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Travelling With The Dead by Barbara Hambly
reviewed by Underview
Original appearance: Albedo one issue 10, 1996
There was a time when science fiction (and horror) were almost totally the preserve of male writers. In the past twenty years this has begun to change, and that rate of change appears to be accelerating. On the evidence of awards and lists of best books over the past five years, there is a case for female dominance on a quality platform, though they do not dominate numerically as yet.
BARBARA HAMBLY is one of the authors paddling her board towards the crest of that wave and her latest offering, TRAVELLING WITH THE DEAD, confirms her as one of the ablest and most imaginative stylists at work in the genres today. Her background is as a historian and that expertise is put to admirable use in this novel of the undead in fin de siecle Constantinople. The background detail is pin-sharp if a little overstated at times and only the merest suggestion of Americanisms, particularly in the dialog, hinder complete immersion in the period.
Lydia Asher's husband, James, an ex-spy who now earns his living as a teacher, has disappeared - off on the trail of a vampire who may threaten the security of England through his treachery, or weakness. She is in possession of information vital to James's survival and must track him down. In order to do so, she will need the assistance of one of the most powerful vampires in London, Don Simon Ysidro, who owes a debt to her husband.
The vampire whom James pursues is involved in a scheme that could have a serious effect on the security of his homeland; there is also a suggestion that it could affect the very future of the secret lives of vampires and the entire human race. TRAVELLING WITH THE DEAD is a novel of intrigue and the undead in which a vampire can also be a gentleman whose word is his bond, even if it may lead to his destruction..
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