“The Vampire Genevieve”, by Jack Yeovil

763 pages, The Black Library, ISBN-13: 978-1844162444

The Vampire Genevieve is an omnibus collections of Kim Newman’s…er, make that “Jack Yeovil’s” four Warhammer books: Drachenfels from 1989, Beasts in Velvet from 1991, Genevieve Undead from 1993 (which are three novellas published as a single book), and Silver Nails from 2002, which is a collection of short stories. The title is actually misleading, as Genevieve in not the dominant character in any of the stories in the volume and is completely absent from a number of them (I suppose that the title is mostly for marketing, implying as it does that the main character is a sexy, beautiful butt-kicking vampire helps sell books to the targeted readers). What makes this collection especially interesting is that it was written before the Warhammer world’s mythos was really settled: thus, in this collection vampires are rather accepted by the people at large, while in the current Warhammer setting they’re hunted and staked on a regular basis. Anyway, when it comes to writing modern vampire tales in whatever world they may find themselves in, Newman deserves the title of grandmaster; his style is both ornate and easy to read, his plots are complex and engaging, and his ironic humor and real-life references add an unique flavor to his works that I can describe only as…Newmanesque.

Perhaps the most glaring thing about his writing is his expert use of flamboyant, deliberately silly characters; The Vampire Genevieve is full of such personas and, depending on your disposition, each can be viewed as either lovable or absurd. The writer knows this, and offers no apology – in other words, he doesn’t explain the joke, you either get it or you don’t (and shame on you if you don’t). For me, the greatest flaw in this collection is the idealized way in which it depicts vampirism. Genevieve isn’t damaged by sunlight, doesn’t have to drink blood often, doesn’t have to sleep in a coffin, and can swim in running water all she wants. She looks all of sixteen, has great strength and endurance, excellent night vision, can mutate her teeth and fingers into fangs and claws at will, and doesn’t have to kill anyone when feeding – her “victims” actually relish the experience. She can walk unopposed among humanity, parading her eternal youth and overall superiority as she wills; the only inconvenience she experiences is that she occasionally runs into a vampire-hater who will, at the very worst, tell her to steer clear of him/her. One has to wonder; why aren’t there more vampires about? Why would anyone say no to a socially acceptable immortality that has no downside to speak of? Having said all that the book is quite good and deserves a much wider audience than the Warhammer readership it’s targeted to. If you have read any of Newman’s other books and liked them, you’ll definitely have a lot of fun with this volume.