More Than Mortal [Hardcover]

In this tale Victor is called to England to help with a curious problem that has overtaken a troika of female vampires. These creatures are Columbine Dashwood, a regency beauty who has a severe intelligence problem; Marieko Matsunaga, deadly as both Japanese courtesan and swordswoman; and, finally, Destry Maitland; who has spent much of both her life and her unlife as a mercenary. Destry possesses Dormandu, an Uzbek, the incredibly rare hereditary steed of the warrior vampires. The problem Victor has been called on for is that digging at a nearby archeological site has started to awaken something that has begun to affect the women's dreams, especially Columbine. Anything that can do that is a threat that can't be ignored.

Victor arrives to discover that the dig hides the resting place of an ancient Urshu, known as Taliesin the Great Merlin. The Urshu were a creation of the same aliens that bred the vampires. They were considerably more powerful than vampires, especially in powers of illusion and are able to work in daylight. Nor do they require the normal vampire diet. The Urshu were created to help protect humanity and so are often opposed to their vampire relatives. To add to Victor's problems, Fenrior, the vampire Laird of a huge clan of Scottish vampires is also much interested in the waking Urshu. He will stop at nothing to get control of the Merlin and discover its secrets.

Reader's used to the frantic action of the average vampire thriller will find Farren's work a bit of a different experience. "More Than Mortal" moves at stately pace and takes the time to dwell on its characters and the settings in which they move. I find this a refreshing change from the paperback that can be gulped down in a handful of hours and just as quickly forgotten. The lover of characters will enjoy the return of Lupo, the master assassin, the self-centered empty-headedness of the fair Columbine, as well as the cold, calculating Renquist. Not that there isn't plenty of action, it just doesn't all happen at once, if you know what I mean. It would never be considered dull or bloodless. The book stands well on its own, but the reader would benefit from having at least read the first in the series, "The Time of Feasting."

Destry is mad about horses and at one point in the novel someone asks, "Where's Destry?"

"She's riding again," is the (inevitable) reply.

You have to admire the sheer nerve of an author who can put a joke as bad as that one into a novel.

Anyway - the point of asking Renquist to come to England is that Columbine has detected psychic radiation from an old Saxon burial mound near the priory. The mound is currently being investigated by an archaeological team and Columbine is a little frightened at what they might uncover. Renquist To The Rescue!

He finds things to be a bit more dangerous than he expected. The being in the burial mound is the extra-terrestrial who was once known to human history as Merlin. In that guise he played a large part in the Matter of Britain, and it seems that his ambition in this area is not yet satisfied. Renquist has his work cut out for him as he tries to foil both Merlin's plans and also the ambitions of a feudal clan of Scottish nosferatu who have their own secret agenda for the newly revitalised being. There is an ending of sorts, but it is nicely ambiguous. We haven't seen the last of Merlin.

This might have worked if Farren had stuck to the punk/grunge/ Goth style. As it is, he's thrown in everything from references to H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker to his personal prejudices. The confusion, dull dialogue, stereotypes, and messiness are dreadful.