My Library

Better in the Dark is one of the Saint-Germain series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

Background for those not familiar with the series:Saint-Germain is a vampire, but not the dread nosferatu style. He tends to get his nourishment from pretty aristocratic ladies who enjoy his attentions. He's also an alchemist and it's never completely clear how connected this is to his vampirism, though his alchemy uses up the supplies of his native earth which render him immune to the negative effects of his vampirism.

Better in the Dark finds Saint-Germain shipwrecked in 10th century Saxony and taken in as a sort of combination guest-prisoner at the local castle, the Fortress of Leosan. Ranegonda is Gerefa of the castle, ruling in her brother's stead after the death of her sister-in-law and the brother's joining a monastery. Yarbro describes Ranegonda as one of the three great loves of Saint-Germain's life.

The Saint-Germain series is one of my favorite series. The vampirism is a plot device that lets this character move through a variety of settings and historical periods. Of course, the legendary powers and limitations of vampires and the need to hide his true nature create some plot twists of their own, but what makes the series so interesting is the variety of real places and times that Yarbro's mind takes the reader. (Not that the specific Fortress or individual characters are real, but the description of life in a typical fortress in 10th Century Saxony and the political backdrop is interesting when viewed through the eyes of the characters as the story unfolds.)