The Court of Miracles (Vampyria Saga)
In the second Vampyri novel, Diane de Gastefriche is now squire to the vampyre King Louis XIV, a reward for foiling a plot to overthrow the mighty ruler of Vampyria Magna. A ‘sip’ of supernatural blood runs in her veins; an advantage of strength, speed, premonition perhaps—she doesn’t know—but in the dark underworld of Paris, she’s about to find out. The Lady of Miracles, an illegally transmuted vampyre, has challenged the Immutable’s 300-year autocracy, commanding a lethal army of ghouls she threatens to unleash if she isn’t officially acknowledged Vice-Queen of Paris before the Night of Shadows.
Louis orders Diane to find the Court of Miracles, the Lady’s seat of power, and offer her a pact. But as a double agent who works with the Fronde to free the world from Louis’ tyranny, Jeanne Froidelac (Diane) is commanded by Raymond de Montfaucon, the Fronde’s clandestine coordinator, to bring about a different end. Working at cross purposes with her cohorts is what drives this deadly chase, thwarted by a police lieutenant who wants credit for finding the Lady first and hampered by the short time frame as the deadline is only three weeks away.
Dixen, a master of fantasy, has crafted a spectacular, credible world, which reveals the sinister truths beneath. The story is darkly grotesque and suitably inhabited by a terrifying cast but is immersive in its impeccable detail and the wider universality of Dixen’s message. Multi-faceted personalities like Sterling Raindust—vampiric sycophant, or potential ally—paradoxically keep the reader guessing. If you don’t mind bloodsucking aristocrats temporarily inhabiting your space, then parallels can be drawn from the author’s dark Orwellian symbolism—international diplomacy, entitled arrogance, the plight of the downtrodden, and the cataclysmic nihilism which waits just offstage. This works as a standalone, but I’m off to find The Court of Shadows.
