Worked this weekend

Even though I didn't feel right at all. But I managed to get through the days with humor and a great deal of tiredness. I also finished reading "Servant: The Awakening", which I was wrong about. It didn't have anything to do with the White Wolf games, although it was rather similar in content to the "Hunter" series.

I also started Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's "Borne in Blood" at work. It didn't take me that long to finish it once I had gotten home. This story didn't seem to be as long or as large as the others. Mainly, there is less historical stuff going on, as the story takes place between the time that Napoleon was defeated for the first time and his subsequent escape from Elba. That being the case, there was far less "history" for the Count to deal with, or so it seemed to me. Also, his lover, Hero, knew about what he was... all of this, he apparently told her before the novel began. The story was mainly about his relationship with her, her disagreements with her father-in-law (who had custody of her children and was keeping them away from her) and with an Austrian count who was doing research into blood. The count had an adopted niece who stayed with him, but she was insane, having been sexually abused by him from the time she was eight years old. Now, she was too old for his tastes, and in danger of being replaced in his affections, which led to her both wanting to escape and wanting to be with him, still. Strangely enough, those parts were not hard to read. You wanted to be sorry for her, but her insanity made her very unsympathetic.

After I finished that, I moved on to "Vampire Academy", which I hope will be part of a series, but maybe not. Certainly, there is enough interesting stuff there for a sequel, but the ending doesn't have "Sequelitis" written all over it, which was rather nice for a change. It's nice to read a book that, if there is no sequel, is strong enough to stand on its own. It's about two girls, Vasalisa (called Lissa) a moroi vampire, and her companion and friend, Rose, a Dhampir.

Two years ago, Rose and Lissa fled St. Vladimir's Academy, a school moroi vampires keep to educate their children. Although the Moroi are vampires, they age, are not immune to disease, and have elemental magic. If they kill someone deliberately, they turn into Strigoi vampires, who are more usual vampires: immortal, ageless, lacking magic and evil. Moroi are stronger than humans, but less powerful than strigoi, so the Dhampirs, who are half-vampires resulting from a moroi having a child with either a human or another dhampir, tend to do the fighting for them. They also serve as guardians for the moroi against the strigoi. However, the Dhampirs are sterile with other dhampirs. All dhampir men become guardians, and a few of the dhampir women. The rest give blood to the moroi, allowing the men to feed off them during sex. These women are known as "blood whores". (Nice name, hunh?)

Rose's mother is a guardian, and Rose was raised by the academy. While they were away from the academy, she kept Lissa safe. This is aided by the fact that Lissa and Rose share a bond rarely seen among moroi and their guardian dhampir. Sometimes, Rose can see through Lissa's eyes and feel what she feels. Getting dumped back into St. Vladimir's is stressful for both of them, given that Lissa has the ability to use compulsion, not only on humans and dhampir, but other moroi as well. She also shows the ability to heal, not only humans, but animals. However, healing causes her to go into a depression and become self-destructive. She tends to cut herself afterwards to relieve her stress. Because no other moroi can heal, Lissa must be secretive with her powers, but Rose discovers that the legendary St. Vladimir, who the school was named for, seems to have had the same, or similar powers, including a link to a dhampir named Anna, who is called "Shadow-kissed". Trying to figure out the secrets of St. Vladimir and guard Lissa keep Rose busy during the course of the novel.

Now, it's on to another great book, by another great author, Hospital Station by James White. It's part of the Sector General series, about a great hospital in space wherein surgeons work on both known species, and unknowns. This is pretty much the first in the series, with the hospital being constructed at the beginning of the book. While it's an old book, this series holds a great many interesting ideas, and is worth a look.