about how humans and vampires could relate to each other in this book, what would be left for the next six?
“Traveling with the Dead” is, to a significant extent, a reprise of “Those Who Hunt the Night”, another twisty mystery in which humans must work together with vampires to stop something even worse. Hambly adds two main things to the ingredients of the first book. First is a dose of international intrigue, which starts the plot moving: Asher, seeing Farren, one of the London vampires from the previous book, in company with a known Austrian spy, decides that it’s his patriotic duty to follow them to ensure that Austria doesn’t obtain some sort of advantage by associating with vampires. This also allows Hambly to introduce some new settings, as the book goes to Istanbul via Paris and Vienna, and hence also, since vampires are so territorial, some new and quite terrifying vampires. The other new development is the introduction of the sex motif, traditionally an important part of vampire stories but largely neglected in the previous book. Asher is accompanied across Europe by Farren’s beautiful and strong-willed wife and fellow vampire Anthea: he is, of course, loyal to Lydia, but it can't be denied that Anthea makes an impression on him. Lydia, meanwhile, discovers something that Asher must know, and has no way of passing the information to him — he is naturally traveling incognito, so a telegram wouldn’t reach him — other than finding him to tell him in person. Since vampires are in question, she recruits Don Ysidro to escort her, which he will only do on the condition that they be chaperoned. The chaperone is Margaret Potton, a former governess, decidedly drab and definitely lower middle class, who Ysidro has convinced to accompany them by manipulating her romantic imagination with highly-colored gothic fantasies of eternal love. These swoony fairytales — any relationship between Ysidro and the governess is entirely in the latter’s head — provide a nice background on which we can observe Asher and Lydia struggling with their genuine feelings for Anthea and Ysidro. The vampires are, of course, monsters who kill people to drink their blood, and Hambly’s vampires never hide this side of themselves, with their feeding never being presented as anything but a particularly gruesome form of murder. But they are also powerful beings, capable of inhuman feats of strength and possessing uncanny mental abilities, and this power is seductive. Especially so when those who have such power are willing to regard you, an ordinary human who would otherwise be bracketed simply as prey, as their equal. It is perhaps worth noting here that Lydia and Asher are both members of the English upper classes, while vampires in these books generally prey on the poorest of the poor, who are least likely to be missed: it seems quite likely that the seeming offer of equality is strengthened by its appeal to the class prejudice in the minds of the former. Lydia falls particularly hard, and no wonder, seeing as how she has constantly in front of her the contrast between the way that Miss Potton, who is, as both women know, decidedly Lydia’s social inferior, is fobbed off with dreams, while Ysidro obeys Lydia's commands, up to and including her requirement that he refrain from feeding as long as he is accompanying her. It would take a truly exceptional level of humility to remain unaffected by this demonstration of regard: no wonder Ysidro, who is luckily also a paragon of rectitude, insisted on a chaperone for the trip. As Hambly is prepared to go only so far in developing these relationships, this aspect of things largely comes to a close when the characters all reach Istanbul and the plot takes over again. Which is in some ways a shame, as the plot, though well-crafted and full of twists, is not especially memorable. But if Hambly answered all the questions about how humans and vampires could relate to each other in this book, what would be left for the next six?
January 19, 2014
I haven't read Traveling with the Dead as many times as some of Hambly's other books, though I remember liking it a lot. I don't know if my reasons are the same now as they were then, but on this re-read--and though it's still a good book--I'd definitely say it's not one of my favorite Hambly books or my favorite of this series.
Part of it is the narrative itself; sprawling (somewhat by necessity, as the book goes from London to Constantinople) and not as tight, as cohesive, as I would've liked. The section of the book in Austria feels almost like a different novel than the part in Constantinople, and I didn't feel like Hambly did herself any favors when she started telling James' side of the story non-linearly; it made it more confused and confusing than it needed to be.
