At its heart, Blood of the Old Kings is a story about Empire, reactions and resistance to it. Our three protagonists are all in their own way taking up the mantle of resistance to that Empire.
Gothic creepiness pervades the entirety of the novella, with a self-contained story whose characters and plot perfectly fit into the strengths of that format’s length.
Gabe and Ruby’s story is the heart of The Cost of Power: Return, by Joyce Reynolds-Ward. Their story in this iteration, looking at the oeuvre of the author, is to be one of a series of futures/worlds in a multiverse of stories revolving around the Martinieres in general and Gabe and Ruby as well.
Through this series, Valancourt has been reissuing limited-edition, mass-market paperbacks of these “horror gems of the ’70s and ’80s” complete with the vintage cover art, whenever possible, and new introductions by [Grady] Hendrix or [Will] Erickson.
It’s not essential viewing, but I found it refreshingly entertaining and intriguing, although it does go dark at times.
Dimova writes Foul Days as an amalgamation of traditional Slavic folklore, an urban fantasy style and tone, and social themes very much of the moment.
