Bitchery reader Jennifer is a student at Davidson College who is focusing her research on the romance genre, and she comes to the Bitchery with a query.
She’s looking for vampire romance, specifically those that do ti differently, or did it over but better the second time:
I’m putting together a list of what I think are vampire romances that are both representative of the genre and ones that break, subvert, or rewrite vampire romances. But I’m afraid I’m going to leave an important book out!
Is there any way you could get a thread started so I could mine the brains of your readers for suggestions? I’m looking for romances that are both representative of the vampire romance genre, and those who break away from it.
If you doubt the mad power of Jennifer’s brain, take a look at her online essay Intertextuality and the Vampire Romance. A key quote in her examination of the “Death and the Maiden” motif in art, and the sexuality and inevitability inherent in those portrayals:
On another note, how eerie is it that the Death and the Maiden Paintings echo some romance novel covers in the way the two figures are positioned? Am I the only one seeing the similarity?
Do you know how hopping-in-my-chair giddy it makes me to see the power of big brainfulness applied to the themes of romance, especially when they are so intrinsically linked with similar themes in art and other subgenres of fiction? WORD TO YOU, JENNIFER.
So anyone got any ideas of vampire romances she absolutely should not miss, the ones that subvert the genre and/or the themes within it?
Well, I’d say that Lara Adrian’s vamps are totally different than most vampires. They’re in actuality aliens. But she’s got a very well laid out mythology that she sticks to. It’s an interesting take on the vampire myth (sort of).
Then of course, there’s Ward. Her vamps are a different species and can only feed from vamps of the opposite sex. They can drink human blood, but it doesn’t do much for them sustenance-wise.
I’m not sure if that’s what she’s looking for, but those are two that occurred to me.
Darkangel – Meredith Ann Pierce – when I was in high school this was the epitome of “but I can change him” bad boys.
I know its not romance in the strictest sense but I always think of Robin McKinley’s “Sunshine” when I think of a less than typical depiction of vampires.
There’s also “Bloodsucking Fiends” and “You Suck” by Chris Moore which are somewhat comical take on vampires but still romance novels.
A second for Sunshine by McKinley.
In YA, EVERNIGHT by Claudia Gray has some awesome, awesome genre-bending of what seems at first like an ordinary teen vampire book, first person heroine.
Joey Hill did gender-role reversal in THE VAMPIRE QUEEN’S SERVANT.
P.N. Elrod has a series of vampire mysteries set in 1930s Chicago, with an ongoing romance. Her vampire hero is a lot different from the general run of Immortal Alphas.
Scott Westerfeld’s PEEPS, also YA, has vampires caused by parasites.
Emma Holly does the “vampires are aliens” thing, too—her vampires can change shape, as well.
The Blood books by Tanya Huff; mystery noir with a romance subplot.
And how about Joey Hill’s, A Vampire Queen’s Servent?
thats95: no way; I can’t think of 95 vampire romances that buck the genre.
I don’t know if it would fit into the romance genre, or even entirely the book category, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my favorite atypical vampire mythology, now stars in a number of graphic novels.
Kresley Cole has an original mythology to her vamps in her Immortals After Dark series.
Look into some of the urban fantasy novels that are pseudo-romance – Kim Harrison, Laurell K Hamilton, and Christine Feehan’s Carpathian vampire books.
Vamps as The Mob (or something similar) –
Version the ancient, Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series
Version the modern, Susan Sizemore’s Prime series
I see that Joey W Hill’s The Vampire Queen’s Servant already has two mentions. It also has a sequel: Mark of the Vampire Queen. I was reading one of them last night. *bliss*
Angela Knight’s vampires started off as King Arthur and his knights of the round table and were transformed by (alien) Merlin into immortal vampires symbiotic with their women, magical Majae (not vampires). The women are just as strong as the men and they go around transforming their descendants into vampires/majae through sex. Interesting mythology all around.
Lynsay Sand’s Argeneau series is different, in that vampirism is based in science.
Uhm, well, my Casa Dracula series aren’t romances, but they are romantic comedies and academic types have said words like “subvert” and “reinvent” about them.
AP quoted me in a story about Anne Rice last week, so I’m totally like a nationally renowned official expert now. Ask me anything.