The other part of my dissatisfaction was definitely new. In previous readings of the story, I definitely came down firmly on Lydia's side when it came to the character of Margaret Potton. But this time around, I definitely felt a great deal more sympathy for Margaret, both in text and in the way Hambly chose to portray her, both of which colored my ability to empathize with Lydia. Though Lydia is somewhat aware of her collection of privileges, her awareness doesn't mitigate the way those privileges affect her view of Margaret or the fact that Margaret is just as helplessly ensnared in the situation as Lydia herself. Probably even more so, as Lydia is embarked on this entire journey by choice, whereas Margaret only has the illusion of choice. As the only two women who spend any amount of time together in the narrative, it bugged me that there wasn't room in the narrative for more than them to be at odds the entire time. I feel like Hambly generally does a great job with women and so it was a tough pill to swallow that Margaret was both treated and portrayed so badly throughout the narrative.
One thing that I don't think I paid much attention to before and that I enjoyed a lot was the parallel stories of Since reading the later stories (and getting more involved in fandom) I'm also more aware of the emotional tether between James and Ysidro in a way I wasn't when I first read Traveling With the Dead. As I think I noted in my review of Magistrates of Hell, there's a definitely polyamorous vibe to the triangle, if completely non-sexual, that I find really interesting.
Part of it is the narrative itself; sprawling (somewhat by necessity, as the book goes from London to Constantinople) and not as tight, as cohesive, as I would've liked. The section of the book in Austria feels almost like a different novel than the part in Constantinople, and I didn't feel like Hambly did herself any favors when she started telling James' side of the story non-linearly; it made it more confused and confusing than it needed to be.
The other part of my dissatisfaction was definitely new. In previous readings of the story, I definitely came down firmly on Lydia's side when it came to the character of Margaret Potton. But this time around, I definitely felt a great deal more sympathy for Margaret, both in text and in the way Hambly chose to portray her, both of which colored my ability to empathize with Lydia. Though Lydia is somewhat aware of her collection of privileges, her awareness doesn't mitigate the way those privileges affect her view of Margaret or the fact that Margaret is just as helplessly ensnared in the situation as Lydia herself. Probably even more so, as Lydia is embarked on this entire journey by choice, whereas Margaret only has the illusion of choice. As the only two women who spend any amount of time together in the narrative, it bugged me that there wasn't room in the narrative for more than them to be at odds the entire time. I feel like Hambly generally does a great job with women and so it was a tough pill to swallow that Margaret was both treated and portrayed so badly throughout the narrative.
One thing that I don't think I paid much attention to before and that I enjoyed a lot was the parallel stories of Since reading the later stories (and getting more involved in fandom) I'm also more aware of the emotional tether between James and Ysidro in a way I wasn't when I first read Traveling With the Dead. As I think I noted in my review of Magistrates of Hell, there's a definitely polyamorous vibe to the triangle, if completely non-sexual, that I find really interesting.
January 23, 2016
This book was a major disappointment. 1.5 stars rounded up. Uninteresting, antiquated fashion reports abound in this soporific, rambling book. On the one hand, I liked the little wifey-poo getting involved and having an intelligent, systematic approach to investigating the whereabouts of the vampire clans. On the other hand, the narrative jumped around so much and skipped major blocks of time, then tried to fill-in a few of the blanks in retrospect. Too much retrospect, not enough action. Why hasn’t Asher gone out and had a silver mesh vest or dickey made to protect from easy vampire access, or at least placed locks on the bracelets and necklaces to make them impossible to coerce off via vampiric mind control. With as much as they fear the night-stalkers, it would have been so simple to do – even I can and have knit silver wire into a decorative and protective collar. The title of this book was apt, really the majority of the book was spent traveling around pre-WWI Europe with vampires and falling for their insidious plots and plans. I would also like to see some objective investigation of why the vampires have to feed to the death – couldn’t they feed and scare people to catatonia, draw out the process but not kill? Or feed off of the toxic atmosphere within a violent riot or prison or desperate hospital wards? Or even be behind the rush to war in order to feed on the mass chaos and despair on the battlefield. This book took three times as long as it should have for me to finish because I simply couldn’t keep my interest in the plot. Everyone in the book kept doing stupid things, it was hard to keep track of where anyone was at any given moment, and I really started not to care. Fortunately, Don Simon was vaguely interesting in a wimpy way, Lydia in a bumbling myopic way, James not so much in a let me reminisce about all kinds of unrelated stuff kind of way. I could in reality buy Lydia’s initial insecurity about herself but by this point in her marriage, she really shouldn’t be so stupid as to put her life in danger because of her fear of being seen with glasses, especially since she does not seem to think she is a raving beauty without them. She is either extremely shallow or her eyesight cannot be as bad as painted because I have bad eyesight and I would not trade anything for the ability to see my surroundings. I have so many problems with this book and it annoyed me so much, only the prospect of already having the third book in my hands kept me reading the series. Even with some of these same issues, the next book is much simpler and better.
