(2001), one of the few that revisits a culture. Night
Blooming(2002) takes place in Europe just before
Saint Germain manages to flee from the excesses
of the Inquisition. Midnight Harvest(2003) moves
forward again to the time of the Spanish Civil War,
and Dark Is the Sun(2004) is set amidst the chaos
following the explosion of Krakatowa.
Yarbro has managed to keep the series fresh
and interesting by varying the time and place from
volume to volume so dramatically and only occa-
sionally repeats major plot elements. The novels
appeal to fans of romance and historical fiction as
well as those fond of dark fantasy. Various short ad-
ventures featuring the same protagonist were col-
lected as The Saint Germain Chronicles(1983). The
most interesting of the short stories is “Advocates”
(1991), written in collaboration with Suzy McKee
Charnas and set in a future after vampires have
taken over the world. The series has been consis-
tently successful and is ongoing as of this writing.
In the Face of Death(2001) does not involve Saint
Germain but is related to the series.
’Salem’s Lot Stephen King(1975)
Vampires have been a staple of horror fiction ever
since Bram STOKERcreated DRACULA(1897), cod-
ifying a set of powers and weaknesses of the un-
dead that have been adopted with considerable
uniformity by horror writers and horror filmmakers
alike. Although many 20th-century American
writers had used vampires in their fiction, the crea-
ture remained essentially a European creation, and
no significant vampire novel even approached the
popularity of Stoker’s original until Stephen KING
chose to attempt it with his second published hor-
ror book.
King elected to avoid many of the standard
devices of the vampire story. Instead of an urban
setting, he used a small town in Maine. (The title
is an abbreviation for Jerusalem’s Lot.) His vam-
pire, although impressively evil and powerful, is off
stage for most of the novel, working primarily
through his agent, who opens an antique shop in
town as a cover for their activities. King’s vampire
is not driven off by religious symbols, because it is
the faith of the wielder that determines their ef-
fect. The vampire’s agent, though more or less
human, is himself endowed with supernatural
strength and endurance.
The story progresses more by suggestion than
overt action for a very long time, and most of the
conflict is among the residents of the town, a var-
ied and not always admirable group of people. This
would prove to be a trademark of King’s novels,
the careful development of a strong set of support-
ing characters, even to the point of extended de-
partures from the main plot in order to develop a
particular trait or relationship. Readers were also
surprised by the closing chapters, because King
again breaks with tradition. His hero fails to save
the woman he loves, who is vampirized and even-
tually destroyed along with most of the rest of her
kind. And while the two main protagonists, an
adult and a teenaged boy, avoid the fate that is
planned for them, the novel ends with the conclu-
sion that they will be running for the balance of
their lives, pursued by the surviving vampires.
King demonstrated that it was possible to
write a major vampire novel that was not just an
imitation of Stoker. His achievement was repeated
the very next year when Anne RICEturned the un-
dead into tormented, romantic figures in INTER-
VIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE(1976). The success of
these two novels resulted in literally scores, per-
haps hundreds, of new vampire novels during the
next three decades. King’s novel has been filmed
twice for television.Salvatore, R. A.(1959– )
When TSR Publishing began issuing paperback
novels as an adjunct to their multiple fantasy role-
playing game series, they wanted writers who
would work within the comparatively narrow con-
fines of the worlds as created in the games rather
than innovative individuals who would generate
their own settings and characters. The downside of
this was that the end product was repetitive, usu-
ally characterless, and attracted little attention
outside the gaming community. Fortunately, there
was enough of an audience to support the pro-
gram, which has continued for 20 years and seems
healthier than ever. While it is undoubtedly true
that many of the authors working in the DRAGON-
LANCE SERIES and FORGOTTEN REALMS SERIESSalvatore, R. A. 303