The expansive vampire mythology Farren elaborated in The Time of Feasting
and Darklost
gets snagged in a holding pattern in this surprisingly sluggish third chapter in his Nosferatu chronicles. Nosferatu elder Victor Renquist is still rebuilding his decimated New York vampire enclave when he's summoned to Ravenkeep Priory, the English estate that's home to a female vampire "troika." Archeologic excavations at nearby Morton Downs coincide with strange dreams and visions transmitted to the Nosferatu ladies, and Victor deduces that the digging has disturbed the resting place of Taliesin, better known as Merlin, the wizard of Arthurian legend. Merlin is a member of the Urshu race—which, like Homo sapiens and the Nosferatu, is one of several species created eons ago by the Nephilim as part of their biotech experiments in colonization outside their planet—and his re-emergence signals a possible upset in Earth's balance of supernatural powers. Victor and other Nosferatu fret that their days may be numbered, and with little to do until Merlin hatches from his protective cocoon in a climactic finale, they spend most of the novel challenging one another to duels of honor, indulging in neo-medieval pageantry and launching internecine power struggles. Long on scene setting but short on plot development, this novel reads very much like a middle book in a lengthy series. Farren's fans will devour it, but other readers may wish they had the patience of immortal vampires to endure its longueurs. (Aug. 20)
