Valantinus: Blood Brothers by Ziana De Bethune

If you’re a fan of Anne Rice’s earlier vampire novels (Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned), then you’re going to love Valantinus: Blood Brothers by Ziana De Bethune, a new author just emerging within the horror genre.

Valantinus Ragnvaldsson is an old vampire (or blood drinker) who was first known as Maya and was turned during the age of Pharaoh Tutankhamen in ancient Egypt. He was then reborn forty-six times, until his final incarnation as Valantinus in the year 1423AD when his spirit entered the body of an unborn baby at the last moment during a sea voyage. He was one of three children. One other, his brother Daniel, lived, but the third child and the birth mother died. Valantinus and Daniel were raised by Marie de Coucy, wife of the Viscount Antoine Ragnvaldsson, descendant of the first Duke of Normany, as her own children and were afforded a life of luxury that was befitting the royalty of France at that time.

Everything is going fine for Valantinus as an adult. He’s been living in Paris away from his home for five years and occasionally checks up on his brother, Daniel. He wants to make sure his sibling isn’t getting himself into trouble, plus he secretly hopes to change Daniel back into a human being. You see, Daniel is also a blood drinker, and Valantinus blames himself for Daniel’s conversion into a vampire during the time in their mother’s womb. When Daniel is called back home to help with an investigation into a series of murders that have supposedly been committed by blood drinkers, Valantinus decides to accompany him. That’s when everything begins to gradually change for Valantinus as he deals with the lust for Marie, his would-be mother, and the lust she has for him, not to mention the large number of people who have been murdered. When Daniel is murdered by the same killer, or killers, Valantinus is determined to get revenge. He quickly heads back to Paris and calls in the remaining Originals (blood drinkers) who have been with him for thousands of years to do battle with the New Breed, who seek to gain control over all of them. It’s a battle that Valantinus may lose because there are infinitely more members of the New Breed than of the Originals. Add to this the strange infatuation Valantinus has for a particular priest, and this old vampire is going to have his hands full in bringing order out of chaos.

Though Ziana De Bethune is a new author, she writes with the skills of a seasoned pro and with the elegance of a poet. She has created a character in Valantinus that draws the reader in, wanting to know more about this unusual creature. Yes, Valantinus is a blood drinker, but there is also an element of good in this being that seems to pop up when least expected. The storyline is extremely colorful (and I don’t mean blood red) in its descriptions of a France just coming out of the Middle Ages. It’s certainly clear that the author has done a tremendous amount of research in reconstructing an era that most readers will know little about, including myself. The novel is also filled with a heavy sexual tension between Valantinus and the woman who raised him, not to mention the relationship between him and the priest he finds himself mysteriously drawn to, both emotionally and physically.

Ms. De Bethune covers all bases with this fantastic story of a vampire over two thousand years old and dealing with a rebellion between the older breed of blood drinkers and the New Breed of younger vampires…who despises Valaninus and hates the rules they must follow in order to survive amongst the humans.

Valantinus: Blood Brothers is the beginning of a fabulous new series that all fans of the “vampire” genre should check out. The prequel to the novel, Maya, is already in the works and will deal with Valantinus’ creation as a blood drinker in ancient Egypt and the events which transpired that brought about the death of his wife and child, and lead him on an exodus into an unknown land. This book is highly recommended to the many fans that fantasize about being bitten on the neck by a handsome or beautiful vampire. With Valantinus, you might get more just than a bite!