Demon Dance is the third book in Sam Stone?s critically acclaimed Vampire Gene series. Like previous books in the series, Demon Dance continues to expand the ongoing plot while focusing on a character through a series of flashbacks. However, the similarity ends there, as Sam Stone uses this narrative technique in a different style to previously, thus ensuring the novel never stagnates.
Lilly, who had previously moved into the background to make way for Lucrezia in Futile Flame, now comes to the fore. Demon Dance opens immediately following the conclusion to the previous Futile Flame, with Lilly finding herself in a certain biblical garden (where she enjoys a name change that speaks volumes).
Although I miss Lilly?s freshness and relative naivet? of vampire culture, the decision to explore Lilly further was a fair one. I especially enjoyed reading the evolution of her character from a 21st century woman and fledgling vampire into becoming one of the oldest vampires in the Vampire Gene series.
Like Killing Kiss, Demon Dance could be accused of being an extended character study (in this case Lilly). But while there is less sense of urgency than there was in Futile Flame, a certain sense of dread permeates the novel. The amount of dread that we enjoy obviously depends upon personal taste, from those who enjoy an extended lush prose, to those who prefer edge-of-the-seat-roller-coaster rides. Whilst I may lean towards to the latter edge of the spectrum, Futile Flame kept me sufficiently gripped to keep reading.
As the third novel in Sam Stone?s Vampire Gene series (with a fourth ? Hateful Heart ? released later this year), Demon Dance rewards faithful readers. However, while Demon Dance remains accessible, Sam Stone is not afraid of tying up loose ends and revealing previously unanswered questions. Having read the series in a short space of time, I possibly took a lot more out of the story than I would have normally, as the ongoing story elements remained fresh in mind.
Previous Vampire Gene novels had remained generally set in Manchester, a city that Sam Stone obviously loves. However, although the city is mentioned in passing, Demon Dance takes on a much more global feel, as the story follows Lilly?s adventures throughout the ages.
As well as geographic expansion, the ongoing supernatural elements continue to grow to a much stronger and overt degree. Those who preferred the more subtly mystical elements of Killing Kiss may be disappointed, but for me it seemed a relative necessity, as the lack of threat in the first novel meant I was never concerned for Gabriele?s wellbeing.
Similarly, as with Futile Flame where we were introduced to a stronger supernatural element, in Demon Dance we are presented with the bane of all writers ? time travel. Here, Sam Stone uses this technique to offer a different perspective on Lucrezia?s and Gabriele?s respective histories, giving further background on the Vampire Gene and wisely avoiding the bane of time travel: paradox.
I admit that at first my heart did sink when the time travel was introduced and we encountered Caesare, the previous book?s antagonist. However, Sam Stone neatly avoided a clich?d time-loop with some excellent writing that despite occurring in the past still held me in suspense. Equally, Sam Stone does not take the easy route in using time travel, as we are provided with a non-linear sequence of events, and is a credit to her writing that it never leaves us confused.
One of the neatest aspects of this time travel is that we revisit scenes from previous books for a new interpretation of them. However, literal readers should be warned that Sam Stone is not afraid of using the Unreliable Narrator trope, as following one scene we now view a character in an entirely different light.
Although romance plays an element in Sam Stone?s Vampire Gene series, describing her books as a paranormal romance is a gross disservice. Here, the vampires do not sparkle (something a character explicitly states in gleeful self-referential) and are portrayed as pure killers. The vampires are predators, and whilst they may be cautious about leaving dead bodies behind (as this does tend to be noticed), they rarely agonise about eating their food.
The final fifty pages of Demon Dance saw the many plot threads from the series so far being resolved, and left me gripped to the final page. Whilst the series may not be an excessively deep or philosophical; like the previous books in the series, Demon Dance is great story and should be enjoyed as such.
Bottom Line
Demon Dance was a cracking third outing in the Vampire Gene series, which answered many unresolved plot points from the previous books whilst continuing to expand the background to the Vampire Gene. Those looking for a book to lose themselves in for a while could do far worse than exploring Sam Stone's vampires.
Source: http://www.onemetal.com/2011/06/07/demon-dance-by-sam-stone/
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