Covenant in Blood by Ariel Tachna

[reviews_and_ramblings]

The second book in the Partnership in Blood series took me by surprise two times: first since it's almost double longer than the previous book on the same series, Alliance in Blood, 420 pages the second, 235 pages the first; and second since I was expecting the story of a new couple in the partnership between wizards and vampires, and instead it is the carrying on of the story between Orlando and Alain, the couple of the first book, but also the parallel stories of a group of others, like Adele and June, Angelique and David, Blair and Laurent, Caroline and Mireille, Catherine and Justin, Charlotte and Sophie, Jean and Raymond, Luc and Magali, Marie and Genevieve, Mathieu and Fabienne, Sebastien and Thierry, who more and who less, but all of them an important part of the story.

So this second book it's not specifically a book about a single romance, it's more a choral book where Alain and Orlando play an important role, like two main characters in an opera, but they are not the main focus of the story: the main focus is the alliance and all the little domino pieces that allow its building.

In a way I'm happy that Alain and Orlando's story didn't end in the previous book, since it was not full developed, there is a lot more to say on these two: last time Orlando came out like a very proud man, willing to risk a lot for the good of the vampire clan, but his personal story didn't come out in its full complexity. Orlando is a very troubled man, with a lot of open issues from his past that still haunt his present life. In a way, in the previous book, one could have the idea that Alain was the man with a painful past to forget, the loss of his son, and that he made the greatest sacrifice putting aside his pain to forge the alliance with Orlando. Now instead the reader understands that Orlando's pain is more ancient and deep-rooted.

Being the book so long, unfortunately there is also space for sad events in it; the full series is about a war, and as in all the wars there are victims. Alliance in Blood it was about how vampires and wizards met, and how they found about their special bound. It was a bit dark and gothic, but all in all it was lighter. Covenant in Blood must go on, and so there is also more darkness.

Two things I would like to highlight: as I listed at the beginning, there are a lot of different couples, same sex and not, and all of them have their important role. And so there is also the same sex couple made by Caroline and Mireille; usually I don't like this type of pair, it's a personal taste not a prejudice, I know that as there are fans of gay romance, there are also fans of lesbian romance. But I have to say that I enjoy also the romance between Caroline and Mireille, and they have an important share on the story.

The second thing it's more a nice wink the author makes to the reader: as in the first book she described the first meeting between vampires and wizards as one of those awkward teens party full of insecurity and shyness, also in the second book she recalls a teen memory, when one of the wizard, uncertain of the feelings of his paired vampire, asks to his best friend to be his herald, to try to find if the vampire likes him. Who of you, in high school, didn't find himself in the role of the herald or in those of one of the two sweethearts?

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/currenttitles/bloodseries/covenant/covenantbuynow.htm

Amazon Kindle: Covenant in Blood (Partnership in Blood)

Amazon: Covenant in Blood

Series: Partnership in Blood
1) Alliance in Blood: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/425820.html
2) Covenant in Blood

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Comments

Re: Spoiler

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Già! Mi ero dimenticata di Antonio... sicuramente ci deve essere qualcuno per lui in giro... Ma io sono fiduciosa, credo che l'autrice salverà Eric in un modo o nell'altro.

Sebastian e Thierry li do' già insieme per certo (mi stupirei molto se succedesse loro qualcosa di diverso), e sono praticamente sicura che stringeranno un Avoué de Sang, non foss'altro per permettere a Sebastian di avere quanto sangue gli serve senza preoccuparsi di drenare Thierry :-)

Re: Spoiler

[pandorasvase.livejournal.com]

Basta che non me lo salvi in punto di morte, però, sono cose che mi lasciano depressa.

Ok, siamo onesti. Ci sono molte possibilità in giro. Anche Blair è triste lasciarlo così...

Possibile, ma Sebastien vuole dare tempo a Thierry di essere sicuro etc. Sotto un certo punto di vista, stringere L'Avoué non cambierà il loro rapporto, come non lo cambiava per Alain e Orlando, ma non sono sicura che lo stringeranno con facilità.

Un'altra cosa che sto apprezzando di questa serie è il bilancio pro-contro dell'alleanza. Il sangue di mago permette ai vampiri di camminare nella luce, unisce la coppia in un rapporto che mi ricorda quello del Battaglione degli Amanti, ma ha delle limitazioni come l'impossibilità di usare la magia sul partner o di poterlo tramutare in vampiro. Su quest'ultima cosa mi chiedo se è valida solo per il compagno o in generale.

Diciamo anche una cosa, storie sui vampiri ce ne sono tante ma Ariel Tachna ha fatto un buon lavoro nell'elaborare un'ambientazione che riprende sì le vecchie leggende vampiresche ma le colloca in un modo da rendere il tutto originale. E non è facile considerando l'uso e abuso del tema.

Re: Spoiler

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Si anche io mi sono domandata se l'impossibilità di diventare vampiri dei maghi sia solo con il proprio partner. però sarebbe troppo semplice se la soluzione fosse di farsi tramutare da un altro vampiro.

Un altra cosa poi è se la coppia è unica. Sarebbe carino che Blair trovasse qualcun altro, ma allora questo vorrebbe dire che l'accoppiata vampiro-mago non è unica.

Solo il fatto che ci troviamo a parlarne è sinonimo del fatto che Ariel Tachna è riuscita a svecchiare un genere un po' troppo abusato :-)

Elisa