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Midnight’s Daughter

Karen Chance

Published 2008        373 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Now Dory’s vampire father has come back into her life. Her uncle Dracula, infamous even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped his prison.  And her father wants Dory to work with the gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.

Vampires and dhampirs are mortal enemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on earth that truly scares her, and when Dory has to go up against him, she’ll take all the help she can get…

The Review

Midnight’s Daughter by Karen Chance is the first book in a new spin off series from Chance’s original Cassie Palmer urban fantasy series. Set in the same world as the Cassie Palmer books and with an overlap of vampire characters, existing fans of Karen Chance’s writing are in for a treat as Louis-Cesare, Radu and Dracula finally get a chance to take centre stage rather than being supporting characters.

Readers new to this author’s work shouldn’t fail be delighted and entertained too, since this is a separate series to the author’s previous books and they can jump straight in here if they want without needing to have read the Cassie Palmer books first.

Midnight’s Daughter is narrated in first person by Dory, a 500 year-old dhampir with family issues.  Those issues currently being her insane and homicidal Uncle Dracula (who has escaped captivity and wants to see her horribly dead) her not-homicidal-but-definitely-creepy-weird Uncle Radu — and her sneaky master vampire father Mircea, who abandoned her at birth. When you throw in the natural mental instability of a half-human, half-vampire hybrid there is bound to be plenty of opportunities for destruction and violence.

Given that Dory is subject to killing fits you would think that this might make her a difficult character to empathise and engage with but she narrates the story with warmth and enough humour to soften the hard edges. Compared to Cassie Palmer’s character she has a stronger, more confident and more cynical voice but she has spent the last 500 years in the school of hard knocks acquiring her edge.

Midnight’s Daughter is a vamp-centric story so there is more than enough vampire action to satisfy even the most demanding vampire fans.  Fantasy readers who enjoy a wider spectrum of the supernatural are also well served with a constant stream of dark mages, Dark Fey, Light Fey and a selection of magically mutated monsters.

Karen Chance is one of the strongest new authors to be published in the urban fantasy genre over the last couple of years and with Midnight’s Daughter she has solidified her position at the top of many fantasy fans “must-read” list.

Exciting, fast-paced and populated with engaging characters Midnight’s Daughter is highly recommended reading for vampire and fantasy fans alike but the best news is that there is a sequel planned for 2009. Brilliant!

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