The Death and the Maiden theme is an interesting juxtaposition of the vampire trope, where getting bit by a vampire confers immortality on the bitee or, in some cases, brings the bitee back from the dead. (I’m thinking of Erin McCarthy’s Sucker Bet, where the female vamp resurrects the hero.)
Endless orgasms plus immortality – what’s not to like?
I always thought Christopher Pike’s The Last Vampire (YA) were interesting takes on the origins of the species, rooting it in a sort of Hindi-Buddhism. I really loved them as a teen, and think they’d be an interesting addition, given the age group they’re meant for.
Marta – I totally squee’d when I read that. You so ARE the renowned expert!
IMO, Devyn Quinn does interesting things with the traditional vampire in her Kynn books. Might also look at Embracing Midnight, which is an alien/otherworld species of vamp.
I am surprised that no what has yet mentioned Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Saint Germain. “Hotel Transylvania,” despite its seemingly lurid title, starts off the very long running series (2008 is the 30th anniversary of that book) about a vampire who is more humane than most humans. CQY has written 22 books focusing solely on St. Germain, plus another six featuring ancillary characters. A 23rd will be published this year.
For the uninitiated, the vampire named Ragozcy Francescus Saint-Germain was born in Wallacia over 2000 years before the birth of Jesus, and the books follow him from Neronian Rome (Blood Games) to the America in the 1930s (Midnight Harvest), although one of the ancillary books has an extended reference to his life as a priest in ancient Egypt (Out of the House of Life), and another covers his birth and early years of “undeadness” (Dark of the Sun).
The wonderful thing about all of the Saint-Germain books is the thorough and impeccable research, but the essential character of Saint-Germain is never forgotton, or inconsistently portrayed.
The original concept of the vampire Saint Germain on a real person, a nobleman of the same name in the court of Louis XIV who claimed he was and alchemist and an immortal. In fact, much of the detail in Hotel Transylvania reflect this character. CQY also merged in aspects of the composer St. Germain (about whom very little is known) into her own creation.
There are a lot of traditional “vampiric” aspects to Saint-Germain, shuch as he has no reflection and can only tolerate sunlight when on his native soil, although I don’t think garlic has any particular negative effect. He can drink blood from sleeping women, making the activity an extremely pleasurable dream, but he cannot have an erection (although an early book, Path of the Eclipse, alludes to the possibility if enough blood is consumed). He does not drink blood from other vampires either (again, the early books refer to a time when it was possible to do so).
Perhaps one could argue that the Saint-Germain novels are not romances, and would not qualify for Jennifer’s research, but I would state otherwise. Underneath all of the history and the tragedy (there is a lot of that) is the character’s principal motivation for his continued existence – Love.
CQY maintains an excellent website, with listings of all of the Saint-Germain books, in both order of publication and chronological order.
It’s not a romance, but Octavia Butler’s last novel, Fledgling, is a very different vampire novel. I am only sorry she died before she could write any more books set in this world.
I love PC & Kristin Cast’s YA vampire romance. Though I suppose it’s not 100% romance, since Zoey is the main protaganist and it’s told from her POV. But they are some of the best YA books I’ve ever read. 🙂
To add to the not-a-romance-but-I-recommend-it Delicate Dependency by Michael Talbot in which the Vampires have a very interesting role intertwined with mysticism and alchemical imagery. Second Yarbro’s St. Germaine. He is a remarkably decent monster always at risk from humanity’s baser parts.
CT Adams has an unusual take—vampires as a hive, ruled by a queen. She bites people to lay her eggs in their flesh; when the critter hatches, it crawls through the bloodstream and wraps itself around the ganglia or something of the sort. Quite disgusting. Those bitten become part of the herd = mind-controlled snacks on the hoof.
Last I checked in on the series, the heroine was wearing a neck protector and making time with a werewolf.
I’m going to third Sunshine by Robin McKinley.
EE Knight has a different take of vampires in his vampire earth series, but they aren’t really romance, so you probably wouldn’t be able to do anything with them.
Ilona Andrews’s Magic Bites and Magic Burns series has an interesting take on vampires too. It has a romantic element in it, but not with regards to vampires.