November 13, 2015
The breadth (of scope) and depth (of detail) in this story is astounding, going beyond '19th century but with vampires', as Hambly re-creates for the reader the immensity and variety of 19th century Europe, while managing to insert an original intricate plotline. The taut and well-plotted narrative aside, I was also delighted by the various 'asides' that explore the world within the novel, which is especially satisfying given its richness. James and Lydia Asher make very intelligent and plausible protagonists (unfortunately for me, consequently, Margaret their tag-along evoked less appeal and sympathy), and the vampires are well-crafted with the individual personality quirks and believable motivations. The Ashers' professions are a very clever move, for it is through their scientific and academic interests that they prod their contemporary marvel that is the vampire, not without humour. Lydia's inveterate habits of wondering at the particular shininess of Ysidro's fingernails, or contemplating the various biological and chemical changes that may have occurred during the turning of a mortal, are entertaining and very believable. The other musings on the nature of good and evil, the vampire's definition of love, and the variety of organisation across vampire societies, add to a sparkling, grounded, intellectually- and sensuously-thrilling tale.
July 30, 2014
I enjoyed this one, but not as much as I did the first one, Those Who Hunt the Night. For one, we don't get to see quite as much of Asher, and more of Lydia, his wife. She is far more concerned with how she looks at every moment than I find delightful, and her fixation on keeping Ysidro righteous is just stupid, considering how much she has weakened her only ally. Once again, though, Hambly has done a fantastic job of recreating the Victorian era, and not just in London, but in Paris and Constantinople. In that regard dear Lydia is quite a product of her age, which just convinces me that I doubt I would enjoy meeting many women from that era! Nonetheless, this is a good companion piece to the first book, and I'm happy to see there's another one out in the series. So off I go to read that one...
February 16, 2020
James Asher, Victorian, ex-secret service, and aware of the vampires in our midst, sees a known enemy spy in the company of a vampire and realizes that the enemy may be planning to use vampires, to further their political goals. This leads to a chase across Europe, starting in London and ending in Constantinople.
Meanwhile, Asher's wife, Lydia, has determined to come and save her husband. To do so, she has enlisted the one vampire they have worked with, in the past, Ysidro. Understanding the threat involved in the exposure of vampire kind, Ysidro comes.
Adventure, action, spies, vampires, more vampires, and then more vampires still. Including the Master of Constantinople, a giant who wields a pure silver (capable of harming vampires) halberd.
Fun entertainment. Sylvia is definitely more interesting than Asher or Ysidro.
Meanwhile, Asher's wife, Lydia, has determined to come and save her husband. To do so, she has enlisted the one vampire they have worked with, in the past, Ysidro. Understanding the threat involved in the exposure of vampire kind, Ysidro comes.
Adventure, action, spies, vampires, more vampires, and then more vampires still. Including the Master of Constantinople, a giant who wields a pure silver (capable of harming vampires) halberd.
Fun entertainment. Sylvia is definitely more interesting than Asher or Ysidro.
March 20, 2015
I always enjoy Barbara Hambly's work (the first books of hers that I read were the Star Trek novels) and this is a wonderful vampire tale. It's the second in the series, I realised as I got into it, so now I will have to go looking for the first one. The vampires are properly not-human, and the reason for the long and dangerous journey from London to Constantinople, via Vienna, is kept mysterious right to the end. I also liked the heroine, who is short-sighted but too vain to wear her glasses in public, but with sufficient strength of character to hold her own against the old and powerful vampire she is travelling with.
October 31, 2021
I was surprised by how much I had forgotten about the plot. I do still like this story and really enjoy the author's writing. Her attention to historic detail is very good. I believe I cared for two of the character more this time than I did last time. I am quite strict in my giving of stars so even though I gave it 3 I would recommend this book to people who love history (it takes place in 1908) and vampires (not sparkly).
