A Taste of Blood Wine

Blood Wine, Book 1

De: Freda Warrington

Narrado por: Jane Copland

1918. A First World War battlefield becomes the cosmic battleground for two vampires, as Karl von Wultendorf struggles to free himself from his domineering maker, Kristian.

1923. Charlotte Neville watches as her father, a Cambridge professor, fills Parkland Hall with guests for her sister Madeleine's 18th birthday party. Among them is his handsome new research assistant Karl - the man Madeleine has instantly decided will be her husband. Charlotte, shy and retiring, is happy to devote her life to her father and her dull fiance Henry - until she sees Karl...

For Charlotte, it is the beginning of a deadly obsession that sunders her from her sisters, her father and even her dearest friend. As their feverish passion grows, Karl faces the dilemma he fears the most. Only by deserting Charlotte can his passion for her blood be conquered. Only by betraying her can he protect her from the terrifying attentions of Kristian - for Kristian has decided to teach Karl a lesson in power, by devouring Charlotte.

©1992 Freda Warrington (P)2014 Audible Ltd

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Not merely one of the finest fantasy novels of recent years, but one of the finest ever. Should not be missed." (Brian Stableford Interzone)
"... a tale which throbs with lush romanticism." (The Times)
"... a really, really splendid read... It's a story that plays out over cups of tea and glasses of brandy in the drawing rooms of chic London townhouses and glittering stately homes, and here again Warrington shows her writer's chops, layering in exquisite period detail. Sometimes the effect is playfully satirical... but more often it's lusciously picturesque; and, with the characters barrelling around in Hispano-Suizas and the like, it's all attractively reminiscent of the lux, country house horror of Hammer's The Devil Rides Out. On this evidence, Freda Warrington is like a cross between Anne Rice and Kim Newman – she has the sweep of one, the cleverness of the other. Titan will be reissuing the other titles in the series throughout the year, and they're not to be missed." (Starburst)
"... this delicious tale of love, lust and a passionate affair that stretches beyond the grave, is truly delightful. Step forward Charlotte and Karl, a magnificent pairing, and a timeless couple that deserve a place up there with the very best of genre lovers... There's so much here to love… To be honest, there's very little herein that I didn’t love... the writing is gorgeous, by turns haunting, lucid, and all-round beautiful... This first instalment is eminently readable, absorbing, and all-round brilliant, a lovely piece of work, and definitely a must-have whether or not you're a fan of vampires. It's a book for fiction-lovers and anyone that claims to appreciate the written word, I think. And I for one am looking forward to reading the rest of the series." (British Fantasy Society)
"Lovely vampire story which is essentially a love story laced with horror." (The Bookseller)

Well done Vampire cozy.

I love vampire stories, especially when they offer a different spin. This one is set in London and Cambridge shortly after the end of WWI, and the setting and era are quintesentially British. It's also an era we don't often see outside of a "cozy." (Think Downton Abbey.)

This, however, is a monster cozy, if I can coin a phrase. All the drawing room, stiff upper lippi-ness one expects from a British mystery, only the mystery is about vampires. Our hero is a world weary vamp who's fallen in love with a human woman, and this results in a tangle involving her family, and his family of monsters. What's clever is that the characters are dignified and properly attired while their world unravels. Of course, this doesn't prevent them from serving tea, or even brandy, if the day has been very, very trying.

And there is a complex villain who gave me the willies. I loved it!

Freda Warrington has created a cool mythology that is very different from what we're used to. Oh, the fanged ones still drink blood, but they also exist part-time in a parallel reality, (the description of which is amazing).

Jane Copland did a great job bringing everyone to life, and she's an important reason I'm continuing on with the series. She sets the perfect tone.

Note: This is not a book I listened to from cover to cover. I found I had to be in the mood for it. But when I was in the mood, it was awesome.

Good story, just not for me

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Sure

Would you ever listen to anything by Freda Warrington again?

maybe

What does Jane Copland bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

great accents

Do you think A Taste of Blood Wine needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

yes

Any additional comments?

I don't like women of historic books, what is considered strength in these books is laughably weak of a modern women and i just don't care for it. There were too many "grey" characters in this book. Your main characters with both tortured, indifferent, and superior, which often just resulted in annoyingly "grey" characters. Every action required contemplation, yet no effort was made to change the behavior due them being superior.

Melodramatic Twilight Imitation 20 Years Before It

The standard Beauty and the Beast but vampire troupe made 20 years before Twilight came out.
The problem is, just because it does probably deserve a revisit with modern eyes (after all the niche has proven to be extremely popular) it's just that, but in Edwardian and 20s Europe.

The story features a cartoonishly cardboard villain and a very predictable story, like 50 Shades of Gray and Twilight the main female character is a wall flower that has hidden ambitions and wishes but was too afraid to pursuit her wants (compared to the bratty cartoonishly obnoxious sis

What am I doing? YOU KNOW this story already, all the beat of it, you've see or read 1 version or another of it already.
Im not even going to finish this review.
It's not worth it.

Set in the past, still dated

If I had read this when it was first published in 1992, I might have liked it a bit more, but it's just not nearly as engaging as later takes on vampires. Worse than that, the setting is strange - story is set post WWI, but reads like a Victorian. I kept being surprised by cars and telephones because it seems much more 19th century than 20th. And MUCH worse than that is that the characters are awful. Some of the secondary characters are interesting, but not much developed. The two protagonists are so passive, oblivious, angsty, and irritating that I started to root against them. And to put a sad cap on the whole thing, the vampire romance just happens (no build up or explanation) and isn't very romantic.

Jane Copland provides a really nice performance which got me through this thing, but nothing could save the fact that this is a long, slow, slog through dark and brooding boredom.