The Queen Betsy series by MaryJanice Davidson is definitely a vampire romance, but it is a lot lighter than say Feehan’s Carpathian series.
Don’t know how much that’ll help, but that’s just my two cents.
P.S. A true “Death and the Maiden” book would be the YA book Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. Yup, it’s exactly what it sounds like.
I’d second Lita’s mention of Yarrbto’s St Germaine.
And while the books not romance sin the conventional senses, IMO a hero who only receives full sexual pleasure by giving it, is pretty romantic .
No one’s mentioned Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter books, but I think they’d probably also fall into the category of a non-traditional vampire series. Kenyon’s created a whole mythology for the series which takes the general mythological tradition we’re used to and turns it on its head. The “vampire” characters get the teeth and the ability to drink blood, but only a couple of them actually need blood to survive. I think the mythological backstory to the series sets it apart from the usual vampire genre.
For a series of romances that reinvented the vampire hero, look at Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunters. After endless tortured, brooding woe-is-me types, she wrote vampires who “are the scary things that go bump in the night. And we love every minute of it.” (from her website).
I’ve read so many ‘mad bad and dangerous to know’ vampires since that I’m getting kind of bored with them (especially since most of them consider wearing leather and having a tattoo to qualify them for the above) but I think this was one of the first, and pretty refreshing at the time.
I haven’t read the Gardella Chronicles (on my TBR list) but a historical series has got to make a change from all the rest?
I forgot these sf examples, all of which play with tropes and with romance:
FLEDGLING by Octavia Butler (and her earlier book, WILD SEED, which features a vampire who drains life rather than blood)
THE MADNESS SEASON, by C.S. Friedman
THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY, by Suzy McKee Charnas
I think Amanda Ashley wrote a lot of classics, before vamps were all in style. I didn’t read a lot of them, but I think a classic theme was redeeming a lost soul with the love of a heroine – in the newer books, we just convert her with nanos or Carpathian blood. Sherrilyn Kenyon sort of continues this theme with the heroine restoring the soul. Charlaine Harris’s world is certainly engrossing – some detailed government/culture as well. I also remember enjoying Katie MacAlister’s vamp stories. I feel like the novels where the vampires are aliens/different race/nanos, etc. were initially a departure from the classic soulless undead mythology, but they all seem alike to me now. MaryJanice Davidson’s series (which I’ve never adored, honestly), seemed to be a departure in the attitude and experiences of the heroine. One review that caught my interest recently was for a female vamp that didn’t have superpowers – just an amplified aura that aroused protective instincts. That seemed like a departure from the classic super strength, hearing, telepathic abilities. Sorry I don’t remember the title!
Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series has a vampire mythology that is slightly different from the norm. Interesting comments to guide my future reading!
I agree with other posters: MaryJanice Davidson’s Betsy books are a bit out of the norm, simply with POV and all that sarcasm (FTW!) I look at them as new-gen vampire romances.
I really liked the Argeneau series from Lynsay Sands too; I enjoyed the science perspective and the I-really-can-eat-garlic vibe she got going.
And I don’t see it here, but I liked Nora Roberts’ The Circle Trilogy. Granted the vamp romance wasn’t until the 3rd book, but the series was basically about vampires. I just really liked the way she handled the vamp protagonist. He was very believable as a vampire tortured soul 🙂 Uber sexy. Pretty traditional in terms of vamp romance but not quite… Gawd it’s Nora Roberts what else can I say?!
And bill72? Like… like Bill from Tru Blood? Like… like vampires? *snicker*
I agree that the MJD books are unusual in the way the heroine’s drawn. There are many variations on how vampires are created, but it’s less easy to come up with unusual relationships—particularly between vampire and human lover.
Fourth for McKinley’s Sunshine and a second for Butcher’s Dresden Files (though in a 10+ book series, I’ll point out that the most vamp-heavy books are 3 and 6). Book 6 (Blood Rites) specially has some interesting thoughts on romance and vampires.
I’d be curious to see how Twilight fits in, especially how it is touted as a “fresh reinvention” of the vampire myth while its plot doesn’t really subvert the genre.
Oh, this is amazing. I knew there were books I was missing! The list of books I had before this was as follows:
Dead Until Dark Charlene Harris
Dark Prince Christine Feehan (and perhaps one of the more modern ones just to keep it current, considering there’s a ten year difference between her last book and the most current one.
