 |
Published by
Tor Jenna Black is back with another installment of her Guardians of the Night series. Her Guardians – the self-appointed vampire police force on patrol Philadelphia and Baltimore – are loyal to the Master of the City and protect the chosen innocents who live there. The Master of the City, an extremely old and powerful vampire, sniffs out corruption and dispatches his troops to deal with Evildoers however he sees fit. The first book's interesting dysfunctional family dynamics between Gabriel, the Master of Baltimore, and his father Eli, the Master of Philadelphia, faintly echo in this story. In the first book, Gabriel, the evil “born vampire,” comes to terms with his saintly father and the Philadelphia Guardians. Very much like Spike from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Gabriel saved his vampire soul mate, who (with the help of Eli and the Guardians) turns around and saves him right back. Gabriel is in trouble again in this story, along with the small group of Guardians he has organized in Baltimore . Another powerful “born vampire” has kidnapped him, and left the remaining Guardians in chaos. In Hungers of the Heart, though, Gabriel stays in the background, while his second string Baltimore Guardians takes responsibility for the city and each other. Their new interim leader, by seniority, is Drake. He is over one hundred years old, and since a vampire's psychic talents and strength grow with age, he is the toughest and strongest of the group. Next to him in the chain of command is Jez, Gabriel's feisty young lover, and then two other vampires. Drake is a film noir hero – he doesn't have any desire to lead or protect this group, but he can't refuse the obligation to protect Gabriel's Guardians when they are threatened from outside. The group doesn't trust Drake because he is a Killer – unlike most Guardians, who do not drink the addictive human blood, Drake feeds on Evildoers. More Killers come to town from overseas and introduce more complications into Drake's day. They threaten the Guardians and try to seduce Drake. There is even a non-vampire among the foreign troops who needs protection. Sorting out the good guys from the bad guys, and detailing the various degrees of responsibility everyone bears for the situation, takes up a large part of the story. The problem in this story is that entirely too many of the vampires are good and blameless. They never do anything wrong. They never do much of anything at all – they're all forced to do everything against their will, from killing to having sex. It gets tedious to have so many victims around all the time. Even when Drake finally finds someone to love, and has a very hot time with her, the tale comes back to the “if you love somebody, set them free” theme. Drake is entirely too good, and not selfish enough to be a romantic hero. He suffers for his love, sacrifices for her, and protects her and the ones she cares for. He never looks out for his own elixir – he is left looking for love. When he gets to the end of his hero's journey, there is nothing there. The interesting problem in Hungers of the Heart comes when a Killer tries to cross the line and become one of the good vampires. Guardians hate Killers even more than they hate the Evildoers. This theme of distrust complicates the romance nicely, but drains the punch from all the villains. The story reads more like a balance-sheet than a romantic adventure – Killers prove their goodness in proportion to how many silly, dangerous Guardian-instigated mistakes they fix. Guardians never risk trusting an unproven Killer. This story dropped the ball. The good vampires are annoying – too caught up in their own innocence to be interesting. The evil vampires are weak, and kill each other. (The Guardians are not powerful enough to manage it – they aren't Killers, after all). On the whole, the passion just isn't there. Drake doesn't chase after the one he loves, he mopes, and suffers, and bickers with his friends. He is too passive to be a real hero – every heroic action relies on some act of God (or the Devil). He disciplines people (for their own good, of course) and gets back-talk. Drake accepts backtalk. He is not a leader. He is not a hero. He looks good in black leather pants, but a good romance needs a hero, not two Damsels in Distress. by CJ Curmudgeon |
Home | About | Submissions | Subscriptions | Advertising | Contact | Model Search | Movie Reviews | Current Issue | Upcoming Issues | News and Events | Links | Guestbook