Book Review: 1 Treasure Boxes
Saga of the Noble Dead, Series 1, Book 1 (S1B1)
Publisher: Roc (January 7, 2003), Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages, Language: English, ISBN-10: 0451459067, ISBN-13: 978-0451459060

I like the premise of the series because it is different from your run of the mill vampire stories.   The Noble Dead series are fantasy books with vampires, vampire hunters and elves. It is original. The series revolves around Magiere, who had a human mother and a vampire father. This makes her special, she can go out in the day, yet she also has special powers which make her the perfect vampire hunter. Her traveling companion is Leesil a half elf who has his own secrets. To round out the group there is a very special, long-lived dog named Chap.  In the beginning of the book Magiere and team are scamming villagers into believing they are vampire slayers, by the end of the book, they become what they have been pretending to be.

Barb and J. C. Hendee have written two series in the Saga of the Noble Dead.  Dhampir  is the first book in the first series.  There are six books in Series One. Series Two has Wynn, the scholar from series one; Chane, an undead vampire; and Chap’s offspring as the protagonist.  Currently there are 3 books in series two. There is also a third series expected at some point in the future. The series falls into the high-fantasy genre.  The story takes place in a simpler time where there are no modern conveniences and if you want to get somewhere you either walk, ride a horse or take a boat.  The story is told in the third person narrative primarily from Magiere’s perspective.  But at times it is also  from some of the other characters, including the vampires.

I liked Dhampir because although it was predictable, there were enough new surprises to keep it interesting.  I also really liked the characters. I did not find it to be very captivating, yet it was interesting enough to hold my attention. There are a couple of rousing battle scenes between Magiere, Leesil and chap against a trio of vampires.  I liked how the vampires are painted as individuals with good and bad qualities (while most of them,) at times you feel sorry for them.

I enjoyed the book enough to be intrigued to see where the series was going so I read the next book in the series: Thief of Lives. If you want to read about a new high-fantasy concept with Dhampirs and Elves then you might want to give this series a try.