Valley of Silence Nora Roberts
Dark Lover J R Ward
No Rest for the Wicked Kresley Cole (perhaps also her story in Playing Easy to Get, depending on which I can get my hands on)
Night Pleasures Sherrilyn Kenyon
Twilight Stephanie Mayer (I rather reluctantly put this one on the list because I have so many personal problems with this book… but it DOES prove my point. Especially if you take into account the whole story arc. I’m not sure I’ll use it, but I’m aware of the story)
So you guys have already added a lot!
(And how could I have forgotten Sunshine?)
*grins* Though my professor is then going to ask how I’m going to keep my focus narrow… considering that there’s so much to talk about.
Any other suggestions?
(Writing this for the second time, because IE crapped out on me, AGAIN!)
In addition to CQY’s Saint-Germain series, I’d recommend the following two series that provide a historical romance twist on the vampire genre.
1 – Kathryn Smith’s Brotherhood of the Blood Series: Four books set in late Victorian Europe, about a group of Knights Templar who drank not from the Holy Grail, but from Judas’ cup (made from the blood of the demon Lilith) and were turned into vampires. I’ve really enjoyed the series – each of the vampires are different people, not the same basic character with a different name and eye color (unlike some other series, J.R. Ward – BDB *cough cough*) who have handled their vampireness in different ways. The romance is well written – the female leads are extremely strong and believable (the character in the first book of the series had cancer – a life sentence in the late 1900’s).
2 – Susan Squires – The Companion Series. The vampires in these books are either born with, or become infected by a blood symbiote that gives the host extraordinary powers. The concept is very interesting, but the series is very uneven. I’d say that the next to last book was the best of the bunch. The last book, which was better than some of the earlier ones – and had interesting characters, concepts and a good romance, suffered for two reasons. It strained even my ability to willingly suspend disbelief when the female lead (now a matron in early 19th century Rome, and mother to the hero of the prior book), who was at one time a friend of Leonardo Da Vinci, uses the time machine he invented (which she just happened to discover) to go back to Rome in the time of Caligula.
Kathryn Smith’s and Susan Squires’ books have been released within days of each other for the past few years, and I often get them confused in my mental catalog.
I recommend both series as unique takes on the vampire romance genre.
Speaking of next-gen/less old-school vampire stories:
Tate Hallaway’s Garnet Lacey series has a younger, breezier style more like Marta Acosta or Mary Janice Davidson.
Keri Arthur’s Riley Jensen series depicts the vampire love-interest as ancient and therefore stuffy and old-fashioned. That’s par for a Feehan-style vamp romance, but what’s unusual is that Riley doesn’t knuckle under to his expectations. Whereas a Feehan heroine would kick but then accept his straight-laced dominance, Riley keeps ho’ing it up with her fellow party-animals (literally: they’re weres), even if vamp guy disapproves.
Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake books are all kinds of screwed up, but they also have that kind of vibe. The heroine starts dating a vamp with her eyes open romantically (though squinting against reality in other ways) and there’s none of the Feehan-style cleaving-unto.
^ To amplify the “next-gen” idea, I think there are distinct old-school and new-school groups of paranormal romances, both clearly analogous to larger trends in romance.
The old-school vamp romances are mainly in the Christine Feehan mold of big strong male vamp tortured by his own nature, and special-but-helpless woman (though occasionally admitting a “feisty” little woman).
The new-school group are largely two sorts: the urban fantasy style of kick-ass heroine (or heroine with her own special powers, like the Karen Chance books), or the chick-lit style of insouciant heroine who takes to vamping without too much angst.
Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Chronicles does have a slightly different mythology. Her vamps descend from Judas Iscariot. Although once she sets the mythology, she doesn’t do a ton of exposition on it. But it is historical, which is different, and her heroine is kick ass, which is refreshing.
This is one of my favorite series of books.
How about Kim Harrison’s vampires? Her vampires have yet another hierarchy- the vampires that are “born” that way are about the vampires that are “made.”
Be sure to check out Sharon Page and Devyn Quinn. Very erotic vampires. Page just had the cover of RT.