Alliance In Blood is a tale of a vampire, Orlando, and a wizard, Alain, who meet under the backdrop of a mounting war between factions of the wizard tribes, and discover a secret when Orlando drinks of Alain that has as many personal implications as it does political ones, and could ultimately serve to change the landscape of their current battle in an instant.
Set in Paris, Alliance In Blood throws a vampire and wizard together at breakneck speed, for the simple reason that, other than a growing, powerful gay love affair, they are also made for one another in a mystical sense; the wizard’s blood allowing his vampire counterpart immunity from sunlight, a boon in the coming war against the factions of dark wizards.
Ariel Tachna's Virgin Vampire Story Alliance in Blood
Ariel Tachna’s story moves so quickly that the reader could be forgiven for forgetting details or feeling that the story is, perhaps, just a small amount rushed, however it is to Tachna’s credit that she can create a set-up that relies on coincidence and yet works so well that the necessitated meeting of Alliance In Blood’s two protagonists is both fluid and natural.
Especially interesting is that, if one takes time to read a biography on Ariel Tachna, it soon becomes apparent the author has never read another vampire story in her life. In an erotic horror market saturated with Anne Rice replicas, the vampire archetypes in Alliance In Blood feel fresh and reinvigorated.
Chief amongst them is the complex and believable character of Orlando, a vampire who was brutalized after he was changed, becoming a victim of sexual abuse and being forced to turn humans against his will. As such, in meeting Alain, his wizard and lover, there are many taboos he first has to break before he trusts his new partner.
Making Believable Gay Characters in Alliance in Blood
More than that, in Alliance In Blood the intimate and sensual nature of the vampire’s bite is explored without pretension and in such a way that feels organic in concept, and well drawn out in execution. Ariel Tachna makes the precarious line between sadomasochism and the vampire’s erotic bite a blurry one, creating a vivid tapestry of shades to each of her well drawn gay characters.
The ending of Ariel Tachna’s Alliance In Blood is suitably abrupt without being stunted, making way for the following Partnership In Blood series, and although some may find the pace of the novel a little too quick in how the protagonists are put together, Ariel Tachna utilises some deft characterisation to flesh out her central gay couple so that their choices and sudden bond are believable.
Concluding Thoughts On Alliance In Blood
Ultimately, Alliance In Blood transcends the genre titles of horror or gay erotica to become a novel that is, in fact, about multifaceted people, and in so doing, Ariel Tachna has managed to create the first book of a series that is genuinely exciting in its promise for more and better.
(ISBN: 978-0-9815084-9-8, Price: $11.99, Length: 232, Publication Date: May, 2008, Publisher: Dreamspinner Press.)
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