Description:
Kirkus Reviews wrote:
"In the glut of vampire-themed novels now on the market, Lyon’s debut
stands out… skillful… authentic… fascinating… inspired… Lyon executes it
perfectly... vivid... engaging... highly promising... sophisticated..."
"The smell of blood is in the air, I sense it even now. People thirst for it; the entire country is mad with desire for it. And now we are going to war with our brothers because they look like us, and because we can smell our blood coursing through their veins...” A mysterious letter starts a university student on a journey into the war-torn lands of rapidly disintegrating Yugoslavia. Naively trusting his enigmatic professor, the student unwittingly descends into a dystopian crucible of decay, destruction, passion, death, romance, lust, immorality, genocide, and forbidden knowledge promising immortality. As the journey grows ever more perilous, he realizes he must confront an ancient evil that has been once again loosed upon the earth: from medieval Bosnia to enlightenment-era Vienna, from the bright beaches of modern-day Southern California to the exotically dark cityscapes of Budapest and Belgrade, and horrors of Bosnia.
Vampires have formed an integral part of Balkan folklore for over a thousand years. "Kiss" represents a radical departure from popular vampire legend, based as it is on genuine Balkan folklore from as far back as the 14th century, not on pop culture or fantasy. "Kiss of the Butterfly" offers up the real, horrible creatures that existed long before Dracula and places them within a modern spectrum.
Meticulously researched, “Kiss of the Butterfly” weaves together intricate threads from the 15th, 18th and 20th centuries to create a rich phantasmagorical tapestry of allegory and reality. It is about divided loyalties, friendship and betrayal, virtue and innocence lost, obsession and devotion, desire and denial, the thirst for life and hunger for death, rebirth and salvation. “Kiss” blends history and the terrors of the Balkans as it explores dark corners of the soul.
“Kiss of the Butterfly” is based on true historical events. In the year of his death, 1476, the Prince of Wallachia -- Vlad III (Dracula) -- committed atrocities under the cloak of medieval Bosnia’s forested mountains, culminating in a bloody massacre in the mining town of Srebrenica. A little over 500 years later, in July 1995, history repeated itself when troops commanded by General Ratko Mladic entered Srebrenica and slaughtered nearly 8,000 people, making it the worst massacre Europe had seen since the Second World War. For most people, the two events seemed unconnected…
"The smell of blood is in the air, I sense it even now. People thirst for it; the entire country is mad with desire for it. And now we are going to war with our brothers because they look like us, and because we can smell our blood coursing through their veins...” A mysterious letter starts a university student on a journey into the war-torn lands of rapidly disintegrating Yugoslavia. Naively trusting his enigmatic professor, the student unwittingly descends into a dystopian crucible of decay, destruction, passion, death, romance, lust, immorality, genocide, and forbidden knowledge promising immortality. As the journey grows ever more perilous, he realizes he must confront an ancient evil that has been once again loosed upon the earth: from medieval Bosnia to enlightenment-era Vienna, from the bright beaches of modern-day Southern California to the exotically dark cityscapes of Budapest and Belgrade, and horrors of Bosnia.
Vampires have formed an integral part of Balkan folklore for over a thousand years. "Kiss" represents a radical departure from popular vampire legend, based as it is on genuine Balkan folklore from as far back as the 14th century, not on pop culture or fantasy. "Kiss of the Butterfly" offers up the real, horrible creatures that existed long before Dracula and places them within a modern spectrum.
Meticulously researched, “Kiss of the Butterfly” weaves together intricate threads from the 15th, 18th and 20th centuries to create a rich phantasmagorical tapestry of allegory and reality. It is about divided loyalties, friendship and betrayal, virtue and innocence lost, obsession and devotion, desire and denial, the thirst for life and hunger for death, rebirth and salvation. “Kiss” blends history and the terrors of the Balkans as it explores dark corners of the soul.
“Kiss of the Butterfly” is based on true historical events. In the year of his death, 1476, the Prince of Wallachia -- Vlad III (Dracula) -- committed atrocities under the cloak of medieval Bosnia’s forested mountains, culminating in a bloody massacre in the mining town of Srebrenica. A little over 500 years later, in July 1995, history repeated itself when troops commanded by General Ratko Mladic entered Srebrenica and slaughtered nearly 8,000 people, making it the worst massacre Europe had seen since the Second World War. For most people, the two events seemed unconnected…
Kindle- 22 Julie 2012
Nota noastra:
Nota noastra:
Ce nu se spune este faptul ca Vlad Tepes a fost eliberat de catre Matei Corvin tocmai pentru a-i conduce/ participa la incursiunile armate impotriva turcilor si ca nici Corvin sau altul din suita lui nu s-au opus practicilor de inspaimantare ale lui Vlad. In plus, din ce-am gasit cei "expusi" au fost soldatii armatei ostile: "în raportul episcopului de Agria, un pasaj rezervat exclusiv lui Vlad Ţepeş, pecare îl vom reproduce în întregime: „Dar nu voi trece cu vederea cruzimea lui Dracula < Dragula >,pentru care lumea întreagă-l cunoaşte. Căci, rupând cu mâna lui pe turcii prinşi, punea în ţepe bucăţile, zicând: «Când vor veni turcii şi vor vedea acestea, de spaimă vor fugi». (Stefan Andreescu - Vlad Tepes Intre legenda si adevar).
O sa verificam...
foarte interesanta si descrierea si coperta
ReplyDeleteDoamne,ce carte....Ce carte.
ReplyDeleteAlaturarea celor trei: titlu, coperta si descriere m-au intrigat destul cat sa caut cartea.
ReplyDeleteSunt curioasa ce legatura are titlul cu asa intamplari... misterioase si macabre.
Am cautat expresia (Kiss of the Butterfly sau Butterfly kiss...,dar nu am gasit - deocamdata - decat ca inseamna atingerea tandra a genelor unei persoane pe obrazul alteia
Curiosi?
I chose the title "Kiss of the Butterfly" because in South Slavic folklore, upon death the human soul leaves the body through the mouth in the shape of a butterfly. Also, in folklore, vampires turn into butterflies, not bats.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the cover and hope you like the rest of the book.
@James Lyon Thank you so much for answering some of my questions! Your comment left me even more intrigued, and now I'm anxious to read the book.
ReplyDeleteThe link between an immortal being like the vampire and a short-living one like the butterfly it's very interesting.
When I wrote the book I decided to examine real vampire legends in folklore. The first thing I discovered was that no one ever connected Vlad III with vampirism, until Bram Stoker needed a good villain. Second, Vlad was from Wallachia, not Transylvania. Third, the origin of the word vampire in western languages came from Serbian in 1725 via the Austrian Army.
ReplyDeleteSo the characteristics of my vampires are all based on authentic descriptions in Balkan folklore, not on Hollywood or Bram Stoker.
One other note about the butterfly -- it likes the Hawthorne tree. There is symbolism in this, as you will find out in the book.