James and Lydia Asher travel to China, along with a companion, Professor Karlebach and their vampire 'friend', Simon Ysidro. They are investigating a next of what the author calls The Others, but what most people would call ghouls. This is more of a period/setting piece, as it is entirely set in 1912 Beijing (Peking in the book). I thought this was all right, but I really didn't get enough of an impression of 1912 China as I would have liked. Well written, as usual, but I wanted just a little bit more. ( )

I was looking for a horror book through my local library. They had this on the shelf, and I saw that it had some good reviews, so I decided to give it a chance. I knew that this is book 4 in a series, and I have not read any of the previous books. I don't think that I missed that much by skipping the first 3 books. I know I missed some back story on the characters, but I feel this was a stand alone story. It was set in China, in 1912. It concerns a hunt for a new type of vampire.

I usually do not read books set in the past. I prefer my fiction set in the present. It was interesting learning about diplomatic life in China. A lot of the people in this book are corrupt, and the hero has to deal not only with vampires, but with the humans that do evil too.

I felt that this book was well written. It was the writing style that kept me reading. The story itself was a little boring I liked James and his wife Lydia, but I was not invested in them. Even when their lives were in danger, or they were facing down monsters, I never felt any sense of concern for them. The book was just ok for me. ( )

After decades of spycraft, Asher chose to leave the clandestine war behind in favor of a history professorship. But he and his scientist wife Lydia stumbled upon a terrible truth--the existence of vampires living among us, hidden by glamours and humans' disbelief in the supernatural. Over the years they became troublingly close with a particularly old and chivalrous vampire, one Don Ysidro. Each of the three is drawn to the others, but Asher and Lydia are also repelled by Ysidro's murderous nature, and are conflicted about their friendship with him. Nevertheless, their goals are entangled, and when the vampire Masters of Europe hear rumors of a growing ghoul population in China, all three characters travel to Peking.

This is set in 1912, and Hambly does a masterful job of describing both colonial China and the political mindsets that will lead to the first world war. The characters are equally well described and memorable. And the action veers between a mysterious murder, petty social manueverings, and an intensely creepy series of battles with the ghouls. ( )

I like these because I love the married couple main characters. This is early 20th century (1912) and this one is set mostly in China. I also like that this isn't a romance where the romantic interest is with the vampire. Start with the first book though. ( )

You wait 15 years for a new vampire laced James Asher book and then two come along almost at once with Magistrates of Hell following on neatly from last year's Blood Maidens. Retired spy James Asher sails to China in 1912 to investigate the discovery of a body very like the mutated vampires he encountered in St Petersberg. Accompanied by his wife and Dr Solomon Karlebach Asher bases his investigation within the cosmopolitan confines of the Legation Quarter in Peking under the blind of a purely academic interest in philology and folklore. Keeping an even lower profile is Asher's ancient Spanish vampire ally Don Simon Ysidro. Usually these books have Ysidro treading on the territorial toes of the local nest of urban vampires but China's vampires are something different. Incredibly ancient and not altogether sane they mostly remain aloof and hard to pin down. With Ysidro hampered by their elusiveness, Asher has to rely more on his human allies, the Van Helsing like vampire hunter Karlebach and the Japanese Samurai Count Mizukami. Asher and the Count actually make quite a dynamic pairing out in the wilds among the swarming rabid rats and equally the double dealings and murder within the city and the Legation. Barbara Hambly dishes up a more b-movie action based script than usual but it remains faithful to the series tone, is well researched and maintains the levels of threat and anxiety common to Hambly books. As ever Hambly know how to entertain. ( )