January 12, 2009
Really enjoyed Hambly's interpretation of how vampirism works. She never lets you lose sight that they may appear human but they are definitely not like us.
August 12, 2014
I was disappointed by this second in the series. It felt frantic and disjointed, I couldn't focus on any character long enough to establish a connection.
January 8, 2015
The first one was much better
August 11, 2023
I'm torn. There's so much I like about this world, this book; the writing! The erudition! The details, the cities, the language, the manners of a time long dead...
But - the plot. For most of the book, especially once they leave Vienna, nothing happens, just a very limp, frustrating pursuit. Jane Austen levels of nothing happening.
We completely lose track of some main players - the master of Constantinople? The interloper? Anthea? Charles? The Sultan, even? Asher does nothing, Lydia does nothing, Ysidro starves. There's no agency, just the slow panic of nothing happening. We can't even build any tension or feelings about Olumsiz Bey, or the Shadow Wolf, or even Karolyi, because we don't know anything about them. We don't know their goals, their challenges, their desires.
And - who was creating the smothering pail over the city? If Charles and Anthea were so madly in love, why the 30 year difference in their being turned? How did Charles stay alive then? Why didn't he go to Anthea? Why did he leave her so stupidly this time?
Why does Lydia miss a train that delays her by almost a week because she was doing her hair?
What are those new vampire powers that allowed Ysidro to gain control over Miss Potton, and why is Lydia privy to them?
There are so many ellipses of time and place (ok, ok, vampire powers) that I was constantly confused. Why would the Bey's vampires show Asher 'the secret place', the dastgah - much is made about this, and refrigeration... for nothing! What a wet firecracker!
Argh.
I'm going to keep reading because I love so much about the books, but I really hope the plots start to make more sense...
But - the plot. For most of the book, especially once they leave Vienna, nothing happens, just a very limp, frustrating pursuit. Jane Austen levels of nothing happening.
We completely lose track of some main players - the master of Constantinople? The interloper? Anthea? Charles? The Sultan, even? Asher does nothing, Lydia does nothing, Ysidro starves. There's no agency, just the slow panic of nothing happening. We can't even build any tension or feelings about Olumsiz Bey, or the Shadow Wolf, or even Karolyi, because we don't know anything about them. We don't know their goals, their challenges, their desires.
And - who was creating the smothering pail over the city? If Charles and Anthea were so madly in love, why the 30 year difference in their being turned? How did Charles stay alive then? Why didn't he go to Anthea? Why did he leave her so stupidly this time?
Why does Lydia miss a train that delays her by almost a week because she was doing her hair?
What are those new vampire powers that allowed Ysidro to gain control over Miss Potton, and why is Lydia privy to them?
There are so many ellipses of time and place (ok, ok, vampire powers) that I was constantly confused. Why would the Bey's vampires show Asher 'the secret place', the dastgah - much is made about this, and refrigeration... for nothing! What a wet firecracker!
Argh.
I'm going to keep reading because I love so much about the books, but I really hope the plots start to make more sense...
April 14, 2023
I adore the complexity that Hambly gives both vampires and mortals. Not to mention the research she's obviously put in to recreate the world of 1908 - Paris, Vienna, Constantinople - all of it lush and layered and approached with equanimity. The judgements of the locales and people come from the characters themselves, not the author. What a cast of characters, too! We have the return of James Asher and Don Simon, of course, but we also get much more time with Lydia and more vampires than you can shake a stick at - including some familar faces.
Along with the main plot which delves back into Asher's old Spy Game and the politics among the vampires themselves, Hambly layers extra side tales and allows characters to have their say. One of the things that I noticed was that, for a book with an awful lot of death and static immortality, there are an awful lot of views and takes on love. Different sides, different nuances. The inhuman who do something kind and the human who do something barbaric. What are the reasons and are they justified? It's a lot to work through and my heart broke at the end even as I reminded myself that, well, they are MURDERERS.
Good work, Hambly, you have left me a conflicted mess. LOL Though, PS, can we please start working on overriding Lydia's ingrained low self esteem from a denigrating father and society conventions? Poor thing.
Along with the main plot which delves back into Asher's old Spy Game and the politics among the vampires themselves, Hambly layers extra side tales and allows characters to have their say. One of the things that I noticed was that, for a book with an awful lot of death and static immortality, there are an awful lot of views and takes on love. Different sides, different nuances. The inhuman who do something kind and the human who do something barbaric. What are the reasons and are they justified? It's a lot to work through and my heart broke at the end even as I reminded myself that, well, they are MURDERERS.
Good work, Hambly, you have left me a conflicted mess. LOL Though, PS, can we please start working on overriding Lydia's ingrained low self esteem from a denigrating father and society conventions? Poor thing.
December 15, 2018
I had not realised that there was more than one book in this series for at least 20 years I think. I had loved the first book, a brilliant story of Victorian vampires and spies in time before a world would go to war. So when I did learn there was more to read about James Asher and Ysidro, I was all in.
I was not disappointed by this book, but neither was I excited. The writing is excellent, as is the character development. The concept was strong, but the plot was a little thin, and way too drawn out in the second half of the book. Sometimes you can draw out a plot like that and get away with it, but becasue the characters are pursuing villains whose motives are secret, it's just too much time reading a book as the characters fail to know what's going on, and therefore as a reader you have to "not know what's going on" also.
It has not turned me off continuing the series, by no means. Lydia Asher is compelling, strong, independant woman at a time when it is not easy to be one. James Asher is a remarkably interest character, who is everything you want a spy to be, but nothing you expect a spy to be. And Don Simon Ysidro is simultaneously every good vampire cliche, with a fascinating dash of chivalry hidden beneath.
I was not disappointed by this book, but neither was I excited. The writing is excellent, as is the character development. The concept was strong, but the plot was a little thin, and way too drawn out in the second half of the book. Sometimes you can draw out a plot like that and get away with it, but becasue the characters are pursuing villains whose motives are secret, it's just too much time reading a book as the characters fail to know what's going on, and therefore as a reader you have to "not know what's going on" also.
It has not turned me off continuing the series, by no means. Lydia Asher is compelling, strong, independant woman at a time when it is not easy to be one. James Asher is a remarkably interest character, who is everything you want a spy to be, but nothing you expect a spy to be. And Don Simon Ysidro is simultaneously every good vampire cliche, with a fascinating dash of chivalry hidden beneath.
July 10, 2022
#2 of the series. a thoughtful historical/espionage/vampire novel set in Europe 1909, but i enjoyed it less than the first one. partly it's just the pacing - so many trains, and nothing really happening even when they stop. and partly it's the collision of moral values - the ex-spy James Asher, and the vampire Don Simon Ysidro, and the spy's younger wife Lydia, raised in a monied atmosphere in the Victorian Era. everyone takes ethical damage in this narrative, except for the enormous amount of luggage Lydia takes with her at a moment's notice for her scramble across Europe from London to Constantinople, which never goes missing or gets left behind. ah, the English Empire! but Lydia's point of view, all black and white and taking no personal responsibility for anything, while accurate for a lady of the day, gets very annoying in the trenches, and my sympathy was all for the vampire, slowly starving at her demand while trying to keep her alive as she asked him to do. besides which, the vampire contributes an excellent poem.
October 8, 2022
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, I just found it rather difficult to follow. The same was sometimes true of the first book in this series, but to a lesser extent. In this book, I loved the interactions between Ysidro and Lydia and getting to know the vampire 'cultures' of different cities (Paris, Vienna, Constantinople). The story tied up nicely, and everything made sense in the end, but there were a lot of characters to keep track of and a lot of moving parts that were only hinted at and had to be interpreted by the reader. Overall though, it was an enjoyable read, especially for October vibes.
January 7, 2021
I really liked that we got more Lydia, and the exploration of the different cultures and ways of being for Paris, Vienna, and Constantinople (which was, and is again, Istanbul). The penultimate chapter had some great action sequences and moments.
Overall, though, it felt too dense, and I would have appreciated a moment or two to breathe. The denseness matches the pace and stakes of the action, but it just wasn't for me at this point in time. Also could have done without the vampire attraction bits, but that is definitely just because it's not something I care for.
Overall, though, it felt too dense, and I would have appreciated a moment or two to breathe. The denseness matches the pace and stakes of the action, but it just wasn't for me at this point in time. Also could have done without the vampire attraction bits, but that is definitely just because it's not something I care for.
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